Collegiate Times

Marisa Brown had the winning architecture design.

Marisa Brown, a third-year architecture student at Virginia Tech's School of Architecture and Design, won this year's Virginia Society American Institute of Architects prize.

Third- through fifth-year architecture students from Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and Hampton University were invited to travel to Fort Monroe to compete in the weekend-long competition, where they had to create a project recognizing the history of slavery. Each school picked its top students to compete, resulting in 21 finalists chosen to compete for the VSAIA's top prize.

Fort Monroe in Hampton, was a safe haven for escaped slaves during the Civil War and was nicknamed "Freedom's Fortress," as any slave who sought refuge there would be considered free.

Tech chose its finalists by setting up a panel of three judges to review the project boards students had submitted and narrowing down their choice to the seven students.

Brown was one of the students selected to represent Virginia Tech, and she spent her weekend in Hampton revamping a pre-existing bridge on Fort Monroe to show how enslaved people would have traveled through to seek safety within the fort.

"The Fort was surrounded by a moat, and I put up lights and trees on and around a bridge there, showing how people would have gone through," Brown said.

Her metaphoric project was selected as the winner, and for her efforts she received a certificate of recognition and $1,500. Brown was made the first third-year student to receive the honor.

"It was kind of a shock and pretty cool because it wasn't just a competition for my year, and it wasn't just Virginia Tech students who participated," Brown said.

Marcus Brown, assistant professor of architecture and Marisa Brown's instructor this semester, said he was excited to hear about her win.

 "It's always good for the school to win awards outside of the university; it adds to the awareness about our program," he said.

VSAIA is a professional organization for architects that focuses on continuing education for licensure, holding seminars and conferences and introducing current students to the professional side of architecture. They sponsor events such as the Fort Monroe competition to promote architecture within the state and to recruit students, providing opportunities for the future.

Tim Colley, the secretary of the Blue Ridge chapter of the VSAIA and class of '94 graduate of Virginia Tech's School of Architecture and Design, noted that his chapter works closely with Virginia Tech to celebrate and promote architecture.

"We co-sponsor lectures with Virginia Tech every year to promote architecture and reinforce the relationship that we have with the school," Colley said. "We have a very good connection with what was voted as the number one undergraduate program in the nation for architecture."