Summary: In the space of just one day, Washington, D.C.-area architecture school students came together for a design competition to create something just as fleeting: a temporary pre-fabricated theater structure on a temporary site.

This year’s annual Interschool Design Competition program brought students from four architecture schools (Howard University, Catholic University, the University of Maryland—College Park, and Virginia Tech’s Washington Alexandria Architecture Center) to the Great Hall of the National Building Museum to work on their designs. Each of the 10 competition teams consisted of one person from each of the four schools.

Students working on their designs in the Great Hall of the National Building Museum.

The day-long competition on Sept. 13 asked students to design a venue for summer performances that could be easily built, broken down, and maintained. The performances were to have very basic technical arrangements, such as limited sets, simple lighting effects, and an intimate focus. Participants got to choose from one of three potential sites and had to define how the structure was built, used, and taken apart, as well as its formal and geometric elements. Canadian architect Bing Thom, AIA, whose latest American project is the renovation of the Arena Stage Theater in Southwest Washington, D.C., led the jury.

Students working on their designs in the Great Hall of the National Building Museum.

The winners were announced on September 15 just before Thom’s Building Museum Spotlight on Design lecture. The winning team got $250 for each student, the second place team got $150 for each student, and the third place team won $100 for each student. The first pace team consisted of Scott Gillespie from Catholic University, Emily Johnson from Howard University, Matthew Olson from the University of Maryland, and Natalie Mutchler from Virginia Tech. The second place team consisted of Ali Fernandez from Catholic University, Amber Aleece Hines from Howard University, Joseph Caputo from the University of Maryland, and Julieta Guilermet from Virginia Tech. The third place team was Chloe Rice from Catholic University, Courtney Delagraentiss from Howard University, Marisa Gomez from the University of Maryland, and Victoria Zander from Virginia Tech.