Dec. 8, 2014 (New Orleans, Louisiana) – NOMA Louisiana, the Louisiana affiliate of the National Organization of Minority Architects, is pleased to announced the winners of their first national design competition: Between Spaces. The competition was sponsored by Associated Office Systems.

Between Spaces is a competition about public space and urban design inspired to engage the public and design community to propose creative solutions for underutilized public spaces in New Orleans. The Ideas Competition encourages teams to develop a design proposal or implementation plan that addresses abandoned or left over spaces within our neighborhoods and promotes a transformative physical change of positive cultural impact and legacy. The urban interventions should be considered vibrant public amenities, gathering places for the community, “safe spaces” where interaction is encouraged. The program of the space was left to the entrants with the directive that the space should value and support civic engagement. The site for the intervention was under the US-90 overpass between St. Charles Avenue and Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.

Entries are judged on their innovation, progressive thinking and community impact. The competition jurors were Collette Creppell, principal at 2014 AIA Firm Award winning firm Eskew+Dumez+Ripple; Melissa Lee, Senior Advisor for Commercial Revitalization at the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority; andMaurice Cox, Associate Dean for Community Engagement at Tulane School of Architecture and Director of Tulane City Center. Online voting was open to the public to determine the People’s Choice winner.

The Winners are:

First Place:
Power Up - Jennifer Sandoval, University of New Mexico

Second Place:
Ambient Highway- Christopher Box and Francisco Resendiz, University of Texas at Arlington

Third Place:
New Ground - Grace Yang, Shelley Long, and Rui Felix; University of Toronto

Merit Awards:
Sky Below - Cesar Paulin and Kunle Oni, University of Texas at Arlington
Urban Rhythm - Ying Chen and Michael Bohan, The University of Georgia

People’s Choice:
Sky Below- Cesar Paulin and Kunle Oni, University of Texas at Arlington

About NOMA Louisiana:

The Louisiana Chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) is dedicated to advocating for diversity in architecture and design through fellowship, community engagement, mentorship, and design excellence. NOMA LA is dedicated to advancing the profession and connecting communities to design through open, diverse dialogue and proactive, socially responsible initiatives, regardless of race, place, gender, or socio-cultural status.


Contact: 

Ms. Vanessa Smith-Torres
Communications Director
NOMA Louisiana
vsmithtorres@nomalouisiana.org

Mr. Bryan Lee Jr
Vice President + Program Director
NOMA Louisiana 
blee@nomalouisiana.org