A team of fifth-year University of Oklahoma architecture students are winners of this year’s Student Design Competition sponsored by American Institute of Architects Central States.

The team is composed of OU students Julie Tran, Khoi Nguyen, Sam Day and Ping Lu. Assistant Professor Thomas Cline served as the faculty adviser.

The aim of this inaugural competition was the design of a travelling trophy to be awarded to future winners of the AIA Central States Emerge: Student Design Competition. The OU team’s winning design, “The Heartland Prize,” will be fabricated by the AIA Central States and will spend its first year with the OU College of Architecture.

According to the team, “The Heartland Prize” celebrates the central states’ position of being in-between. Its wind-swept form evokes not only the fickle climate but also the soaring optimism that drove the pioneers to settle in the central states. The rhythm of the copper nameplates references the stitches of the railroad across the plains that first tied the country together­­.

The AIA Central States includes Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. In addition to OU, the schools of architecture associated with AIA Central States include Iowa State University, the University of Nebraska, Kansas State University, the University of Kansas, Drury College, Washington University and Oklahoma State University.