Miami University

Architecture students receive design award

Students in a third- and fourth-year architecture studio taught by associate professor Sergio Sanabria received an honorable mention in the 2001-2002 formoZ International Joint Study awards. The program involves close to 300 universities worldwide.

The Miami students were recognized for their architectural design, The Tower of Babel. The project takes its inspiration from Vladimir Tatlin’s Monument to the Third International and transforms it into a new headquarters for the United Nations in New York City.

The studio, subsidized by a grant from Miami’s Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, focused on an investigation of the visionary Soviet project of 1918-20 by Tatlin. Tatlin’s monument, never built, was to be a 1,300-foot tall conical tower aligned with the axis of the rotation of the earth and braced by a giant truss recalling one of the four legs of the Eiffel Tower.

The awards jury praised the Miami design on many levels. "It is clear in its conception, rich in its references and aesthetically intriguing in a way that requires the technology used but also transcends it. … The choice of problem — commemorating the destroyed World Trade Center — and the quality of the response lend a seriousness about this proposal that makes [it] stand out among the other entries."

Students involved were Timothy Breihan, John Cerone, Greg Dutton, Nicholas Faehnle, Rachel Huss, Jason Ivaliotis, Malika Kirkling, Bridget Kline, Andrea Knoch, Naosuke Nemoto, Evan Williams and Jonathan Yang.

A 30-foot model of the tower was constructed on campus last spring as part of the project.

For more information, visit
www.fna.muohio.edu/breihatd/the_tower_of_babel/studio_1.html.

Date Published: 02/27/2003
Volume: 22   Number: 27