The Prospects2 competition had more than a 29-percent increase in submissions this year than its inaugural contest last year.
Prospects2 is a student group founded to challenge the University community to rethink how space is used on campus.
This year the group held a contest, asking for design proposals for the sixth residential college.
From more than 60 initial entries, a committee of students selected 13 semifinalists who will now elaborate on their proposals and present them before a prize jury on April 13. The final selection committee will consist of students, administrators, faculty and architects, said Harris Ford '02, co-coordinator of Prospects2.
The organizers of the competition, founder Steve Caputo '01, Ford and Megan Kelly-Sweeney '02, said they were pleased with the turnout.
The plans submitted for the competition ranged greatly in content, Ford said. Some entrants surveyed students in residential colleges, while others combined preferred aspects of each existing residential college into one proposal.
Entries ranged from a description of positive and negative aspects of residential college life to more technical blueprints.
"We received a lot of rigorous site studies and site plans," Ford said. Even the list of semifinalists shows variety. Four of the 13 semifinal proposals were submitted by graduate students, and one proposal was entered by two alumni.
The key quality the panel looked for in an entry was "potential," Ford said.
"We wanted something that was innovative, thoughtful . . . [and demonstrated] thinking on a lot of different scales," he explained.
One semifinalist Melanie Velo-Simpson '04 said her proposal was based on using materials that are "environmentally friendly."
The University spends a lot of money in the development of technology, she said, and her ideas would be "a chance to put the technology into practical application."
Another semifinalist Joshua Schulman '04 said his main focus was "creating spaces that were really multifunctional and that would be attractive to undergraduates and graduate students."
Schulman proposed several ideas including a convertible performance space and a special arrangement of dormitories.
His plan, he said, would allow for more interaction between underclassmen, upperclassmen and graduate students and create a "mixed feeling" while allowing each group to feel comfortable individually.
Schulman said he entered the contest because it intrigued him and gave him a chance to be creative.
"I just liked the idea that I could really get imaginative with this," he said, "and that someone would listen and take my suggestions seriously."
Prospects2 will award about $10,000 in prizes to the winners, who will be announced April 13.
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