On February 23, 2013, the Town of Newbern celebrated the opening of the Newbern Town Hall, the second civic building planned for Newbern since Rural Studio began. Rural Studio student design team of Brett Bowers, David Frazier, Mallory Garrett, and Zane Morgan worked with the Town of Newbern, Mayor Woody Stokes, the Town Council, and the Newbern Volunteer Fire Department to design a civic campus. The Newbern Town Hall joins the Fire Station, designed and built by Rural Studio in 2005.

The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture would like to congratulate the winners of the Alabama Council AIA 2013 State Design Awards for their contributions to architecture in Alabama. The design jury chose six winners, which included firms led by APLA alumni and faculty. The work was recognized as some of the “best and brightest in architecture” (www.aiaalabama.org). Alumni projects recognized in the design awards included: Spring House Restaurant by Dungan Nequette (Honor Award); AUM Wellness Center by Infinity Architecture (Merit Award); Silverock Thunderhouse by Dungan Nequette (Merit Award); Morgan Loft by Anderson Nikolich Design Initiative (Merit Award); Burkhalter Residence Krumdieck A+I Design (Honorable Mention). Auburn faculty work recognized included Rane Memorial Mausoleum by Behzad Nakhjavan Studio. Nakhjavan is professor and chair of the architecture program at APLA.

Asma Shaikh, a graduate student of the Master of Community Planning (MCP) program, has been selected for the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association (ALAPA) Individual Student Award by for the “Village Mall Parking Utilization Study.” Asma conducted the study as part of the Transportation and Mobility class led by Prof. Sweta Byahut during fall semester 2013. Bachelor of Architecture (BArch)/Master of Community Planning (MCP) dual degree students Nick Vansyoc and Joshua Vickers won the ALAPA Award for Distinguished Student Leadership. Nick and Josh are working together on a “joint” thesis project located in down town Montgomery, Alabama; led by Prof. Magdalena Garmaz (ARCH) and advisor Prof. John Pittari (MCP).

Students from Auburn University’s Masters of Real Estate Development program (MRED) are working with business owners in the Avondale area of Birmingham, Alabama to explore development possibilities. Led by Prof. Ben Farrow (McWhorter School of Building Science) and adjunct instructor Ben Wieseman (with the KPS Group in Birmingham), the students are looking at two sites in the neighborhood for potential investment. The students will focus on design and construction issues for their sites as well as the financial needs of their proposed development, while attempting to capitalize on the sites’ unique cultural and developmental history. (from “Auburn Takes Avondale”, Neighborhood News, Rev Birmingham)

The School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (APLA) recently hosted a group of four students and two faculty from Hannam University (HNU) in Daejeon, Korea. The delegation, on a tour of the US came to Birmingham, Alabama to tour the Urban Studio, local sites of interest, and the professional design offices of Williams Blackstock, Davis Architects, Krumdieck A+I, and GA Studio.