Arts and Humanities People and Community

Dean Plater-Zyberk Helps Select Winners of Competition on Redesign of Haitian Cathedral

Puerto Rican architect Segundo Cardona and a team from his firm are winners of a competition in which entrants submitted drawings for the design and rebuilding…

Puerto Rican architect Segundo Cardona and a team from his firm are winners of a competition in which entrants submitted drawings for the design and rebuilding of the Haitian Cathedral, which was destroyed during the 2010 earthquake. Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, dean of the University of Miami’s School of Architecture, led a six-panel jury that selected the winners. Judging took place at the School of Architecture on December 17 and 18. 

Cardona’s design was one of 134 submitted to the jurors. His team designed a structure that combined traditional designs with modern details. The design features a rose-window façade—a feature of the original cathedral—as well as a new circular building that wraps around the cathedral.

 The winning team will receive a cash prize of $12,000. A team of Mexican architects led by Diego Ramos won second place, which included an $8,000 cash prize. Third place went to a team of seven Miami architects led by Steven Fett, an adjunct faculty member at the School of Architecture. They received $5,000.

 Other judges in the competition included Patrick Delatour, architect and former minister of tourism for Haiti; Michael Crosbie, architect and editor in chief of Faith and Form; Kia Miyamoto, structural engineer with Miyamoto International; Father Richard Vosko, a liturgical consultant and designer from Clifton Park, New York; and Edwidge Danticat, an award-winning Haitian-American writer based in Miami.