Congratulations to WAF Student Charrette Winner Thy Nguyen!

Thy Nguyen, an architectural intern at Number TEN, attended the 2025 World Architecture Festival Student Charrette in Miami with a team from the University of Manitoba (see below for the full list of team members/advisors). Their presentation built upon Thy’s masters thesis project, Sponge by the Forks.

• Team members: Thy Nguyen, Dominico Obmerga, Joanna Babadillia, Natalie Bajet, and Dallin Chicoine
• Advisors: Neil Minuk and Brian Rex

Sponge by the Forks originally explored how a sponge system can clean polluted runoff and restore the relationship between people and water at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, in direct response to Winnipeg’s combined sewer overflow and sediment-heavy river conditions. For the charrette, the team was asked to design a significant addition to this project within only three days. They pushed the idea further by looking at something most sponge systems ignore: the sediment collected in wetlands and ponds. The team proposed turning this material into porous sediment bricks – an educational, visible and circular way to show the full life cycle of water on the site. It became a playful extension of the original project, and it eventually won the charrette.

Her project Sponge by the Forks was featured in the October 2025 edition of the Canadian Architect magazine. This also awarded Thy Nguyen the 2025 Canadian Architect Student Award of Merit.

Join us in congratulating Thy on these incredible achievements!