Caine College of the Arts courtyard winner announced
A junior majoring in landscape architecture and environmental planning took first place in the Fine Arts Courtyard design competition at a press conference Thursday morning.
Carson Lindley received a $1,750 prize and will work with professional architects to have his design implemented in the construction of the new courtyard.
“I have a few different elements as part of my design that are focused pretty much all on the students,” he said. “Some other aspects are focused more towards the Kent Concert Hall and facilitating pedestrian flows in and out of there. But, really, what my design was intended to do was to take the historic aspects of the site and combine them with more of a contemporary aspect.”
Lindley’s design also incorporates night-lighting for a more multifunctional use of the space.
The winners of the competition were announced by Ken White, dean of the College of Agriculture and Applied Science. Second place was awarded to Abram Sorensen and third place went to Seth King and Devon Gibby, who entered as a team.
Kris Kvarfordt, an adjunct professor in the department of landscape architecture and environmental planning and the competition coordinator, thanked students for embracing the challenge.
“There’s value to every single concept that was generated in the course of this project,” Kvarfordt said. “Everybody’s information that was presented was taken into account by specifically myself and ultimately the entire design team.”
Sorensen, a junior in the LAEP program who went home with $1,000 for his design, said the process required countless hours both in class and in the studio at night.
“Once we found out that we were finalists, I spent another 50 to 60 hours over the (holiday) break working on it, doing all the extra things,” Sorensen said. “Then, to present and be able to say, ‘I’m done, finally,’ was really satisfying.”
The competition, hosted cooperatively by the LAEP department and the Caine College of the Arts, began with 34 submissions in November. A panel of deans, architects and department heads narrowed it down to the six finalists in December.
White said he was happy to partner with the arts college and students for this competition because of the importance of the space in question.
“There are very few decisions that deans have to make that only take a microsecond, and this is one of them,” he said. “We agreed that, if this isn’t the heart of campus, it has to be one of the main arteries out of the heart.”
Although the finalists were all current students or alumnus of the LAEP program, Kvarfordt said the competition was multidisciplinary; students studying engineering, marketing and public relations also entered designs. Students in Dave Evans’ construction documents class also gave insight.
What began with a campaign by concerned students to save courtyard trees has now implemented a spirit for furthered student involvement on campus. Craig Jessop, dean of the Caine College of the Arts, thanked Sam Taylor, a junior in the LAEP program, for bringing the courtyard’s biology to faculty attention, leading to the competition itself.
“Immediately I knew there were issues here that needed to be addressed, and I’m so grateful to Sam for coming and talking to me about the courtyard, about the students and about student involvement,” Jessop said. “I think it’s been not only fun, but a significant impact for generations.”
White said the quality and professionalism of the designs presented made him, as a dean, “extremely proud.”
“I hope this is a model that we can use for other projects on campus, to use the tremendous skill sets of not only our faculty, but our students,” he said. “I was so blown away.”
According to Jessop, the Chase Fine Arts Center will undergo even more projects within the next few years, as it has seen few renovations since its opening in 1967. Following the construction of the new courtyard, a glass atrium will be implemented. This fall, the Morgan Theatre will be closed to renovate the old ceiling and infrastructure. The Kent Concert Hall will be remodeled the following year for the same reasons.
“In about four years, we will have this building totally revitalized for the arts,” Jessop said.
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