AASL Column, August 2019 Lucy Campbell and Barbara Opar, column editors Column by Cathryn Copper, Head of the Art & Architecture Library, Virginia Tech Cathryn Copper addresses a list of questions compiled by Lucy Campbell on a new initiative she is undertaking at Virginia Tech
arch_TECHA_ture: An Interview with Cathryn Copper
arch_TECHA_ture (“techa” a play on technology and bibliotheca, Latin for library) is a curation project created by Cathryn Copper that gathers information at the intersection of art, architecture, and design-related fields, technology and education. We sat down with her to hear more.
Hi Cathryn. How did you first get involved in technology and the creative disciplines?
It was partially serendipitous. I did my graduate work at the University of Toronto’s iSchool. There I focused on information systems and interned with a few architecture firms and think tanks. Fast forward a few years, I attended a conference session solely because the presenters were librarians at the University of Toronto. The session was on the use of iPad apps which gave me the idea to research mobile apps for architecture. That idea really took off and opened a lot of doors for me. I noticed a lot of art and architecture librarians were interested in technology but not a lot was being done on the topic.
You describe this as a “curation project” where do you see it going?
I use the term curation project because arch_TECHA_ture offers a quick look at topics at the intersection of design, information, and technology. I always provide links to more information, so readers can make informed decisions on a topic. As of current, I’m gauging interest. If it turns out it’s worth my energy, then I’d like to see it evolve into a more critical platform where we can have healthy discussions on these topics. I’d love to get more voices involved. Then it could truly be a platform to connect with people from across disciplines and launch projects together—still a curation project, but on a larger scale.
Can you tell us more about the educator-as-futurist model you have adopted, and what makes it distinctive?
I use the term “educator-as-futurist” to mean forward-thinking. But, there are no expectations and it’s not meant to be extremist. It’s really about being okay with experimentation and failure or the willingness to try something new. What makes arch_TECHA_ture distinctive is that there is no other place on the Internet, that I know of, addressing the intersection of design, technology, and education from the perspective of a librarian, someone that sits on the edge of all three.
As an art and architecture aficionado and tech lover, what are some of the technology trends you see impacting libraries and the design disciplines?
Without hesitation, augmented reality and virtual reality. There is so much potential for those technologies in libraries and the design disciplines alike. For libraries in particular, artificial intelligence. Information can be delivered in much better and more personalized ways and future generations are going to expect it.
What new projects are you working on that are destined to be included in arch_TECHA_ture?
There definitely will be no shortage of content. First, the Art & Architecture Library is experimenting with hybrid collections. We will be testing the use of our physical collections as an access point to our electronic collections through the use of interactive touch screens. Building on the transition for physical to digital, we are exploring 3D scanning technologies, which should be especially interesting to arch_TECHA_ture readers. More long-term projects include applying for a grant to develop augmented reality for libraries, and the development of Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus.
What has surprised you most in your research into tech and libraries?
The slowness. There are a million amazing ideas. Only a few come to fruition because of limited time and money. It’s frustrating because I see the potential for libraries to interact with users in much better ways. I’ve been thinking about artificial intelligence in libraries for over a decade, and just this year I attended my first conference presentation on the topic, which was at a macro-level. So, it takes time.
What do you see as some of the big changes in academic libraries over the next five years?
In libraries generally, a shift to collaborative spaces is already happening. Academic libraries have the potential to function a lot like a WeWork, which are shared workspaces for startups. Also, I see more attention on dispersed libraries and library networks. Our footprint can spread much further if we don’t think of a library as one central space. Drone delivery would be cool too, but that’s probably closer to 10 years away. Art and architecture libraries face unique opportunities, in that our users generally want more traditional library spaces, and that’s okay. It adds diversity to the library landscape.
The Illinois School of Architecture Appoints Suchi Reddy as the 2019 Plym Distinguished Visiting Professor.
For Immediate Release August 6, 2019
The Illinois School of Architecture is pleased to announce that Suchi Reddy, Founding Principal of New York based architecture and design practice, Reddymade, has been appointed as the Plym Distinguished Visiting Professor in Architecture for the Fall 2019 semester. Professor Reddy will lecture and conduct a graduate design studio co-taught with Kevin Erickson, Associate Director and Associate Professor in the School of Architecture.
The studio will continue Reddy’s architectural pursuit of “form follows feeling,” exploring the idea that qualities of space calibrated carefully to the human, can influence physical and emotional well-being. Students will examine contemporary architectural experience through the lens of neuroaesthetics, neurophenomenology, and sensory design, with the goal of creating an expanded vision of the ways in which architecture can influence emotional and physical well-being.
A recent project illuminating this sensibility is “A Space for Being,” Reddymade’s Milan Design Week installation for Google, in collaboration with Muuto and the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAMLab) at the Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Reddymade has won numerous awards including NYCxDesign, AIA Brooklyn + Queens Award, AIA New York State Excelsior Award and Interior Design’s Best of Year awards. Reddy is a member of the Van Alen Institute Leadership Council and Board Member of the Design Trust for Public Space and Storefront for Art and Architecture.
The Plym Distinguished Visiting Professorship has been made possible by a gift to the School in 1981 by the late Lawrence J. Plym. Past Plym Professors have included Gunnar Birkerts, Paul Rudolph, Joseph Esherick, Minoru Takeyama, Edmund Bacon, Thom Mayne, Carme Pinos, Dominique Perrault, Frances Halsband, Norman Crowe, Ken Yeang, Kengo Kuma, Kenneth Frampton, and most recently Gong Dong of Vector Architects.
Archinect magazine recently interviewed Tulane School of Architecture Dean Iñaki Alday as part of its Deans List interview series with the leaders of architecture schools, worldwide. The series profiles the school’s programming, as defined by the dean – giving an invaluable perspective into the institution’s unique curriculum, faculty and academic environment.
For this installment, Archinect spoke with Iñaki Alday, the new dean at the Tulane School of Architecture. The school hosts a variety of degree and specialized programs that combine architecture, real estate development, historic preservation, and community-driven focuses to provide a holistic design education. Dean Alday recently took the reins of the school with the aim of leading the Gulf Coast region and country, overall, in terms of “what it means to live with water.”
Read below for the full story or click here for the original piece in Archinect by Managing Editor Antonio Pacheco (TSA *14).
Briefly describe Tulane School of Architecture’s pedagogical stance on architecture education.
Tulane School of Architecture has a history of commitment to real, pressing issues, and, especially after Hurricane Katrina, a history of leadership in helping our communities rebuild. We are not interested in the endogamic discourses that have occupied academia for decades, taking us away from society and relevancy. In the past, many schools of architecture have failed as educators and as leaders of our societies. Therefore, our school focuses on urgent problems, not self-indulgent fictions. The school is in the heart of the “Third Coast”–the American Gulf Coast–where all the challenges of human inhabitation of the planet are at play. This exceptional location, being in the Mississippi Delta, also provides us with the opportunity to define the role that architecture can take in facing climate change—including other ecological crises, as well as in the process of urbanization under these circumstances—and the challenges of social and environmental justice that follow.
What insights from your past professional experience are you hoping to integrate/adopt as dean?
A significant part of my professional practice is focused on the connection between cities, and buildings, with rivers and their dynamics. For example, my partner Margarita Jover and I were among the first to “design” the flood that occupies a public space and a building (an arena) in Spain, starting a line of investigation that changes the idea of flooding (and all river dynamics) from a catastrophic event into a positive asset. Since then we have been planning, designing, and building “hybrid infrastructures” in Spain, Asia, and Latin America, and also, working as regular experts for the World Bank. This type of creative, innovative design work is key for Tulane as it seeks to lead the region and country in terms of what it means to live with water.
Academically, I enjoyed being chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of Virginia (2011-16), where I founded the Yamuna River Project together with Pankaj Vir Gupta, an interdisciplinary research program whose objective is to revitalize the ecology of the Yamuna River in New Delhi, thus reconnecting India’s capital city back to the water. This project is proof of how architecture and urbanism can approach complex problems holistically while incorporating multiple fields (history, art history, engineering, economics, religious studies, entrepreneurship, engineering, environmental sciences, and politics, for example). It is a great example of making an impact in one of the toughest urban crises. We are continuing with the project at Tulane, expanding it to other cities in India and the Global South.
Rivers and their associated communities are at the frontline of climate impacts. Globally, river basins provide the majority of the world’s food and freshwater, and more than 500 million people live on river deltas, which also form the major ports of the world. Along the roughly 2,300 miles of the Mississippi River alone are situated at least seven major urban centers, while 50 cities rely on the Mississippi to provide drinking water for 20 million people. The Mississippi River Basin, the world’s fourth largest river basin, spans 31 states and two Canadian provinces, providing more than 40-percent of US agriculture with water while producing $400 billion of economic activity. It is among the leading locations facing significant conditions of accelerating risk, as well. Similar conditions are replicated in multiple river basins across the planet, especially in the Global South, where regions are facing the crises of pollution, floods, and scarcity, and, most critically, in urbanized contexts and in the rapidly growing megalopolises in South East Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
What kind of student do you think would flourish at Tulane University and why?
At Tulane, a student needs to be committed, not only to excellence but also to stepping out of her or his comfort zone, collaborating with other fields inside the school (architecture, preservation, sustainable real estate), and with those outside the school (science and engineering, social sciences, economics, humanities, and law). And above all, our students are encouraged to look beyond themselves, to avoid cherry-picking problems, and to committing to positively impacting the lives of others. The Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design works directly with communities, URBANbuild produces a yearly miracle of an affordable house designed and built by students, and our river and delta urbanism research offers a unique approach and a track record of substantial impact in the cities set alongside the Mississippi River and alongside the rivers of India, Argentina, and Ethiopia.
What are the biggest challenges, academically and professionally, facing students?
The recovery of architecture as a relevant discipline in the collective imagination is the biggest challenge. Architecture needs to be at the table where big decisions are made. This is the challenge that our students need to take on, and will become experts in, after 50 years of architecture being isolated in disconnected academic discourses or assuming the role of pure service provider. The new generations have the mandate of recovering the leadership role that society and the planet need.
What are some of the larger issues of “today” that you feel an architecture school should be preparing its students for?
We are in the midst of the most significant environmental and social crises, one that is even threatening our own existence on the earth. We urgently need to change the way in which we are inhabiting the planet, change how new buildings perform, how they serve people, how they look, and where they are located. And similarly, we need to rethink what and how to preserve, where and how to develop, and how our cities should be symbiotic with natural elements. Right now, architecture is losing relevance in discussions about the built environment in many countries around the world, and most strikingly, in the United States.
At Tulane, we train students with a holistic approach, giving them interdisciplinary tools to help them learn to identify which are the most pressing issues so they can figure out how to apply their design, preservation, or sustainable real estate development education in order to address them. We advocate for the production of knowledge and innovation through design, which for us, is understood as the creative management of complexity. When we, as architects, are able to go beyond our personal preferences, there is no other kind of professional better prepared for dealing with the complex and uncertain world around us.
What are some of the advantages of the school’s context—being housed within Tulane University as well as in New Orleans—and how do you think they help make the program unique?
Tulane University is a top-tier research university, and the perfect size for interdisciplinary collaborations, which is a priority of the university president, provost and all the deans here. From my perspective, “curiosity” and “ambition” are the two words that define Tulane today and that’s what attracted me here. New Orleans is also the northernmost tip of the Global South. Both facts together position Tulane uniquely as the only top research university that is located in a place that deals with all the challenges—social, environmental, economic—in the most exciting, dynamic, and needed region in the world. And our university is committed to work that brings innovation by crossing disciplinary boundaries. This is the only school of architecture that has fully committed to rebuilding a city after a major catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina. Solving urgent problems, housing people, working with communities to bring them back, developing new scenarios to inhabit our rivers and deltas—those issues are deeply rooted in Tulane’s identity. Because of the uniqueness of Tulane, the School of Architecture is a school that has no parallel.
Tulane needs to keep growing and positioning itself as a genuine voice, very different to our peers due to our unique ecosystem and concerns. We are already a driving force in New Orleans and the region; however, we should also become an international reference working on comparative methods. Our challenges are the world’s challenges, and the best way to learn and move forward is to hold a continuous back and forth between our attention to the local conditions and the lessons learned globally.
Tulane School of Architecture has a significant record of working within the New Orleans community, how will you take on that legacy?
First of all, we should probably say “communities,” as New Orleans is a diverse city with many different communities. They are always complex and contradictory—And there is never a single belonging, but often multiple and always nested systems of them. That being said, New Orleans epitomizes the challenges of thousands of towns, cities, and metropolises set alongside American rivers. We are at the intersection of floods, scarcity, pollution, land loss, and other riverine environmental issues, and we are dealing with the societal impact of those as well as the impacts of post-industrial economic stagnation, transportation crises, and other social challenges. Working from New Orleans—a microcosm of global issues—the Tulane School of Architecture is well positioned to lead the work in terms of how to relate our cities and our rivers in a completely different way. Floods are here to stay, and we have to design our spaces to make them productive—instead of catastrophic—by turning floods into an opportunity rather than a threat. Instead of walls, our rivers and cities deserve public spaces that can navigate the changes and recover healthy ecologies. Buildings need to be adapted to leverage the river or the delta, as well. This is a natural human inclination, but now we must apply it in a different way, undergoing proper transformation.
Can you speak to the nature of collaboration that exists between Tulane School of Architecture’s various programs (Architecture, Preservation, Real Estate Development, the Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design, URBANbuild, Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship) and your plans for those efforts?
Tulane School of Architecture offers the essentials we need to rethink how to inhabit our planet: what and how to preserve, where and how to sustainably develop the land, and how to design buildings, public spaces, and cities. Dual degrees are excellent choices that round-out an effective education and prepare our graduates for thinking broadly, creatively, and responsibly. We have interdisciplinary studios among the three programs, design-build studios with our community partners, and a wide range of courses open to all Tulane students. All in all, every student has the opportunity to excel in her or his degree while being knowledgeable about other areas. An architect needs to know how to deal with existing buildings and to understand the logics of real estate development. Similarly, historic preservationists incorporate design and advanced digital tools while understanding the economic implications of their work, including the risk of gentrification. And a developer of the future cannot be anything other than sustainable, must understand the potential of reusing our heritage, and know how high-quality design improves the conditions of life.
Starting Fall 2019, students at Tulane School of Architecture will be part of design research that tackles some of the world’s most pressing contemporary problems through architecture. The school recently selected its first-ever Research Studios that will focus on a single topic, place, or phenomenon over three years, delving into greater detail and complexity in each cycle. Each studio will work toward the production of scholarly outputs such as books, monographs, articles, symposia, and exhibits. Students will have the opportunity to select several of these studios during their time at Tulane.
2020-2021 ACSA Board of Directors Deadline: October 16, 2019
The ACSA invites nominations and self-nominations for three positions on the Board of Directors. Please review the following eligibility requirements, timeline, and background information that describes the organization’s intended directions in the coming years.
Open Board Positions: Second Vice President, Secretary/Treasurer, At-Large Director
Eligible nominees for all Board positions must meet the following requirements:
Second Vice President. Candidates shall be full-time, tenured, tenure-track, or fixed-term faculty members of a Full Member school at the time of nomination and throughout the four-year term of office.
Secretary/Treasurer. Candidates shall be full-time, tenured, tenure-track, or fixed-term faculty members of a Full Member school at the time of nomination and throughout the three-year term of office.
At-Large Director. The ACSA Bylaws permit no more than one At-Large Director to come from a school that is not a Full Member. For the 2020-21 Board, the Nominations Committee may consider a candidate from a Candidate or Affiliate Member school that has been a member of ACSA for at least two full years. Nominations of candidates from Full Member schools continue to be encouraged for At-Large Director positions.
Position Descriptions
Terms for directors begin on July 1, 2020, with terms of service noted below. All directors are expected to attend three board meetings a year: a fall meeting, which typically occurs in conjunction with the Administrators Conference; a spring meeting, which typically occurs in conjunction with the ACSA Annual Meeting; and a summer meeting, typically held in Washington, DC, in late July or early August. Additionally, board members serve on committees, which may entail travel to a meeting one time per year and conference calls one to two times per month.
The Second Vice President serves a four-year term. The elected person serves for one year, respectively, as Second Vice President, First Vice President/President-Elect, President, and Past President. The President is responsible for calling meetings of the Board of Directors, preparing an agenda, and presiding at such meetings. The President coordinates activities of the board, ACSA committees, and liaison representatives. The President serves as ACSA liaison with the officers of the American Institute of Architects, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, the National Architectural Accrediting Board, and the American Institute of Architecture Students; and serves as ACSA representative to the Five Presidents Council. During the term of office, the President also prepares a brief report of activities of the organization and the Board of Directors for dissemination to the constituent associations. As First Vice President, the person will chair the Planning Committee, and, as Past President, the person will serve as chair of the Nominations Committee.
The Secretary/Treasurer serves for a three-year term and is responsible for the corporate and financial records of the Association. In fulfilling these responsibilities, the Secretary/Treasurer oversees preparation of minutes of meetings and maintenance of the Bylaws of the Association, the Rules of the Board of Directors, and other policy documents. The Secretary/Treasurer oversees the financial affairs of the organization by serving as Chair of the Finance Committee and working with the staff and independent accounting personal on organizational budgets, reports, and annual audits.
The At-Large Directors serve a three-year term as voting members of the Board. In addition, they serve as liaison to member schools, including participating in organized business meetings; maintaining contact with Faculty Councilors and others associated with member schools; assisting member schools upon request; advising Candidate or Affiliate member schools; and advising the Board of issues and concerns raised by members. At-Large Directors contribute to the work of the Board through actively serving on Board committees, contributing to collective deliberations, and performing other duties as provided by the Rules of the Board of Directors or as requested by the Board.
2019-20 Nominations Committee
Branko Kolarevic, Past President, New Jersey Institute of Technology (chair) José L.S. Gámez, At-Large Director, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Courtney Crosson, At-Large Director, University of Arizona Corey Griffin, External Member, Penn State University, Altoona Kelly Bair, External Member, University of Illinois at Chicago Barbara Klinkhammer, External Member, Thomas Jefferson University
Timeline As part of a 2017 governance change, ACSA now publishes a preliminary slate of Board-approved candidates in November 2018, followed by a period during which members may petition for the inclusion of additional candidates to the slate. A final slate of candidates, including candidates by petition, will be published in early January when the online balloting process will open. Candidates will be notified of the results in mid-February. The results of this election will be announced online and at the ACSA Annual Meeting in San Diego in March 2020.
October 16, 2019 Deadline for nominations
November 15, 2019 Preliminary slate of candidate names announced
December 27, 2019 Deadline for submission of petitions to add candidates to the slate
January 8, 2020 Final slate of candidates and ballot materials published and sent to ACSA Full Member schools
February 7, 2020 Deadline for ballot submissions
Nomination Requirements Nominations for all ACSA Board positions should include a CV, a letter of interest from the nominee indicating a willingness to serve, and a candidate statement. The deadline for receipt of nominations is October 16, 2019.
Nominations should be sent to:
Email (preferred): msturges@acsa-arch.org Michelle Sturges, Membership Manager ACSA Nominations, 1735 New York Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20006
DESIRED COMPETENCIES AND BACKGROUNDS FOR NOMINEES ACSA actively seeks equitable and representative involvement by a broad range of people on its Board and other volunteer bodies. The Board of Directors should represent a diversity of background, experience, expertise, and geography. This shall also include racial, ethnic, and gender diversity.
Prospective candidates and nominators are encouraged to review the strategic initiatives and priority objectives, included below, to understand future directions for ACSA board activities. The areas described below include (but are not limited to) experience producing scholarship and/or funded research, understanding processes for recruiting students from a variety of backgrounds, and experience communicating the value of architecture, whether in a disciplinary or professional context. However, the desired competencies of board members should not be narrowly understood. Regional and racial, ethnic, and gender diversity are also important to the ACSA. The vacancies on the board come from directors whose primary affiliations are in the Gulf, East Central, and West regions. Ensuring regional diversity, therefore, is among the Board’s priorities. Finally, previous experience with ACSA committees, conference leadership, or other Board appointments is desired.
Strategic Initiatives: 2019-2022 In 2018-19 ACSA revised its three-year strategic plan, and for the first time identified a set of strategic initiatives that give greater shape to the goals and objectives of the strategic plan. Development and execution of many of these strategies are left to ACSA’s three Program Committees, which are appointed annually by the Board and charged with specific deliverables. Following are the strategic initiatives.
Enhancing Research ACSA supports the spectrum of research paradigms within the discipline and profession internationally, evidenced in changes to the Annual Meeting, its international conference partnerships for 2019 to 2021, and in its support for the Journal of Architectural Educationand TAD Journal. ACSA also seeks to position architectural research relative to the wider research environment. Our recent White Papers by the Research and Scholarship Committee are intended to support faculty as they progress in their careers.
Increasing Access and Promoting Equity ACSA commits to increasing equity and inclusion within the institution and the profession. With education as the first barrier, ACSA will advocate for the value of architecture and architectural education to prospective students from a range of demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds, and we will engage community colleges, non-accredited programs, and international institutions through a range of in-person and online faculty development opportunities.
Enriching Pedagogy ACSA contributes to an innovative future for architectural pedagogy. Uniquely positioned to advance architectural education since 1912, ACSA continues to seek scholarly exchanges within the United States and Canada as well as internationally. Through partnerships with collateral organizations, ACSA continues to create relevant content for faculty across the curriculum, and we aim to increase support for documenting best practices in teaching and learning.
In partnership with Places Journal, the College of Design has announced a request for proposals for the new biennial Oregon | Places Prize with the theme of “Power and Place.”
The prize has been established to support ambitious public scholarship—or publicly engaged research, teaching, and programming—on the practices, institutions, spaces, and aesthetics that encourage or obstruct urban equity and environmental justice, as well as the relationship of the disciplines to the larger structures of power.
“We chose this theme because some of the most pressing issues today are linked to power,” said Liska Chan, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the College of Design. Chan is the chair of the Oregon | Places Prize selection committee.
“There are strong connections between place and power; one can see it in a city, for example, from disparities in socio-economics and the kind of power we use as energy to the aesthetics of an urban environment,” said Chan.
In the context of this call for proposals, power can mean anything from energy use (e.g, solar, coal, gas) to socio-economic or political power.
For the Oregon | Places Prize, the College of Design and Places Journal are looking for applicants who not only engage in academic writing but write for a broader audience as well. Applicants must be mid-career or senior scholars and can come from all disciplines that focus on the built environment or place, from architecture and landscape to policy and planning.
The winner of the Oregon | Places Prize will receive an honorarium of $7,500 to produce a major work of public scholarship for publication in Places Journal and for presentation in a public lecture at the College of Design in Eugene, Oregon. The Prize recipient will have a period of one year to complete both the article and lecture.
Deadline for application is 5 pm (PST) Monday, September 16, 2019. For more information and application requirements, visit the Oregon | Places Prize page.
Alexandra Staub named to Architectural Research Centers Consortium board
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Alexandra Staub, a professor in the Department of Architecture at Penn State, has been elected to the 2019-20 Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) board of directors.
Staub, who is an affiliate faculty member of the Rock Ethics Institute where she was awarded a 2019-20 Faculty Fellowship, has been an active member of the AARC since 2006.
Her research interests focus on how the built environments shapes, and is shaped by, our understanding of culture. Through her research and teaching, Staub explores design processes and their social implications; the economic, ecological and social sustainability of architecture and urban systems; interpretations of private and public spaces; architectural ethics understood as questions of power and empowerment; and how social class and/or gender shapes people’s expectations for the use of space.
She has presented her work at international venues, including most recently the ARCC annual conferences, the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin, the Technical University of Berlin, the University of Stuttgart and the University of Bremen.
Founded in 1976, the AARC is an international association of architectural research centers committed to the expansion of the research culture and a supporting infrastructure in architecture and related design disciplines. ARCC members are traditionally schools of architecture that are engaged in sponsored research and in graduate studies “intended to develop a more comprehensive research infrastructure for architecture.”
Stuckeman student’s design selected for new East Coast Music Hall of Fame Museum
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A design by Penn State architecture student Nicholas Fudali has been selected to become the look of the new East Coast Music Hall of Fame (ECMHOF) Museum in Wildwood, New Jersey.
Fudali’s winning design was unanimously chosen by the ECMHOF board of directors following an open call for proposals. According to Bill Grieco, vice president of the organization, Fudali’s renderings made it to the short list of three finalists and was the only proposal submitted by a student. A number of architectural drawings were submitted but, according to Grieco, most of them seemed “too simple or too flashy in design.”
Fudali first learned about the development of the new museum on Facebook and was encouraged by Grieco, who is a family friend, to submit his own renderings.
“My design was inspired by the style already used by the ECMHOF board. They are really zeroing in on a retro aesthetic which New Jersey’s music culture stems from,” explained Fudali, who is a native of East Brunswick, New Jersey. “My goal was to stay true to the retro feel and translate it into a three-dimensional representation.”
To achieve his vision, Fudali incorporated elements such as neon tube lights which run around the roof overhang, a vinyl record-inspired entrance to create a memorable first impression of the building experience, and a large music note which serves as a sign and architectural symbol of the building.
“Nick’s design is clean and simple, and really stood out from the beginning. The building looks inviting and resembles a theater, which is fitting since we are celebrating artists and performers,” he said. “It is just amazing. Nick is incredibly talented and has exceptional vision, which will take him far.”
Fudali, who is interning this summer with Nastasi Architects in Hoboken, New Jersey, says he is honored to have had his design selected. He also expressed his gratitude to the entire EMHOF board, and Grieco specifically, for the opportunity to submit his vision.
“I have pursued this profession to create impactful designs and this is such an exciting project to get me started,” he added.
Grieco says he anticipates construction of the building, which will also serve as the organization’s world headquarters, to begin by the end of the year with an expected opening in summer 2020. At that time, the EMCHOF – which celebrates the music of the 1950s, 60s and 70s – will be honoring its first class of inductees, including Connie Francis, Tony Orlando, Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon and Chubby Checker.
If all goes as planned, the building will open shortly after Fudali graduates from Penn State with his B.Arch. degree in May 2020.
AASL Column, July 2019 Lucy Campbell and Barbara Opar, column editors Column by Megan Piemonte, Library Assistant, Boston Architectural College, 2019 Student Travel Award Recipient
Association of Architecture School Librarians 41st Annual Conference Report: March 28-31, 2019, Pittsburgh, PA
I would first like to express my gratitude to the Association of Architecture School Librarians for granting me the opportunity to attend their 41st Annual Conference. This was not only my first time visiting Pittsburgh, but it was also my first time attending a professional conference, and it was truly an edifying experience. I am deeply appreciative to those I had the opportunity to meet at the conference, all of whom were incredibly engaging, accommodating, and congenial.
I found the content overall to be both relevant and diversified. Each presentation offered a new perspective while coinciding neatly with this year’s theme: Articulating the Architecture Information Professional’s Core in a Post-Digital Era. I am eager to apply the invaluable knowledge I’ve gained from this experience to my current role at the Boston Architectural College, and I look forward to attending next year’s conference in San Diego.
Pittsburgh’s Built Environment Following President Chris Sala’s opening remarks and the vendor showcase, Martin Aurand of Carnegie Mellon University moderated a discussion panel on Pittsburgh’s culture and architectural identity. Panelists Christine Mondor of evolve: Environment::Architecture, Rob Pfaffman of Pfaffman + Associates, and art and architecture journalist Charles L. Rosenblum discussed the influence of Pittsburgh’s topography and natural resources on urban design. Major riverways not only abut the numerous mill buildings, but run concurrently with major roadways. As a major hub of industry during the 19th century, remnants of pollution on building exteriors live on as an element of Pittsburgh’s artistic identity. This challenges whether urban revival can be achieved without compromising Pittsburgh’s unique and layered history. This conversation not only provided valuable insight for those of us who were first-time visitors to the city, but it was directly analogous to the many discussions that followed.
Architecture Information in a Post-Digital Era As information professionals, our careers are intrinsically linked with technology; an aspect which furnishes both exciting opportunities as well as great obstacles. Our first joint session, Architectural Information in a Post-Digital Era, discussed some of these challenges. Panelists Matthew Allen of University of Toronto, Katie Pierce Meyer of University of Texas at Austin, and Ann Whiteside of Harvard University Graduate School of Design, addressed the value of teaching data management practices in the classroom. Many students are unaware of the implications of collecting data and the value of archiving their design processes for future generations. I found the discussion on Software Presentation Network (SPN) particularly fascinating, especially as conversations about the pitfalls of the digital dark age escalate within the information science community.
Maya Gervits of New Jersey Institute of Technology and Gilda Santana of University of Miami extended this conversation in their session on documenting non-traditional collections, specifically oral histories. Their discussion further illustrated the importance of archiving for the future. Personal narratives of faculty members can offer valuable contributions to an institution’s collective memory and provide new perspectives into personal and professional relationships within the community.
Even the vendor showcase demonstrated new developments in research tools in order to best meet the needs of the post-digital patron. Though each representative presented the unique components of their respective platforms, each of the databases demonstrated a powerful implementation of metadata which facilitates a variety of search and browse options for users.
The Architecture Librarian’s Role Digital storage and preservation are some of the more discernible challenges we encounter as information professionals in the post-digital era. However, many of the sessions also addressed some of the more inconspicuous challenges that arise. Presentations from Nilda Sanchez-Rodriguez of the City College of New York and Kevin Block of UC Berkeley each addressed perspectives on pedagogical methods in architecture education. Sanchez-Rodriguez detailed the many challenges and opportunities as a solo architecture librarian, whereas Block discussed the interminable challenge of encouraging students to utilize library resources.
From an archival perspective, Pamela Casey of Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library discussed the difficulties of navigating legacy data. The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (FLWFA), consisting of tens of thousands of architectural drawings, photographs, models, and other documents, was jointly acquired by Avery and MoMA in 2012. While the procurement of a collection of such remarkable stature and breadth is certainly exciting, it does not come without challenges. Some of which include tackling inconsistent metadata standards and lack of adherence to provenance and original order.
Paula Farrar of University of British Columbia addressed the need for accreditation modernization for American and Canadian architecture schools. The National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) “Library Statistics Report,” currently does not include data reporting fields for electronic resources which in turn prohibits libraries from disclosing accurate expenditure or proudly exhibiting valuable digital resources held by their institution. This illustrates how fundamentally crucial it is for professionals in our field to maintain corresponding visions of the future in order to ensure seamless progression.
Cathryn Copper of Virginia Tech and Clarissa Carr of University of Florida each presented on the benefits of envisioning the future and the value of hybridity for the modern library professional. Copper addressed students’ preference for a smooth transition between digital and physical collections and the advantages of merging traditional library space with the creative studio environment. Carr discussed Esri Story maps: an innovative method by which to organize information, and provide users with new perspective while also engaging with them socially.
Our final session on architectural design theses appropriately concluded our conversations on designing for the future. Though technology has advanced exponentially over the past couple of decades, digital and physical storage continue to pose preservation challenges. Rebecca Price of University of Michigan discussed the divergent and uneven practices for preserving 3-dimensional models. Panoramic photography presents a possible solution but is very time consuming, and more advanced 3-D preservation practices may not be built to last. These challenges pose the question of what kinds of standards we can implement as architecture information professionals.
I found each of the conference sessions to be distinctly pertinent to my education and professional development as both a student of library and information science and a library professional at an architectural college. Much of my coursework at Simmons has been related to data management and digital services, and each of the presentations at this year’s AASL conference contributed directly to fundamental components of these areas of study. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to be a part of such meaningful conversations with so many intelligent and innovative individuals. I look forward to maintaining these connections, and I hope to become more involved with this terrific organization.
International engagement was one of the key initiatives we pursued over the past year during my term as President. We reached out to several sibling organizations around the world – EAAE in Europe, ASINEA in Mexico, UDEFAL in Latin America, and AASA in Australasia – to see if there was interest in developing collaborative relationships. At the same time, the International Union of Architects (UIA) contacted us to see if we would work with them as an academic partner.
We have now signed agreements (memoranda of understanding) with four organizations: EAAE, AASA, ASINEA, and UIA. We have teamed up with EAAE to launch the biannual Teachers Conference that will alternate between Europe and North America. The inaugural conference is taking place this week in Antwerp, Belgium, with close to 150 registered participants in attendance. The twenty-four member schools from AASA (in Australia, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea) have joined us collectively as affiliate members. We have invited ASINEA member schools to take part in the 108th Annual Meeting in San Diego next year, with an expectation that we would have several parallel (and joint) events in Tijuana right across the border. We have also partnered with the UIA for the 2020 Congress in Rio for the review and selection of papers and design works, essentially merging our International Conference with the largest global gathering of architects.
These agreements and joint endeavors represent the culmination of an initiative started four years ago by former president Marilys Nepomechie. After tentative contacts and initial discussions, we made considerable progress this past year. We signed the agreements but, more importantly, we created new opportunities for our members to engage with colleagues around the world. Our goal is to build expanded communities to develop knowledge that can be shared globally.
Another goal is to deepen the conversation on a variety of topics: student recruitment, study abroad, faculty and student exchanges, research collaborations, and more. Perhaps ACSA could play a greater role in facilitating international activities of our member schools; acting as a broker of potential relationships. (As some of you may recall, these topics were front and center at the 2018 Administrators Conference in Québec City last October.)
However, our focus this past year wasn’t only on international engagement. There were other equally important initiatives, such as a new strategic plan, a new membership structure, the redesign of our largest gathering, the Annual Meeting, and preparations for the upcoming NAAB Accreditation Review Forum that will take place in Chicago at the end of July. It was a very busy year and I am very proud of what we have accomplished over the past twelve months.
This is the last President’s Message from me as I conclude my term on June 30, and begin a new chapter in my academic career as dean of the Hillier College of Architecture and Design at NJIT. It has been a great pleasure and a distinct privilege to work with our board and staff over the past year.
Rashida Ng, from Temple University, will succeed me as president on July 1. I will continue to serve for another year as Past President and look forward to working with Rashida, the Executive Committee, and the rest of the board, as Rashida leads our continuing efforts to advocate for architectural education and research, not only in the U.S. and Canada, but around the world.
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