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University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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Newton partners with Industry to Find Innovative Building Solutions

 

Collaborating with industry to research and create solutions for climate change, one architecture faculty member is exploring robotic masonry systems as a more effective and precise method to meet the demands of a hot, crowded and resource scarce future.

Assistant Professor David Newton was awarded the inaugural Nebraska Masonry Alliance Design Research and Fabrication Grant for his proposal “Sustainability in Robotic Masonry Construction.”

With this grant, Newton aims to explore masonry systems and how they can advance sustainable building solutions. Starting in the 2023 spring semester, students taking Newton’s Arch 492/592/892 Computational Design Processes seminar will acquire hands-on experience researching the robotic processes and how best they can be leveraged to design more sustainable solutions.

“The project will allow students to gain experience and knowledge working with robotic fabrication and file-to-fabrication workflows involving generative design, performance analysis and design optimization,” said Newton. “Students will also examine and develop robotic fabrication procedures and masonry details that allow for swift “low-power” assembly and, crucially, the efficient disassembly of these systems in order to address the issue of recyclability.”

“Newton brings his research into the classroom to facilitate students learning a new skillset related to masonry construction that could significantly guide the trajectory of the professions and help designers explore more sustainable solutions for the built environment,” said Architecture Program Director David Karle. “This grant is another example of our longstanding partnership with Nebraska Masonry Alliance and the many ways our faculty are collaborating with industry.”

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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Professor Appointed to National Architectural Accrediting Board

 

The University of Nebraska’s College of Architecture is pleased to announce Professor Jeffrey L Day, FAIA, NCARB has been appointed as a director for the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB).

Nominated by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA), Day joins four other new directors who will be starting their term October 29, 2022. The NAAB board has 13 voting members. The ACSA, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) each nominate three directors; the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) nominates two; and there are two public directors. The NAAB Board meets at least three times a year to consider official business including accreditation decisions.

NAAB accredits professional degrees in architecture offered by institutions accredited by a U.S. regional accrediting agency. All 55 U.S. registration boards accept the NAAB-accredited degree for registration; 38 of those boards require it. This honor builds upon Day’s long record of engagement with professional organizations including his national election as an at-large board member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) in 2019; and his recent induction to the 2021 NCARB Scholars in Professional Practice Program.

Day has also garnered numerous awards including the Architectural League of New York’s 2016 Emerging Voices; a 2019 Progressive Architecture Award; Architectural Record’s 2009 Design Vanguard; the 2007 AIA California Council’s Emerging Talent award; New Practices San Francisco 2009; Residential Architect’s 2010 Rising Star; over 60 national, regional and state AIA design awards; nine ACSA design awards and more. Day’s work is published in a wide range of journals, design magazines and books.

In 2019, Day was elevated to Fellowship in the American Institute of Architects, the highest membership honor in the AIA bestowed on only 3 percent of member architects. “Our faculty members are extremely devoted to guiding the future direction of the professions not only by educating emerging professionals but also by being intrinsically engaged in the direction of the allied professions ensuring a continued positive trajectory,” said Interim Dean Sharon Kuska.

Penn State

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Architecture professor honored with Cooper Hewitt National Design Award

 

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Felecia Davis, associate professor of architecture in College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School at Penn State, has been named the winner of the 2022 Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum National Design Award in the Digital Design category for her work that explores the use of computational textiles.

Established in 2000, the National Design Awards recognize those leaders in nine design categories – Design Visionary, Climate Action, Emerging Designer, Architecture/Interior Design, Communication Design, Digital Design, Fashion Design, Landscape Architecture and Product Design – as determined by a multidisciplinary jury of practitioners, educators and leaders from a wide range of design fields.

A lead researcher in the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing and director of the Computational Textiles Lab (SOFTLAB), Davis’s research reimagines how people might use textiles in their daily lives and in architecture through computational textiles, which respond to the environment via programming, embedded sensors and electronics, as well as use the natural transformable properties of textiles.

Davis was recognized by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum for her “innovative design of digital products, environments, systems, experiences and services.”

“This award was a great surprise, and I am honored to be among such respected colleagues in the 2022 National Design Award cohort,” said Davis. “Receiving this award is especially encouraging in that it recognizes a body of work that has been happening over a number of years.”

Davis said she feels like feels like it has taken a while to get her works off the ground because most everything she does is prototyped with real materials. In addition, coming from architecture, that has also meant prototyping at scale.

“The award is also important to me in that it recognizes digital work that is about human interaction with textile material that has been fabricated with digital tools, embedded with digital sensors or uses the natural properties of the material to communicate some information to people about themselves or their environment,” she said.

Davis was recently named a winner of the Architecture League of New York’s Emerging Voices 2022 competition and she was awarded a Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) Foundation Research Prize as the principal investigator for “MycoKnit,” an interdisciplinary, collaborative project that explores mycelium-based and knitted textiles to form a sustainable building material.

She has been featured in the PBS “Women in Science Profiles” series and work was part of the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) “Reconstructions: Blackness and Architecture in America” exhibition in 2021. That experience led to Davis cofounding the Black Reconstruction Collective, a nonprofit organization of Black architects, scholars and artists that supports and funds design work about the Black diaspora.

The principal of Felecia Davis Studio, Davis is currently penning book that examines the role of computational materials in our lives titled “Softbuilt: Networked Architectural Textiles.”

Learn more about this year’s class of National Design Award winners on the Cooper Hewitt website.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

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DLR Group and College Dedicate Newly Remodeled Studio at Ribbon Cutting

 

DLR Group and the College of Architecture celebrated the opening of the newly remodeled Architecture Hall studios during a ribbon cutting ceremony held this past weekend.

DLR Group, a locally based global, integrated design firm, is sponsoring the second floor studios in Architecture Hall East, which were part of a remodel project that spanned three floors, formerly the old college library.

“For more than five decades, graduates of the University of Nebraska College of Architecture have fueled the growth of DLR Group in Nebraska and around the globe,” said Griff Davenport, managing principal and CEO at DLR Group. “The construction of the DLR Group Studio has created a space to support learning and design thinking for future generations of professionals who will also be charged with ‘Elevating the Human Experience through Design.’”

“With record enrollment pushing capacity beyond its limits, these new studios couldn’t come at a better time,” said College of Architecture Interim Dean Sharon Kuska.

These studios are part of phase one in a two phased remodel and expansion project. Phase one involved the addition of 11 new design studios, a wellness room, spray booth and work areas, critique spaces and new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliant restrooms in the Architecture Hall East building and a new 2,490 sq. ft. library with student common and collaboration areas in the Architecture Hall West building.

Phase two, which begins this fall, involves an expansion project that adds 14 new studios and a renovation of eight studios in the Architecture Hall West building among other changes.

“DLR Group has been a long-time supporter of the college,” said Kuska. “This is just one of the countless ways DLR Group has supported our students and the trajectory of the professions. Managing Principal Griff Davenport has served many years on our Professional Advisory Council providing his industry prospective. In addition, numerous collaborate studios over the years have been co-taught by DLR Group instructors, while still other DLR professionals have given back to the college by participating in critiques sharing with our students invaluable professional insight, connections and real-world experiences.”

Anyone interested in sponsoring one of these newly remodeled studios or other opportunities to support the college should contact Cameron Andreesen, College of Architecture director of development with the University of Nebraska Foundation at 402-458-119 or cameron.andreesen@nufoundation.org.

For more details, please visit: https://architecture.unl.edu/news/dlr-group-and-college-dedicate-newly-remodeled-studio-ribbon-cutting

Morgan State University

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Epidemic Urbanism Panel: Health & Equity in Global Architectural Practice – Saturday, November 12, 2022, 12-1:30pm ET

 

This Epidemic Urbanism panel will center on urgent questions for global architectural practice provoked by the simultaneous epidemics of COVID-19, inequity, and climate change, with a particular focus on implications for health equity. This panel will be chaired by David Gloster and will feature the following panelists: Sahar Attia, Egypt; Cristiana Caira, White Arkitekter, Sweden; Henry Chao, Chao Architect, USA; Femke Feenstra, GAF, The Netherlands; Robin Guenther, Perkins and Will, USA; Khondaker Hasibul Kabir, Bangladesh; Rubén Octavio Sepúlveda Chapa, Dear Architects, Mexico; and Timothy Seyi Odeyale, Nigeria. Registration is free!

Register here. 

* The Epidemic Urbanism Initiative, founded by Dr. Mohammad Gharipour and Dr. Caitlin DeClercq in March 2020, is a global educational hub dedicated to promoting conversations and interventions at the intersection of architecture, infectious disease, and health equity. The EUI consists of 1900+ members from more than 90 countries. As part of this initiative, the founders have organized seven international conferences, an international design competition, and workshops for early career academics and professionals. The founders have also recruited liaisons from 76 countries and published an edited volume, Epidemic Urbanism: Contagious Diseases in Global Cities (Intellect, 2021). Recordings of the EUI events and interviews are available on the EUI YouTube channel.

Morgan State University

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EUI Panel: Organizing Change Toward Health Equity – Friday, October 7, 2022, 12-1:30pm ET

 

This Epidemic Urbanism panel will center on critical dialogues about the roles that organizations can play in educating the public on the role of the built environment on public health, with a particular focus on implications for global health and health equity. The panel will be chaired by Thomas Fisher and will feature the following panelists: Giselle Sebag, International Society for Urban Health; Sharmin Kader, Environmental Design Research Association; Sharon Roerty, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and Alan Logan, Nova Institute for Health. Registration is free for all attendees.

Register here.

* The Epidemic Urbanism Initiative, founded by Dr. Mohammad Gharipour and Dr. Caitlin DeClercq in March 2020, is a global educational hub dedicated to promoting conversations and interventions at the intersection of architecture, infectious disease, and health equity. The EUI consists of 1900+ members from more than 90 countries. As part of this initiative, the founders have organized seven international conferences, an international design competition, and workshops for early career academics and professionals. The founders have also recruited liaisons from 76 countries and published an edited volume, Epidemic Urbanism: Contagious Diseases in Global Cities (Intellect, 2021). Recordings of the EUI events and interviews are available on the EUI YouTube channel.

University of Arizona

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Inspiring the Next Generation of Change Makers: An Interview with UArizona School of Architecture Director Ryan E. Smith

 

University of Arizona School of Architecture Director and Professor of Architecture Ryan E. Smith, who is originally from Mesa, Arizona, is a 2002 graduate of the UArizona Bachelor of Architecture program and University of California, Berkeley Master of Architecture program. He has worked for Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and Gould Evans Associates, as well as Tucson firms Swaim Associates and Gresham & Beach Architects. He has held academic positions at the University of Oregon, University of Utah and Washington State University, most recently as director of the School of Design and Construction at WSU.

Smith has been teaching, researching and consulting on housing and offsite construction for nearly 20 years. He is the founding past chair and current board member of the National Institute of Building Sciences Offsite Construction Council, a fellow of the Modular Building Institute and a member of the Ivory Innovations in Housing Affordability Board.

In this interview, Smith shares his initial vision for the School of Architecture, discusses the importance of interdisciplinarity for the school and the future of the profession, shares his passions for research on affordable housing and the importance of research in an architectural education, discusses the value of connecting with firms, provides advice to students and more.

Why did you decide to join the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture as the director of the School of Architecture?

First, the University of Arizona is my alma mater. An opportunity to come back to where I learned the value and skills of design and help the next generation be change makers is something I could not pass up. This is a full circle surreal experience. I am grateful for the School of Architecture community embracing me in this role.

The UArizona School of Architecture has earned a reputation for education and research focused on its place—a strong response to this uniqueness of Tucson, the Sonoran Desert and the Southwest with all its complexity, challenges and beauty. The school meets this challenge with a professional education that is both technically competent and creatively driven. I want to participate in this community and work with the faculty, staff and students to progress that mission.

What is your initial vision for the School of Architecture?

We are in a time of great societal need. I believe that architectural education must address the pressing and mounting challenges of climate change, water scarcity and housing affordability. This can be done through engaged research and outreach work, and most especially through interdisciplinarity. I believe that architecture, in addition to being a creative discipline, to have a positive impact on the future of society and planet, should be environmentally responsive, occupant-centered, community-engaged and research-based. I have an initial vision that adds to the professional reputation of the School of Architecture as not only a place for strong professional education, but also a place for excellence in design research, social equity and environmental resilience. I have a vision of UArizona Architecture working with Landscape Architecture, Planning, Design, Engineering, Arts, Health Sciences and other disciplines to chart a future that is inclusive, decolonized and innovative.

Though you have multiple degrees from multiple institutions, is there anything about your experience as a UArizona Bachelor of Architecture student in particular that will inform your role as school director?

The School of Architecture continues its tradition of progressing the land-grant mission and making positive change in the world. Architecture has maximum impact when it responds to place. When I came to school here, I was immersed in material making, community-based projects, technical courses and a passion and vibrancy for architecture and its role in shaping and being shaped by the environment, politics, society and economy of the region. Even at that time, there was a strong emphasis on the intersection of land ethic and material making. My education was not only one of book learning, but also field doing. I am excited to continue that legacy, especially in the post-pandemic despondency we are all experiencing. I look forward to working with faculty, staff, administration and especially students in rekindling and reengaging what I consider the greatest of architectural projects: sheltering and inspiring people.

Tell us about your research on building technology, prefabrication and housing affordability. What most excites you about this research?

When I was working for a firm after graduate school, I was designing a luxury home in the Bay Area. In a moment of reflection, I realized that I did not want to be designing homes for the 1% for the rest of my life, no matter how creative the experience was. I decided to take my interest and skills in technical design and apply them to the study of housing equity. I have since dedicated the better part of nearly 20 years to the question of housing production and the contingent social, environmental and political forces that surround it. This brought me early on to a theory and practice of offsite manufacturing and construction to realize housing affordability. Leveraging the mature and innovative manufacturing practices in other industries for design and construction holds much promise but requires research and dedicated development to realize this potential.

Do you anticipate your research changing now that you’re back in Tucson and directing the School of Architecture?

Southern Arizona is a very different context compared to other places I have worked. The demographics, politics, labor market, material supply chain, development models and procurement practices demand a unique approach to realizing housing delivery. Much of the development models for housing in the Southwest fundamentally and structurally disadvantage certain groups. Furthermore, I moved to Tucson at a time in which the housing market and inflation are creating an untenable situation for renters and first home buyers. My own children in college, for example, are staring into a future where they may not ever own a home. The economic model of the U.S. economy is based on home ownership to build equity and wealth. That system is broken for the rising generation. This should be a topic of concern for architects, but traditionally is not something to which the discipline has paid much attention. I have great interest in researching, teaching and studying how architecture can serve the 99% through advocacy in policy and finance reform as well as design and construction innovation in housing.

How important is research—and learning how to conduct and report on research on the built environment—for architecture students?

I led a research center for many years at the University of Utah and was associate dean for research for a time there. I think the future of architecture is research-based. The UArizona Architecture program has instituted the final three semesters of the B Arch professional education as research-based, coordinated by groups of faculty who lead students in probing timely questions relevant to social and environment justice in the built environment. I am excited to participate with the faculty in this promising structure of design research.

How important is interacting with design and other built environment firms—such as through internships, mentoring, networking events, panels and reviews—for students and for the School of Architecture in general?

The college and the School of Architecture are already doing great things to connect and partner with architecture and built environment professionals. My predecessor, Professor of Architecture Rob Miller, has developed an incredible rapport with Tucson and Phoenix firms, as well as firms throughout the country. He is also introducing me to many alumni and friends of the school in my first few months. My intention is to continue to build these relationships by having professionals teach in the school, as well as fostering the CAPLA Job Interview Fair and internships for our students while encouraging our faculty and students to attend professional events. We are supporting students and faculty in attending the upcoming AIA Arizona 2022 State Conference in October, for example. I am grateful to Rob for the strong legacy he has continued at UArizona Architecture and I hope to continue that tradition.

Interdisciplinarity is important at CAPLA and beyond as we work to solve the grand challenges of the built environment. How can the school and college foster more interdisciplinary work among faculty and students?

My immediate previous position was directing the School of Design and Construction at Washington State University, which was home to programs in architecture, landscape architecture, interior design and construction management. Interdisciplinarity was the modality of the education with an entire shared first year and points of intersection and integration throughout the education between disciplines.

To address the mounting challenges of the 21st century, a systems thinking approach is needed requiring many disciplines, perspectives, communities and expertise. For example, returning to housing, this is a topic that is complex relating to policy, finance and technology. Housing is political and community-engaged and touches on multiple disciplines and expertise. I will be asking the faculty and staff in the school to actively consider how we can address grand challenges, including housing and beyond, amongst the community in the school and college, as well as other disciplines on campus and in the professions.

Do you anticipate teaching in your role as director of the school?

Directing the school demands my full attention at the present. However, I believe that to be an effective leader, I will need and want to get into the classroom and interact with students. I would like to teach housing and technology in the future. This could be in a seminar or lecture format or even in a design studio context. I have also taught professional practice, collaboration and leadership to an interdisciplinary group of designers that was rewarding and stretched my teaching abilities in a positive way. I also enjoy and embrace collaborative and interdisciplinary teaching and will look for those opportunities in the future.

What advice do you have for architecture students?

The discipline of architecture is being redefined every day as the demands of the context—society, environment and economy—change constantly. Therefore, I would advise students to put their preconceptions about architecture aside and keep an open mind when starting their education. There are many different career directions with an architecture education, and our college is also home to undergraduate programs in Sustainable Built Environments and Landscape Architecture, and we participate with College of Engineering in the Architectural Engineering program while partnering with the School of Art and School of Information on a new Bachelor of Arts in Design Arts and Practices. The future of built environment work is at these intersections.

Beyond your leadership, research and related School of Architecture work, what are your passions?

I am attracted to learning about new cultures and places. I have lived in Korea and the United Kingdom and enjoy traveling. I am passionate about housing—so outside of the school, I also advise companies, governments and organizations on housing production and serve on boards related to housing innovation and affordability. I do this work under the auspice of a consulting company named MOD X. I am passionate about trying to solve homelessness. I am a family man with kids and enjoy getting out into the Sonoran Desert with them. I love exercise and making and building projects on the side.

What does the CAPLA experience mean for you?

CAPLA is a community. We are dedicated to social and environmental justice and working to respond to the changing demands of the contemporary world. The education at CAPLA is dynamic, community-engaged, professionally oriented and interdisciplinary.

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