A design team from Harvard University has won this year’s international AECOM-sponsored Urban SOS: Transformations competition at the World Architecture Festival (WAF) in Barcelona.
Called Campus Catalyst, the winning project proposed the use of education to help overcome the catastrophic devastation caused by this year’s earthquake in Haiti.
“We saw the images on the news and wanted to find ways of helping the country rebuild itself,” says Caroline Shannon, an architecture student member of the Harvard team.
“The idea is to empower people affected by the disaster by setting up community learning hubs close to the affected area. In these centres, they will be able to learn skills such as carpentry, basic construction and agronomy.
“Along with providing immediate assistance, these life skills will contribute to the community’s long-term social, economic and environmental sustainability.”
Winning first, the Campus Catalyst project focussed on Port Au Prince in Haiti.
The judges praised the concept for its concept of using education as a driver for positive change and the fact that the idea serves as a model for regeneration and transformation in other disaster-hit areas.
The Urban SOS program continues a long tradition of dialogue between the student community and AECOM practitioners. More information about the program is available online at www.aecom.com/urbansos.
