Bennett Day Upper School Students Win Newhouse Architecture + Design Competition

CHICAGO, May 27, 2021 – Two tenth graders at Bennett Day, Alex H. and Jasmin H., recently won the overall grand prize of the 39th Annual Newhouse Architecture + Design Competition. Alex and Jasmin designed a community garden for the Englewood neighborhood and associated promotional pieces to engage youth. 

This year’s Newhouse Architecture + Design Competition focused on projects that would improve the quality of life in the three first-phase INVEST South/West areas of Auburn Gresham, Austin, and Englewood. INVEST South/West is a community revitalization initiative that supports equitable development in underinvested Chicago neighborhoods. 

What is the Chicago Architecture Center’s Newhouse Architecture + Design Competition?

According to their website, the Chicago Architecture Center’s Newhouse Architecture + Design Competition showcases the talents of Chicago-area students who create projects that solve real-world problems.

Named after late Illinois Senator Richard Newhouse, this annual competition gives students an opportunity to practice design thinking and 21st-century skills like creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. It inspires teens to understand why design matters by researching, representing, and redesigning the built environment to solve challenges that are communal and place-based.

Excerpts from Alex and Jasmin’s final project:

3D Model Images:

Design Concept (excerpted from Alex and Jasmin’s Site Analysis):

• Purpose: Englewood wishes to lower youth arrests, promote healthy eating, build resident networks, and have more student-led/enrichment programs.
• Important design characteristics: Edible and decorative plants growing here, greenhouse, benches/tables, shed, programs for the community, individual plots of land.
• How does this solve the problem?: Community gardens lower crime rates, promote a healthy lifestyle, and advocate for student initiation.

View sample promotional materials created by Alex and Jasmin: