---
title: "In 24 Hours, Six Campus Sites Reimagined"
date: 2022-04-04T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/placehack"
section: Articles
---
# In 24 Hours, Six Campus Sites Reimagined

*April 4, 2022* — by [Maggie Haslam](/author/maggie-haslam)


> Students Converge at UMD’s First Placemaking Hackathon to Brainstorm New Function, Beauty for Familiar Spaces

*Place Hack IMG 5562 1920x1080 — From left, teammates (and roommates) Eva Sanchez, Casey Donner and Delaney Accomanco crank out their plan to reinvigorate the Discovery District's ArtWalk at this weekend's inaugural PlaceHack. Below, Yash Agarwal (with pointer) and his teammate Chelsea Patterson present their vision for the College Park City Hall plaza. Their team's members met only two days before the competition but “vibed immediately,” Agarwal said.*

What if student artwork could be displayed, gallery-style on wide panels, along the high-traffic outdoor staircase flanking UMD’s Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology Building and Campus Drive, bringing the beauty and wonder conceived inside dramatically out on view?

This clever concept wasn’t cooked up by a team of award-winning designers, but the work of five undergraduates majoring in architecture, computer science, Spanish and mechanical engineering, developed over 24 hours and powered by pizza and Sour Patch Kids. The group was one of nine to nab $1,000 in prize money this weekend during the University of Maryland’s first 24-hour hackathon dedicated to devising great campus spaces.

Sponsored by Terrapin Development Company, the real estate and economic development entity created by UMD and the University of Maryland College Park Foundation. and the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (MAPP), PlaceHack challenged teams of undergraduate students to reshape an underused place in College Park into an engaging, inclusive community asset.

Campus administrators and College Park stakeholders offered six very different sites for the students to tackle: the southwest corner of the Stamp Student Union, destined for one of five UMD Purple Line stops; the underused “Artwalk” park near the university’s Discovery District; the promenade between Baltimore Avenue and Ritchie Coliseum; the plaza in front of the new College Park City Hall; a stretch of concrete under the School of Public Health’s 115-foot overhang; and the exterior, blank canvas of the Mitchell Art-Sociology Building.

“Inside the Parren J. Mitchell building is some of the most visually stunning, interdisciplinary and socially conscious work being done on this campus,” said Patrick Warfield, director of the university’s Arts for All initiative at PlaceHack’s Friday night kickoff. “But if you were to drive past that building or step off one of the dozens of buses that stops there daily, you would have no idea.”



*Students explain blueprint of their design at PlaceHack competition*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Architecture](https://today.umd.edu/topic/architecture), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-architecture-planning-and-preservation)