Twelve New York Tech undergraduate architecture students competed in the 2025 Barbara G. Laurie (BGL) Student Design Competition sponsored by the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA).
NOMA student members from the Long Island and New York City campus chapters collaborated to present their project at the 2025 NOMA Conference in Kansas City, Mo., in October.
Students were asked to propose a model for housing in Kansas City that prioritizes those made more vulnerable by generations of racialized disinvestment. Participants were able to situate their proposal in Kansas City, Mo., or Kansas City, Kan.
The New York Tech team chose Kansas City, Kan. The city has endured a history of racial and economic segregation, as well as abandoned properties and poverty due to the construction of the I-70 and I-435 highways. Along with those issues, education inequalities also formed.
The group’s “Mosaic of Generations” project seeks to heal those wounds by focusing on three key pillars: educational support systems that fill critical gaps, community-centered multi-generational housing, and cultural and community spaces that bring people together. The design redefines the foundation of learning, reimagining “building blocks” not only as physical structures but as a connection between generations, where multigenerational housing and educational spaces come together to shape a future-ready community.
“Through this project, I learned that meaningful design begins with listening to the community and seeing the social, cultural, and historical context behind a place,” says Amna Kasi, vice president of the NOMA Long Island chapter. Working on a community-based project showed me how architecture can move beyond aesthetics to address real needs, nurturing inclusion and creating lasting impact.”
Adds Jaden Lazaro, “Researching and experiencing stakeholders and supportive community-oriented organizations challenged me to be more intentional, accountable, and responsive in our design decisions. It became clear that community-centered work has the power to create spaces that are not only functional but empowering to the neighborhood.”
The team’s hard work earned them a place in the top 16 out of 32 schools.
“I am so proud of our team for their commitment to this project,” says Emily Mejia, president of the NOMA Long Island chapter and codirector of the BGL competition. “We started it during the spring semester of 2025 and continued until the end of October. We all had to juggle constant deadlines for this project and our own classes, and it really shows how committed everyone was.”
New York Tech architecture students who worked on the project:
- Lillian Ayodele
- Lucia Bauman
- Josh Carrion
- Annabel Espinal
- Amna Kasi
- Jaden Lazaro
- Bruno Lora
- Emily Mejia
- Andreanna Moustakis
- Brianna Rodriguez
- Jaivir Singh
- Brandon Vasquez
Emily Mejia contributed to this article.
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