Home Matters® Announces Line-Up of Judges for Its Re-defining Home: Design Challenge Competition

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Home Matters®, the national movement focused on raising awareness and funds to make Home a reality for all, today announced the complete panel of judges for the Re-defining Home: A Design Challenge contest.

Re-defining Home: A Design Challenge is the first US-wide competition that aims to address one of our nation's most critical challenges: how to create affordable homes that enable every individual and community to thrive. The competition, supported by the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation and in partnership with San Francisco Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIASF), is challenging architects and designers to re-imagine the Home of the future and develop practical solutions to our nation's housing crisis. 

The five jurors, from an array of specialty backgrounds and with exceptional architectural, design and community building experience, have been selected to reflect a holistic approach to deciding the winning entries for what affordable, safe and healthy homes and communities of the future should look like. They include, in alphabetical order:

Kaid Benfield
Kaid Benfield is one of the nation's foremost authorities on how to make cities, towns, and neighborhoods work better for both people and the environment.  Kaid serves as senior counsel for environmental strategies at PlaceMakers LLC, a city and town planning consultancy working across the United States and Canada.  In addition, Kaid is a senior adviser to the Natural Resources Defense Council in Washington, DC, and he teaches law, policy, and best practices for sustainable communities at the George Washington University School of Law.  Kaid's latest book is People Habitat: 25 Ways to Think About Greener, Healthier Cities, distributed by Island Press. Kaid was named one of "the most influential people in sustainable planning and development" by the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, voted one of the "top urban thinkers" on the leading city planning website, Planetizen.com, and named "one of the top 100 city innovators worldwide" by the website Future Cities.

Brad Cloepfil
Brad Cloepfil studied architecture at the University of Oregon and Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture.  After more than a decade of work and teaching, Cloepfil founded Allied Works Architecture in 1994, as a research driven practice that works with creative and cultural clients. His firm has designed significant works such as the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, The Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis, and workspaces for Wieden+Kennedy and Pixar Animation Studios. Current projects include the Veterans' Memorial Museum in Columbus, Ohio; new studios for fashion labels Theory and Helmut Lang, and the National Music Centre of Canada, which will open in Calgary in 2016.

Tom Darden
Tom Darden is the Executive Director of the Make It Right Foundation, the organization founded by Brad Pitt to build green, affordable housing on a large scale in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, the neighborhood most devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Under Tom's leadership, Make It Right has worked with 21 pro bono architecture firms to build over 100 homes to date in the Lower 9th Ward, which has become the largest development of unique LEED Platinum houses anywhere, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. Tom continually works to fulfill Make It Right's mission to build Cradle To Cradle-inspired homes, buildings and communities for people in need.

Monica Pedersen
Monica Pedersen is an experienced interior designer and television host. She has been a judge on NBC's American Dream Builders design competition show, and a designer and host on over 90 episodes of HGTV's hit television series, Designed to Sell, 50 episodes of Bang for Your Buck, HGTV's Dream Home and Green Home Giveaways, House Hunter's Great Escapes and in appearances on NBC's Today Show, Steven and Chris, The Revolution, Steve Harvey, Fox News and WGN.  She has quickly become a nationally renowned and trusted expert in the world of home design and remodeling.

Mary Wenzel
Mary Wenzel is senior vice president and head of Environmental Affairs for Wells Fargo & Co.  In this role, Wenzel is responsible for developing strategies and driving organizational change in support of the company's sustainability efforts.  Areas of focus include environmental philanthropy, operational sustainability, environmental and social risk management, clean technology financing and lending, integration of environmental policies and process into company operations, community development initiatives and customer, and team member engagement, among others.

Dave Brown, CEO of Home Matters said, "These esteemed judges will help determine the future of affordable housing. By introducing a bold new approach, the Home Matters movement hopes to spark a powerful public dialogue to address one of our nation's toughest challenges: making Home a reality for all Americans."

Architects and designers can submit their entries at www.HomeMattersAmerica.com/design Submission deadline is May 1^st.

About Home Matters®
The Home Matters® (www.HomeMattersAmerica.com) movement was launched in 2013 by a group of visionary housing professionals and leaders that identified a gap in public discourse. Fundamental social challenges in our nation – from health to education, to public safety, the economy and individual success – all have a common denominator: their connection to Home. With a high-level, holistic approach to housing, Home Matters underlines the link between Home and these core societal issues such as health, education, safety, individual success and the economy.

About The Re-defining Home: Design Challenge Partners
16 architectural & design partners and organizations are supporting this this competition - from our lead partner AIA SF to AIA Atlanta, AIA Austin, AIA Chicago, AIA Denver, AIA Dallas, AIA Los Angeles, AIA New Orleans, AIA Northern Virginia, American Architecture Foundation, Autodesk Foundation, Boston Society of Architects/AIA, Enterprise Community Partners, Public Architecture, SPUR and the Urban Land Institute.

SOURCE Home Matters

Related Links

http://www.HomeMattersAmerica.com