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University of Texas at Austin

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UT AUSTIN SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE ANNOUNCES FALL 2016
LECTURES & EXHIBITIONS SERIES
New Season Features Alberto Campo Baeza, Craig Dykers, and Exhibitions on Félix Candela, the U.S. Incarceration System, and More…

AUSTIN, TX—The School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin announces its Fall 2016 Lectures and Exhibitions Series. Featuring an international line-up of speakers, including Alberto Campo Baeza of Spain, Marc Barani of France, and Juan Igancio del Cueto of Mexico, the series will cover issues pertinent to the fields of architecture, design, and sustainability, with insights from leading practitioners in those areas.

Highlights include a talk entitled Intellectual Enjoyment by Alberto Campo Baeza; a lecture by celebrated architect and UT School of Architecture alum Craig Dykers; a discussion of Watershed Architectures and Opportunistic Ecologies by Brook Muller; a lecture by Margaret Griffin, who will serve as the school’s Eugene McDermott Centennial visiting Professor this fall; an investigation of 0 Km Architecture—a practice that uses local materials, techniques, and labor to minimize one’s carbon footprint while promoting the local economy—by Camilla Mileto & Fernando Vegas; and lectures exploring digital technology by Marc Fornes, Branko Kolarevic and Vera Parlac. Matthew Crawford, author of The World Beyond Your Head, will give a special lecture as part of The Secret Life of Buildings symposium, a collaboration with the school’s Center for American Architecture and Design.

Exhibitions slated for the fall include: Living Wall: Collaboration + Fabrication, a behind-the-scenes look at the five-year research project that resulted in the school’s innovative green wall installed on the UT Austin campus; States of Incarceration: A National Dialogue of Local Histories, an investigation of the history of incarceration in the United States—from the Angola slave plantation-turned-prison in Louisiana, to the legacies of the Dakota Wars for Native American incarceration in Minnesota; and Candela’s Shells, an exhibition celebrating the reinforced concrete shells of Spanish-Mexican architect Félix Candela, organized by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).

All lectures and exhibitions are free and open to the public.

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Lectures
Lectures begin at 5 pm.

Monday, August 29
Alberto Campo Baeza
Estudio Arquitectura Campo Baeza, Madrid
Jessen Auditorium

Monday, September 19
Caroline Bruzelius
Duke University
Goldsmith Hall 3.120  

Monday, September 26
Branko Kolarevic & Vera Parlac
University of Calgary
Goldsmith Hall 3.120

Wednesday, October 5
Marc Fornes
THEVERYMANY, New York
Goldsmith Hall 3.120

Monday, October 17
Craig Dykers
Snøhetta, Oslo
Jessen Auditorium

Wednesday, October 19
Matthew Crawford
Author, The World Beyond Your Head
Co-sponsored by the Center for American Architecture and Design
Jessen Auditorium

Monday, October 24
Marc Barani    
Atelier Marc Barani, Nice          
Goldsmith Hall 3.120

Monday, October 31
Juan Ignacio del Cueto 
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Goldsmith Hall 3.120

Friday, November 4
Camilla Mileto & Fernando Vegas
Mileto & Vegas Arquitectos, Valencia
Goldsmith Hall 3.120

Wednesday, November 9
Margaret Griffin
Griffin Enright Architects, Los Angeles
Eugene McDermott Centennial Visiting Professor
The University of Texas at Austin
Goldsmith Hall 3.120

Wednesday, November 16
Brook Muller  
University of Oregon
Goldsmith Hall 3.120

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Exhibitions
Exhibitions are held in Mebane Gallery in Goldsmith Hall, and are open Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

Living Wall: Collaboration + Fabrication   
Curated by Danelle Briscoe, The University of Texas at Austin
Wednesday, August 31 – Friday, September 23
Opening reception on Wednesday, August 31 at 5:00 pm

In May 2016, the Living Wall project was installed along the façade of Goldsmith Hall, home to UT Austin’s School of Architecture. An investigation of the role of ecology in architecture, the 20 x 25 foot structure is comprised of a patent-pending honeycomb design and native flora specially selected to attract local fauna. Five years in the making, the project tests the limits of what’s possible with green walls through ongoing research and data analysis. Living Wall: Collaboration + Fabrication charts the progression of the project’s cross disciplinary collaboration and multiple fabrication efforts that assisted in its development and research. The exhibition is curated by Associate Professor Danelle Briscoe, one of the lead Project Investigators since its inception in 2010. The Living Wall is a collaboration with the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. 

States of Incarceration: A National Dialogue of Local Histories
A project of the Humanities Action Lab
Wednesday, October 5 – Friday, October 21
Opening reception on Monday, October 10 at 5:00 pm 

A traveling exhibition created by a national community of over 500 people in 20 cities, States of Incarceration investigates mass incarceration and immigrant detention in the United States, and encourages viewers to consider the implications of our country’s current system. With research contributions from university students— including several from the University of Texas at Austin— the exhibition features: interviews with formerly incarcerated people, corrections officers, and policy advocates_ images capturing the evolution of crime and punishment in different contexts_ and data demonstrating the explosive growth of incarceration and its impact on American society. States of Incarceration also includes a web platform, statesofincarceration.org and a podcast series. In a section of the presentation entitled Spatial Stories of Migration and Detention, students from UT’s School of Architecture mapped the physical locations, architectural forms, and building history of detention centers in Texas (and the stories of those who had been held in them) to create visual narratives of the migration journeys and experiences of detainees from the state. The exhibition is organized by the Humanities Action Lab, a collaboration of 20 universities led by The New School in New York, and including The University of Texas at Austin. 

Candela’s Shells
Curated by Juan Ignacio del Cueto 
Monday, October 31 – Monday, November 28
Opening reception on Monday, October 31 immediately following the lecture

Felix Candela (Madrid, 1910- North Carolina, 1997) reached worldwide fame with his concrete laminar structures, also known as ‘shells’, which he built in Mexico between the 1950s and 1960s, using a European construction technology that reached the peak of its development in Mexican soil. He created new pathways for this specific construction technology by using the hyperbolic paraboloid, and taking advantage of the structural and expressive advantages of this geometric form to create works that left an indelible mark on architecture of the 20th century. Candela’s Shells features stereolithographic models and 3D animations (all produced by School of Architecture, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), as well as reproductions of the original drawings and photographs of Candela’s most important works, from the Cosmic Rays Pavillion (Ciudad Universitaria, Mexico City, 1951) to the Sports Palace (Mexico City, 1968).

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Kathleen Brady Stimpert, 512.471.0154, kathleenstimpert@utexas.edu
 

University of Southern California

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Geoffrey von Oeyen, Assistant Professor of Practice, is scheduled to lead the design and construction of a pavilion in Xi’an, China, and to participate in a symposium in Shenzhen, China.

Assistant Professor Alison Hirsch recently had an article released in Journal of Architectural Education (70/1) titled “Grounding Diaspora: negotiating between home and host” and another in Landscape Journal (34/2) titled ““Urban Barnraising: Activating Collective Ritual to Promote Communitas.” She contributed a chapter titled “Expanded ‘Thick Description’: The Landscape Architect as Critical Ethnographer,” to Innovations in Landscape Architecture (edited by Jonathon Anderson and Daniel Ortega), which will be released by Routledge next month. She presented “The Geography of Civil Unrest: Designing the Public Realm in the Insurgent Spaces of the City” at the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) annual conference in March and will be a Distinguished Speaker in the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s “The New Landscape Declaration: A Summit on Landscape Architecture and the Future” taking place in June in Philadelphia.

Patrick Tighe, Adjunct Professor, is proud to be exhibiting at the 2016 Venice Biennale. Tighe was a keynote speaker at the California Housing Coalition Conference in Santa Barbara. Tighe also recently presented lectures at Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Louis Obispo and was a keynote speaker at WestWeek 2016. Tighe is proud to be exhibiting at the 2016 Venice Biennale. New York Magazine recently featured the work of Tighe Architecture in an article on New LA Architecture by Justin Davidson. Tighe was a keynote speaker at the California Housing Coalition Conference in Santa Barbara. Tighe also recently presented lectures at Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Louis Obispo and was a keynote speaker at WestWeek 2016.

Lorcan O’Herlihy, FAIA will be accepting an AIA Housing Award in recognition of his multi-family complex Cloverdale749 at the national AIA Convention in Philadelphia. In the coming months, Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects will see the completion of several projects – including Sunset La Cienega, a significant new development in West Hollywood encompassing a mix of retail, residential and pedestrian spaces. In addition, LOHA has projects in Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York in various stages of development.

Mina Chow has launched an international social media campaign for FACE OF A NATION on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to provide a public platform for intelligent discussion about the role of architecture and design in cultural diplomacy and conflict resolution.  As a result of the film’s significance, Skywalker Sound (George Lucas/THX) has agreed to join our team, and they are exploring ways they will contribute.  A venture capitalist has invested further resources with another generous contribution.  Mina also has presented her works-in-progress at several symposiums at USC Annenberg’s Center for Public Diplomacy between 2014-2016.    (She is speaking again at a 1-day conference on Friday May 6, 2016.)  FACE OF A NATION has progressed to fine-cut with 34 animations-in-progress.

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Virginia Tech

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Following architecture faculty was recognized with emeritus status:

Patrick and Nancy Lathrop Professor of Architecture Jaan Holt was recognized by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors with emeritus status for his distinguished service to the university. Holt served on the Virginia Tech faculty for 43 years, including as chair of the architecture program from 1976 to 1982 and as the director of the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC) from 1984 to 2016. 

Following architecture faculty have been appointed to administrative positions:

Associate Professor Hunter Pittman, R.A., has been appointed as Interim Director of the School of Architecture + Design. Pittman is the former chair of the Graduate Architecture Program and former chair of the Advanced Professional Bachelor of Architecture Program of the School of Architecture + Design.

Professor Kathryn Clarke Albright, A.I.A., has been appointed as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies. Albright is the former chair of Foundation Studies of the School of Architecture + Design.

Associate Professor David Dugas has been appointed as chair of the Graduate Architecture Program.

Professor Susan Piedmont-Palladino, A.I.A., has been appointed as director of the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center.

Adjunct Professor Charles von Weise, A.I.A., has been appointed as director of the Chicago Studio.

Following new faculty have been hired to the architecture program:

Assistant Professor Edward Becker, S.A.F.A., has been appointed to a tenure-track position. Becker holds a Master of Architecture from Harvard University. Prior to his arrival at Virginia Tech, Becker taught at the Aalto University in Helsinki, Finland.

Assistant Professor Joseph Bedford has been appointed to a tenure-track position. Bedford was trained in architecture at Cambridge University, The Cooper Union and Princeton University, and is the holder of the 2008-2009 Rome Prize at the British School in Rome.

Assistant Professor Dr. Sharóne Tomer, Ph.D., R.A., has been appointed to a tenure-track position. He holds a B.A. from Washington University in St. Louis, a M.Arch. from the University of Oregon, a M.Phil. from the University of Cape Town, and a Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. She has taught architecture in the United States and In South Africa.

Visiting Professor Dr. Barbara Kenda, Ph.D., teaches at the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center. She holds a PhD. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Adjunct Instructor Scott Archer, A.I.A., teaches at the Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center. He is a registered architect in the District of Columbia. He holds a Master of Science in Architecture & Urban Design from Columbia University.

The following faculty was awarded with an external academic appointment:

Professor Dr. Markus Breitschmid, Ph.D., S.I.A., was appointed to the diploma commission of the Accadmia di Architettura of the Universita della Svizzera Italiana for 2016.

Faculty Publications & Lectures:

Professor Dr. Mehdi Setareh, Ph.D., P.E., has following accomplishments: he published a book on Structural Systems in October 2015; the second edition of his Concrete Structures, which was published by Springer, appeared in August 2016; he received $10,000 from the NSF as part of research experience for undergraduates (REU); and in July 2016, Setareh published a paper entitled “Vibration Serviceability Issues of Slender Footbridges” in the journal of bridge engineering.

Professor Dr. Markus Breitschmid, Ph.D., S.I.A., had an interview with the Portuguese title “Mais Além!” published in ‘Indexnewspaper,” appearing in the Lisbon-based daily newspaper Público, on July 1, 2016.

Visiting Professor Dr. Barbara Kenda, Ph.D., was invited to lecture at the GSD, Harvard University, International Symposium On Atmospheres: Spaces of Embodiment. Her presentation was titled: Breathing Landscape, Tempering Architecture. 

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Check out Virginia Tech on StudyArchitecture.com! 

Southern California Institute of Architecture

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Left: David Ruy, SCI-Arc Postgraduate Programs Chair; Right: Hernan Diaz Alonso, SCI-Arc Director/CEO

SCI-Arc Director Hernan Diaz Alonso today announced the appointment of architect and educator David Ruy as the postgraduate programs chair for SCI-Arc EDGE, Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture. Beginning in fall 2016, the new center led by Ruy will offer four graduate degree programs in fields including architectural technologies, entertainment and fiction, design of cities, and design theory and pedagogy.

“We’re thrilled to have David join us at SCI-Arc this fall,” says Director Hernan Diaz Alonso. “As one of the most prominent and innovative thinkers of his generation, David has been focusing on research and theoretical concepts in relation to design and new platforms throughout his entire career. We look forward to his contribution to taking SCI-Arc to new frontiers.”

SCI-Arc EDGE is a new platform for advanced studies in architecture. Its innovative postgraduate degree programs are designed to test the theoretical and practical limits of architectural innovation in order to launch new architectural careers for the twenty-first century. Each program identifies a distinct territory in the emerging milieus of the contemporary world and empowers students to become active stakeholders in the construction of the future.

“The scope of what an architect can do is expanding like never before,” says newly appointed Chair Ruy. “Everything is potentially an architectural problem. This requires training. It requires research. It requires speculation. Today, architecture is simultaneously becoming more specialized in its expertise and more diverse in its applications. It requires programs of advanced study that can be more targeted, more focused, and more innovative. Given the complexities of the contemporary world and the intense demands being made on the abilities of architects to meet problems, these programs are carefully designed to develop advanced expertise that a general professional degree cannot address.”

Two of the four postgraduate programs offered are built on the success of existing SCI-Arc programs that will be incorporated into SCI-Arc EDGE, Center for Advanced Studies in Architecture. These include the Master of Science in Architectural Technologies led by Marcelo Spina, a program driven by a consideration of technology’s relationship to architecture, and the Master of Science in the Design of Cities led by Peter Trummer, which tackles the complexities of contemporary urban design. The two new postgraduate programs offered by SCI-Arc EDGE include a unique Master of Arts in Fiction and Entertainment led by Liam Young for those that want to leverage their architectural training for the entertainment and media industries, and a Master of Science in Design Theory and Pedagogy led by Chair David Ruy aimed as a platform for training the next generation of studio instructors.

Newly appointed postgraduate programs chair David Ruy is an architect, theorist and educator with an extensive background in academia, who has served as an important voice in conversations regarding the future of architectural education. Most recently, he was co-chair of the 103rd ACSA Annual Meeting where he led a national discussion of architectural educators addressing the future of the core curriculum and its relationship to research and experimentation. He has previously been on the faculties of Columbia University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Pratt Institute and has been a visiting professor at numerous universities in the United States and Europe. He has served as an external examiner of the DRL at the Architectural Association and is an advisor to numerous international organizations examining contemporary problems in architecture.

In parallel to his academic appointments, Ruy is co-director of Ruy Klein with Karel Klein. The practice examines contemporary problems at the intersection of architecture, nature, and technology, encompassing a wide array of influential projects that have migrated across the boundaries of architecture, art and design. The firm studies the mutual imbrications of artificial and natural regimes that are shaping an ever more synthetic world. The work of Ruy Klein has been widely published and exhibited and has been the recipient of numerous awards including the 2011 Emerging Voices Award of the Architectural League, recognizing the firm as one of the leading experimental practices in architecture today. The work is part of the permanent collection of the Frac Centre in Orléans, France. David Ruy received his Master of Architecture from Columbia University and his Bachelor of Arts from St. John’s College where he studied philosophy and mathematics.

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University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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Daniel Piatkowski, Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, publishes his inaugural book chapter as a CRP faculty member. Piatkowski’s co-authored chapter “Advancing discussions of cycling interventions based on social justice” is the sixth chapter in Bicycle Justice and Urban Transportation published by Routledge.

Piatkowski’s chapter is about laying a groundwork for deciding if and when investing in bicycle infrastructure can forward social justice goals in a city’s transportation system.

Piatkowski and co-authors articulate how often times decisions to implement interventions to promote cycling are done without really examining or thinking about how these changes are realized differently across various populations and geographies and how the importance of one person being able to cycle, weighs against the sacrifices it requires from another. Piakowski’s piece encourages those who promote cycling to challenge and rethink assumptions about the cycling culture, the neighborhood transformation and the planning processes. The authors suggest justifications for advancing efforts should be examined closely as part of the planning process.

“Simply promoting cycling across the board for reasons of health, environment or ‘choice’ often leads to misplaced priorities that do little to address the plight of population groups who are often neglected in transportation planning and could best benefit from more bicycle-friendly neighborhoods and cities.” (Chapter 6)

The chapter was co-authored with Karel Martens (lead author), Kevin J. Krizek and Kara Luckey.

Piatkowski has done extensive research with transportation, particularly focusing on how land use and transportation planning can foster equitable and sustainable communities. He is principally interested in analyzing the effects and community transformations related to walking and bicycling planning. His research has been featured on National Public Radio, the Washington Post, the Atlantic and CityLab’s “Future of Transportation” series. Piatkowski’s work has been published in numerous places including seven peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at 17 national conferences.

Piatkowski explains, his career in community planning didn’t lead him to cycling transportation research but his passion for cycling led him toward a career in planning. One might say, it’s all about choosing the right path.

At UNL, Piatkowski teaches land use and transportation, urban design and research methods.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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The College of Architecture announces the hiring of three faculty members: Nathan Bicak, Assistant Professor of Interior Design; Cathy De Almeida, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture; and Daniel Piatkowski, Assistant Professor of Community and Regional Planning.

Before coming to UNL, Bicak served as an assistant professor with the Department of Design at Radford University in Virginia, where he received grant funding to implement an interdisciplinary, tiny house design/build class and established maker spaces across campus. Working collaboratively with the Radford University Environmental Center and an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students, Bicak contributed design, prototype development, digital fabrication and sensor automation to a research project focused on the construction of a food waste bioreactor.

He has presented his work at national conferences including NeoCon, the Environmental Design Research Association and the Interior Design Educators Council. Bicak has spoken on a wide variety of topics, notables include the utilization of drones to enhance construction education and monitoring, residential criteria for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and the efficacy of making and prototyping for the enhancement of spatial understanding in interior design education.

Bicak plans to continue his research studying the social, ecological and economic impacts of small-scale living solutions, particularly through the interdisciplinary design/build delivery method. Possible future projects include an exploration and needs analysis for small-scale, housing in the rural environment.

Furthermore, Bicak gained valuable practical experience as an architectural designer with Narrative Design Studio in Lincoln as well as with Dwellings Co, an affordable housing start-up based in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Bicak will be teaching courses in education design, material application, building codes, construction methodologies and construction documentation.

Before joining the College of Architecture, De Almeida was a landscape architecture lecturer with Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. She taught undergraduate and graduate design studios that focused on waste reuse processes in brownfield transformation. The concept focused on the creation of multi-layered, hybrid landscapes that were economically generative, ecologically rich, cultural destinations.

She was also an associate at Whitham Planning and Design in Ithaca, where she worked as a landscape architect and planner on numerous urban infill projects, including the transformation of a deindustrialized, superfund site into a mixed-use district known as the Chain Works District.

De Almeida’s research and design interests focus on material and energy reuse in diversified site programming to promote resilience, adaptation and flexibility in design. She is particularly interested in designing landscapes that allow waste streams from one system to become fuel for other systems. Her landscape lifecycles design-research synthesizes lifecycle approaches with concepts of industrial ecology and urban metabolism. These interests promote the restructuring of local and regional infrastructural systems to reclaim vulnerable sites and territories associated with perceived undesirable conditions, and explore the relationships between environmental justice, waste and brownfields. She is ultimately interested in how humans interact with ecological systems and resources and how design can improve these relationships by establishing symbiotic, hybrid bio-cultural systems. In addition to waste, De Almeida is also interested in intangible and ephemeral forces such as heat, wind and humidity – as media of design.

De Almeida has lectured about her work at Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, SUNY ESF and the DredgeFest: Great Lakes Symposium, and will present a forthcoming paper at the Landscape Architecture as Necessity Conference in September hosted by the University of Southern California.

De Almeida will be teaching materiality, design making and alternative landscape-based design strategies for brownfield redevelopment.

Piatkowski comes from Savannah State University where he was assistant professor of urban studies and planning. Prior to that position he was an NSF-IGERT trainee earning his PhD with the Civil Engineering department at the University of Colorado, Denver.

Piatkowski’s research focuses on how land use and transportation planning can foster equitable and sustainable communities. Piatkowski is particularly interested in the ways in which planning for walking and bicycling as viable modes of transportation can transform communities. Recent work includes: the interaction between “carrots and sticks” in travel behavior decisions, social media tools and equitable community engagement and the phenomenon of “scofflaw bicycling” – why bicyclists break the rules of the road. His research has been featured on National Public Radio, the Washington Post, the Atlantic, and CityLab’s “Future of Transportation” series.

Piatkowski has been published numerous times in peer review journals including The Journal of Travel Behaviour and Society, Transport Policy, Journal of Urban Planning and Development, Journal of Transport and Health, Urban Design International, and the Journal of Transportation of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. He has presented his work nationally at the Congress for the New Urbanism, the Transportation Research Board and the International Association of Travel Behavior Researchers. Future scheduled presentations include the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning’s Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon, where he will present his research on “scofflaw bicycling” and serve as a session panelist for historic preservation and livability.

At UNL, Piatkowski will teach land use and transportation, urban design and research methods.

“We are fortunate to have these three talented individuals join our College, to continue their academic careers and exciting research paths, and to contribute to the rich curriculum and content we provide our students,” commented Katherine Ankerson, College of Architecture Dean.

University of Texas at Austin

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UT Austin School of Architecture Hosts The Secret Life of Buildings Symposium, October 19 -22
Symposium Explores Speculative Realism, Object Oriented Ontology, and other theories                        

AUSTIN, TX— August 9, 2016—The School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin will host The Secret Life of Buildings, October 19-22, 2016. Organized by the Center for American Architecture and Design, the four-day symposium investigates Speculative Realism, Object Oriented Ontology (OOO), and similar emerging theories that imagine that buildings and the things in and around them not only promote human life, but have lives of their own, separate from our experience of them. Held on the UT campus, the event marks the first time the leaders of this exciting new realm of critical thought will gather to consider the topic of architecture.
 
What happens within a building when we are not there? How does a building relate to the objects within it? How does it relate to other buildings around it? If buildings are actors, what networks are they acting in? What do they keep to themselves, apart from all contact? These are just a few of the questions that the symposium seeks to address. Attendees will also investigate what implications, if any, these theories have for architects and designers of the built environment.  
 
On his website, Ian Bogost, philosopher, author, game designer, and one of the panelists at the symposium, defines OOO as the branch of philosophy that..
 
…puts things at the center…In contemporary thought, things are usually taken either as the aggregation of ever smaller bits (scientific naturalism) or as constructions of human behavior and society (social relativism). OOO steers a path between the two, drawing attention to things at all scales (from atoms to alpacas, bits to blinis), and pondering their nature and relations with one another as much with ourselves.
 
Speakers include philosopher Graham Harman of the American University in Cairo and Sci-Arc and founder of Object Oriented Ontology; architect and theorist Albena Yaneva of the University of Manchester; architect and theorist Jorge Otero-Pailos of Columbia University; and UT Austin architect and theorist Michael Benedikt. Other prominent thinkers and practitioners participating include Levi Bryant, Timothy Morton, Craig Dykers, Winka Dubbeldam, Ian Bogost, Leslie Van Duzer, Matthew B. Crawford, and UT faculty co-organizer Kory Bieg.
 
The symposium will be accompanied by an exhibition, Objects. Comprised of the top fifteen entries of an international design competition, the presentation will feature works that examine the ideas of Object Oriented Ontology and Speculative Realism through the design of singular, tangible things: “objects.” These will be installed in and around UT’s Goldsmith Hall at the School of Architecture.
 
Inquiries about the symposium may be directed to Leora Visotzky at the University of Texas at Austin, at leora@austin.utexas.edu. All events are free and open to the public until full. The Objects exhibition is on view October 17 – 31, 2016.

Timber in the City: Students Awarded Prizes for Innovative Designs Using Wood as a Green Material for Urban Construction

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TIMBER IN THE CITY

Students Awarded Prizes for Innovative Designs Using Wood as a Green Material for Urban Construction

NEW YORK, August 8, 2016 —Today, the winning entrants were announced of a student design competition exploring wood as an innovative building material. Timber in the City: Urban Habitats Competition, organized by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), the Binational Softwood Lumber Council (BSLC) and Parsons The New School for Design, attracted more than 850 architectural students who designed proposals for a mid-rise, mixed-use complex with affordable housing units, a NYC outpost of the The Andy Warhol Museum and a new and expanded home for the historic Essex Street Market. The winning entrants, with prizes totaling $40,000, were chosen by a panel of leading architects and professors based on the design’s ability to integrate wood as the primary structural material while meeting the needs of the local community.  

The competition focused on a site on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, with a diverse population of public housing residents, market, the new Lowline and a number of new residential and commercial developments. Students were asked to design places for inhabitation, repose, recreation, and local small scale commercial exchange, as well as the creation of social and cultural exchanges, all while embracing new possibilities of wood. Entrants were challenged to propose construction systems in scenarios that draw optimally on the performance characteristics of not one but a variety of wood technologies. 

“Today, timber is being used in new, innovative ways to help address the economic and environmental challenges of the build environment,” said Cees de Jager, executive director of BSLC. “This competition brought to life the way the design community is recognizing the benefits of wood – from reduced economic and environmental impact to enhanced aesthetic value and structural performance – to design buildings and communities of the future.”

The projects will be on view at the 2016 Greenbuild Conference in Los Angeles (October), the 2017 ACSA Annual Meeting in Detroit (March) and the American Institute of Architects 2017 Convention in Orlando (April).  Awards, totaling $40,000, were presented to teams of students and faculty for their unique celebrations of wood products.

  • First Place: “Stack Exchange” – the University of Washington’s winning submission attracted the jurors with its outstanding inventive formal strategy and expressive use of timber. The scale of the market and gallery spaces read as great urban rooms with the residential spaces floating above.
    • Students: Buddy Burkhalter, Mingjun Yin, and Connor Irick, University of Washington
    • Faculty Sponsors: Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden, University of Washington
    • Second Place: “Hybrid Domains” – the University of Oregon stands out for its elegant hybridity of systems. There is a nice nod to the old 19th century steel and iron loft buildings but reincarnated in timber.
      • Students: Greg Stacy, Benjamin Wright, Alex Kendle, and Michael Meer, University of Oregon
      • Faculty Sponsor: Judith Sheine and Mark Donofrio, University of Oregon, and Mikhail Gershfeld, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
      • Third Place: “Grid + Grain” – the University of Washington has a very exciting and convincing urban strategy. The diagram for this project in plan and section is extremely elegant and works well. It is a project that you could see being built today in New York City.
        • Students: Everardo Lopez, Lauren McWhorter, and Jesce Walz, University of Washington
        • Faculty Sponsors: Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden, University of Washington

Additionally, two student teams were selected as honorable mention winners:

  • Honorable Mention Project: Within a Timber Glade
    Students: Ross Silverman, Kelly Hayes, James Ko, and Caitlin Powell, Philadelphia University
    Faculty Sponsors: Lisa Phillips, Li Hao, and Edgar Stach, Philadelphia University
  • Honorable Mention Project: The Delancey Cut
    Students: Zachary Jorgensen, Elizabeth Kelley, and Charles Landefeld, University of Washington
    Faculty Sponsors: Richard Mohler and Elizabeth Golden, University of Washington

The winning projects were chosen by a panel of distinguished jury members in the architecture community, including the following:

  • Jennifer Cover, WoodWorks
  • Dana Getman, SHoP Architects
  • Susan Jones, atelierjones
  • Alan Organschi , Gray Organschi Architect
  • Jeff Spiritos, Spiritos Properties

The competition ran from July 2015 through May 25, 2016 and included over 850 participants. The design jury met in July to select the winning projects and honorable mentions. For full details on the competition and the winning submissions visit www.timberinthecity.com.

Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
Founded in 1912 to advance the quality of architectural education, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) represents all accredited programs and their faculty across the United States and Canada, as well as nonaccredited and international affiliate members around the world. ACSA, unique in its representative role for schools of architecture, provides a forum for ideas on the leading edge of architectural thought. Issues that will affect the architectural profession in the future are being examined today in ACSA member schools. The association maintains a variety of activities that influence, communicate, and record important issues. Such endeavors include scholarly meetings, workshops, publications, awards and competition programs, support for architectural research, policy development, and liaison with allied organizations. For more information, please visit www.acsa-arch.org.     

Binational Softwood Lumber Council
The Binational Softwood Lumber Council (BSLC), a nonprofit organization, was established in 2006 by the Canadian and U.S. governments. The BSLC champions the use of softwood lumber products as part of the shift to a more environmentally responsible and economically viable building sector. Sustainably harvested wood products from North America create jobs in rural communities, reduce costs and can help reduce the overall environmental footprint of a home or building. For more information, visit www.softwoodlumber.org. 

Parsons The New School for Design 
Parsons The New School for Design is a global leader in design education, with programs that span the disciplines of design and the fine arts. Parsons prepares students to creatively and critically address the complex conditions of contemporary global society. Its curriculum is geared toward synthesizing rigorous craft with cutting-edge theory and research methods, and encourages collaborative and individual approaches that cut across a wide array of disciplines. The School of Constructed Environments at Parsons is the only integrated school of interior design, lighting design, product design and architecture in the country. For more information, please visit www.newschool.edu/parsons/sce.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS

Eric Ellis
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
(202) 785-2324
eellis@acsa-arch.org

Deborah Kirschner
Parsons the New School for Design
(347) 763-0861
kirschnd@newschool.edu

Christian Huot
reThink Wood
(604) 685-7507
christian.huot@rethinkwood.com

 

# # #

 

The Future of Architectural Education

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by Bruce Lindsey, ACSA President

As you read this, I will be representing ACSA at the NCARB Licensing Advisors Summit in Chicago. There will be 258 advisers in attendance. Saturday, along with representatives of the AIA, NCARB, NAAB, and AIAS. I will participate on a panel that will address the future of architectural education. I will have five minutes. Not to spoil the surprise but here it is:

The future of architectural education is dynamic. The diversity of our schools, programs, degrees, and approaches is a strength. The lack of diversity in our student bodies, faculty, and profession is not. Technology is always the answer but the question is uncertain. Design is a hot topic. It is not just a process but also an expertise that involves experienced judgment. That’s why we practice. There is an ethical dimension to practice that is important because designs are predictions that affect things both directions in time. And finally, we need to figure out why the world does not know we think it needs us.

I think that might be only three minutes. Suggestions welcome.

 

STRATEGIC PLANNING, ADAPTIVE STRATEGY

This past year as president-elect I had the pleasure of chairing the planning committee charged with developing a new strategic plan with a 3-5 year view, the former plan having been written about 10 years ago. We engaged Nancy Alexander of Lumenance Consulting to help develop the plan and to think about the future of ACSA and its mission. Several weeks ago, at our summer meeting, the board voted to formally adopt the plan that is presented here.


Download the PDF

Google “strategic planning” and you get 10 steps, tool boxes, templates, and, my favorite, “The Strategic Plan is Dead, Long Live Strategy” from the Stanford Innovation Review. I remain an inspired skeptic, but the process over the last year has been an amazing experience. If you want to get to know new colleagues fast, work on a strategic plan together.

A concept from the Stanford article has made me less of a skeptic. With an adaptive strategy we hope to allow the plan to be at once precise and flexible as we move into a future that we know will be uncertain. Amanda Gann of the ACSA staff is working on an interactive dashboard that will help us track our progress. I love technology. 

A pivotal moment in the process of developing the plan occurred when Nancy Alexander helped us consider the value of beginning to see the organization moving from a position of serving to one of leading. This powerful idea will take more than five minutes and will require a truly collaborative effort between ACSA and our member schools and colleagues. I am excited to solicit your feedback and your help as we approach a new year and the implementation of the new plan.

I would like to thank Mike Monti and the amazing ACSA staff, and Marilys Nepomechie as she moves from president to past president. Her leadership this last year has helped ACSA increase its international presence and has helped lead the board toward a new organizational structure that will begin this fall among other accomplishments. I very much look forward to the coming year’s work alongside Marilys, the two presidents-elect, Francisco J. Rodriguez-Suarez and Branko Kolarevic, and the entire board. 

In the cab on the way to the airport from the summer board meeting my Ethiopian cab driver asked me what I did. When I responded, “I am a professor,” he said, “You don’t need to be famous to be unforgettable. Being a teacher is good enough.” This response reminded me of a favorite warning from Kierkegaard that a professor is a teacher without paradox. I am very proud to be serving as president of an organization that supports teachers and their schools knowing that while education is usually blamed, it remains our best hope.

Sincerely,

Bruce Lindsey

 

University of Texas at Austin

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Drawings, images, and models from Kory Bieg and Clay Odom’s Lumifoil, the winning work of the FIU College of Architecture + The Arts Emerging Architects Competition, will be exhibited at the FIU College of Architecture + The Arts, Miami Beach Urban Studios from June to September of 2016. The project is designed as an intervention into the rooftop event space of Bernard Tschumi’s “Red Generator” building at the FIU College of Architecture + The Arts. It was engineered by ARUP and is currently scheduled for installation in December 2016.

Kevin Alter’s professional practice, alterstudio architecture, has been recognized recently with awards and in several publications. The studio received two AIA Austin: 2016 Design Awards, one for their South 3rd Street Residence, and the other for their Cuernavaca residence.

This summer, after fifteen years of dedicated service to The University of Texas at Austin, Dean Fritz Steiner will be leaving the School of Architecture to serve as dean of PennDesign at the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater. Elizabeth Danze, UTSOA professor and Associate Dean of Graduate Programs, will serve as interim dean for the school effective July 1.

Gabriel Díaz Montemayor gave a lecture entitled, “Service Studios: Public Space and Academia,” at the VII International Congress on Architecture and Design organized by the Marista University of Merida in the state of Yucatan, Mexico. Montemayor also presented a paper, “Hybrid Ecological and Sustainable Mobility Networks for Northern Mexico,” at the 46th Urban Affairs Association Conference held in San Diego. 

Allan Shearer, Co-Director of the Center for Sustainable Development, authored “Abduction to Argument: A Framework of Design Thinking,” for the current issue of Landscape Journal._ 

Professor Wilfried Wang guest-edited two consecutive issues of the Japanese architectural journal A+U, on the work of Sigurd Lewerentz. Wang also co-curated, with Adjunct Associate Professor Barbara Hoidn, the upcoming exhibition,DEMO:POLIS–The Right to Public Space, at the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.

 

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