John Poros, AIA associate professor in the School of Architecture and the director of Carl Small Town Center (CSTC), recently presented a session on his research on rural sustainability at the American Planning Association’s national conference held on April 15, 2013, in Chicago, Ill.  Poros’ session was attended by more than 200 participants and was selected as the Small Town and Rural Planning session for the year.

Jane Britt Greenwood, AIA associate professor, has received a personal invitation from the Gyumri Mayor in Armenia to help celebrate the city’s new declaration as “Commonwealth of Independent States [CIS] cultural capital.” Mayor Samvel Balasanyan asked Greenwood to be a part of various cultural events that will begin on June 1, 2013. Greenwood began research in Gyumri in 2007 with a grant from the Earthwatch Institute and later continued her work as a Fulbright Scholar.

Alexis Gregory, AIA received $1,140 from the National Center for Intermodal Transportation for Economic Competitiveness (NCITEC) to fund research and design for an international competition for an intermodal transit station in Tirana, Albania.  In March 2013, students in the Habitat Prototype House elective course, taught by Assistant Professor Alexis Gregory, received third place in the Community Engagement division of the 2013 Mississippi State University Undergraduate Research Symposium. Adam Trautman, a senior in the Building Construction Science Program, presented the project, “Elevating Habitat: Service-Learning in Design and Construction.” Third-year architecture students Melinda Ingram, Jacob Johnson, Alex Reeves and Mark Riley also worked on the project. Professor Gregory, along with Assistant Professor Jonathon Anderson of the University of North Carolina Greensboro had an article, “Educating ‘Architects’ Within and Beyond the Digital World: A Studio Exploration of Physical Realization through Digital Fabrication,” published in d3:dialog>assemble international journal of architecture + design.

Hans Herrmann, AIA assistant professor, delivered the opening lecture for Clemson University’s spring lecture series, “Southern Roots + Global Reach.” His lecture, “Opportunist[eth]ic” covered his professional development over the past 10 years and how opportunism and ethics have had an influence on his design practice and teaching pedagogy.

The Green Building Technology Demonstration Pavilion project was realized under the guidance of landscape architecture professors W. Cory Gallo, ASLA, and Brian Tempelton, ASLA, and architecture assistant professor Hans Herrmann, AIA. The project demonstrates ecological building and site design principles. The project received over $50,000 in private and public material and funding donations. It is featured by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) as a 2013 Year of Public Service Project and most recently was awarded an American Society of Landscape Architects, Mississippi Chapter, Merit Award.

Todd Walker, FAIA, principal partner in the Memphis firm archimania, was named the School’s Eminent Architect of Practice for the Spring semester. Todd lectured and co-taught in the 3rd year Brick Industry Association funded-studio.

The School of Architecture was invited by Richard Ramsey, the director of the Howlin’ Wolf Blues Society to design a Museum to honor the legendary and seminal blues musician who was born in West Point, Mississippi. This project (undertaken by the 4thyear capstone studio w/ Associate Professor Jane Britt Greenwood, AIA, and Assistant Professor Hans Herrmann, AIA) will be critical to the future design, urban planning, and programming of the actual project.

The School of Architecture and Department of Building Construction Science are proud to announce that through the efforts of their faculty and administration they have been awarded $200,000 in Hearin Foundation Grant Funding to support continued research and development of the “Collaborative Studios: Integrated Learning Toward An Integrated Practice.”  The pedagogical research and course development is being undertaken this summer by four faculty including Assistant Professor Alexis Gregory, Assistant Professor Hans C. Herrmann, Assistant Professor Tom Leathem (Building Construction Science), and Assistant Professor Emily McGlohn.