Maryland Terps and Texas A&M Aggies Team up in Challenge to Revitalize a Corner of D.C.
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Photos by Jelena Djakovic.
How do you create more foot traffic in a slice of downtown Washington, D.C. that has seen more retreat than feet—first emptying after the pandemic, and now with a shrinking federal workforce?
Maybe by offering more places to walk, with an arching pedestrian bridge that circumvents the busy arteries of the city. Or creating places to rest, like on swings undulating from winding, lush trellises.
Or maybe by bridging the human experience, with an expansive canopy echoing the capital’s cherry blossom trees that stretch across intersections and offer spaces to gather. It was this design that captured the judges’ attention—and a $3,000 prize—in the eighth annual Harold Adams Interdisciplinary Charrette for Undergraduates.
Roughly 50 undergraduates from Texas A&M (TAMU) and the University of Maryland (UMD) teamed up last week in the 48-hour design challenge, which this year re-envisioned two triangular swaths of concrete just south of Dupont Circle as beacons for connection and community.
“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had as an architecture student,” said Evelyne Sokhon ’27. “Being immersed in the context helped us truly understand what, who and why we design for.”
A charrette is an intensive, collaborative design workshop that typically takes place over hours or a few days to spur possibilities for a space, and this one was no different: With a site overview on morning day one, the teams raced to reimagine, conceive and present their finished plans to a jury by the end of day two.
A Texas A&M graduate and early faculty member of Maryland’s Architecture Program, Harold Adams, FAIA devised the charrette eight years ago to promote and encourage interdisciplinary learning. This year’s competition, held for the first time in D.C., mixed undergraduate students in architecture, real estate, landscape architecture, construction and more to solve a design challenge with the help of mentors from virtually every sector of the built environment.
Dawn Jourdan, dean of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, was Adams’ mentee and friend until he died in 2022 and co-led the competition during her tenure at TAMU. She said that bridging two schools satisfies more than Adams’ interdisciplinary vision.
“Harold was the champion of interdisciplinary learning. But these students also forged friendships and gained experiences that I hope they will carry with them throughout their lives" said Jourdan.
Below, follow the eight student teams through 48 hours of discovery, connection, learning and success:
Day 1: Lindsey May, associate dean of academic affairs and strategic initiatives at the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, introduces the design prompt. Students had less than two days to devise a plan to transform a section of D.C.’s “Golden Triangle” neighborhood, a once-bustling part of the city’s business district, into a vibrant public space for D.C. workers and residents.
Harold Adams's daughter, Abigail Adams Brigstocke, and son-in-law Richard Brigstocke (center) joined faculty and staff from UMD and TAMU to cheer on students throughout the charrette. It’s the first time the event has been hosted in Washington, D.C., and the third time the University of Maryland has participated.
Teams conducted site surveys of the two small parks that flank the intersection of Connecticut and Rhode Island avenues. While keeping the site’s monuments—one of poet Henry Longfellow and another honoring Civil War nurses—was a competition requirement, students could move or manipulate them as part of their final design. Walking paths, seating, performance space and a food kiosk were also on the short list of features judges wanted to see in the final renderings.
“I learned about the different scales at which people operate and see the world,” said Maryland architecture student Francesca Ly ’27 (far left), who compared the experience to a buzzing hive of bees. “Being in architecture, many of us like to focus on the details of our design, and so it was a complete game changer to see other majors at work. We bonded through challenges and our ability to not only give ideas but also step back to listen to each other’s.”
Using a variety of tools—from ink and graph paper to AI rendering and video tools—students worked well into the evening hours to conceptualize design ideas that would resonate with the judges, but also represented their common vision. “It’s equally as much about learning as it is about collaboration,” said May. “The students were able to find their voice and together build one strong narrative. It’s the nature of our work, and we take it for granted how hard it is.”
Each of the eight teams presented to a jury in the final hours of the competition. The winning team delivered a visually stunning structure and ample space for gathering among the surrounding buildings of D.C.’s downtown. Dedicated to Christina Garrett, an unhoused resident in the district, they hoped their concept would unite, celebrate and honor the community in a central public realm. “As the social divide continues to grow, the canopy heals the fracture in the urban divide by literally and metaphorically bridging the gap,” she said.
The winning team from left to right: Elliot Genus, Simon Granados, Ava Follis, Alden Schutz, Isabella Woodhead and Evelyne Sokhon, with juror Anna Muessig (far left).
