Lyceum Competition Announces 2017 Winner

The Lyceum Fellowship named Joshua Antolovic of the University of Cincinnati as the winner of its 2017 design competition, co-chaired by Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. His prize includes a $12 thousand grant for four months of travel abroad, affording him the opportunity to experience firsthand some of the world's grandest buildings and architectural designs.

Responding to the charge of conceptualizing a public library that negotiates two levels of public access at historic Audubon Terrace, in Washington Heights, Manhattan, Antolovic’s submission, entitled “Mind the Gap,” proposed a design that “attempts to heal, rather than fix” and aims to “win the care and affection of its patrons by offering amenities for an evolving” community.

Ambikesh Mishra of Penn State University and Rachel Coulomb of the University of Cincinnati took second and third place for their submissions, “Reconstructing Associations” and “Without Within,” respectively. Alan Brooker (U. of Cincinnati), Hailey Pinkerton (U. of Cincinnati), Julian Roman-Fuentes (U. of Cincinnati), and David Sweere (U. of Arkansas) all received merit awards, while Mariela Ortiz-Perez (U. of Cincinnati) received a citation.

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, of the eponymous New York City-based practice, are the celebrated design team helming the Barack Obama Presidential Center, the planned library of the 44th President of the United States, slated for construction in Chicago’s South Side. They authored the program for this 32nd Lyceum competition, and were joined by a design jury consisting of Andrew Berman, FAIA, of Andrew Berman Architect; Karen Fairbanks, AIA, of Marble Fairbanks; Anne Rieselback, of the Architectural League of New York; and Peter N. Vincent, FAIA, of Peter Vincent Architects.

Mark Spaulding, SMMA’s Director of Design, serves on the board of the Lyceum Fellowship, which was established in 1985 by SMMA founder, Jon McKee. To date, the not-for-profit organization has sponsored the travels of more than 100 students to 58 countries around the world.