Syracuse University

Syracuse University School of Architecture, in partnership with the Syracuse CoE
and Home HeadQuarters Inc., has announced the finalists for "From the Ground Up:
Innovative Green Homes." The goal of the competition is to foster the most advanced
thinking about design, sustainability and cost-effective building practices for an
affordable single family house.

Multi-disciplinary teams that include an architect, structural engineer, sustainability
expert and landscape architect were encouraged to apply. The three winning teams
are:

• do-it-together.org, including BriggsKnowles A+D, THEM (Lynch+Crembil),
  Derek Porter Studio, Studio Lisa Maione, Leonard Newcomb Landscape
  Architecture, and Thomas Young Associates; New York City and Kansas City;
  
• Erdy McHenry Architecture, Stenson-Building + Furniture Design, AKF
  Engineers, and Siteworks; Philadelphia, Syracuse and Charlottesville; and
  
• and Onion Flats, including Andropogon Associates, Rivera Structural Design
  and MaGrann Associates; Philadelphia.

Three alternate teams were also selected in the event that a team is unable to compete.
They are:

• BILD Design, Meffert + Ethridge Environmental Projects, and Pierre Stouse;
  
• BLDGS, The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, D.I.R.T.
  Studio, and Palmer Engineering;
  
• and Leroy Street Studio Architecture, Hester Street Collaborative, Terra
  Firma, Buro Happold Consulting Engineers, Reed Hildebrand Associates and
  John Wagner.

"The winning teams were selected from an exceptionally competitive pool of entries
with a high number of truly outstanding submissions from very well respected
practices," says Julia Czerniak, the director of UPSTATE: at the Syracuse University
School of Architecture, and a member of the jury. "We anticipate design approaches
that will yield built work contributing to the revitalization of communities here and in
rust-belt cities across the nation."

These three teams will join the four pre-selected teams listed below in developing
designs for a site on Syracuse's Near Westside, one of the first residential
neighborhoods in the city, which is now facing significant economic, social and
environmental challenges.

The teams will visit the Syracuse site in mid-October and submit their design
proposals after the eight-week second stage of the competition ending in mid-
December. A jury will then select up to three winning designs in January 2009 to
coincide with a symposium and exhibition of the finalists' submissions at the School
of Architecture. Construction of the prototypes by Home HeadQuarters is expected to
begin in fall 2009.

The four pre-selected teams include:

• Adjaye / Associates, London and New York;
  
• Cook + Fox / Terrapin Bright Green, New York and Washington, D.C.;
  
• Della Valle Bernheimer and ARO, New York;
  
• and Office dA and Architecture Studio himma, Boston and Seoul.

The jury includes: Barry Bergdoll, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture
and Design, The Museum of Modern Art; Edward Bogucz, executive director,
Syracuse CoE, Syracuse University; Julia Czerniak, director, UPSTATE: A Center for
Design, Research, and Real Estate, Syracuse University School of Architecture; Julie
Eizenberg, principal, Koning Eizenberg Architecture; Bethaida Gonzalez, president,
Syracuse Common Council; Marilyn Higgins, vice president, community
engagement and economic development, Syracuse University; Carol Horan, Near
Westside resident; David Lewis, principal, Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis; Jason Pearson,
president and CEO, GreenBlue; Kerry Quaglia, executive director, Home
HeadQuarters; and Mark Robbins, dean, Syracuse University School of Architecture.

"From the Ground Up" is a project of UPSTATE: A Center for Design, Research, and
Real Estate created in 2005 as a resource for the city, campus and region to address
critical issues of urban revitalization in the city of Syracuse, Upstate New York and
other regions of disinvestment nationally.

The Central New York Community Foundation and the Community Preservation
Corp. have provided additional support for this competition. For more information on
the competition, visit http://soa.syr.edu/competition.