2008 Witters Competition Tackles Sustainable Post-Disaster Housing

April 11, 2008
During the weekend of March 28, five teams of students in the University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning competed to create the best design for sustainable post-disaster housing for the 2008 Witters Competition.

The annual design competition features teams consisting of four to six students representing at least four of the college’s five disciplines: architecture, building construction, interior design, landscape architecture and urban and regional planning.

This year’s competition presented students with a troublingly realistic scenario: a strong hurricane destroys the homes of about 100 Gainesville residents who now need new local shelters. Students were challenged to create a flexible, rapidly deployable prototype shelter that is environmentally self-sustaining and has the ability to become the basis for a permanent community. Locations for the shelters included the sites of the destroyed homes and also a 33-acre site at the intersection of South Main Street and Southeast Depot Avenue.

The student teams were given the competition’s topic on Friday morning and then had until Sunday afternoon to create their design proposals and present them to a jury of college administrators and faculty. The designs were judged on sustainability, innovation and design, feasibility and constructability and presentation of information. The winning team received a $3,500 prize.

“The winning team offered a sophisticated use of materials and techniques to construct housing that could serve both the temporary needs of the displaced, and if necessary to sustain the community over time,” said Dean Christopher Silver, one of the jury members.

Members of the winner team were architecture student Franco D’Ascanio, building construction students Scott Nelson and Sean Snowden, interior design student Catherine Slemon and landscape architecture student Nicholas D’Ascanio.

The competition was organized by building construction professor Robert J. Ries and building construction and architecture graduate student Dereck Winning.

“The program for the 2008 Witters Competition was both highly interdisciplinary and challenging in scope,” Ries said. “The students were enthusiastic and committed and worked very well together. I commend all of the students for their excellent efforts and teamwork over the course of the weekend.”

Established in 1993, the Witters Competition is endowed by Arthur G. and Beverley A. Witters for a college-wide interdisciplinary academic competition to promote a collaborative approach among students. The Witters family was represented at this year’s competition by Tucker Ryals, Arthur and Beverly Witters’ grandson.

For more information about the competition and to see this year’s results, visit www.dcp.ufl.edu/witters