a:26:{s:9:"weblog_id";s:1:"4";s:8:"entry_id";s:3:"297";s:6:"sticky";s:1:"n";s:14:"allow_comments";s:1:"n";s:16:"allow_trackbacks";s:1:"n";s:10:"entry_date";s:19:"2008-10-26 07:50 PM";s:15:"expiration_date";s:0:"";s:23:"comment_expiration_date";s:0:"";s:8:"category";a:1:{i:0;s:1:"4";}s:9:"author_id";s:1:"2";s:10:"new_weblog";s:1:"4";s:6:"status";s:4:"open";s:14:"trackback_urls";s:0:"";s:18:"versioning_enabled";s:1:"y";s:5:"title";s:76:"Wash U. Announces Winners in  St. Francis de Sales Architectural Competition";s:9:"url_title";s:73:"wash_u_announces_winners_in_st_francis_de_sales_architectural_competition";s:6:"submit";s:6:"Update";s:11:"field_id_26";s:77:"Wash U. Announces Winners in  St. Francis de Sales Architectural Competition ";s:11:"field_ft_26";s:4:"none";s:11:"field_id_31";s:0:"";s:11:"field_id_44";s:128:"A team of six graduate architecture students has won the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts\' Community Service Competition.";s:11:"field_ft_44";s:4:"none";s:11:"field_id_28";s:64:"St. Francis de Sales, Washington University, design  competition";s:11:"field_ft_28";s:4:"none";s:11:"field_id_29";s:4642:"<p>A team of six graduate architecture students has won the Sam Fox
School of Design &amp; Visual Arts\' Community Service Competition. The
team, led by Ellen Leuenberger, and includes Denny Burke, Alexander
Harner, Michael Heller, Rachel Kerr and June Kim.<br /><br />The
competition, which includes a $300 cash prize, centered on an abandoned
8,000-square-foot children\'s theater located on the campus of St.
Francis de Sales in South St. Louis. Popularly known as \"the Cathedral
of South St. Louis,\" St. Francis de Sales has been a local landmark
since the end of the Civil War.&nbsp; Its six-building campus is listed on
the National Registry of Historic Places and includes the elegant
Gothic revival church as well as a rectory, a former convent, a
gymnasium and two former school buildings, one of which houses the
theater. <br /><br />\"The agenda for this project is to create a schematic
design proposal that can be used by St. Francis de Sales as both a
fundraising tool and as a basis for construction documents,\" said Eric
Cesal, a graduate student in architecture, who organized the
competition with classmate Ali Lang.&nbsp; \"The theater is located in a
well-preserved 19th century building.&nbsp; The historical quality of the
space, as well as its state of preservation and the enthusiasm of the
community, offers an opportunity to create something really special.\"</p>
<p><img alt=\"Saint Francis de Sales\" class=\"image-left\" height=\"397\" src=\"/images/uploads/saint-francis-de-sales.jpg\" style=\"float: left;\" width=\"266\" />Jon
R. Roche, office administrator for the church, explains that the
theater is located on the third floor of an 1888 structure that once
housed the former parish girls\' school.&nbsp; In the 1920s the theater
served as home to the Benton Park Drama Club but in the 1940s was
subdivided into classrooms, the two-story stage split horizontally by
dropped-in ceilings. The original two-story children\'s theater was
split by dropped-in ceilings, creating classroom space and the above
attic.<br />\"When you go into the attic you can still see the intricate
handwork,\" explains Roche, whose grandfather graduated from St. Francis
de Sales High School.&nbsp; \"It\'s a very beautiful space.&nbsp; At some point it
will be restored, and would certainly be great if we could use one of
the students\' designs.\" <br /><br />The competition began August 23 as a
one-day charrette (a sort of architectural brainstorming session).&nbsp;
After a brief history and tour of the site, 55 students spent five
hours developing initial concepts, which were then presented to the
competition jury.&nbsp; The jury short-listed four teams, with the fifth
team (originally an alternate) added in mid-September.&nbsp; Over the next
eight weeks, each team expanded its ideas into workable schematic
designs, detailed on a pair of 24\" x 36\" presentation boards. <br /><br />The
competition culminated Oct. 17 in a series of presentations to St.
Francis de Sales faithful, local architects and interested community
members.&nbsp; A competition jury comprised of faculty, local architects and
church leaders then convened for final judging.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The winning design, which focused on the theater\'s entry sequence,
would create a large exterior courtyard filled with organic gardens and
meeting areas.&nbsp; Pathways would direct worshippers to the church and
theater-goers to a pair of reconfigured staircases rising up to the
renovated proscenium.&nbsp; The theater itself would be designed for maximum
flexibility, with non-fixed seating and large windows creating a visual
and implied connection back to the church and the greater community. <br /><br />\"We
thought that the design proposals were all of very high architectural
design quality,\" noted jury chair Paul J. Donnelly, the Rebecca &amp;
John Voyles Professor of Architecture.&nbsp; \"The jury ultimately decided
that the winning entry should be the one that most directly addresses
the church\'s needs associated with their immediate and long planning
efforts.\" <br /><br />Bruce Lindsey, dean of the Sam Fox School\'s College
of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture &amp; Urban Design,
added that, \"the City of St. Louis has an extremely rich architectural
heritage, one that still has much to teach us.\"</p>
<p>\"As a society, I
think we sometimes forget how much architecture matters - how its
expressive and spiritual aspects can inspire us, connect us and enhance
people\'s lives,\" Lindsey continued.&nbsp; \"As architects, I think we have a
responsibility to help build communities as well as buildings.\"</p>";s:10:"category_0";s:1:"4";}