The typical data farm’s destiny as a dreary digital fortress was reconceived as a stunning homage to the nation’s first union station by University of Maryland architecture students, “cementing” victory in an inaugural nationwide competition.
Maryland undergraduate students took first, second and third place in the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) Design Precast, beating out 16 teams with concrete creations that reflected the culture and charm of the site city, Indianapolis. The students presented their winning entries last month at the 2025 PCI National Convention.
The competition challenged teams to devise a total-precast concrete building for a fictitious client that is both artistic and reflective of the community’s culture. UMD architecture Associate Professor Michael Carlos Kleiss conceived the competition for PCI in 2023 while at Clemson University to encourage architecture students to rethink the material’s application in a creative way.
“Precast concrete can be more than an ugly gray box,” said Kleiss, whose research focuses on computation and the study of form and structure. “It’s an opportunity to challenge architects to do something really amazing.”
Precast concrete, which uses molds to manufacture walls, beams and other construction components, is a favorite in the engineering community for its durability, efficiency and sustainability. With origins dating back to ancient Rome’s maze of aqueducts, it can be found today on nearly every street corner, from high-rises and big-box stores to parking garages and schools.
On its own, precast concrete adds more “drab” than “fab” to a city’s aesthetic; but with a single mold and a little geometry, said Kleiss, the material can also be cast and constructed into endless patterns, similar to Lego bricks.
“Think about the beauty of Islamic tile—you can create the same effect with a building’s facade, but at the same time be efficient with the construction,” he said.
The first-place team’s Romanesque revival pattern, which mimics the centuries-old stained glass of Indianapolis Union Station, helped seal the win, with columns on either side emulating train tracks. The second-place team used geometric shapes to recreate the checkered flag at the city’s famed Indy 500 race while the third-place entry embedded the city’s nickname, “Indy,” into the building’s façade.
Maryland sets the tone for future competitions in concrete, where students can put creativity and technical skill to the test.
“I was familiar with concrete, but didn’t really understand the uses of it and how efficient it can be,” said architecture student Zeina Elchayeb ’25, who took second place. “I think this experience opened up so many design possibilities when considering how to work with materials.”