Assistant Professor Nathan Bicak‘s homeless shelter prototype research was published in the September 2017 issue of Journal of Interior Design [JID]. The article titled, “The Design and Testing of a Student Prototyped Homeless Shelter” was written in collaboration with Dr. Joan Dickinson of Radford University.
The genesis of the research project started as one of Dickinson’s second year interior design studio projects. The student teams were asked to design and prototype portable homeless shelters. Dickinson invited Bicak to assist with the project as a design build adviser and consultant because of his interest in improving the human condition and his experience with project construction and prototype development.
The article presents an exploratory study detailing the students’ experiences and challenges designing, building and testing a portable shelter on a sample of homeless men to address the growing needs of the unsheltered.
Building the prototype wasn’t without hurdles. In order to meet the needs of the shelter dwellers, much consideration was needed for the selection and manipulation of appropriate materials. The design had to be portable, lightweight, low-cost and weatherproof. Several common structural and cladding materials were far too heavy and rigid to be transformed into a collapsible prototype.
In addition to material restrictions, other project outcomes surprised the researchers as well. For example feedback from the homeless participants who tested the shelter, thought that mobility shouldn’t be a key factor in the shelter design; rather, they all agreed that being able to collapse and hide it somewhere was more important. Interviews with the participants suggested that concepts of adaptability, control, privacy, security and dignity were important features to consider. This list of criteria varied somewhat from the students’ original research.
Bicak said research design exercises like this are great learning tools not only for students but for all designers. “Taking a design proposal through the prototype process is a powerful way to make ideas real and test them through actual applications. Plus, the participatory design process, helps students empathize with users who offer unique perspectives and experiences,” commented Bicak.
In the end, Bicak hopes projects like this will empower students and other designers to use the skills and design knowledge they have to respond to social problems and make a positive impact.
The project team consisted of Bicak, Dickinson and a student design team including: Chasity Boyd, Megan Dryer, Krissy Klingenberger and Kelsea Stafford. Learn more about this project in the September 2017 issue of JID.
2017/2018 Hyde Lecture Series opens another exciting chapter for the design and planning disciplines as speakers take a fresh, in-depth look at the latest developments in their respective fields.
The College’s Hyde Lecture Series is a long-standing, endowed public program. Each year the College hosts compelling speakers in the fields of architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and planning that enrich the ongoing dialog around agendas which are paramount to the design disciplines and our graduates.
The college is also pleased to share that this year’s Hyde Lecture Series poster was designed by Koldo Lus Arana, architecture cartoonist and lecturer with the University of Zaragoza.
The College of Architecture from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is pleased to announce Associate Professor Timothy Hemsath and architectural doctoral candidate Kaveh Alagheh Bandhosseini have published through Routledge an insightful, research-driven book packed with hundreds of simulated illustrations entitled “Energy Modeling in Architectural Design”.
This ground-breaking book provides the reader with detailed energy-saving, design methods and resources for simulation in architectural design. While there have been other books and journals that have included parametrically-driven building forms for energy simulations in architectural design; they are often limited to a single climate and residential design. This book takes energy-efficient designs to a new level.
“We explored three different offices sizes in three different U.S. climate zones, and we coupled newer lighting metrics with energy simulations which is extremely novel,” stated Hemsath.
Using research proven methods, Hemsath and Bandhosseini detail how to use design elements and the identification of climate opportunities to create energy savings and help reduce the energy footprint of new buildings. From project conception, the authors demonstrate how to utilize important fundamental passive design elements for software-agnostic energy modeling. The book also provides a step by step guide to creating and testing parametric models for a structure that is not only beautiful but high-performance and efficient.
Artfully illustrated with more than 100 color images, this book includes a pattern guide for high-performance buildings. These illustrations are a small representation of the thousands created during their research using the Holland Computing Center.
“Hemsath and Bandhosseini have delivered a timely and informative introduction to building energy modeling. Energy modeling has become an essential tool for modern architects to understand when designing high-performance buildings. This book is richly illustrated and provides vital information that will assist architects in making energy saving design decisions,” commented Jason Glazer, P.E., BEMP; principal engineer at GARD Analytics Inc. and chair of ASHRAE Standard 209.
Leading energy experts concur, “Understanding the energy consequence of architectural design decisions is the foundation for high-performance design. The authors of “Energy Modeling in Architectural Design” provide the framework for all architects to effectively use energy modeling as a design tool,” said Tom Hootman, AIA, LEED AP, WELL AP, author of “Net Zero Energy Design”.
A copy of “Energy Modeling in Architectural Design” can also be found on Amazon.com
Bicak Research to Explore Criteria for Makerspaces
University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Architecture is pleased to announce Nathan Bicak, assistant professor of interior design received a Layman Grant Award for his project entitled “A Spatial Taxonomy and Best Practices Criteria for the Interior Design of Makerspaces”. This auspicious project will serve as a foundation phase for future work focused on establishing developmental strategies, design criteria and best practices for makerspaces as an emerging interior space typology.
While making and makerspaces have evolved from a sub-cultural movement to the mainstream at a rapid pace, there has been limited research on best design practices. A makerspace developed with evidence-based practices has greater potential for success and longevity when its stakeholders, community leaders and developers are well informed. It is critically important that an institution or community understand common equipment, space standards and the potential of said spaces in various markets in order to determine appropriate actions and strategic plan development.
This project will involve the collection and examination of equipment resources, creative pursuits, user demographics and social capital in a variety of existing spaces. The target audience for this project will be organizations seeking direction on makerspace implementation in their communities.
Makerspaces were born from the Maker Movement, a “do it yourself” effort started by hobbyist engineers in the 1990s. These facilities offer equipment and studio space to individuals and organizations who might not otherwise be able to afford it. They democratize small scale manufacturing through equipment like 3D printers, laser cutters and Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machines for the purposes of innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Layman Grant Award program is supported by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Office of Research and Economic Development, which funds work that enhances a researcher’s ability to obtain external funding to support prominent scholarship. There are two tracks: the Layman Seed Program, which funds new projects by non-tenured junior faculty, and the New Directions Program, which funds tenured faculty who are re-entering research or branching out in new directions.
Ankerson Inducted as Interior Design Educators Council Fellow
The College of Architecture is pleased to announce Dean Katherine S. Ankerson was inducted as a fellow of the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC)at this year’s 2017 annual conference.
Ankerson’s contributions to IDEC over the last 15 years have included 13 leadership positions, most notably as 2015 national president, director at large, teaching academy administrator, Record editor and foundation board member to name a few.Ankerson has been at the forefront of several interior design leadership initiatives serving the education community. She currently holds the following prestigious professional positions: board of director member for the Council for Interior Design Accreditation and board of director member for the Nuckolls Fund for Lighting Education. She also is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) and the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA). Ankerson is also a licensed architect in Washington and Nebraska and holds a National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) certificate.
IDEC is the leading association and authority on interior design education. IDEC’s more than 700 members are committed to the advancement of responsible design thinking through education, scholarship and service.
The College of Architecture is pleased to announce the following faculty accolades and achievements:
Awards Architecture Assistant Professor Jason Griffiths and his design studio students were honored with a 2017 Regional Excellence in Wood Design Award by Woodworks for their studio project titled “Emerge”. The students on the design team included: David Rogelio Alcala, Alfredo Vera F, Virginia Michelle Gormley, Ruslan White, Eric Lee Engler, Danielle Alexa Durham, Devin Bayles McLean, Scott Christopher Kenny, Justin Philip DeFields, Darian Johnathon Scott, Kristen Michelle Schulte, Joseph Roy Croghan and Hanna Christy. The “Emerge” project is a 100 square foot structure designed to hold small gatherings of teachers and students visiting the Bauman Tree Farm in Eugene, Oregon. Details about their project are included on the Woodworks’ website and featured in their 2017 Wood Design Award video. The video will be presented at five Wood Solutions Fairs and two Wood Design Symposia across the country this year and in the hardcover book, Celebrating Excellence in Wood Architecture 2016-2017, to be published next fall. For full project details click here. Community and Regional Planning Assistant Professor Dan Piatkowski’s abstract titled “Promoting bicycling in the face of “Bikelash” – Why bicyclists break the law, and what it means for encouraging active transportation” was selected for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Excellence in Safety Research for Active Living award. The honor will be presented to Piatkowski at the 2017 Active Living Research conference on February 28th. Papers
Architecture Assistant Professor David Karle and master of architecture student Caitlin Tangeman’s abstract “Decentralized Consumerism” has been accepted and will be developed into a full essay for the international journal MONU. MONU examines topics that are important to the future of cities and urban regions from a variety of perspectives and provides a platform for comparative analysis. Their essay mergers Karle’s research on Great Plains urbanism and Tangeman’s thesis interests on contemporary rural issues and the growing urban-rural divide. The essay will be published in April 2017. Community and Regional Planning Assistant Professor Daniel Piatkowski’s survey work, which was presented in Washington DC last month, was featured in February’s issue of Greater, Greater Washington. The article was titled “Guess who wants to teach cyclists a lesson?” The full article can be reviewed here. Piatkowski’s research focuses on investigating land use and transportation planning and how it 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. Presentations
Architecture Professor Rumiko Handa presented a paper titled “Presenting the Difficult Past: Günther Domenig’s Documentation Center of the National Socialist Party Rally Grounds at Nuremberg” at the Atmosphere 9 conference held at the University of Manitoba. Handa’s paper presentation reflected on how a piece of architecture has a way of presenting the past and the history that took place there. She posed the question, “what contributions, if any, does the architect make when dealing with a pre-existing building that carries a difficult past.” For example the city of Nuremberg, where German citizens hosted Nazi rallies annually from 1933 to 1938, took a half a century to generate an institution, the Documentation Center, a place that would constantly remind its visitors of the genocide that happened there. Handa explored the community’s transition and asked the audience to ponder “whether and how the architect should take advantage of the pre-existing architecture as a memory place.” Full abstract can be found here. From the Interior Design program, Professor Mark Hinchman, Assistant Professor Nate Bicak and Associate Professor and Interim Program Director Lindsey Bahe have all had peer-reviewed papers accepted to be presented at the Interior Design Educator’s Council National Conference in Chicago in March. Mark Hinchman will be presenting “The Hotel Interiors of Dale and Patricia Keller, 1961 – 1981: Oral History in the Digital Age”. Nate Bicak and Lindsey Bahe co-authored “Design Making as a Recruiting Tool: Body, Space and Agility”. Achievement:
Architecture Professor and Program Director Jeffrey L. Day’s “Blue Barn Theatre and Boxcar 10” projects in Omaha, Nebraska, have been featured on the internationally renowned architecture website ArchDaily. Full feature can be found here.
Day’s design team combined a 13,000 square foot facility for Blue Barn with Boxcar 10, a 10,000 square foot restaurant and residential building and a 7,500 square foot public open space. Designed for separate owners, the projects share a common language and a unified site strategy including innovative storm water management and unconventional materials. The architects envisioned a collective and collaborative approach for the theater, restaurant and housing, embracing the precision programming required for each.
University of Nebraska’s CRP Studio Is Making a Difference in Lincoln Neighborhoods
Great places to live rarely happen by accident. Sought-after cities and neighborhoods take years of planning to develop, maintain and in some cases redevelop. Most cities have areas that are economically depressed and in need of revitalization. Assessing the condition of these older neighborhoods is an important first step in planning for positive change. Graduate students pursuing the Master of Community and Regional Planning (MCRP) degree at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln have been collaborating this semester with NeighborWorks Lincoln, the Lincoln/Lancaster County Planning Department and the City of Lincoln Urban Development Department in the initial stages of community planning in one of Lincoln’s older neighborhoods.
Residents’ concerns about vacant and neglected properties, graffiti, weeds, litter and other safety and quality-of-life concerns prompted the collaboration between the NeighborWorks Lincoln and the Community and Regional Planning (CRP) program. NeighborWorks Lincoln is one of over 240 nonprofit community development organizations in the NeighborWorks America network. This 2010 pilot project, funded by the Woods Charitable Fund, allowed the work to assess physical conditions, especially the housing stock, in several of Lincoln’s older neighborhoods.
Even though that grant-funded project has ended, the need to assess and improve Lincoln neighborhoods still exists. NeighborWorks Lincoln is currently in the process of developing more moderate- to low-income housing in Lincoln’s South Salt Creek Neighborhood, either by building new construction and/or rehabilitating existing homes.
The collaborative emphasis involves much more than a focus on improving housing; NeighborWorks and CRP want to see the neighborhood holistically enriched and stimulated as a result of residents becoming involved in a community planning process. As part of the collaboration, CRP agreed to participate in the data collection and analysis process in the South Salt Creek Neighborhood as the focus of a semester-long master’s studio project. Students have conducted a door-to-door survey of residents and a condition-of-properties observational survey that uses 35 physical conditions criteria in order to build a quantitative database. In addition to the questionnaires, the team has met with neighborhood residents to inform the community about their work and gauge interest for future grassroots efforts.
This partnership has apparently been beneficial to everyone involved. For the students, it is an invaluable learning experience. “This is a great opportunity for students to conduct field work, assemble and analyze data, and understand the relationship between nonprofit organizations and city governments and how they interact and work together,” commented Gordon Scholz, CRP professor and interim program director. For NeighborWorks Lincoln and the neighborhood residents, the project has helped identify and provide evidence of issues in the neighborhood, as well as generate interest and elicit participation from residents. Furthermore, the project is providing a foundation for further neighborhood revitalization planning efforts.
“There are only two staff persons at NeighborWorks Lincoln who work with community engagement, so we’re pretty swamped. This background information-gathering which the students have conducted is a crucial first step in preparing to create a revitalization plan for any area. NWL and CRP have a long history of working together, which is a win/win because it expands NWL’s capacity, provides students with hands-on experience and benefits the community,” stated Pat Anderson-Sifuentez, community builder for NeighborWorks Lincoln. She continues, “City staff members have been cut back over the years, so if CRP students can assist with gathering and analyzing some information necessary, such as census data, property assessment scans and resident surveys, it helps NWL and Planning staff in their work.”
One of the reasons this partnership was worked well thus far is the mutual understanding of community planning as a long-term and continuing process. “At the outset in this project, Gordon Scholz, NWL staff and Lincoln Planning and Urban Development staff met to make sure that the information gathered would be put to good use,” said Anderson-Sifuentez. “The work has already evolved over the years from doing just scans of properties, expanding to include resident surveys and public meetings. I hope we can continue to build on this process so that future University classes can build on what the previous classes have done.”
When the semester ends, it doesn’t mean a student has to stop working on the project, Scholz adds. “After this semester, if a student wants to continue working on the project, they can choose to pursue it through independent study or a professional project in subsequent semesters.”
In addition to supporting community development work, NeighborWorks Lincoln sees this project not only providing students with a great learning experience, but also impacting future individual decisions made by each student. “These students are improving the community they live in, and projects like this also serve as a way to connect students with meaningful service learning opportunities that will engage them with the community and possibly encourage them to stay in the area after graduation,” stated Chief Operating Officer of NeighborWorks Lincoln Shawn Ryba.
An affinity for Lincoln and its residents may have started to take root among the students.
“It was great to interact with residents of the community, and it will be fun to watch the exciting future this community has in store,” commented CRP student Maggie Harthoorn. Other students were equally enthusiastic about their skill development throughout this semester-long project.
“This experience has helped me to hone my GIS, Illustrator and InDesign skills in an environment with real deadlines and deliverables to a third-party partner such as NeighborWorks,” commented CRP student Andy Pedley.
As a culmination of their community condition analysis, CRP students will make recommendations to NeighborWorks Lincoln for community improvements in the neighborhood they have studied. These results will give city stakeholders a useful perspective regarding the conditions of this neighborhood and a reference for future planning and decision-making.
University of Nebraska’s College of Architecture Among Awardees at AIA-NE Annual Gala
At this year’s Excellence in Design Gala, the American Institute of Architects, Nebraska Chapter (AIA-NE) presented five Honor Awards and eleven Merit Awards selected from Nebraska architects’ submissions and evaluated by Ohio jurors. Faculty, students and alumni from the College of Architecture were among the honorees.
Architectural Program Director Jeffrey L. Day (and his Omaha and San Francisco based architectural firm Min | Day) won two distinguished honors at the event. Min | Day was presented with the following awards on September 29th:
• Honor Award in the Architecture category for their project entitled “Blue Barn Theatre & Box Car 10” Omaha, Nebraska. This project was conceived as a new arts hub in a rapidly changing district near downtown Omaha. The experimental theatre opens to the city outdoors through a public open space anchored with a mixed-use building.
• Merit Award in the Unbuilt Architecture category for their project entitled “Hexad” Lincoln, NE.
Hexad is a caretaker’s house for a private estate in a sculpture garden. The 832 sq. ft. building separates the basic functions of home into living, eating, bathing and sleeping, into four 160 sq. ft. wings. Current M.Arch student Jacob Doyle also worked on the Hexad project while an intern at Min | Day in 2016.
College of Architecture recent graduates were recognized as well. David Alcala and Joshua Puppe, both currently employed in BVH’s Lincoln office, won a Merit Award in the Emerging Professionals category for their project entitled “Ephemerality – St. Joseph’s Catholic Church,” a project they designed in ARCH 410 under studio instructor Mark Bacon’s direction.
In this design, the church is strengthened through the employment of light, material logic and the concept of ascension through architecture. The project’s goals were achieved through designing spaces around light such as the main chapel and other areas in darkness such as the private chapel to reflect the program of the room. The project was previously recognized with an SGH / Dri-Design scholarship.
Several College of Architecture alumni had their work recognized with the AIA-NE Excellence in Design awards and the full award list may be accessed through www.aiane.org website. The Excellence in Design program is an annual event for Nebraska architects who submit built and unbuilt projects for consideration. Categories for consideration include Architecture, Interior Architecture, Unbuilt, Excellence in Masonry and Details. For Emerging Architects the categories are Unbuilt Design and Architectural Detail.
Projects were judged based on a variety of features, including unique design, originality, extended use attributes, sustainability, budget and use of environmental surroundings. More information about each of these projects can be found at
Project will use drones to survey wetland habitats
Nebraska researchers are turning to the air to help monitor wetland habitat conditions.
Funded through a $203,220 Environmental Protection Agency award, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Zhenghong Tang and Wayne Woldt plan to develop a methodology to use unmanned aircraft systems to conduct dynamic monitoring and precise assessments of playa wetland habitats. Areas the team plans to focus on include hydrological conditions, vegetation and energy levels, and wildlife usage in the Nebraska Rainwater Basin.
Surveying the public waterfowl production and wildlife management areas across the basin will require multiple field trips to complete the data collection during the spring and fall migratory seasons.
During the drone flights, the team will use multispectral sensors for detection of soil moisture levels and mapping of wetland inundation during spring migration season; thermal imaging cameras and oblique photogrammetry for evaluation of wildlife use and its distribution on playa wetlands; and 3D imagery for surveys of plant community conditions, estimations of energy availability and assessments of vegetation management effectiveness.
The use of UAS is a huge improvement over the traditional large, plane or ground surveying methods commonly used. This method will provide improved imaging with greater resolution and detail in a cost-efficient, timely and flexible manner. The new surveying tools and applicable protocols will offer wetland managers a greater understanding of wetland spring inundation conditions. If this method proves effective, the methodology can be replicated elsewhere. Having this information for wildlife managers will advance conservation efforts.
“Conducting timely monitoring and accurate assessment is extremely important for wetland managers to implement appropriate conservation programs to increase the quantity and quality of wetlands,” said Jeff Drahota, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist with the Rainwater Basin Wetland Management District. “This Unmanned Aircraft System provides an advanced new tool to conduct more rapid, precise monitoring and assessment for playa wetlands.”
In the past, environmental disruptions such as reduction in water flow because of upstream diversions, sediment, invasive species and poor water quality have contributed to major losses in playa habitat. By keeping a closer eye on the situation, wildlife managers will be able to identify threats before they negatively influence the wetlands or reach a point that will be very costly and time intensive to restore. With successful adoption of the proposed methodologies, this project has the potential to transform reactive wildlife management to a proactive and efficient system.
The data analyzed during the assessment stage will help close the information gap and help wildlife managers implement proven restoration practices, choose more effective treatments and create a better understanding of this delicate ecosystem throughout its annual cycle.
“It is important to test and verify the innovative UAS methodology in wetland monitoring and assessment,” Tang said. “This project is a great first step to an exciting new way to conserve our wetlands.”
Tang is an associate professor of community and regional planning in the College of Architecture. Woldt is an associate professor of biological systems engineering. Tang and Woldt are co-principal investigators on the research project.
How do you react when someone like Alberto Pérez-Gómez, one of the world’s leading architects and thinkers asks you to write a forward for a collection of essay’s he’s written over the last 30 years.
Without question, you say yes! “It’s an honor to be able to write a forward for someone who has contributed so much to the field through their work and as an educator,” commented Dr. Peter Olshavsky. “I was even more excited by the idea that it was for a two-volume set that gathers together three decades of scholarship that has been personally meaningful to my work and my approach to architectural education at UNL.”
The publisher describes the collection as a piece that deliberately blurs the edges of history and theory; the first volume focuses on architectural theories and practices both historical and recent, and the second on more general aspects of architectural philosophy.
Olshavsky entitled his forward, “The Untimely Thinking of Alberto Pérez-Gómez,” for the collection, Timely Meditations: Selected Essays on Architecture (2016). Olshavsky’s forward argues for the “untimely” nature of Pérez-Gómez’s thinking while introducing this eminent historian’s remarkable collection of essays, which revises and builds upon his work.
Pérez-Gómez and Olshavsky have known each other for a long time. In fact Pérez-Gómez was Olshavsky’s doctoral supervisor at McGill University, and they continued to stay in contact.Recently, Pérez-Gómez read one of Olshavsky’s essays in the 2015 book Architecture’s AppealwhereOlshavsky described Pérez-Gómez’s work, so he reached out to Olshavsky and asked him to submit a text for his new essay collection. For more information visit: https://www.createspace.com/6241830
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