SAMARA House Survey Wins National Architectural Honors

Architecture students from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis have placed third in The National Parks Service’s 2021 Charles E. Peterson Prize Competition.

Presented annually by the Park Service’s Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP)— in coordination with The Athenaeum of Philadelphia, the American Institute of Architects, and the Association for Preservation Technology International—the Peterson Prize celebrates the best measured drawings prepared to HDP standards and donated to HDP by students.

The Sam Fox School team, which will receive a $2,000 award, was recognized for its digital survey of Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic SAMARA House in West Lafayette, Indiana. Completed in 1956 for Purdue professor John Christian and his wife, Catherine, the house takes its name from the winged seeds found in pinecones, which Wright spotted while visiting the heavily wooded property. The natural motif is reflected throughout the home’s design elements, including its clerestory windows and interior furnishings, which also were designed by Wright.

Work encompassed a series of advanced architecture and engineering technologies, including 3D scanning, ground penetration radar, and mixed reality (which overlays computer-generated images onto real-world environments). The final analysis will be incorporated into the Library of Congress’ Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS).

The team was led by Hongxi Yin, the InCEES associate professor in advanced building systems and architectural design, who organized the project in partnership with Indiana Landmarks, BuildingPoint Midwest, Harboe Architects, and the SAMARA House Foundation. Eric Mumford, the Rebecca and John Voyles Professor of Architecture, and Bob Moore, senior lecturer, served as consultants. Assistant professor Meghan Kirkwood served as photography consultant.

The early stage digital survey team included Sam Fox School students Dennis Dine and Wenzhao Zhang, as well as faculty and graduate students from Purdue University’s programs in geomatics and construction management. Team members for the measured drawings included the Sam Fox School’s Raquele Cardozo, Xiaofei Feng, Wenfei Gu, Yuanwan Huang, Huzefa Jawadwala, Junhao Li, Patrick Murray, Rubo Sun, Naitian Tian, Yixuan Wang, Bing Zhao, and Xinrui Zhang.

The Peterson Award will be presented during a virtual ceremony held October 27 as part of the Association for Preservation Technology annual conference. In conjunction with the ceremony, the SAMARA team will present a one-day pop-up exhibition featuring drawings, photographs, and pictures from their work in the Sam Fox School’s Weil Hall Commons on October 27. For more information about the prize, visit nps.gov.