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Leeds Beckett Architecture and Urban Design students win prestigious international award
Paige Jones with the winning entry of her team at the awards ceremony in Philadelphia.
The annual competition received entries from all over the globe, with Leeds Beckett winners Andrew Stanway, Grace Ajibola Vrutika, Paige Jones and Ashok Gohil earning one of the top spots.
Paige Jones, who represented the winning group at the awards ceremony in Philadelphia, said: “Having the opportunity to visit Philadelphia and present The Chinatown Inquirer to everyone who attended the ceremony was amazing. I was so proud and honoured to be there!
“It was great to visit the site of Chinatown and learn from the other winning teams, the judges and the guests at the ceremony about their view on Chinatown and their responses to our competition entry. It was a fantastic way to end the months of hard work designing The Chinatown Inquirer.”
The Competition Site the students were tasked with transforming is a 50-acre plot of land in Philadelphia’s Chinatown and Chinatown North, currently made up of car parks and highways which prevents people from accessing certain parts of the neighbourhood. This neighbourhood is the home of a large Asian immigrant population, but it is also the cultural hub for Asian families who live outside of the neighbourhood.
Talking about the concept and process of designing their winning entry, Andrew Stanway said: “The inspiration came from reviewing the negative news headlines which led to the idea of empowering the locals through upskilling to create the positive change they felt was needed.”
“It feels great to have our work recognised internationally. With people entering from all over the world, it brings me immense pride to be rewarded for our hard work.”
Grace Ajibola said: “Recognitions of this kind are rare to come by in our field and I’m excited to be part of this success. It gives us confidence in our abilities as designers and validates the importance of our work.”
Vrutika Ashok Gohil said: “My favourite part working on this project was the collaboration with my team members who came from diverse educational backgrounds. It was really inspiring to work with people who had different perspectives and ideas, and we were able to create a project that truly reflected our vision and values.”
The Edmund N Bacon Awards were founded by The Center for Architecture and Design in 2006, honouring the life and work of Philadelphia’s acclaimed city planner, Edmund N Bacon.
