Modern Steel Construction • June 2021 • Printing a Winning Bridge

Established in 2018, the program recognizes visionary emerging architects for designs that embrace steel as a primary structural component and capitalize on steel’s ability to increase a project’s speed. It presents a unique opportunity to experiment with a conceptual design without boundaries on scope or complexity; the sky really is the limit here. And for the second year in a row, a bridge concept took the top prize.

The finalists for this year’s competition are rounded out by a civic mixed-use plaza and urban housing that blends in with nature. The final presentations from the 2021 Forge Prize finalists were streamed live on YouTube on March 31 and are available at youtube.com/AISCsteelTV. Each finalist won $5,000 and got to work with a steel fabricator before presenting their ideas to the judges, who selected an overall champion. The winner received a $10,000 grand prize and presented their design at the Architecture in Steel conference, which took place in conjunction with NASCC: The Virtual Conference in April (see aisc.org/nascc for more information).

“The Forge Prize competition gives younger architects a unique opportunity to develop new concepts and applications for one of the core materials of building design and construction—steel, in its many forms and manifestations,” said judge Robert Cassidy, executive editor of Building Design+Construction.

• Robert Cassidy, Executive Editor, Building Design+Construction, and Editor, Multifamily Design+Construction, Chicago.

These individuals also generously devoted their time and mentorship efforts to the program:

The 2022 Forge Prize is open for entries until November 1, 2021. Visit www.forgeprize.com for more information. Read on for descriptions and images of this year’s overall winner and the two finalists.

Hunter Ruthrauff, a senior design associate with T.Y. Lin International’s Architecture and Visualization Group (AVG) in San Diego, designed a 3D-printed steel pedestrian bridge that spans Balboa Park’s Florida Canyon. Ruthrauff chose 3D-printed steel because it offers better tensile strength than 3D-printed concrete and lessens the complexity of the design process.

Ruthrauff’s design draws on Spanish-inspired architecture in the Prado, local flora, and the nearby Cabrillo Bridge. The bridge’s organic form reflects the network of trails in Florida Canyon.

The bridge’s open deck offers uninterrupted views and some unconventional public space: large hammocks over four apertures that look down into the canyon. The project would take advantage of the unconventional shapes that are possible with 3D-printed structural steel.

Although the Forge Prize is a conceptual competition, the judges all expressed confidence that Ruthrauff’s bridge will be built someday. “I don’t think any of us have a doubt in our mind that it’s going to come together and be a catalyst for the rest of us across the country,” said Pascale Sablan, FAIA, an associate at Adjaye Associates Architects. “He really convinced us that he could actually help solve some of the infrastructure issues that are plaguing our nation.”

“Over the last 37 years since our founding, we’ve fabricated some unique and interesting projects, but the projects we’ve enjoyed most involve finding solutions to challenges created by architects’ innovative use of steel,” said STS Steel, Inc., president Glenn Tabolt, who served as Ruthrauff’s mentor during the competition. “I was not that familiar with the use of 3D printing in such a large structure, but the more I worked with Hunter and understood the technology, the more enthusiastic I became about his design.”

Mert Kansu and Yimeng Teng of VMDO Architects proposed a civic mixed-use plaza in Richmond, Va., that focuses on public engagement, community programs, and sustainability. Their design incorporates steel plates to create an expressive folding form. The folding form design of the project aligns perfectly with structural steel, with an expressive plate structure inside and decorative metal cladding on the exterior.

Together with the development of Belt Blvd., the core of the design aligns with the Richmond 300 Masterplan for walkability, connectivity, and growth. The center of the plaza remains open and accessible, as a free place for movement and expression, and surrounding the plaza is an indoor marketplace to accommodate commercial needs, a pavilion for events and future connection across Belt Blvd., a park and community program zone, and underground parking. On the very edge next to the parking entrance, a smaller structure houses changing rooms and a coffee shop and also provides electric car charging stations.

Jieun Yang, AIA, of Habitat Workshop imagined Signal Park in San Jose, Calif., a cluster of urban villages that seamlessly blend into the area’s natural landscape. The steel scaffolding structure in the park would collect and filter rainwater to be used for cooling mist stations and site irrigation.

The park is created by overlapping topographical mounds that reflect the uninterrupted vista of San Jose’s surrounding natural landscape. The project is made of layers of rings forming hills and valleys that are connected by a series of walkways, landscaped areas, cooling stations, and small and large gathering spaces. It also maintains existing amenities and monuments.

Inspired by the San Jose Electric Light Tower, a series of vertical ring ties that held together vertical scaffold structure is reimagined through a horizontal extension that envisions the full site as a must-see landmark. The scaffold structure in Signal Park not only works as a structure to create hills and valleys but also works as an environmental infrastructure, collecting and filtering rainwater used for cooling mist stations and general irrigation for the site. Low-water native plants are used throughout to minimize water use, and a balanced distribution of shaded and non-shaded spaces considers a range of thermal comfort. Low-water native plants are used throughout to minimize water use. And the scaffold structure transforms into a light source at night to provide a dramatic backdrop for the city.