2007 Final Competition

Final Competition Summary

Nader Tehrani

The second phase of the 2007 Rotch design competition was dedicated to the development of a building from the point of view of its construction system, materials, and details. To this end, we asked the participants to temporarily suspend spatial or typological biases and generate a building system based on quality and selection of materials, and means and methods of assembly and joinery as a prerequisite for its morphological and organizational development. Adopting a material palette, the contestants were to develop a logic of assembly that could strategically optimize a proposed method of construction—IE. pre-fabrication, CNC manufacturing, modular elements, among other techniques—with the idea towards the minimization of on-site fabrication, a higher speed of delivery, and the reduction of trades on the field. In conjunction with this, they were encourage to develop a unit of fabrication that is the result of integrated thinking—drawing in structural, environmental, and performance criteria and reconciling them a priori, as a multi-disciplinary strategy.

The proposed site of the competition was on Pier 4 next to the newly opened ICA. The program consisted of a ferry terminal, a hotel, and various urban spaces that surround and integrate the site into its context—between the land and the water, the city and the bay.

The jury looked for Rotch Candidates to address the following criteria:

• to demonstrate the malleability of the systems they developed
• to show how the project addresses anomalous or exceptional conditions within the system
• to address the urban potentials of the site
• to develop a clear and coherent argument, both verbally and graphically

The jury was held on March 29th, 2007 at the BSA. The jurors included:

• Chair: Nader Tehrani, Office dA
• Gabriel Feld- Professor, Rhode Island School of Design
• Ingeborg Rocker- Harvard Graduate School of Design
• Sheila Kennedy- Kennedy Violich Architects
• Felipe Correa- Harvard Graduate School of Design

Attending as non-voting member:

• Andrew Hargens—Mass Bay Transit Authority

The jury deliberated over a three hours period, looking at each submission in detail. While all entries took the urbanism of the site and the context seriously, the jurors felt that there could have been more thought put into how to take advantage of the civic potential of the new constructed ground, by way of stairs, ramps, and a more generous understanding of the scale at while the proposed terraces could be accessed.

However, it was also very clear that all the submissions addressed the questions regarding the quality and selection of materials, systems of construction, and problems of aggregation with great rigor. A great range occurred within the schemes, with some taking advantage of new technologies in CADCAM, while others looking more directly at the building industry and its available means and methods of construction as a point of departure.

Ultimately, the jurors acknowledged the amount and quality of work in this year's entries and congratulated the competitors on the level of rigor and nuance they brought to this year's competition.

The Rotch Trustees for 2007:

• Robert Holdway - President
• Doug Burden - Treasurer
• Hugh Shepley FAIA Emeritus – Vice President
• Steven Foote FAIA – Secretary

The BSA Rotch Committee for 2007:

• Tim Love AIA
• Peter Weiderspahn AIA
• Natalie Beauvais
• Nader Tehrani
• Robert Miklos FAIA
• Sheila Kennedy AIA