EUGENE, Ore. -- (March 28, 2011) -- In just 15 days of nearly round-the-clock work, a team of University of Oregon landscape architecture, architecture and business administration students completed a comprehensive design-development project in a recent competition, producing a "Water Scapes" entry that was singled out for excellence in sustainability.

The team placed in the top 11 in the competition, which drew 153 entries from 60 universities competing for $80,000 in prizes.

"Being about urban design and financial feasibility, it's one of the rare opportunities for a dialogue across disciplines," said Deni Ruggeri, an assistant professor of landscape architecture at the UO and advisor for the winning team. "Rarely do you have MBA and design students working together."

The ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition asks graduate students to form five-member teams with students across three disciplines. This year's competition asked how a site in Seattle could capitalize on its new light rail station. The proposal needed to be sensitive, appropriate and affordable.

UO team members included master's students Roberto Bio in landscape architecture; Andy Fenstermacher and Brian Rajotte in business administration; Vanessa Nevers in landscape architecture and architecture; and Lauren Schwartz in landscape architecture and business administration.

The UO team's entry, "Water Scapes," won an honorable mention for "Comprehensive Thinking about the Water Cycle." The honorable mention categories did not exist prior to judging but were "individual projects that the jury members felt stood out," ULI spokesman Robert Krueger said.

"Water was the one (concept) that made more sense and allowed for stronger design opportunities," Bio said. "Seattle means rainwater, and buildings produce a lot of gray water that can be used."

It was the first year a UO team entered the competition, now in its ninth year. Students had a month to prepare for the official kick-off on Jan. 17, when details of the competition were released and a 15-day clock began ticking.

The finance team recommended phasing, zoning and size. The landscape architects and architects produced the graphics, with Schwartz playing the role of intermediary.

"The MBAs wanted to really crunch the numbers before putting pencil to paper," Fenstermacher said. "At times this clashed with the design students who were definitely more eager to start drawing. It took a few days to overcome this learning curve."

The other thorny aspect of the competition was its compressed time frame. "I had two hours of sleep a night for the entire two weeks," Nevers said. "By the end of the competition I was completely delirious."

Both design and business teammates felt they gained insight into how the other thinks and how that will translate to the workplace. "It was like making a puzzle with different people making different pieces," Schwartz said. "Everyone made their part in their own way but in the end each piece fit together to make a complete picture."

Nevers said the competition validated her choice of career. "It's not often that we get rewarded for what we love in life. I feel fortunate to be doing what I'm doing."

The competition is funded through a $3 million endowment from Gerald D. Hines, chairman and owner of the Hines real estate organization. The Urban Land Institute, a co-sponsor, is a nonprofit organization with members in 95 countries.

About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.

Contact: Marti Gerdes, Architecture and Allied Arts communications specialist, 541-346-6094, martig@uoregon.edu

Source: Deni Ruggeri, assistant professor of landscape architecture, 541-346-3619,
druggeri@uoregon.edu

Links: UO School of Architecture and Allied Arts: http://aaa.uoregon.edu/
ULI/Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition: http://udcompetition.org