June 3, 2025
By Alfred State Spokesperson Paul Welker
Third-year Alfred State architecture students studying at the Sant’Anna Institute in Sorrento, Italy, participated in the eighth annual HOME Competition developed and coordinated by architect and author Duo Dickinson, FAIA. Ella Brenner (Eden, NY) and Mason Myers (Richmond, VA) came away from the competition with honors.
The HOME Competition drew more than eighty entries from programs across the world. The free event features a mid-competition review by multiple critics before judging. In an hour-long online program, Dickinson reviewed each of the submissions in detail and identified the top student projects.
Brenner was recognized with the Layering Award in the competition for her entry “Pointing Forward and Moving Ahead.” Brenner’s proposal, located on the Bay of Naples, Italy, was a colorful composition of four high-bay shipping containers of varied sizes. Three units were arranged around a central circulation core to form a Villagio di Piccolo Casa or Micro House Village.
Mason Myers (Richmond, VA), earned honorable mention recognition for his submission “Boardwalk Container Homes.”
Hosted by Duo Dickinson and co-sponsored by Building Beauty, The HOME Competition featured participants from the University of Hartford, San Francisco University, Alfred State, Ball State University and Universidade do Vale do Itajaí in Brazil. For more information about the competition visit: https://www.buildingbeauty.org/home-summary
Now in its 16th year, Studio Sorrento at the Sant’Anna Institute is directed by Professor William Dean, AIA. The program is open to Alfred State architecture students in their third year of study and provides participants a unique opportunity for a spring semester experience that includes courses in Urban Sketching & Journaling, Italian, and Archeology in addition to the design studio.
