Undergraduate announced winner of Royal Institute of British Architects international student competition
Christopher Morgan, of Purcellville, Va., is a junior majoring in architecture in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech was announced the winner of an international student competition to design a music studio.
The competition was created for a music studio space to be designed in Cité Soleil located within Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on behalf of Wyclef Jean and his charity Yéle Haiti. The meaning of the competition greatly increased to aid in the relief and recovery efforts in Haiti after the Jan. 12 earthquake.
Morgan’s winning design, titled ‘Broadcast Studio,’ incorporates two performance spaces offering a place not only for musicians, but for all who wish to make a music community. “The winning design was able to engage the community by incorporating an outdoor performance space,” said Jean. “This connection with the local community really caught the spirit of what Yéle is all about.”
The competition held by the Royal Institute of British Architects attracted 108 submissions from secondary/high school and university/college students from around the world, and was judged on criteria including: the ability to act as a beacon for the local neighborhood, to deliver a lot for a limited budget, and for their economic, social, and environmental sustainability. A shortlist of 15 submissions was selected by a technical jury from John McAslan + Partners and Arup. The final winner, second, and third placeholders were selected by McAslan, Jean, and his team.
Julia Davies of the Royal Institute of British Architects contributed to this story.
