2009 McKinley House Competition

Architecture Competition

The McKinley House Competition was the first architectural competition held by the Buffalo Chapter of the AIA in association with a local building-construction-themed high school, McKinley High. The school had been using their specialized curriculum to build modular homes for their community for three years and in 2009, decided to involve architects.

Our project took the position that the seam - the place where two halves of a modular home, so carefully concealed - was the very thing that made the modular home of lower social stature than the in situ home. Instead of attempting to mask the seam, we exaggerated it, turning it into the home's central, light filled passage. This stood in stark contrast to the front elevation which caricaturized the simple and pervasive pentagon diagram of the domestic unit.

Peter and I chose to revisit the project several months later as part of our environmental technologies course, in order to create a space bathed in natural light. This project allowed us to refine the design submitted for the competition with sustainable practices as the forefront, while maintaining and even strengthening the project intentions.

• When

  May 2009, November 2009

• The Team

  Brian Blankinship
  De Peter Yi - Visit Peter's Portfolio (It's Awesome)

• Tools

  Building Information Modelling - Autodesk Revit Architecture
  Graphics - Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Watercolor Painting
  Physical Modelling - Basswood, Museum Board