Episteme and Techne

Congratulations to Professor Alexis Gregory who had two paper proposals accepted to the 2009 Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) meeting in Mobile, Alabama, (October 21-24, 2009).

The first paper proposal was accepted as part of the “Small Town, Big Design: Methods and Processes for Design Research” session and was entitled “Complexity In Situ: Architecture Studio Design in Smaller Cities and Towns.”

The second paper proposal accepted was entitled “The Mausoleum: How Can Architecture Be Used to Help Deal with Death?” for the session “The Infinite Finite: Depictions of Death in Western Art”.

Today I will begin highlighting examples of the award winning student work from the Thesis Exhibition held at the Department of Architecture Eichberg Hall in May. The final exhibition show is the culmination of the M.Arch degree program thesis investigation whereby students identify, research, frame, and ultimately apply an idea to architecture.

Michael Mankin is a recipient of the Faculty Thesis Award, ‘awarded to a graduate thesis project as selected by the faculty members of the Department of Architecture for superior achievement and presentation in the development of a thesis project. Projects for the Faculty Thesis Award are nominated by faculty members of the Department of Architecture.’ Michael’s project is titled, “Methane: When Innovation Meets Aesthetic” and is set in Los Angeles, California

SCAD Department of Architecture Prof. Alexis Gregory has had two recent occasions to promote her research on women in the profession of architecture.

Professor Gregory served as the moderator of a panel discussion at the 2009 AIA South Carolina Spring Meeting in Charleston, SC. The panel topic is “Overcoming Obstacles to Women’s Achievement in Architecture in South Carolina.” The panel was based on Professor Gregory’s current research on the attrition of women in the field of architecture.

As well, Professor Gregory recently completed an article with a fellow Clemson University School of Architecture alumnus in the 2009 South Carolina AIA Magazine. The article is entitled “Architecture Looks to It’s Feminine Side” and was based, in part, on her Master of Science research at Clemson University.

Department of Architecture alumni Andrew King, M.Arch 2009, is currently working in Valencia, Spain for Menis Arquitectos. Firm principal Fernando Martin Menis, formally of AMP Arquitectos, has been published in multiple works, including Architecture Now: 5, which featured a multi-page spread on the AMP project, Magma Arts Center & Congress in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands.

While the firm works in multiple programs, including cultural, religious, residential, sports, urban and installations, currently Andrew is working on a 4000-seat music hall in Torun, Poland. Andrew sent us this link to Dezeen architecture and design magazine, where the project is discussed with several visuals to accompany the article.

Congratulations to Andrew on his accomplishments!

Deadline Extended for SE Fall Conference Call for Posters

2009 ACSA Southeast Fall Conference
Architecture is a Thing of Art
October 8-10, 2009 | Savannah, Georgia
Host School: Savannah College ofArt and Design, School of Building Arts, Department of Architecture
Co-chairs: Matthew Dudzik & Alexis Gregory

August 3, 2009: Poster submissions due to ACSA website
August 17, 2009: Authors of posters notified of acceptance status
September 10, 2009: Accepted poster presenters must register for conference by this date

For complete details please visit:
http://www.acsa-arch.org/conferences

Congratulations to SCAD Department of Architecture faculty member Professor Julie Rogers Varland who will be presenting at the annual SECAC conference in Mobile, AL. Prof. Rogers Varland’s proposal was accepted for the Liminality Panel, and she will present her research titled, “Engawa and More: Japanese Concepts and Architectural Behaviors of Liminal Space”. Prof. Rogers Varland’s travel to Japan in the summer of 2008 to conduct research was partially supported by the SCAD Presidential Fellowship program. The SECAC conference will take place October 21-24, 2009.

Don’t forget to submit your abstracts for the 2009 ACSA Southeast Fall Conference hosted by the Savannah College of Art and Design Department of Architecture. Abstracts are due Monday May 4th, and there are several outstanding paper sessions! Complete conference information, descriptions of the session topics, and session topic moderator information is available on the ACSA website.

As part of the SCAD Style event, Clive Wilkinson will be lecturing today…

April 20
“Creativity and the Workplace” Lecture by Architect Clive Wilkinson
Monday, 3 p.m., Student Center, 120 Montgomery St., Savannah, Ga.
Fast Company deemed Google headquarters, Clive Wilkinson Architects’ most recent notable project, a “paean to boundless ambition and nonconformity.” Since founding his firm in 1991, Wilkinson and his team have developed an international reputation for workplace design through such projects as TBWA/Chiat/Day’s “advertising city” headquarters and JWT. Wilkinson understands the impact of a person’s surroundings on creative work, and his firm’s influential and perceptive ideas celebrate architecture as a wonderful life support system for a rapidly changing world. SCAD Style events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

SCAD alumni Josh Younger presented his thesis project to the Glynn Environmental Coalition and had the Jacksonville newspaper pick up the story. Read the article here:

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/091508/geo_332322757.shtml

to the SCAD Department of Architecture’s
Urban Design Studios
Wednesday, October 8, 1:00-3:30p; River Club (downstairs)

The panel will provide information to the students regarding:

- what it takes to ‘deliver’ a design idea at the urban level
- ways to effect positive/constructive change in a city
- demonstration of working collectively, across municipal and private agencies
- the spectrum of scales that need to be addressed for any urban project
(infrastructure to human-scale factors and details)

The Panel

Overall message: Urban design cannot happen in a vacuum.
Presentations followed by moderated discussion and questions from the students.

ZONING – Tom Thomson and Charlotte Moore
Message: An understanding of Zoning is fundamental to any successful design process.
What is it? Why is it? How can it be changed? This presentation will provide a conceptual understanding of zoning and its process. Students will learn about online resources or references they can use as they begin their designs.

Case study - how a change of zoning was needed for a particular project and how will be presented, and why it succeeded or failed.

PUBLIC / PRIVATE FINANCE – Chris Morrill
Message: Municipalities must be partners in most large scale urban development projects.
How does one approach a municipality about an idea? What motivates local government to assist or partner in developments?

Case Study - News Place and Savannah River Landings

PUBLIC INPUT – Susan Broker
Message: Build a public input process into your plan from the beginning.
How has the public input process changed? How do you get meaningful input and buy-in from the public without negatively affecting the design process? Why should this process be built in from the very beginning?

Case Study – Project DeRenne

THE DESIGNER – Christian Sottile
Message: They aren’t kidding.
How do you utilize zoning to enhance a project.
How does a private / public partnership affect the design process.
How do you successfully use public input in design?