AIA Columbus was proud to sponsor the Best Architectural Model award at this year’s Future City Competition, celebrating the creativity, problem-solving, and design thinking of middle school students from across the region.
The Best Architectural Model award was presented to Crestview Middle School (Team A) for their project, Alethea Aliment City, with an Honorable Mention awarded to Indian Hill Middle School (Team B) for Kembria City. The projects were evaluated by judges Erin Reilly-Sanders and Sarah Bonser, both practicing architects who brought a professional design lens to the review process.
Crestview’s Alethea Aliment City thoughtfully explored city design at multiple scales. The model depicted a farm-to-table restaurant integrated into a larger megastructure, using innovative strategies such as vertical food production, rainwater collection, and a fan-powered elevator system to move food from production spaces below. An adjacent urban node featured lower-scale public buildings, seasonal climate domes, and a central water feature, all connected through visible transportation systems that emphasized sustainability and human movement.
Indian Hill’s Kembria City showcased a dynamic mix of building types, including a megablock with roof gardens and stained-glass-inspired windows surrounding a shared courtyard, alongside standalone residential, industrial, and vertical farming structures. The model stood out for its complexity and interactive elements, highlighting systems-based thinking around food production, density, and urban organization.
AIA Columbus is honored to support Future City and its mission to inspire the next generation of designers, engineers, and problem-solvers. Congratulations to the students and educators whose creativity and dedication brought these visionary cities to life.