Page 112 – Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture

University at Buffalo, SUNY

Brian Carter was a contributing author to the 4th Edition of Rough Guide to Sustainability – A Design Primer recently published by the RIBA. Professor Carter has also been invited to join a team of architects, engineers and clients exploring the use of concrete in modern architecture. The first meeting will be held at St. Johns College, Oxford.

Mark Shepard contributed an essay to Harvard Design Magazine‘s issue on Urbanism’s core (HDM 37), titled “Beyond the Smart City: Everyday Entanglements of Technology and Urban Life.” This issue is the third in a series addressing disciplinary cores in architecture, landscape architecture and urbanism respectively. “In contrast to architecture and landscape architecture, however, urbanism is a synthetic field, subsuming not only the discipline of planning and the practice of urban design but also concepts of the relationship between them. These three issues will help instigate new disciplinary methods and domains of investigation.” (Mostafavi, HDM 35)

Harry Warren designed a Music School at Onondaga Community College while a Design Principal at Cannon. The project was recently finished and won a Design Honor Award from the WNY AIA.

In January, Christopher Romano and Nicholas Bruscia‘s “project 2XmT” was selected as the Best Fabrication Project of 2013 as part of the first annual Best of Design Awards: http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=7069. “project 2XmT” was also published in Metropolis Magazine: http://www.metropolismag.com/Point-of-View/March-2014/Innovation-at-SUNY-Buffalo-Benefits-From-Local-Skills/ and is in the running for two Architizer A+ Awards (public voting is open until March 21st): Architecture + Fabrication: https://awards.architizer.com/public/voting/?cid=44 and Architecture + Materials: http://awards.architizer.com/public/voting/?cid=46. Additional information can be found at http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2014/03/012.html

In February, Christopher Romano and Nicholas Bruscia completed a large-scale installation of their SKIN competition winning entry titled, “project 3xLP”, at the University of Texas at Austin as part of the TEX-FAB 5 event. The exhibition will next be traveling to Houston, TX and then to Dallas, TX as part of the Facades + Conference in October 2014. “project 3xLP” was done in collaboration with Philip Gusmano, MArch 2015, Daniel Vrana, MArch 2015, and David Heaton, BS 2014 with fabrication sponsorship by TEX-FAB, Rigidized Metals Corporation, A. Zahner Company and technical support from ARUP, Montreal. News about “project 3xLP” can be found at: Texas Architect Magazine: https://texasarchitects.org/v/texas-architect-magazine/ and Inhabit: http://inhabitat.com/patterned-3xlp-wall-made-from-locally-sourced-steel-wins-the-skin-digital-fabrication-competition/3xlp-wall-5/?extend=1

Jin Young Song‘s project QUBE is an Architizer A+ Award finalist. It intends to innovate furniture design with an architect’s view, creating a catalyst, a little item to exemplify the holistic change of mechanism in our experience within living space.See: https://awards.architizer.com/public/voting/?cid=62
and http://ap.buffalo.edu/news/youngsong_qube.html

University of Texas At San Antonio

A number of faculty at the University of Texas at San Antonio Department of Architecture have recently published books, curated exhibitions, engaged in leadership roles in professional organizations, led innovative graduate design studios, and received design awards for built work.

Dr. Antonio Petrov, Assistant Professor has published, New Geographies 5: The Mediterranean, (Harvard University Press, 2013) that recasts the region as a contemporary phenomenon; making spatial its formation as a larger geographic entity and challenging the conventional boundaries between cities and hinterlands. Dr. Angela Lombardi, Assistant Professor has coedited Lima, The Historic Center: Analysis and Restoration/ Centro Histórico. Conocimiento y restauración / Centro storico. Conoscenza e restauro, (Peru: Patrizia / Rome: Gangemi editore, 2012), that identifies and evaluates the endangered architectural heritage of Lima, Peru and was published in English, Spanish, and Italian. Edward Burian, Associate Professor has had his forthcoming book, The Architecture and Cities of Northern Mexico from Independence to Present, (University of Texas Press, 2015) that explores the undervalued architectural culture of Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, Coahuila, Chihuahua, Durango, Sonora, Sinaloa, and Baja California, accepted for publication and is currently in production.

Ian Caine, Assistant Professor had his research on urban morphology and sprawl, Traveling on Fredericksburg Road: 120 Years in 12 Miles, exhibited at the Institute for Texas Culture from September 19th-December 15th 2013 and was also discussed the exhibition on public radio. From the Dept. of Urban Planning, Dr. Maggie Valentine, Professor has published, John H. Kampmann, Master Builder: San Antonio’s German Influence in the 19^th Century,” (Beaufort Books, 2014) that explores Kampmann’s architectural legacy that transformed 19^th C. San Antonio, TX . A recent symposium and exhibit Walter Eugene George and the Cultural Legacy of the Rio Grande examined the work of retired UTSA faculty member Eugene George who recently passed away, that was held at the Institute for Texas Culture on Feb. 1^st-28^th 2014. George held the first San Antonio Conservation Society Endowed Professorship and during his career he generated some 500 drawings and 16,000 collected photographs focusing on the “Rio Grande Corridor” between Eagle Pass, TX and Brownsville, TX. William Dupont, FAIA, Professor and and Dr. Angela Lombardi, Assistant Professor recently participated in a program in Iraq to train historic conservationists sponsored by World Monuments Fund, the U.S. State Department, and the U.S. Embassy.

Kevin McClellan, Adjunct Professor, was featured in Texas Architect, (March/April 2014) for his innovative work with TEX-FAB, http://www.tex-fab.net/, a nonprofit organization that connects professionals, students, and the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry to advance the discipline of architecture in its adoption of digital fabrication.

Noted Mexico City architect Javier Sánchez http://jsa.com.mx/ was the initial Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Critic for 2013. His graduate studio examined Col. Atlampa, the last remaining parcel of underutilized urban land in the central core of Mexico City, and the studio produced an urban design proposal and mixed use projects. Andrew Kudless of MATSYS in Oakland, CA http://matsysdesign.com/ will be the Dean’s Distinguished 2014 Visiting Critic, teaching a graduate studio focusing on digital fabrication.

Finally, Candid Rogers, AIA, Adjunct Professor, and Diane Hays, FAIA, Senior Lecturer and Interior Design Coordinator, won 2012 San Antonio AIA Design Awards. Rogers received a merit award for his “Dos Diez” residential extension to an 1872 stone cottage in San Antonio, TX; while Hays received an Honor Award for her two UTSA Dept. of Architecture design-build studio projects at Bexar County’s Raymond Russell Park in San Antonio, TX. For further information on these news items and other recent news see the UTSA Dept. of Architecture website at http://architecture.utsa.edu/academic-programs/department-of-architecture/.

University of New Mexico

March 17, 2014/in School News Southwest Region, West Region /by Matrix Admin

Tim Castillo, ARTS Lab Director and Associate Professor, and David Beining, Associate Director of Immersive Media, lead the Art, Research, Technology & Science Laboratory (ARTS Lab) at the University of New Mexico. Arts Lab is selected as the 2013 recipient of the International Digital Media Association Innovative Program Award from the International Digital Media & Arts Association (iDMAa). This award has only been bestowed upon four other programs since the beginning of iDMAa in 2004.

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: ACSA BOARD

March 17, 2014/in ACSA News /by Matrix Admin

2013 Board of Directors
Deadline: October 10, 2012

The ACSA Nominations Committee invites nominations for two national officers two regional director positions and on the 2013 Board of Directors. The offices are President-elect andTreasurer. The two regional director positions are for East Central Region Director & West Region Director.

President-elect
The president-elect will serve a three-year term; one year each as vice president, president, and past president; presiding at meetings of the Association and is responsible for calling meetings of the Board of Directors, preparing an agenda for such meetings, and presiding at such meetings. The president coordinates activities of the board, Association committees, and liaison representatives, provides liaison with the officers of the American Institute of Architects, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, the National Architectural Accrediting Board, and the American Institute of Architecture Students, and serves as representative to the Five Presidents’ Council. The president also prepares a brief report of activities of the Association and the Board of Directors during the term of office for dissemination to the constituent associations.

Treasurer
The treasurer serves for a two-year term, and prepares the budget and the financial report of the Association for the approval of the board. The treasurer oversees the financial accounts and the records of the Association, and makes them available once a year for audit by an independent certified accountant chosen by the board. He/she serves as chair of the Finance Committee.

The Nominations Committee is chaired by Judith Kinnard additional members include Lisa Tilder, ACSA Secretary; & Tom Buresh, University of California, Berkeley (outside member) will review nominations for the two national officer positions.

East Central Region Director & West Region Director
Each Regional Director shall be a full-time and/or tenured or tenure-track faculty member of a full member school and shall be on the faculty of a school in the region represented.

The term of office shall be three years beginning July 1, 2013, and extending through June 30, 2016. Regional Directors serve the ACSA in at least three ways – as members of the Board of Directors, on a variety of national committees, and as executive officers of their regional constituent associations. In this latter role, the Regional Director sets the agenda and chairs meetings of his or her regional council. He or she maintains a file of regional records, correspondence, and minutes of regional meetings. The director is responsible for the fiscal affairs of the constituent association and is accountable to his or her regional council for these funds. He or she provides assistance to regional schools and organizations applying for institutional membership. The Director prepares annual reports of regional activities for publication in the Association’s annual report and provides updates to the constituency on both regional and national matters of note. He or she administers the nomination and election of the subsequent Regional Director and performs such other duties as may be assigned by the Board. Regional Directors are required to attend three Board meetings a year: a fall meeting which typically occurs after the Administrator’s Conference, a spring meeting which typically occurs after the ACSA Annual Meeting, and a summer meeting.

Each region will have a Regional Nominations Committee made up of regional constituents that will review applications received and develop a slate of not less than two nor more than three candidates. Ballots will be mailed to all full member schools in the appropriate region by mid-January, 2013. The results of this election will be announced at the ACSA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, CA in 2013. Candidates will be notified of the results in mid-February.

Electronic submissions are encouraged and can be sent to Eric Ellis at: eellis@acsa-arch.org

Nominations should include a CV, a letter of interest from the nominee indicating a willingness to serve, and a candidate statement. The deadline for receipt of nominations is October 10, 2012.

Nominations should be sent to:
Email (preferred): eellis@acsa-arch.org
ACSA, Board Nominations
1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

Auburn University

March 17, 2014/in School News Mid Atlantic Region /by Matrix Admin

Long-time faculty member, Bob Faust, and his wife, Sherry, have established the Bob and Sherry Faust Endowed Scholarship for incoming freshmen in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. Bob served on the APLA faculty for forty-two years and is credited with developing Auburn’s highly regarded design-build ethos. He and Sherry wanted to do something meaningful for future architecture students and planned for creating this scholarship upon his retirement.

Lectures and presentations by faculty and alumni from the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture are included in the New Regionalism in North America, a book published by the College of Architecture and Interior Design at the University of San Francisco de Quito. The book compiles the proceedings from the Twelfth International Forum of Architecture at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Quito, Ecuador in November 2011. The Forum was dedicated to the subject of Regionalism: a recurring theme in the architectural landscape of North America and beyond. The event was coordinated by Karen Rogers, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and External Affairs in the College of Architecture, Design and Construction, and brought together eight North American architects. David Hinson, Head of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture, and Auburn alumni Marlon Blackwell and Daniel Wicke were among the participants.

Students from Auburn University’s Masters of Real Estate Development program are working with business owners in the Avondale neighborhood of Birmingham, Alabama to explore development potential. The students are looking at two sites in the neighborhood for possible development and investment, and are tasked with documenting the sites’ existing conditions, the area’s market data and the current financial market along with understanding and capitalizing on the sites’ unique history, culture and development process to propose a potential project. The masters program at Auburn consists of 14 graduate students from across the U.S. in their third semester of the Real Estate Development program. Directing this semester’s work is Ben Farrow with Auburn University Building Science Department and Ben Wieseman with KPS Group in Birmingham, AL.

The third issue of StudioAPLA, the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture’s electronic newsletter, was published last month. The International Issue: Winter 2013 describes how APLA has provided international learning opportunities for students over 30 years, believing that exposure to new cultures enhances design education and ignites a desire to live and work abroad. The newsletter highlights alumni experiences in other countries and illustrates how APLA is becoming a more connected place as the student and faculty population becomes more diverse in the form of international students and visiting international scholars. To view the newsletter, please visit: http://studioapla.auburn.edu/

Alabama Innovation Engine, a design-based community and economic development initiative jointly funded by Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction, and the University of Alabama, recently received a 2012 Cahaba Vision Award from the Cahaba River Society. Engine, with The Nature Conservancy in Alabama, the Cahaba River Society, and the National Parks Service Recreation, Trails, and Conservation Assistance program, is a member of the Cahaba Blueway Partners. The team was recognized for their work developing the Cahaba Blueway, a project designed to tell the story of Alabama’s Cahaba River while encouraging economic development. Engine is working with the Cahaba River Society and the Nature Conservancy to build community partnerships and to improve access points along the Cahaba to help people discover the river, trails, history and communities of the watershed.

The Rural Studio, an undergraduate program in the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture recently launched a new website. Please visit www.ruralstudio.org to learn more about the program, faculty, students, and projects and to explore participating in the Rural Studio’s Outreach Program.

University of Oklahoma

March 17, 2014/in School News West Central Region /by Matrix Admin

University of Oklahoma Division of Architecture: September 2013

Associate Professor David L. Boeck was recently appointed the South Central Regional Coordinator for the Design Communications Association (DCA) and elected a board member to the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). Professor Boeck presented a co-authored paper entitled “The Healthful and Helpful House in Positive Aging” with Associate Professor Hepi Wachter (Interior Design) and Professor David Moxley (Social Work) at EDRA44 Providence.

The Center for Middle Eastern Architecture and Culture (CMEAC) at the College of Architecture established Spring 2012 by Dr. Khosrow Bozorgi held the inaugural CMEAC Symposium in March 2013. The event spanned three days, opening with an art exhibit from renowned Iranian artist and architect Abdolhossein Pazoki and featuring a keynote address by Gisue Hariri, principal of Hariri & Hariri Architects of New York. The Farzaneh family has granted CMEAC a $350,000 endowment, establishing a Presidential Professorship in Persian Architecture. For more information, please visit: www.ou.edu/cmeac

Assistant Professor Daniel Butko presented two papers (one coauthored with an undergraduate student) at the ASA/ICA acoustics conference in Montreal, June 2013. Professor Butko sponsored five undergraduate student research teams at the 2013 OU Honors College Undergraduate Research Day. One team comprised of Architecture student Peter Mall and Construction Science student Holly Snow won a Distinction in Undergraduate Research Award for their work with Professor Butko and Dr. Lisa Holliday (CNS). Professor Butko was also recently appointed to the Newman Student Award Fund Advisory Committee.

Assistant Professor Thomas Cline is currently leading a multidisciplinary team consisting of AIAS, Freedom By Design, Sooners Without Borders, and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society in building a human waste composting eco-latrine at the OU Kessler Atmospheric and Ecological Field Station. The eco-latrine is intended to support the research efforts of faculty and students in Architecture, Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, Biology, Geography and Environmental Sustainability, and Meteorology.

Assistant Professor Tony Cricchio was the instructor this year for the annual Playhouse Parade project in which students design and build a playhouse for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Oklahoma County. This is the fourth year the college has been involved in the project. The playhouse was one of three constructs donated by local firms, which were raffled off in late June 2013 to raise money for CASA. Funds raised goes directly to CASA, which provides trained court appointed volunteers who advocate for the best interests of abused or neglected children in the juvenile court system. The playhouse was designed to be easy to assemble with lightweight materials. Enrolled students included Aaron Crandall, Victoria Waggoner, Samuel Carpitcher-Sexton, Mindy Gowen, Kristi Epperson, Ninh Ly, and Marina Soares. Assistance included Gould Hall Building Facility Manager Jerry Puckett and Shop Manager Hunter Roth. The team was awarded the People’s Choice Award based on the number of ticket sales per playhouse entered.

Dr. Stephanie Pilat has been awarded a Wolfsonian-FIU fellowship, which will allow her to spend three weeks in residence at the Wolfsonian in Miami Beach, Florida Spring 2014. She will be conducting research on a new project entitled “Shaping the Body Politic: Architecture for Youth and Sports in Fascist Italy.”

The Compressed Earth Block (CEB) research team – consisting of Assistant Professors Daniel Butko (Arch), Dr. Lisa Holliday (CNS), Matthew Reyes (CNS), Scott Williams (LA), Dean Charles Graham, Dr. Kianoosh Hatami (CEES), and Dr. Chris Ramseyer (COE), numerous students, and Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity (CCHFH) community volunteers – is working diligently to complete the CEB residence adjacent to a conventionally wood-framed residence in Norman, OK. Both houses are on schedule for completion Spring 2014 and comparative data will be collected upon completion and into occupancy. Photo shows construction progress of both residences as of August 2013. For more information, please visit http://ceb.ou.edu

The Oklahoma City Skydance Bridge, designed by the national competition-winning consortium that includes Division of Architecture Director Hans E. Butzer, Professor in Practice Stan Carroll and College of Engineering Dr. Chris Ramseyer, received the 2013 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award given by the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations. The award was given at the association’s September awards ceremony in Atlanta, GA.

In other student news, the College of Architecture recently awarded over $110,000 in scholarships to students from all disciplines (Architecture, Construction Science, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Regional & City Planning, the Tulsa Urban Design Studio, and Environmental Design. At the Scholarship Banquet, the College also honored outstanding alumni contributors and educators, including Adjunct Architecture Lecturer Geoff Parker who was awarded the Division of Architecture 2013 Outstanding Adjunct Award. A series of videos from the 2013 Placemaking Conference, organized by Assistant Professor Blair Humphreys and Adjunct Lecturer Umit Hope Mander of the The OU Institute for Quality Communities (IQC), are posted at http://iqc.ou.edu/

Lawrence Technological University

March 17, 2014/in School News /by Matrix Admin

Rochelle Martin, Ph.D., passed away on October 8, 2011. Dr. Martin had been with Lawrence Tech since 1986 and was a Professor in the College of Architecture and Design at the graduate and undergraduate levels. Professor Martin received a Doctor of Architecture from the University of Michigan, a Bachelor of Architecture from Lawrence Tech, a Master of Arts in History and Bachelor of Science in Education from Wayne State University. Prior to working at Lawrence Tech, Rochelle was an Assistant Professor at Kansas State University, a Visiting Professor at the University of Nebraska, and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan.

In her years at Lawrence Tech, she served on numerous university and college committees, along with founding the university’s Tau Sigma Delta chapter. A published author, she served on many thesis juries and enjoyed researching the impact of film media on architecture.

Rochelle was highly respected and will be greatly missed. She is survived by her daughter Marilee.

ACSA Seeks Nominations for ACSA Representative on NAAB Board of Directors

March 17, 2014/in ACSA News /by Matrix Admin

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
ACSA Representative on NAAB Board of Directors
Deadline: October 10, 2012

The 2013-2014 National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) will comprise thirteen members: three representing ACSA, three representing AIA, three representing NCARB, two representing AIAS, and two public members. Currently Theodore Landmark of Boston Architectural College; Nathaniel Belcher of Pennsylvania State University, Patricia Kucker of University of Cincinnati represent ACSA on the NAAB Board. With the expiration of Ted Landsmark’s term in October 2013, the ACSA Board of Directors is considering candidates for his successor at its meeting this March in San Francisco, CA.

The appointment is for a three-year term (Oct. 2013 – Oct. 2016) and calls for a person willing and able to make a commitment to NAAB. While previous experience as an ACSA board member or administrator is helpful, it is not essential for nomination. Some experience on NAAB visiting teams should be considered necessary; otherwise the nominee might be unfamiliar with the highly complex series of deliberations involved with this position. Faculty and administrators are asked to nominate faculty from an ACSA member school with any or all the following qualifications:

Tenured faculty status at an ACSA full member school;
Significant experience with and knowledge of the accreditation process;
Significant acquaintance with and knowledge of ACSA, its history,
policy programs, and administrative structure;
Personal acquaintance with the range of school and program types across North America.
Willingness to represent the constituency of ACSA on accreditation related issues.
Ability to work with the NAAB board and ACSA representatives to build consensus on accreditation related issues.

For consideration, please submit a concise letter of nomination along with a CV indicating experience under the above headings, and a letter indicating willingness to serve from the nominee, by October 10, 2012.

Nominations should be sent to:
Email (preferred): eellis@acsa-arch.org
ACSA, Board Nominations
1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

University of Calgary

March 17, 2014/in School News Canadian Region /by Matrix Admin

Professor Graham Livesey – Congratulations to Graham who has been promoted to full Professor effective April 1, 2012. Well done Graham!

Professor Loraine Fowlow – The Solar Decathlon 2011 project is a finalist for the 2012 Emerald Awards, in the category of “Education: School or Classroom” category. The Awards will be announced at the Awards ceremony on June 6th. President Cannon has offered her congratulations to the Team on this accomplishment, saying, “The Solar Decathlon Team exemplifies the University of Calgary’s Eyes High goals to pursue excellence and to forge strong ties with our community.”

Professor Branko Kolarevic

was an invited speaker and a panelist at the “Vectored Resources” symposium held on March 8, 2012, in Toronto. This event was organized by Columbia University from New York as one in a series of global “think tanks” that are part of the “Columbia Building Intelligence Project” (C-BIP).
On March 23, Branko delivered the opening presentation (by invitation) at the “Material Intensities” Smart Geometry 2012 conference held at the Rensselear Polytechnic University (RPI) in Troy, NY.
will give a public lecture at Université Laval École d’architecture in Quebec City on Nov 8 (http://www.arc.ulaval.ca/).
is speaking at the aceBIM symposium in Edmonton on Nov 28 (http://www.acebim.ca/bim-symposium-2012).
is one of the keynote speakers at the “Materiality in its Contemporary Forms” conference to be held on Nov 29 & 30 in Lyon, France (http://mc2012.sciencesconf.org/). The conference is organized by École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture (ENSA) de Lyon and École Nationale Supérieure d’Architecture (ENSA) de Grenoble.
He was a Technology Theme Co-Chair for the 2012 ACSA International Conference held in June in Barcelona, where he also presented a co-authored paper and co-chaired three paper sessions.
Branko also joined the Advisory Committee for the Architectural Technologies Program at SAIT. This fall he will lecture at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design in Norway and Université Laval in Quebec City.

Professor Tang Lee won first prize in the International Urban Design competition for the Foshan Chancheng District European Industrial Park, China. Orianne Berger, an EVDS student, assisted with the competition.

Tang Lee won first prize in a design competition for an Ecological Master Plan for a senior’s development in Mengzi City, Yunnan province, China.
Five EVDS students, 3 architecture and 2 planning students spend the summer working in China. The students worked on Tang Lee’s projects including the design several high rise apartment and commercial buildings, urban designs, town planning, etc.

Dr. Brian Sinclair’s

Administered the International ARCC King Medal Program for Excellence in Architectural Research (May 2012);
Received the UC GSA ‘Teaching Excellence Award’ and was nominated for the ‘Supervisory Excellence Award’ (May 2012);
Paper accepted (co-authored; first author S. Mousazadeh) for presentation in the 9th AHRA Conference in UK (May 2012);
Submitted invited paper (co-authored; first author S. Mousazadeh) to the Global Built Environment Review (May 2012) | publication pending;
Served on the Scientific and Paper Review Committee for the ARCC/EAAE International Bi-Annual Architectural Research Conference (Cities in Transformation) in Milano; chaired two sessions under the category ‘Housing and the Shape of the City’; and delivered a peer-reviewed paper (published in proceedings) within the category ‘Architecture and Technical Innovation’ at the conference (June 2012);
Delivered the invited Keynote Address at the Annual PhD Student Workshop, and moderated & served on the PhD Alumni Panel, at the University of Missouri (June 2012);
Paper on ‘Agile Architecture’ accepted for publication in ARCC Journal (June 2012);
Travelled to Yunnan Province in China as an government-invited participant, speaker and advisor (together with Professor Tang Lee) in the Honghe Prefecture Sustainable Urban Planning and Design Forum | delivered an address on Holistic Design & Planning at the congress (July 2012);
Received a DrHC (Honoris Causa) from the Institute for Systems Research & Cybernetics, at a ceremony held in Germany, in recognition of scholarly work and leadership in the field of Design Education (August 2012);
Delivered three lectures at the University of Hawaii’s School of Architecture including the opening invited public talk (Agile Architecture: Considering, Conceiving & Constructing Environmental Design for the 21st Century) for the 2012-2013 Academic Year (August 2012);
Received an EVDS Research Funding Award for work on ‘façade plasticity’ (September 2012);
Appointed to the Scientific and Paper Review Committee for the ARCC Annual Research Conference to be held in North Carolina in Spring 2013 (September 2012).

University of Arkansas

March 17, 2014/in School News Southwest Region /by Matrix Admin

A National Endowment for the Arts grant is a first step toward the revival of the historic, 60-block Pettaway neighborhood in Little Rock, by blending new development within the fabric of that turn-of-the-century urban neighborhood.

The $30,000 grant, awarded to the University of Arkansas Community Design Center and the Downtown Little Rock Community Development Corp., will fund the creation of the Pettaway Neighborhood Revitalization Plan.

The grant recipients were among 1,145 nonprofit national, regional, state and local organizations recommended for a grant as part of the NEA’s second round of fiscal year 2011 grants. This design grant was part of the federal agency’s Access to Artistic Excellence Program. In total, the NEA will distribute more than $88 million to support projects nationwide.

The Community Design Center, an outreach program of the Fay Jones School of Architecture, works to advance creative development in Arkansas through education, research and design solutions that enhance the physical environment. The Community Development Corp. steers investment activity in the Pettaway neighborhood and develops single-family housing in the area.

The Community Design Center will spend 10 months generating the Pettaway Neighborhood Revitalization Plan. Designers hope to develop methods for urban infill that integrate contemporary innovations – such as green streets, transit-oriented development, urban agriculture, low-impact development live-work housing configurations – with existing historic buildings. They are using models they’ve already developed and applying them at a broader, neighborhood scale.

“Like all well-established urban areas, the Pettaway neighborhood offers a rich mixture of lifestyle opportunities in the architecture and land uses close to downtown,” Steve Luoni, director of the Community Design Center.

The plan will combine urban development with affordable housing and public transit planning. Ecological-based storm water management methods will be studied, including green streets, low-impact development, rainwater gardens, bioswales and stream restoration. Designers will propose that the city extend its downtown trolley system into a commuter streetcar system along a trunk line, which will connect the Pettaway neighborhood to the downtown business district and North Little Rock’s downtown.

Affordable housing configurations with mixed uses will cater to artists and others employed in creative, innovative fields, while serving the neighborhood’s established constituents. The project team will explore an open space and landscape plan that will link underused parks with new pocket parks, drainage corridors, community gardens, recreation areas and pedestrian areas.

Though the neighborhood is already strongly committed to and supportive of changes, this plan will better guide the development corporation actions. “Something like this can bring the bigger vision for what the neighborhood can be,” said Scott Grummer, executive director of the Downtown Little Rock Community Development Corp. “This, in turn, helps guide the corporation, the neighborhood and other developers in decisions they make for future developments.”

The revitalization plan will be presented to the Pettaway neighborhood next spring.

This plan will build on the MacArthur Park District Master Plan – a plan created by the Community Design Center that has won five national and two state design awards. Segments of that plan are slated for construction this year. In that plan for MacArthur Park, which borders the Pettaway area, one of the more visionary options was to build a pedestrian bridge over the interstate, which literally divided MacArthur Park, and reconnect the park and downtown to the Pettaway neighborhood.

“There’s so much revitalization potential currently being exhibited in Little Rock that will allow it to flourish as a great mid-sized city,” Luoni said. “This plan will return low-density urban neighborhood options to the table, providing a mix of classes with affordable choices for living downtown.”

For the past two years, the Fay Jones School of Architecture has partnered with the Community Development Corp. to design and build two affordable, sustainable homes in the Pettaway neighborhood. Both homes are located on East Commerce Street.

Luoni said the school’s design/build program and this new neighborhood plan approach revitalization from different scales. “We’re going to look at the building blocks of good neighborhood development and planning, with an aggregate thinking that exceeds what one can accomplish on a single piece of property,” he said. “The design/build program serves as an exemplary model for what can be accomplished through building typology at the micro-scale. They are building stunning, high-concept houses that are affordable.”

Other ACSA Websites