Teams from Cal Poly and community colleges across California earned first-place honors in construction, innovation and theme categories at the 50th anniversary of Design Village, held Saturday afternoon in the Architecture Graveyard.
Hosted by the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, this year’s Design Village theme was “Nexus,” in honor of their anniversary. According to the Design Village website, the theme is defined as “a point in time that connects bonds, structures and memories.”
The following teams won first place in the Cal Poly division: F8 for construction, Short-Staffed for innovation and S.S. Lotus for theme.
The majority of non-Cal Poly teams come from community colleges across California, but this year, Design Village also had several teams from Sacramento State, said Hannah Huntley, co-president of Design Village board and an architecture junior.
Among non-Cal Poly teams, Tentsion from Santa Monica College and Chamber of Reflection from Mt. San Antonio College tied for first place in the theme category. Kumogami from Orange Coast College earned first place in construction and Phage from Santa Monica College won first place overall.
Following a rain delay, winning teams were awarded certificates, trophies and flower bouquets at the judging ceremony. Architecture Graveyard accommodated 55 Cal Poly teams and 40 non-Cal Poly teams, which totaled roughly 525 participants event-wide, Huntley said.
Judging criteria is composed of innovation, durability, ecological, aesthetics and functionality points, Huntley said. The majority of the Design Village judges are Cal Poly professors, alumni or local professionals.
“It’s really hard to point out one structure and say ‘this is the best structure of all the structures here,’” Huntley said.
She emphasized that having winners in each category allows teams to hone in on a certain category over others, such as prioritizing their theme or staying warm at night.
Since non-Cal Poly teams pay $100 to enter the competition, their prizes are fund-based. Those who win best construction and theme won $800 and the best team overall received a $1,500 cash prize. Since Cal Poly teams enter for free, winners won a pizza party courtesy of Design Village, Huntley said.
Team Flores earned an honorable mention in the non-Cal Poly division, while Cal Poly teams The Spins, Kaleidoscope Convergence and Skyline Connection received honorable mention titles as well.
Phage team members hope to pass down their knowledge, spirit and unique designs to next year’s class.
“We want to thank the architecture program at Cal Poly,” said Rico Santana, Phage team member from Santa Monica College. “Without them, we wouldn’t be able to come and compete [and] we wouldn’t be able to advance our school in the way that we have.”