RDA News & Notes

Category: Built Projects

Ray + Hollington Team Members paddle the 100 feet distance to the finish line

Floating, Sinking, and Boat-Loads of Fun

rdAGENTS hosted its first annual Anything That Floats competition April 9, drawing seven teams consisting of architects, engineers, graduate students, and even high school students. The event, which challenged participants to build floating devices from discarded materials, took place along Buffalo Bayou at downtown’s Sesquicentennial Park.

Competing teams gathered at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, unaware of what materials they would receive to build their respective floats. Each team was allotted two 10’ lengths of 3-4” PVC pipe, two 4’ lengths of 3-4” PVC pipe, one 4’x8’ sheet of 2” foam insulation, two 3’x4’ sheets of ½” plywood, and one 6’x8’ sheet of waterproofing sheeting, all generously donated by J.E. Dunn, Gowan, Inc., and Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing. Teams, which each consisted of a maximum of five people, could bring hammers, nails, duct tape, battery-operated power tools, and any other “connecting” materials to construct their floating devices within a three-hour time frame.

Once the three-hour time was up, teams brought their floats down to the banks of the bayou where they chose two team members to paddle 100 feet to the finish line. With adrenaline racing, each team excitedly took their turn, paddling as quickly as they could amid minimal bouts of water-logging and high-energy crowd-cheering.

After the judges (rdAGENTS’ steering committee) deliberated and lunch was served by the Good Dog Hot Dogs truck, awards were distributed. Each team received a “Certificate of Buoyancy” and certain teams were recognized based on other criteria. The “Bayou Beauty” award was given to Jeff Talbott, Jose Aguilar, Jeanette Dicorcia, Hugh Yildrim, and Giang Phan for having the most aesthetically pleasing float. As the only team whose boat flipped, Rainard High School’s Alex Beck, Ellen Vaughan, Devan Mendez, and David Johnson were given the “Best Sinker” award along with floaties, as homage to their valiant effort of swimming their boat across the finish line. Rainard High’s other team, which included John Cramerus, Leighton Moreland, Micah McClimans, Daniel Rasi, and Robert Mendez took home the Grand Prize for speed with their unique aero-dynamic design.

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Jaume Plensa Lecture

Rice Design Alliance, in collaboration with Houston Arts Alliance, is pleased to announce that sculptor Jaume Plensa will lecture at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston on February 16, 2011. The lecture will be held one day after Mayor Annise Parker dedicates Plensa’s sculpture Tolerance, a seven-piece sculpture project installed along Buffalo Bayou, to the city of Houston.

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99K House Groundbreaking

Houston Mayor Bill White broke ground for the 99K House with AIA Houston, the Rice Design Alliance (RDA) and D. E. Harvey Builders on October 31. Organizers hope the house, designed by Seattle architects Hybrid / ORA (Robert Humble, Joel Egan, Ben Spencer, Owen Richards, Tom Mulica, and Kate Cudney), will help rejuvenate the area, a central goal of the Mayor’s Houston Hope program for struggling neighborhoods.

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