Administered by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the program challenges architecture students, working individually or in teams, to explore a variety of design issues related to the use of steel in design and construction. A total of US$14,000 in cash prizes was awarded to the winning students and their faculty sponsors.
 
Students submitted designs in two categories that required steel to be used as the primary structural material and with special emphasis placed on innovation in steel design. The Border-Crossing category challenged students to design a border-crossing station sited on a boundary between two countries. (Steel offers great benefits in this endeavor, as it allows for longer spans and more creativity.) In the Open Category, students were given the flexibility to select a site and building program that included at least one long-span steel structure.
 
Here are the winners for each category: 

Category I – Border-Crossing Station

First Place: “Kygyzstan-China Border Crossing”
School: City College of New York
Students: Donovan Dunkley, Vail Nuguid and Alexia Sanchez
Faculty Sponsor: Martin Stigsgaard
First Place: Interjection
School: Ryerson University
Student: Kyle Marren
Faculty Sponsor: Kendra Schank Smith

Third Place: Threshold Amplified
School: Catholic University of America
Students: Jorge Cornet, Adam Schroth and Thomas Soldiviero
Faculty Sponsor: David Dewane
Honorable Mentions:
Ambos Nogales
School: University of Maryland
Student: Katarina Svensson
Faculty Sponsor: Christopher Pfaeffle
Bridging the Border
School: Virginia Tech
Student: Andres Garza
Faculty Sponsor: Patrick Doan

Orbis
School: Rochester Institute of Technology
Student: Mingbo Peng
Faculty Sponsors: Alissa de Wit-Paul and Jules Chiavaroli
Smart Door-Sculpture in the Landscape
School: City College of New York
Student: Joan Batlle
Faculty Sponsor: Joan Krevlin
Category II – Open
First Place: Searching for Daylight in a Diagonal Urban Grid
School: North Carolina State University
Student: Zahra Hosseinabadi
Faculty Sponsor: Jeffrey Wayne Place
Second Place: Emergence: A Center for Astronomy Discovery Spaces
School: Louisiana Tech University
Student: Colton Stevenson
Faculty Sponsor: Kevin J. Singh
Third Place: Engage: Seattle Greyhound Bus Station
School: University of Washington
Student: Kelly McCain 
Faculty Sponsor: Richard Mohler

Honorable Mentions:
in DEEPWATER
School: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
Student: Mark Mulhair
Faculty Sponsor: Karen Lange
Kansas City Convention Center
School: University of Kansas
Student: Jonathan Crookham
Faculty Sponsor: Alejandro Ogata
Teatro Piazza Santa Monica
School: Woodbury University
Students: Marilyn Chavarria and Maria Petrova
Faculty Sponsor: Jay W. Nickels
 
Nearly 350 project submissions from more than 1,100 students were received for this year’s steel design competition, and more than 100 faculty members served as student advisers. In total, 63 universities from across North America took part.
 
Next year, the ACSA/AISC Steel Design Student Competition celebrates its 15th anniversary. The full program for the 2014-2015 competition is now available at www.acsa-arch.org/programs-events/competitions/2014-2015-steel.