Case names winner of competition to
design new walkway
Winning entry represents binary code used by
computers
February 11, 2005 | For more information: Jeff
Bendix (216)-368-6070
 Thomas Schultz, a Case Western Reserve University faculty member, has
been named winner of the competition to design a walkway for the space
occupied by a recently demolished university building.
Schultz, an assistant professor of accountancy in the university’s
Weatherhead School of Management, won with a design concept titled “Binary
Code.” The cash prize of $2,500 was presented by Case President
Edward M. Hundert, M.D. Schultz will also have his name incorporated
in the walkway and his design submitted to the American Society of Landscape
Architects.
The walkway will span much of the area formerly occupied by the Baker
Building on the southwest corner of Adelbert Road and Euclid Avenue
and will guide pedestrians from the Euclid/Adelbert intersection into
the heart of the Case Quad. Removing the building was part of the university’s
master plan. The walkway is part of the landscape plan designed for
the Baker site by landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh.
 “By providing another physical link between the north and south
sides of our campus and opening the design competition to all students,
faculty and staff, this walkway adds to our sense of campus-wide community,” President
Hundert said of the path.
Schultz’s design consists of a series of zeros and ones (binary
code) formed by arranging contrasting shades of paving stones. In his
application, Schultz explained that binary code makes it possible to
collect and analyze complex data. “Just as binary digits can be
reorganized and configured to represent discoveries yet to be made,
so can the people and resources of the Case community be combined to
create and sustain the most powerful learning environment in the world.
A walkway inspired by binary code offers a graphic reminder of these
possibilities.”
Margaret Carney, associate vice president for campus planning and design,
said the university received 65 entries for the competition. The judges
winnowed them to five semifinalists before selecting the winner. “The
entries came from faculty, staff and students and were all highly creative
and inspiring,” she said. “Choosing a winner was very difficult.”
Schultz, who joined the Weatherhead faculty in 2003, took some architecture
classes while an undergraduate student, but says this was his first
major design effort. “I was really surprised to learn that I’d
won because there are so many creative people on this campus,” he
explained.
Schultz says he was inspired by trying to think of something that all
parts of the university have in common. “That led me to think
about the use of computer technology for communication and research.
Computers work through a binary code system, and that made me think
the binary system would make a good design idea to work into a walkway,” he
said. Putting his ideas on paper took only a few hours, he added.
Schultz said he and his wife will probably use the prize money to begin
a college fund for the child they are expecting “any day now.”
Construction of the walkway is expected to begin in the spring.
About Case Western Reserve University
Case is among the nation's leading research institutions. Founded in 1826
and shaped by the unique merger of the Case Institute of Technology and Western
Reserve University, Case is distinguished by its strengths in education, research,
service, and experiential learning. Located in Cleveland, Case offers nationally
recognized programs in the Arts and Sciences, Dental Medicine, Engineering,
Law, Management, Medicine, Nursing, and Social Work. http://www.case.edu.
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