Architecture Students Take Home Prize in Regional Competition
Two Fullerton College architecture students, Terrence Cheng and Genesis Cruz, placed among the top six at the American Institute of Architects of Orange County (AIAOC) competition for their outstanding projects under the guidance and supervision of Professor of Architecture, Alan Ray. This big accomplishment is a testament to the Department of Architecture’s excellence, innovative curriculum and career preparation.
Student competitors partook in a scenario where they were required to design Olympic buildings to support athletes with housing and recreation. The project, in theory, would be turned over to the city of Long Beach for possible use and after the Olympics, repurposed to provide housing, eating facilities and more for the Long Beach community. The competition’s challenging structure required students to begin a research phase and present their findings at Gensler, a global architecture, design and planning firm. After an exciting opportunity to hone their presentation skills, students then moved on to the individual design phase, where they created the projects they would later present to three industry professionals.
First place was earned by Genesis Cruz and her project, titled “Shoreline Flow.” Inspired by the beach, “Shoreline Flow,” is shaped like two large waves facing each other, with another portion of the structure in the form of a seashell. From planning to execution, the project was developed throughout the course of an entire semester. Cruz was encouraged to join the competition because of the professional opportunities it would provide.
Genesis Cruz poses with her projects as first place recipient of at the American Institute of Architects of Orange County (AIAOC) competition.
“[Shoreline Flow] brought me to a new love for landscaping architecture, which is something I wasn’t really exposed to,” said Cruz. “After receiving my award, I felt a lot of encouragement to continue to pursue a lot more into architecture. This competition was a big eye opener for me.”
Terrence Cheng was awarded “Honorable Mention” for his project titled “Kujira to Nami.” Like Cruz, Cheng’s project design was also inspired by the ocean and the shape of whales. Cheng centered the focus of his work on creativity, community and inclusivity.
Terrence Cheng holds his projects as “Honorable Mention” at the American Institute of Architects of Orange County (AIAOC) competition.
“I was thinking about how I can make the project very inclusive to the community, so I created a whale family, which is a metaphor for community.” said Cheng.
“The excitement I got out of the competition was in watching how all students came up with an idea of what they wanted to present and how they wanted to design it,” said Ray. “Watching them as they developed their projects was really the enjoyable part, to see their creation and imagination come to life.”
Every September, the AIAOC holds a gala ceremony where architects in the field submit their work for awards. Competing students also present their work at this event, earning professional experience and the excitement of networking with architects in the field. Cruz and Cheng were among the presenters and recipients of awards at the ceremony.
