Awards & Honors
SSA students win Recipe for a Room competition creating rooms for the displaced
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Jessica Nolasco M Arch '26 (above with project) and Mouhamadou Dieng B Arch '25 (below with project) are the 2024 Recipe for a Room winners.
Jessica Nolasco M Arch ’26 and Mouhamadou Dieng B Arch ’25, won the 2024 Recipe for a Room competition, which was hosted by the AIANY Interiors Committee.
The model-making contest—about building spatial, sculptural, miniature rooms—benefits Terra Firma, a New York City-based non-profit organization supporting newly arrived immigrant children and families in gaining access to quality healthcare and legal representation.
The contest asked student competitors to create a safe, temporary, portable room for two displaced persons: one parent and one child; each room had to be constructed of items one might take when leaving a previous life like a bag, coat, favorite shirt, shoes, family photos, etc. Two-person teams, each comprised of a student and architect mentor, designed portable shelters that can be folded up into suitcase-size packs.
Nolasco won in the Judge’s Favorite category for her project “In Bloom,” which was in collaboration with Samantha Josaphat-Medina, co-founder of Studio 397. Dieng won in the Audience Favorite category for his project “METROSOFT,” which was in collaboration with Nicole Vlado Torres, a fellow for Design Trust for Public Space.
SSA students Olivia Langford, MLA ’26, and Gabriel Pena, M Arch ’26, also presented their completed rooms to a live audience. Nolasco and Dieng’s projects can both be viewed here.
Ashley Arocho
p: 212.650.6460