Thinking Creatively Conference 2019 – Let’s Charrette Competition

At 1:00 PM on May 9th, the Let’s Charrette cross-disciplinary competition, as a very important component of the 3rd Thinking Creatively Conference at Michael Graves College of Architecture and Design was officially opened. After 28 hours of the workshop, the winning teams were awarded after the presentation with the Fang Jiekan Art and Design Scholarship.

The 7 mentors of Let’s Charrette this year, includes the Associate Professor Jun Liu from Design School of Wenzhou University, Kevin Shao from Architecture School of Wenzhou, Ferney Aragon,Monika Smerdel, and Ralph Spencer Steenblik from Michael Graves College of Architecture and Design at WKU, Adjunct Instructor Xingu Zhang from WKU, and Adjunct Instructor Yuqiong Lin from Shanghai Tongji University.

The judges of Let’s Charrette are Prof. WANG Weijen from the Architecture Faculty of Hong Kong University, Chang Su from the Architecture Faculty of Hong Kong University, Aric Chen, Curator of M+ Hong Kong, and Dr. Tony Zheng, the Vice Chancellor of Wenzhou-Kean University.

After the team up session, the competition topic of the Let’s Charrette was announced by Prof. Peu Duvallon – to design a community for migrant workers with the goal of providing a better living environment, which matches the mission of the Let’s Charrette competition – non-profit, rather social problems than commercial, design for good. Each team needs to complete the design proposal including the identity, concept, usage, space, and vision of the community.

On May 10th, Let’s Charrette competition entered the final phase. Time was precious, team members worked hard and stayed up late. Thanks to the mentors, no team gave up. Facing the deadline is always a challenge for a designer.

By 4 p.m., the seven teams presented their proposal in the order of drawing lots. Each team did a great job. The judges asked a variety of questions and gave their professional comments.

Finally, after discussion, the judges announced the winning teams. Congratulation to the first prize team mentored by Kevin Shao, the second prize team mentored by Spencer Steenblik, and the third prize team mentored by Xingu Zhang. Mr. Fang Jong, the Dean of Sino-US Calligraphy and Painting Institution at Wenzhou-Kean University, awarded the certificate and Fang Jiekan Scholarship in Art and Design to the winning teams.

In such a short time, students integrated the whole proposal, includes an interview, visual and architectural solutions, creative design process. These efforts were all praised by the judges.