Texas Tech Graduate Student Receives Award from American Institute of Architects

A graduate student in the Texas Tech University College of Architecture was recently honored by the American Institute of Architects for work that could potentially improve cities built on marshlands.

Ackerly, Texas, native Richard Lucio recently received the Student Design Honor Award from the Fort Worth Chapter of the American Institute of Architects for a proposal called “Reclaiming Urban Ecologies”.

Lucio extended his honor to Texas Tech and the College of Architecture, “Gaining recognition for Texas Tech and progressive leadership within the College of Architecture brings accolades to the potential that resides in this institution.”

The proposal focused on the area surrounding China’s Shanghai City which continues to expand into the marshlands of the Yangtze Delta. The aim of the proposal is to cleanse the polluted water of the delta through five-stage filtering process.

Lucio’s project is part of the college’s Urban Design Studio headed by assistant professor Jeffrey S. Nesbit focusing on issues facing the growing city.
Nesbit said the Huangpu River – a major tributary running through Shanghai that empties into the Yangtze Delta – is one of the most heavily polluted bodies of water in the world due to runoff human, agricultural and industrial waste. He went on to say the general population is, nevertheless, expanding into those polluted area of the Yangtze Delta.

“The primary emphasis of Richard’s proposal is to reintroduce natural marshland ecologies to cultivate landscape contexts that are native to Shanghai and demonstrates methods for natural water purification processes,” Nesbit said. “Furthermore, the proposal reinforces the argument against the drivers of capitalistic development pressures and allows for more fertile, future urban growth.”

For his part, Lucio said the award serves to further motivate him in his design endeavors, “Achieving the AIA Fort Worth Student Design Honor Award motivates an optimistic attitude on the impact I may have on the design community as I transition between my graduate studies into a professional career.”