December 14, 2022
Architecture students compete in 24th annual Bowman Design Forum
Six architecture students in the Master of Architecture program in K-State's College of Architecture, Planning & Design displayed outstanding design work at the 24th annual Bowman Design Forum hosted on Dec. 8 in Regnier Hall.
The annual Bowman Design Forum, sponsored by BBN Architects Inc. of Manhattan, was conceived by longtime local architect Brent Bowman as a way to bring noted architects to the Flint Hills and, using the work produced by mid-level architecture students, to spark a conversation about design, context and the environment.
This year the faculty of architectural design studio three, ADS 3, focused on promoting cultural exchange between Kansas and West African countries. K-State's agriculture department already has strong research and extension ties with the region which, like Kansas, is focused on cereal grain cultivation.
One student from each of the department's six third-year studio sections was selected to present a design project for a consulate for ECOWAS, a political affiliation of 15 West African States with a population larger than the U.S. The consulate was sited in downtown Topeka across the street from the Kansas State Capitol. Students had a rich contextual background to derive their design ideas from for the project that included consulate offices, cultural spaces and residential apartments for noted visitors.
The jury consisted of two members of MASS Design Group: Design Director Chris Hardy and Landscape Designer Taylor Sinclair. MASS has done extensive work in Africa so was well-suited to the review.
The following students were awarded a total of $4,000 in prizes:
- Andrew Luttrell, Wichita, $1,500 Honor Award. Luttrell is a student in the studio of Kory Beighle, assistant professor of architecture.
- Natalie Bell, Washington, Missouri, $500 Merit Award. Bell is a student in the studio of Brian Lee, assistant professor of architecture.
- Victor Boyda, Kansas City, $500 Merit Award. Boyda is a student in the studio of Jongwan Kwon, assistant professor of architecture.
- Tom Murillo, Wichita, $500 Merit Award. Murillo is a student in the studio of Chris Fein, assistant professor of architecture.
- Miguel Perez, Ulysses, $500 Merit Award. Perez is a student in the studio of Adriana Molina, visiting assistant professor of architecture.
- Carter Wiens, Marion, $500 Merit Award, is a student in the studio of Todd Gabbard, associate professor of architecture.
"Our studio engaged the question of narrative in the project and Andrew's work is a great example of how architecture can address human problems through spatial and formal means," Beighle said. "His idea presented the narrative of two cultures and two different groups of people meeting, engaging and growing together, proposing a space that poetically served as both a backdrop and an embodiment of that developing relationship."