And the Winner is…

The third annual Next Generation® event, sponsored by Herman Miller and Maharam, occurred last night at the Art Director’s Club in New York City. Partygoers celebrated the winner of the 2006 Next Generation® Prize—architect Virginia San Fratello.

San Fratello, joined by her collaborators Ronald Rael and Isaiah Dunlap, was rewarded with $10,000 for her Big Idea, The Hydro Wall. This concept is a series of flexible sacs that store rainwater within a building’s wall. Intended for warm climates, the Hydro Wall acts as a thermal mass. Learn more about the winning team and their project in the June issue of Metropolis.

The 11 Next Generation® runners-up, listed with their Big Idea entries below, will be presented in the July issue of Metropolis and featured in issues throughout the year.

Be sure to stop by the Metropolis booth at ICFF and NeoCon to see the projects from the winner and runners-up.

Mark Oberholzer/Wittenberg Oberholzer Architects/ Collaborators—Laura Koehler, Michael Morrow: Highway Divider Wind Turbines

Sondra Frances Law/Boum Design, Inc.: UDAT2008, Accessible Aircraft Seating Systems

David Benjamin & Soo-in Yang/the Living: River Glow: A Real-time Public Interface to Water Quality

Dan Gottlieb & Penny Herscovitch/PadLab: Flexicomb: A New Up-cycled, Flexible Honeycomb Material

Pedro Campos Costa/Campos Costa Arq/Collaborators—Alessia Allegri, Marco Galofaro, Maria João Rodrigues, Ivan Giampietri Teixeira: Casa Não Casa

David Benjamin & Soo-in Yang/the Living: BCF: A CNC-fabricated structure that is cheap and fast, with no curves or facets

Lisa Iwamoto & Craig Scott/Iwamoto Scott Architecture: In-Out Curtain

Kate Wise & Anna Motzer: [surface treatment]

Gabriel Bach, Andrea Flamenco & Sara Goldsmith/Studiocycle: Blowup/Breakdown: An inflatable, biodegradable septic system

Philippe Barriere/Pb+co/Collaborators—Steve Bagwell, Clarisa Diaz, Tyler J. Marshall, Matt Pauly: MTG, Modular Transitional Growth: Expandable housing—compact unit

Fernando Romero/LAR/Collaborators—Jorge Santibá–ez, Robert Pastor, Amira de la Garza: Hyperborder 1050: The contemporary U.S.-Mexico Border and Its Future