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Tulane University

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Tulane Faculty Awarded Nasem Grant to Continue Gulf Coast Climate Futures Program

 

Tulane University Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Liz Camuti, along with Professor and Program Co-Director of Landscape and Engineering Margarita Jover, has been awarded a $749,961 grant from the Gulf Research Program (GRP) at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to lead the “Gulf Coast Climate Futures” studio. This interdisciplinary studio, part of the GRP’s larger Gulf Futures initiative, invites students to explore the pressing issues of climate mitigation and adaptation in the Gulf Coast region. The studio aims to prepare students to address challenges specific to the Gulf—an area heavily impacted by the oil and gas industry—by engaging them in the practice of analyzing, hypothesizing, and proposing forward-thinking scenarios to build community resilience.

In addition to Camuti and Jover’s studio, the GRP is investing $5.9 million to fund eight Gulf Futures design studios across architecture programs in the Gulf states. These studios encourage collaboration among students from diverse fields, fostering a comprehensive understanding of the region’s challenges, from climate resilience to economic growth and ecological stewardship. The program aims to prepare the next generation of architects and designers by combining design thinking with interdisciplinary approaches to address the Gulf’s complex environmental and social issues.

By studying existing resilience and restoration plans, faculty and students in the Gulf Coast Climate Futures studio will develop innovative design solutions that challenge traditional methods of climate adaptation. Through the GRP’s investment, these studios provide students with a platform to reimagine sustainable and resilient futures for Gulf communities, blending creative vision with practical solutions for real-world impact.

For more information, visit the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Tulane University

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Tulane University faculty project selected as a finalist in The Plan 2024 Awards

 

Cordula Roser Gray, Senior Professor of Practice in Architecture at Tulane University, recently celebrated a significant achievement as her innovative work, Entangled Matter, was recognized as a finalist in the Special Projects category of THE PLAN 2024 Awards. This groundbreaking project focuses on sustainability and eco-compatibility, using natural systems to inspire a self-sustaining built environment.

Entangled Matter is designed as a flexible structure, easily assembled and reconfigured to adapt to the changing needs of urban spaces. It integrates natural cycles with synthetic systems, utilizing biological batteries to foster a scalable ecosystem that bridges the gap between humans and nature. The project aims to make eco-friendly living more accessible and visible in urban spaces.

The Entangled Matter project first made its mark in the architectural world at the Palazzo Mora during the 18th Venice Biennale’s Time-Space-Existence exhibition, thanks to Roser Gray and her collaborators, Tatiana Teixeira and Marcella Del Signore. This work, under CRGArchitecture and X.Topia, emerged from a pressing need to address environmental degradation in cities challenged by overcrowding, traffic congestion, and high population density. With an intent to transform urban spaces into eco-friendly environments, the project proposes a vision where cities act as active solutions to environmental stressors, replacing adverse interactions with harmonious ecological processes.

At the core of Entangled Matter is a dynamic relationship with urban landscapes, achieved by integrating natural cycles into the built environment. The project’s “performative capsules” function as microhabitats that accommodate living systems, leveraging translucent materials for optimal light exposure and porous surfaces for effective gas exchange. Through these design elements, Entangled Matter bridges the divide between human and non-human species, enhancing the visibility of ecological processes and fostering a mutually beneficial relationship.

As a modular system, Entangled Matter emphasizes adaptive reconfiguration, with each component designed to harness natural cycles, like photosynthesis, to support a resilient ecosystem. The project relies on advanced technologies to make these benefits more visible and accessible, raising awareness about the integration of natural cycles into everyday urban life. Through the use of hygroscopic materials and biological elements that sequester carbon, the system not only filters air but also cools its surroundings, creating healthier microclimates within the city. This flexibility makes Entangled Matter ideal for responding to the evolving demands of urban environments under climate change.

Entangled Matter redefines sustainable architecture, envisioning cities as eco-systems that can actively contribute to environmental health. Its modular design, capacity for self-sufficiency, and symbiotic relationship with nature offer a visionary approach to urban design that addresses the urgent need for climate-responsive architecture. Roser Gray’s project shines a spotlight on how cities can be transformed to work in harmony with nature, providing a model for future sustainable urban development that benefits both people and the planet.

To learn more about this project, visit The Plan.

Tulane University

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Tulane University Professor Wins Asla National Honor Award for Analysis and Planning

 

Wes Michaels, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at Tulane University, has received the prestigious 2024 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) National Honor Award for Analysis and Planning.

Leading the project through his practice, Spackman Mossop Michaels (SMM), Michaels collaborated with the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, alongside the EPA and FEMA, to create an updated Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) that redefines resilience planning by placing cultural heritage and community engagement at its core. The Fort Peck Tribes Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) blends traditional knowledge and cultural values with technical expertise, centering around the Tribes’ spiritual connection to their land, sacred water sources, medicinal plants, and bison herd as assets of resilience.

The Fort Peck Tribes’ HMP breaks from standard planning practices, with landscape architects taking a lead role to integrate cultural assets and local knowledge into hazard assessment and mitigation. Traditionally, HMPs focus on identifying risks and creating technical solutions to safeguard communities, but this plan emphasizes the importance of cultural identity and community values in strengthening resilience. Through extensive consultation with tribal leadership and residents, the plan acknowledges natural hazards’ dual role as both threats and forces that sustain cultural practices, such as the life-giving floods for the Tribes’ sacred cottonwood groves. As Michaels and his team gathered insights, they aligned traditional views on natural hazards with modern risk assessments, creating a comprehensive, culturally resonant mitigation strategy.

The year-long project not only updated the Tribes’ 2012 HMP but also incorporated future climate projections for the region, mapping climate risks from 2015 to 2100. This pilot effort between the EPA and FEMA included community-driven resilience projects such as enhancing early warning systems, managing drought and wildfire risk, and implementing flood mitigation measures. These projects serve the Fort Peck community by providing shelter, support, and recovery resources during disasters, while also offering year-round ecological and economic benefits, even supporting eco-tourism.

Through Michaels’ leadership, the Fort Peck HMP demonstrates the power of integrating social and cultural dimensions into hazard mitigation, showcasing how landscape architects can create resilience plans that are as much about people and place as they are about technical preparedness. This innovative approach sets a new precedent for collaborative, community-based hazard planning, bringing tangible solutions and reinforcing cultural values for future generations.

Tulane University

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Tulane Students Win 2024 Noma Design Competition

 

Three students at Tulane School of Architecture won first place in the Barbara G. Laurie Student Design Competition at the 2024 National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA) Conference, held in Baltimore, MD. It is the first time in recent history of the school that the student chapter at Tulane won the competition.

Students Nia Fletcher (B.Arch ’27), Miguel Alvarez Gamez (B.Arch ’27), and Kris Smith (B.Arch ’25), pictured above from left to right, said the goal of their proposed design, titled “Restoring Common Ground”, was to address the fundamental issue of the site. “The government’s appropriation of land to build a useless highway through a vibrant, historically Black neighborhood,” the students said. “The core problem was land and its inaccessibility, which we aimed to tackle directly through a clear and impactful design.”

The Tulane team competed against more than 40 other National Organization of Minority Architect Students (NOMAS) chapters from across the country participating in a two-day, two-round competition. This year, the teams were tasked with proposing a master plan and architectural design for a new multi-modal transit center to service the West Baltimore community. The new transit hub had to address the needs and desires of the immediate community, provide an efficient and effective solution to the addition of the Red Line through the 1-40 corridor, and support future and responsive development.

The students, who are all working toward degrees in Architecture at Tulane and are members of the Tulane NOMAS chapter, began working on their proposed design for the competition in June. In developing their design, the students gathered extensive research on the city of Baltimore, the Red Line project, and similar transit-oriented development initiatives. The team also reviewed news articles and watched town hall recordings to inform their design strategy.

“We made a bold choice to consolidate the program into one area of the site, a decision that no other team made,” the students said. “Initially, we were concerned that our approach might be too radical to be competitive, but it was grounded in comprehensive analysis.”

The students said they were honored to win the competition, especially given the scope of the work and how much time and effort they invested in their design.

“Participating in the conference has become a cherished annual tradition for our NOMAS chapter, enriching our architectural education,” they said. “Developing cultural sensitivity and awareness of current and historical injustices is an essential skill for architecture students.”

Now the team has its sights set on the future.

“As a team, we hope this victory will reinvigorate our NOMAS chapter and boost participation in our competition team,” the students said. “We are excited to assemble a strong group for the 2025 Student Design Competition and to send a large delegation to the national NOMA conference in Kansas City, Missouri, next year!”

University at Buffalo, SUNY

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2024–25 Banham Fellow Tiffany Xu Explores Construction Through Lens of Contemporary Fiction

 

Tiffany Xu, a designer at David Jaehning Architect in San Francisco, is the 2024-25 Banham Fellow at the University at Buffalo’s School of Architecture and Planning. Xu comes to UB with an expansive spirit of experimentation and a proposal to explore construction systems through the dimensions of materiality and the surprising context of contemporary fiction. As the Banham Fellow, Xu will engage students through a graduate seminar and studio and conclude her research project with an exhibition in the Spring. A graduate of UC Berkeley and Rice Architecture, where she was co-editor of PLAT Journal and received the William D. Darden Thesis Award, Xu operates at the intersection of making and critical inquiry.

The search committee for this fellowship consisted of UB architecture faculty members Joyce Hwang and Jin Young Song, and 2023-24 Banham Fellow Kearon Roy Taylor. “We were drawn to Tiffany’s proposal to explore building materials and systems of construction in novel ways, while also considering representational strategies including working through contemporary fiction,” says Hwang. “Her portfolio of both speculative and realized design work – in addition to her professional experience – demonstrates incredible promise as an emerging creative practitioner and design scholar. We are thrilled to welcome Tiffany to Buffalo.”

University of Oregon

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The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook: A comprehensive guide to creating sustainable urban design

 

Nico Larco, AIA (Professor of Architecture and Urban Design) and Kaarin Knudson, AIA (Mayor-Elect of the City of Eugene and Adjunct Professor) of the University of Oregon just published The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook which gathers leading sustainability practices and the latest research from the fields of architecture, landscape architecture, planning, development, ecology, and environmental engineering and presents them in a graphically rich and accessible format that can help guide urban design decisions in cities of all sizes.

This book presents a comprehensive framework that organizes more than 50 elements of sustainable urban design under five topics—Energy Use & Greenhouse Gas, Water, Ecology & Habitat, Energy Use & Production, and Equity & Health—and relative to four project scales: Region & City, District & Neighborhood, Block & Street, and Project & Parcel. Each element chapter includes a summary of importance and background, compares typical practices and recommended approaches, explains connections to other elements, and concludes with urban design guidelines that can be used to directly inform projects and design decisions.

Easy to use and reference, The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook provides both an in-depth introduction to topics across sustainable urban design and serves as an on-going reference for anyone involved in the creation of sustainable urban environments. This resource will be useful to design and planning professionals, community members, students, and elected officials in guiding decisions about our sustainable future.

The book is available here: https://www.amazon.com/Sustainable-Urban-Design-Handbook/dp/1138945692

 

Penn State

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Work by Stuckeman Architecture Researcher Featured in Los Angeles Exhibition

 

​UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A project led by Penn State researcher Felecia Davis that explores Black culture, its relationship to technology, and concepts of translation in architectural design, is featured in the “Material Acts: Experimentation in Architecture and Design” exhibition that opened Sept. 28 at the Craft Contemporary Arts Museum in Los Angeles.

Davis, associate professor of architecture in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School and director of the Computational Textiles Lab (SOFTLAB) in the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing (SCDC), and her SOFTLAB team contributed six pieces from their “Dreadlock Series” project, four of which are newly commissioned by the Craft Contemporary.

Curated by Kate Yeh Chiu and Jia Yi Gu, “Material Acts considers materials as participants in and outputs of cultural practices and techniques,” contains work from more than 20 contemporary designers, architects, and artists “who approach materials as research, processes and systems,” according to the exhibition news release.

There are five sections of material production that will be on display in the exhibition: Animating, Disassembling, Feeding, Re-fusing, and Stitching. Davis and her team’s work can be found anchoring the Stitching portion of the main exhibition.

“We are interested in generative conversations about Black culture and architectural design,” said Davis.

The project team is comprised of graduate student researchers Ian Danner, from the College of Arts and Architecture’s School of Visual Arts; Stuckeman School architecture master’s degree student Setareh Farashzadeh; and recent master’s alumnae Aysan Jafarzadeh and Hiranshi Patel. Exhibition production assistance was provided by Stuckeman School staff members Jamie Heilman, Allan Sutley, and Steve White Sr. in the Stuckeman Shop.

Additionally, an interdisciplinary collaborative project led by Davis and fellow SCDC researcher Benay Gürsoy, assistant professor of architecture and director of the Form and Matter Lab (ForMat Lab), titled “MycoKnit,” will be featured in a material sample library that is part of the “Material Acts” exhibition.

The work from Davis’ SOFTLAB team and Gürsoy’s ForMat Lab team explores the use of knitted textiles as a framework and reinforcement system to develop fiber composite mycelium-based architectural structures or, in other words, sustainable building materials.

Researchers on Davis and Gürsoy’s “MycoKnit” project team for the “Material Acts” exhibition are Chiara Dognini, SCDC postdoctoral scholar; Alale Mohseni, architecture doctoral candidate; Greta Miller, School of Visual Arts alumna; and Keia Jones, graduate student in the College of Agricultural Sciences. This work was funded by the 2021 Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) Research Prize.

Work for the “Dreadlock Series” was funded by the Craft Contemporary Museum and Penn State College of Arts and Architecture’s Research and Creative Activity Grant Program in Racial Justice, Anti-Discrimination, and Democratic Practices.

“Material Acts” is part of the Getty Pacific Standard Time cluster of exhibitions at arts institutions in California. More information about the exhibition, which runs until Jan. 5, can be found on the Craft Contemporary website.

University at Buffalo, SUNY

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University at Buffalo, SUNY School News

 

TIFFANY XU is the 2024/25 Banham Fellow in the Department of Architecture at the University at Buffalo. A graduate of UC Berkeley and Rice she is a licensed architect who worked in practice in San Francisco before taking up her appointment at the University at Buffalo.

ANDRERW BERMAN is the UB Distinguished Visiting Critic for the Fall semester at the University at Buffalo. A notable architect working in practice in New York City, he is the designer of a series of award-winning projects. Andrew Berman is working with UB M.Arch students in New York City and Buffalo.

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