November 14, 2022
A team of Columbia GSAPP students received first prize in the Preservation Engineering Technical Committee (PETC) Student Design-Build Competition organized as part of the Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) conference in Detroit, which took place November 7- 12, 2022. The hands-on challenge asks students to analyze an existing structure and subsequently design a structure within the specified guidelines. This is the second consecutive year GSAPP students have won the competition. Team member Winnie Michi Trujillo ’23 MSHP additionally received the Most Promising Preservationist Award. Members of the winning team, which was advised by Adjunct Assistant Professor Tim Michiels, include:
- Winnie Michi Trujillo (MSHP)
- EunJin Shin (MArch)
- Adam Oscar Brodheim (MSHP)
- Jerry Schmit (MSHP, MArch)
- Elaf Alsibyani (MSHP)
- Michelle Leach (MSHP)
- Eleanor Phetteplace (MSHP)
For the competition, the team documented and analyzed a historic timber bridge and built a timber truss bridge. This bridge, constructed using a reclaimed and salvaged old-growth white pine joist sourced from a row house in New York City, was load tested at the APT conference in Detroit.
The Association for Preservation Technology International (APT) is a multi-disciplinary, membership organization dedicated to promoting the best technology for protecting historic structures and their settings. APT members include preservationists, architects, engineers, conservators, consultants, contractors, craftspersons, curators, developers, educators, historians, landscape architects, students, technicians, and other persons directly involved in the application of methods and materials to maintain, conserve, and protect historic structures and sites for future use and appreciation.