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Two student teams named finalists in ULI’s 2016 Hines Competition

Two Harvard Graduate School of Design student teams were announced as finalists in the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) 2016 Hines Student Competition. They were selected from a pool of 131 teams representing 59 universities internationally and comprising a total of 655 students. The GSD teams will join the other two finalist teams for the final round of the competition in Atlanta in April, when they will compete for the $50,000 first-place prize.

This 2016 competition focuses on a transitional area in Midtown Atlanta, asking entrants to complete the vision for the neighborhood as a thriving, sustainable, mixed-use, walkable, and transit-accessible neighborhood. Designed to simulate an actual urban planning and development scenario, the competition challenges student teams to submit master-plan proposals including presentation boards, site plans, tables, and market-feasible financial data for the area. 

GSD team Converge ATL proposes a hybrid-urban landscape that increases value for all real estate blocks in Midtown Atlanta by integrating the disparate city blocks separated by Interstate 85. Advised by Bing Wang, associate professor in practice of real estate and the built environment, and Anita Berrizbeitia, professor landscape architecture and chair of the department of landscape architecture, the group comprises team leader Ambieca Saha (MDes ‘17), Nathalia Camacho (MAUD ‘16), Annie Liang (MLA ‘17), Kevin Sievers (MDes ‘16), and Stephen Sun (MArch ‘16). 

The second GSD entry, The Midtown Beat, weaves together a strategy for the redevelopment of the Midtown neighborhood that capitalizes on some of the district’s innovation, cultural, and health components. The Midtown Beat is advised by Alex Krieger (Professor in Practice of Urban Design) and includes team leader Chris Merritt  (MLA ‘17), Jonathan Andrews (MLA ‘17), Stephany Lin (MUP ‘16), Benjamin Perdomo (MDes ‘17), and Caroline Filice Smith (MAUD ‘17).

More than 6,800 students have participated in the ULI Hines Student Competition since its first year in 2003. Founded by Gerald D. Hines, the competition is part of the ULI’s ongoing effort to raise interest among design students in creating better communities, improving development patterns, and increasing awareness of the need for multidisciplinary solutions to development and design challenges.

To learn more about the 2016 Hines Competition, visit the ULI website.