A group of students in the College of Architecture and Design’s (CoAD) fall 2014 Master of Infrastructure Planning (MIP) studio took home first honorable mention at the Global Schindler Awards in Shenzhen, China April 30.

As one of 12 finalists for the Global Schindler Award—and the only team selected from North America—the MIP students, under the guidance of CoAD associate professor Georgeen Theodore, traveled to Shenzhen after entering the design competition sponsored by Schindler—a leading global manufacturer of elevators and escalators—which called on top architecture and design students from around the world to present innovative mobility design concepts that would engage the specific spatial condition in Shenzhen, a special economic zone situated between mainland China and Hong Kong.

The students created a design, which focused on the social, economic and environmental challenges presented by globalization and urbanization and delivered strategies to make the current urban landscape even more livable and equitable.

Jury Comment:

“The jury praised the project as one of the most comprehensive in its scope of research and design. The rigor of the methodology was clear to all, and most jurors commented on the scheme’s effective use of mobility as a frame for understanding the site, including social and economic aspects in addition to built form. Especially appreciated was the attention to the specific “soft” factors influencing the site, such as the migrant population’s socioeconomic position, which were then addressed through spatial means with the intention of improvement. The jury also found the project to be sensitive to the landscape, marked by disconnection and degradation. However it is also clearly a resource, one leveraged by this project with the aim of raising quality of life standards in SQ and in greater Shenzhen. Jurors remarked on the clear representational strategy of the proposal, conveyed largely through a range of clear plans and diagrams.”

The NJIT team took home a $7,500 honorable mention prize.