Valley Architect Seeks to Inspire Design Students
Written by Melissa Larsen
With the introduction of the Two Worlds Community Foundation’s The Arizona Challenge Student Design Competition, longtime
respected Valley architect Vernon Swaback aims to inspire the designers of the future.
In 2010, Vernon Swaback, of Scottsdale’s Swaback Partners, a former apprentice under Frank Lloyd Wright and a longtime leader in the
Valley’s design and architecture realm, founded the Two Worlds Community Foundation (TWCF) with the intention of advancing “the main
pillars of urban sustainability in desert climates.” The nonprofit, year-old Foundation “invites professionals and young individuals to identify and
develop the most efficient and healthier relationships between social, cultural environmental and economic sectors in order to envision the next
generation of cities.”
In order to inspire students to envision such efficient, self-sustaining communities, TWCF kicked off its first event: The Arizona Challenge
Student Design Competition. Via the challenge, students around the globe were invited to create prototypes of revolutionary communities that
“push the extremes of design for a more sustainable and healthy way of life.” “The educational joy of [TWCF] is to envision communities of the
future as large-scale works of art—as sustainable, inspiring and educational as the beauty and workings of nature,” Swaback says.
Design students—who hail from as near as Arizona and as far at China–excelled at the task and will be honored this Friday, Sept. 16, in a highly
anticipated awards ceremony at Arizona State University. Such prestigious locals as Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Tempe Mayor Hugh
Hallman will be on hand to help honor the students. Read on for a look at the winning The Arizona Challenge Student Design Competition
submissions. The first-place prize is $10,000.
Members: Fadi Masoud, Daniel Ibañez and Drew Adams
Project Name: "Autonomous City"
School: Harvard University in collaboration with the University of Toronto
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Valley Architect Seeks to Inspire Design Students
Written by Melissa Larsen
Members: Zhang Anxiao, Zhang Zhaosong and Dao Fang
Project Name: "Smart Green City"
School: Qingdao Technological University, China
Faculty Advisors: Chibiao Hao and Xinyu Shi
Members: Dana Decuzzi and Aaron Liggett
Project Name: "Harvest Arizona"
School: University of Arizona, Tucson
Faculty Advisor: Susannah Dickinson
For more info on the Two Worlds Community Foundation, visit http://www.twoworldsfoundation.org/.
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