For immediate release
June 29, 2004
Contact: Gus Edwards
Alexandria, Va., June 29 — Students at Virginia Tech’s Department of Landscape Architecture in Blacksburg, Va., captured two of the top three prizes in the 2004 Annual Student Competition in Landscape Architecture sponsored by NSSGA in cooperation with the American Society of Landscape Architects. A team from North Dakota State University in Fargo finished second.
The competition, now in its twenty-ninth year, is sponsored annually in an effort to encourage a free exchange of information and ideas on reclamation and beautification between aggregate company operators and students in landscape architecture, according to NSSGA President Joy Wilson.
“We were fortunate to have exceptionally strong entries this year,” said NSSGA President and CEO Joy Wilson. “The creative talent and energy that goes into these designs is something to behold. They show that former aggregates operations can have a second extremely useful and contributory life in the communities they serve.”
Submitted by juniors Nathan Brown, Brandon Cappellari and Jeremy Hinte, the winning entry transformed the Galax Quarry in Galax, Va., into a unique community space featuring recreation areas, apple orchards and a rustic B&B. The students worked under the guidance of Professor Patrick Miller.
Taking second place was a submission by North Dakota State seniors Jennifer Holien, Amanda Prosser and Melissa Schlukebier that turns a Minnesota aggregates operation into a performing arts camp. The students worked under the guidance of Professor Angela Hansen.
Third place went to Kate Belski, Jon Hershey and Andrea Smith, juniors at Virginia Tech. Their entry proposed converting a Wythe, Va., quarry into an ecological research center. Professor Miller also guided this team.
The first place award carries with it a prize of $3,400, second place receives $1,600 and third gets $1,000. The winning students and their schools share the prize money. A panel of judges selected the winning submissions from among eight entered by teams from architecture schools across the United States.
Based near the nation’s capital, NSSGA is the world’s largest mining association by product volume. Its member companies represent more than 90 percent of the crushed stone and 70 percent of the sand and gravel produced annually in the U.S. and approximately 120,000 working men and women in the aggregates industry. During 2003, a total of about 2.66 billion metric tons of crushed stone, sand and gravel, valued at $14.4 billion, were produced and sold in the United States.
© 2004 National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association