Swiss Designers Take First Place in Vinyl Institute Design Competition
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 20, 2011 — Recent graduates of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich won a design competition hosted by the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and sponsored by The Vinyl Institute and the Canadian Plastics Industry Association.
The Vinyl Institute has sponsored this annual competition since 2006, challenging students to develop innovative designs incorporating vinyl materials into a structure and venue selected by the AIAS for the competition. Previous projects included a park kiosk in Boston, a Milwaukee transit stop, a bicycle center in Denver, and a boathouse in Minneapolis.
The venue and structure selected for 2010 was an awards stage and pavilion for the 2015 multi-sport Pan American Games to be held in Toronto. There were 53 entries involving 75 individuals and 20 institutions, from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Greece, and Switzerland.
The name of the winning design, “Tkaronto I gs2v,” is derived from the Iroquois name for Toronto, which means “meeting place.” For the roof, the designers incorporated vinyl-based helium-filled weather balloons supporting a PVC PES membrane, with a PVC net holding everything together. Boxes under the roof, housing restrooms, ticket booths, the stage, backstage areas, and storage rooms, incorporate recycled PVC pipes, vinyl insulation, and PVC cladding on a steel substructure. The finished design resembles a string of low-lying puffy clouds hovering over the structure.
The second place design was awarded to a third-year student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Third-year students at the University of Colorado at Boulder took third place. Honorable mentions went to students at the University of Washington, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and the University of Texas at Arlington. And a Special Merit Award went to graduate students at Miami University in Ohio. Total prize money awarded this year was $7,675, including $2,500 for the first place winning design. All of the winning entries appear at vinyl.aias.org.
The winners met the criteria established for the competition, by researching applications for existing and new construction materials, encouraging the use of vinyl building products and developing awareness of the recyclability of vinyl materials.
Jurors for the competition were architects from Toronto, Minneapolis, and Chicago, an urban designer from Toronto, and a professor from Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Mich.
One of the jurors noted, “The main purpose of this competition is to encourage architecture students to learn about materials, products, and assembly of vinyl building products that contribute to sustainable and safe design.”
The Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) represents more than 3,350 companies employing 106,000 workers in Canada’s $31-billion plastics industry. For more information on CPIA, go to: www.cpia.ca.
The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) is dedicated to providing programs, information, and resources on issues critical to architectural education, and promote excellence in architectural education, training, and practice. For more information, go to www.aias.org.
The Vinyl Institute, founded in 1982, represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC/vinyl resin in the United States, as well as makers of vinyl feedstocks, additives, and film and sheet products, and promotes the value of PVC/vinyl products to society.
For more information on The Vinyl Institute, contact:
Jeffrey B. Palmer
Director of Marketing & Communications
The Vinyl Institute
571-970-3327
jpalmer@vinylinfo.org
Also go to: www.vinylindesign.com , www.vinylinfo.org, and www.achievegreen.net.
Encourage colleagues and customers to join the Vinyl News Service for free.