ACSA Faculty News – Virginia Tech

Professor Dr. Bert Rodriguez-Camilloni, Ph.D., served as a discussant in the session “Brutalism in the Americas: North-South Connections,” at the forthcoming 68th Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) to be held between April 2015 in Chicago, IL. Professor Rodriguez-Camilloni will also be recognized at a special reception sponsored by the president of the society for his 40 years of membership and service to the SAH.

ACSA Distinguished Professor, T.A. Carter Professor of Architecture Robert Dunay, F.A.I.A., Assistant Professor Dr. Nathan King, D.Des., Research Assistant Professor David Clark of the Center for Design Research (CDR) conducted the workshop Design Robotics Summit, sponsored by the School of Architecture + Design. Over 60 students, faculty and staff from a number of colleges, universities, and industry collaborators including University of Tennessee, University of Virginia, Randolph-Macon College, Columbia College of Chicago, Rhode Island School of Design, AutodeskTM, and The Living, participated in the workshop. The results of the workshop will be presented at the upcoming International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City.

Robert Dunay, F.A.I.A., Director of the Center for Design Research (CDR), together with Cark Nexson, an award winning architectural and engineering firm organized and hosted an exhibition showcasing experimental digital fabrications. Students participating in the exhibition include Laura Escobar, Ryan Hawkins, Brian Kato, David Kolodziej, Aaron Payne, Stephen Perry, Hannah Utter, and Dan Ventresca. David Clark and Negar Kalantar, PhD student, directed the CRD – (trans)LAB studio. Nathan King directed the robotics segment.

Assistant Professor Aki Ishida, A.I.A., had four recent installation works exhibited in the solo show Ground to Sky: Triptychs in Three Scales at the Kibel Gallery at the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. The show runs from January 27 to May 30, 2015 and was accompanied by Ishida’s lecture ‘Urban Light and Human Temporality’ on February 11.

Aki Ishida was also appointed by National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Joan Shigekawa as a panelist for the NEA’s Art Works grants, Presenting & Multidisciplinary Works category, in June to July 2014.

Cloud, a public art installation designed by Aki Ishida and Associate Professor Ivica Ico Bukvic, School of Performing Arts, Music, Theatre, Cinema, in collaboration with students of Virginia Tech, was installed at Welburn Square in Ballston, VA on October 2 and 3, 2014. Cloud was commissioned by the Ballston Business Improvement District and was also exhibited in the group show ‘Public Displays of Innovation’ at the Artisphere in Arlington, VA. November 26, 2014 to January 18, 2015.

Assistant Professor Dr. Nathan King, D.Des., lead a panel at the international conference for NCECA in March 2015. This panel was an extension of Nathan Kings’s research and teaching related to digital materials systems (Ceramics in this case) and Design Robotics.