University of Oklahoma Division of Architecture: September 2013

Associate Professor David L. Boeck was recently appointed the South Central Regional Coordinator for the Design Communications Association (DCA) and elected a board member to the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA).  Professor Boeck presented a co-authored paper entitled “The Healthful and Helpful House in Positive Aging” with Associate Professor Hepi Wachter (Interior Design) and Professor David Moxley (Social Work) at EDRA44 Providence. 

The Center for Middle Eastern Architecture and Culture (CMEAC) at the College of Architecture established Spring 2012 by Dr. Khosrow Bozorgi held the inaugural CMEAC Symposium in March 2013.  The event spanned three days, opening with an art exhibit from renowned Iranian artist and architect Abdolhossein Pazoki and featuring a keynote address by Gisue Hariri, principal of Hariri & Hariri Architects of New York.  The Farzaneh family has granted CMEAC a $350,000 endowment, establishing a Presidential Professorship in Persian Architecture.  For more information, please visit: www.ou.edu/cmeac

Assistant Professor Daniel Butko presented two papers (one coauthored with an undergraduate student) at the ASA/ICA acoustics conference in Montreal, June 2013.  Professor Butko sponsored five undergraduate student research teams at the 2013 OU Honors College Undergraduate Research Day.  One team comprised of Architecture student Peter Mall and Construction Science student Holly Snow won a Distinction in Undergraduate Research Award for their work with Professor Butko and Dr. Lisa Holliday (CNS).  Professor Butko was also recently appointed to the Newman Student Award Fund Advisory Committee.

Assistant Professor Thomas Cline is currently leading a multidisciplinary team consisting of AIAS, Freedom By Design, Sooners Without Borders, and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society in building a human waste composting eco-latrine at the OU Kessler Atmospheric and Ecological Field Station.  The eco-latrine is intended to support the research efforts of faculty and students in Architecture, Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, Biology, Geography and Environmental Sustainability, and Meteorology.

Assistant Professor Tony Cricchio was the instructor this year for the annual Playhouse Parade project in which students design and build a playhouse for CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Oklahoma County. This is the fourth year the college has been involved in the project. The playhouse was one of three constructs donated by local firms, which were raffled off in late June 2013 to raise money for CASA.  Funds raised goes directly to CASA, which provides trained court appointed volunteers who advocate for the best interests of abused or neglected children in the juvenile court system. The playhouse was designed to be easy to assemble with lightweight materials.  Enrolled students included Aaron Crandall, Victoria Waggoner, Samuel Carpitcher-Sexton, Mindy Gowen, Kristi Epperson, Ninh Ly, and Marina Soares.  Assistance included Gould Hall Building Facility Manager Jerry Puckett and Shop Manager Hunter Roth.  The team was awarded the People’s Choice Award based on the number of ticket sales per playhouse entered.

Dr. Stephanie Pilat has been awarded a Wolfsonian-FIU fellowship, which will allow her to spend three weeks in residence at the Wolfsonian in Miami Beach, Florida Spring 2014.  She will be conducting research on a new project entitled “Shaping the Body Politic: Architecture for Youth and Sports in Fascist Italy.”

The Compressed Earth Block (CEB) research team – consisting of Assistant Professors Daniel Butko (Arch), Dr. Lisa Holliday (CNS), Matthew Reyes (CNS), Scott Williams (LA), Dean Charles Graham, Dr. Kianoosh Hatami (CEES), and Dr. Chris Ramseyer (COE), numerous students, and Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity (CCHFH) community volunteers – is working diligently to complete the CEB residence adjacent to a conventionally wood-framed residence in Norman, OK.  Both houses are on schedule for completion Spring 2014 and comparative data will be collected upon completion and into occupancy.  Photo shows construction progress of both residences as of August 2013. For more information, please visit http://ceb.ou.edu

The Oklahoma City Skydance Bridge, designed by the national competition-winning consortium that includes Division of Architecture Director Hans E. Butzer, Professor in Practice Stan Carroll and College of Engineering Dr. Chris Ramseyer, received the 2013 Excellence in Structural Engineering Award given by the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations. The award was given at the association’s September awards ceremony in Atlanta, GA.

In other student news, the College of Architecture recently awarded over $110,000 in scholarships to students from all disciplines (Architecture, Construction Science, Interior Design, Landscape Architecture, Regional & City Planning, the Tulsa Urban Design Studio, and Environmental Design.  At the Scholarship Banquet, the College also honored outstanding alumni contributors and educators, including Adjunct Architecture Lecturer Geoff Parker who was awarded the Division of Architecture 2013 Outstanding Adjunct Award.  A series of videos from the 2013 Placemaking Conference, organized by Assistant Professor Blair Humphreys and Adjunct Lecturer Umit Hope Mander of the The OU Institute for Quality Communities (IQC), are posted at http://iqc.ou.edu/