At Hackathon ’18, a 24-hour anything goes creative problem-solving marathon set for Feb. 2–3 at the Langford Architecture Center, registered teams will vie for $5,000 in prize money while tackling issues of place, space and diversity.
Registration is underway for this popular annual interdisciplinary university-wide juried competition hosted by the Texas A&M College of Architecture Diversity Council with support from organizations across campus. There is no fee to participate in this two-day creativity fest, but registration, which includes meals, refreshments and a T-shirt, is mandatory.
“The hackathon stimulates diversity and inclusion dialogue on our campus and beyond in a creative, collaborative and interdisciplinary environment,” said Carlo Chunga, the diversity council’s undergraduate representative and an urban and regional planning major.
Teams with as many as eight members and individuals will choose to solve one of several challenges related to diversity, space and place pitched by participating campus groups at the Hackathon launch. Those entities identifying issues in need of a fix will include the Center for Disability and Development, the GLBT Resource Center, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the College of Engineering, among others.
It’s an “anything goes” competition, because there are no boundaries regarding what form or medium the solutions take. Winning submissions can be architectural or planning proposals, applications or even art.
“We are looking for innovative projects and ideas that break away from the status quo,” Chunga said.
Contest mentors will be on hand to offer advice on data mining, interpreting large datasets or just to weigh in on brainstorming and spark creative thinking. College of Architecture resources including the woodshop, large format printers, 3-D printers and laser cutters will be available to Hackathon ’18 contestants.
The event culminates with team presentations to a select jury that will choose winners in a range of categories: most daring, most critical, most creative, most engaging, most practical and people’s choice.
To keep pace of Hackathon ’18 developments, visit the event website and Facebook event page.
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Media contact: Richard Nira, architecture communications specialist, at 979-845-6863, or rnira@arch.tamu.edu; or Elena Watts, marketing and communications specialist, at 979-458-8412, or elenaw@tamu.edu.
