Honor Awards

AT THE DISCRETION OF THE JURY, UP TO 20% OF STUDENT

ENTRIES MAY RECEIVE AN HONOR AWARD

Revitalizing Red Raider Plaza

Jonathan Mata (Texas Tech University - Undergraduate Level)

GENERAL DESIGN

“Revitalizing Red Raider Plaza’s mission is to propose a revival of the space with the intent to transform the space into a place that is accessible to all. Red Raider Plaza is situated inside of heavy pedestrian traffic flow and in the shadow of the campus university library. The site is known for its outdoor seating arrangements and is often used as a place to take a break, hang out with friends, and a place for organizations to set up booths. After conducting surveys with people on campus, most of them want a space that has a variety as well as gathering data by utilizing the GIS data collection tool via the mobile application platform. The different data collected consisted of what could become an issue for people with disabilities, pedestrian traffic, and behaviors. A strategy was then implemented to identify significant issues and what needed to be improved.

On-site the major issues were accessibility, limited variety of leisure activities, and limited movement between spaces. To ensure accessibility would be addressed different types of seating arrangements would be required to be ADA-approved, and any types of ramps would need to meet ADA standards. A variety of different opportunities would also be provided such as sheltered outdoor dining, elevated seating to provide a recluse from the ongoing pedestrian traffic, activity zones, parklets with bicycle racks, and a variety of landscaping.

A restorative approach was also needed to provide native trees and plants to the area as well as introduce stormwater management to the area.

Austin Carbon Farming Project

Franny Kyle (The University of Texas at Austin - Graduate Level)

GENERAL DESIGN

With the levels of atmospheric carbon resting above 400 parts per million and formidable projections of our global climate future, conversations around practices of carbon sequestration through soil health are coming to the fore. This project is a proposal for the decommissioned Holly Power Plant on LadyBird Lake in downtown Austin. This post-industrial landscape has the potential to respond to the need for soil stewardship and the documentation of environmental injustice. My proposal imagines what this site could become if the city returned the plant to the community groups that fought for its closure and worked to mend the carbon rift through stewardship, civic engagement, and experimentation. It would be a place that prioritizes embodied knowledge of soil. Acknowledging that human participation in soil building is a recent activity in geologic time, the proposal lays the bones for different kinds of ecological programs that have the potential to sequester carbon. As a public site along a heavily trafficked trail, the urban carbon farm has to operate in a different mode from rural, regenerative agricultural practices.

Another layer of programming seeks to document the human side of land stewardship and the role people play in shaping soil profiles. A warehouse structure is dedicated to archiving the stories of this neighborhood’s political action through land care. This continued documentation of life, resistance and culture in the Holly neighborhood includes education initiatives and a workshop space for developing new coalitions.

DART’S NEXT GENERATION BUS SHELTER

Vanesa Lopez Ornelas, Berenice Velazquez, Jacqueline Hernandez, Sandra Calzadillas, David Hine, Richa Verma, Victor Almarez, Marvin Diaz, Sumayyah Abdullah, Ayesha Shaikh, Kenett Rivera, Tasfia Zahin, Diandra Osorio, Bamluck Abera, Vanessa Huerta, and Maryam Hashim (University of Texas at Arlington - Undergraduate Level)

URBAN DESIGN

The principles of this project revolve around designing with equity, site condition adaptivity, community identity, and rider safety. All of these principles are important factors that contribute to the ridership of the community. The structure offers an opportunity for the bus shelter to contribute to the Dallas streetscapes. The unique art installations, that vary from neighborhoods, create an identity that’s representative of the community for each bus stop and its riders. The shelter’s open design combats Texas’ strong heat allowing air to circulate. The extended canopy of the roof creates shade for its users and engages the neighboring right of way. The sloped roof redirects rainwater into nearby landscapes and away from the streets and riders. The incorporation of a tree impacts the temperature of the area by helping it stay cool, improving the conditions of the rider’s experience. This project acts as a solution because it is a sustainable design that addresses the issues of global warming. The design is also inclusive of different demographics found throughout the city. This allows for a more enjoyable and equitable experience for riders. The bus shelter offers an opportunity to pioneer the concept of a sustainable transit system. This project is worthy of an award because it prepares transit systems for the present and future obstacles of social inequity as well as climate change.

Hensley Field Runway Park

Oren Mandelbaum (The University of Texas at Arlington) - Graduate Level)

URBAN DESIGN

Hensley Field is a former Navy Airbase located on the southwest portion of Dallas, TX on Mountain Creek Lake. The site is currently being transformed into a master-planned community with an emphasis on sustainability, walkability, and economic development. This project explores the social, cultural, and economic possibilities within this proposed development while also addressing some of the site’s ecological and pollution challenges.

Hensley Field Runway Park is a catalytic, urban, mixed-use, waterfront district on the runway peninsula that leverages the site’s distinct environmental and historical characteristics to create a unique experience. In addition, the project attempts to tackle some of the environmental and ecological challenges of the site through the implementation of green infrastructure and recreational wetlands.

The overall design follows and emphasizes the linearity of the runway leading visitors through all the way to the terminus of the runway featuring a park, museum, and veterans memorial that looks out over the lake to the Dallas National Cemetery. Major programs of this project focus on key public spaces including a beach boardwalk, the museum with a larger public plaza, a waterfront park, and the recreational wetlands. Each of these plays a role in creating social, economic, cultural, and environmental value through unique options for programming.

Anchord

Urvi

Joshi, Siyuan Zhao, Patrick Rivera, Christian McWilliam, Yinglan Hao (Texas A&M University) - Graduate Level)

URBAN DESIGN aNChord is a proposed 50-acre mixed-use development anchored at the crux of Noisette Creek and the Cooper River in South Carolina. The “aNChord” masterplan combines “anchor” to pay homage to North Charleston’s naval and maritime heritage and “chord”; colorful and vibrant communities exist in harmony in the proposed neighborhood. aNChord plants roots firmly not only where two bodies of water meet but also at the intersection of industrial heritage and a growing commercial economy, all the while celebrating and nurturing the people of North Charleston that give it life.

Celebrate the Riverfront Green: The proposed design project creates inviting green spaces in a newly developed high-density neighborhood that promotes diversity, inclusion and access to public amenities. Preservation of 5000 feet-long coastal marsh wetland keep the site from vulnerability to flooding and sea level rise in which also supports biodiversity.

Anchor the Neighborhood: aNChord’s mid-rise urban layout offers diverse options for development densities. All amenities are easily navigable on foot, by bicycle, or through a looped bus connection with Lowcountry Rapid Transit which adopts a low carbon footprint lifestyle.

Grow with the Coast: Buildings are designed concerning the resiliency of North Charleston’s coastal condition with habitable floors that exist above base flood elevations.

CLEAN AIR ANALYSIS & PLANNING

This project utilizes research findings to inform the design of a green infrastructure (GI) plan for a low-income neighborhood in Dallas which will improve health outcomes for the community.

Ambient outdoor air pollution kills roughly 4.2 million people every year worldwide and is linked to diseases such as asthma, cancer, infertility, and neurological disorders. In the U.S., minority communities are more likely to live near sources of air pollution, such as highways and industrial sites, and therefore face higher risks of developing the associated health difficulties. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), people of color (POC) are exposed to disproportionately higher levels of ambient fine particulate matter (PM) air pollution, regardless of income levels or region. While the

EPA monitors and enforces outdoor air quality standards across the US, there are not regulatory standards for the distances between air pollution sources and neighborhoods. The design explores the benefits of GI in addressing air pollution as well as secondary benefits such as decreased flood risk, increased access to open green space, and increased-community value. A multi-method approach is used to study the issues of air pollution and vegetation, employing GIS-mapping, case-studies, expert interviews, and i-Tree planting calculator to produce findings. The design principles, the planting palette, and other findings of this research were then applied to a master plan design for Joppa, Texas, a freedmen’s town in Dallas, Texas that is currently exposed to high levels of air pollution and secondary health risks such as flooding, lack of public transit and lack of immediate access to grocery stores.

Map of Joppa, 1900

Joppa, 1930

Juneteenth Celebration, 2021

Land originally inhabited by Wichita, Tawokoni, Jumanons, and Kickapoo tribes

1845 Land split into 800 acres and split between Smith and Van for their service in the Army of Texas 1850s Miller Plantation farmed cotton on nearly 7,500 acres

1861 Henry Critz Hines, an enslaved person, sent as property to Texas for protection by Mr. Miller until after the Civil War

1872 Houston and Texas Central Railroad built

1882 New Zion Missionary Baptist Church is founded 1880s Henry Critz Hines operated the Honey Springs Ferry Company to transport people across the Trinity River

1900 At least 7 families lived in the Joppa area

SECONDARY NORTHWESTERN WINDS TRINITY RIVER

1948 South Central Civic League is formed to fight for community programs and services

1952 Melissa Pierce School built for black students of Joppa

1955 Joppa is annexed into the City of Dallas

1970 Integration of Wilmer-Hutchins ISD

1999 Foster’s Crossing connects the southern and northern halves of Joppa

2007 Freedmen’s Town Memorial Bridge is built

GREAT TRINITY FOREST

Henry Critz Hines settles in Joppa COMMERCIAL DISTRICT FLOODPLAIN

LINFIELD LANDFILL FLOODPLAIN

Asphalt Mixing Plant TAMKO Roofing SMS Metals Manufacturing

EAST OAK CLIFF Union Pacific Switchyard

Capped Gravel Pit

LEVEE CHAIN OF WETLANDS

Point of Ferry Crossing PREVAILING SOUTHERN WINDS

Trinity Forest Trails Community Garden

Particulate Matter Air Monitor

Future Community Center

*no longer in use Honey Springs

INTERSTATE 45 HIGHWAY 310 HIGHWAY12

BONTON FARMS JOPPA PRESERVE