NOMAS at UCLA takes top honors in SoCalNOMA competition

NOMAS at UCLA recently earned top prize in SoCalNOMA’s annual Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition with proposal “Restored Voids, Restored Voices.” The NOMAS at UCLA team initially presented their proposal at the annual NOMA conference in October, marking the first time that NOMAS at UCLA entered this annual competition.

NOMAS at UCLA is the student chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects, or NOMA; SoCalNOMA is the Southern California chapter of NOMA. NOMA and NOMAS chapters across the country ​​seek to advance and support the education and careers of those who have been historically under-represented in the field of architecture and allied professions.

“Restored Voids, Restored Voices” triumphed among 11 NOMAS entries in the SoCalNOMA chapter. The competition brief takes us to Portland, Oregon’s Albina neighborhood, which was the heart of the city’s Black community for much of the 20th century until aggressive redlining and displacement in the 1950s and 60s. This year’s NOMA competition asked teams to design a mixed-income residential development for the neighborhood's Williams & Russell Project, a restorative justice project that addresses systemic injustices against Portland’s Black community.

“Restored Voids, Restored Voices” proposes a mixed-use commercial and housing project, returning both shape and voice to Black-owned businesses and homes on Albina’s Hill Block–businesses and homes that were demolished under cover of urban renewal and a proposed, but never fulfilled, hospital expansion. The proposal offers a new landmark that “recalls what once existed and invites entrance into the voids,” the students write.

These voids are the spaces where commerce and families once lived; “Restored Voids, Restored Voices” reincarnates them with mini-facades in vibrant colors, creating a backdrop for murals and other community art.

“Although these buildings are no longer physically present, their memory persists,” the NOMAS at UCLA team writes. “The voids where they once stood are restored as vibrant public spaces imprinted into the massing of the project.”

The gallery of voids serves as a welcome area for first-floor retail and business space, which scales upward into terraced housing; rent-to-own housing units dispersed throughout the upper floors provide a path to home ownership and economic equity for local artists and residents. The business incubators, workforce training, and retail spaces on the first floor are tailored towards local artists and art or music organizations, with the aspiration to communicate that art not only heals and brings the community together, but also provides economic opportunity and equity for local artists.

The 2023-2024 NOMAS at UCLA team comprises Aida Shirazi, Anna Whittell, Jane Wu, Monserrat Acosta Gomez, Soha Shemirani, Wai Chi Julie Wong, and Woody Miottel. They are advised by AUD’s Vice Chair, Kutan Ayata.

NOMAS at UCLA is one of the dozens of NOMAS chapters around the country. Browse the full gallery of other Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition proposals via NOMA's website.

“Traveling to the Conference was an amazing opportunity to hear from practitioners, educators, and other students in architecture who are advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion, and to connect with our peers in the discipline,” the team writes. “We are grateful for funding from UCLA Arts that supported our conference travel, and are grateful for the support from the SoCalNOMA Chapter and NOMA National throughout the competition process.”