Episteme and Techne

Professor Judith Reno, professor of architecture and director of the urban design program, was featured in the January/February 2010 issue of Savannah Magazine focusing on twenty big ideas for the future of the city.

Kieran Timberlake has won the prestigious project to design the new US Embassy in London.

I’ll be starting up the SCAD Architecture department blog again…look for regular updates on subjects important to prospective students, current students, alumni, faculty, and employers, as well as my thoughts on the current state of the academy and the profession! Please share the links with people you know will be interested and let me know what you think!

To all members and friends of AIA Savannah,

Yesterday we lost a great member of our architectural community. It is with great regret that I notify you of Ron Kolman’s passing. We all knew and loved Ron as a founder, leader, mentor, and friend. I truly believe that Jerry Lominak stated it best by saying, “I think Ron considered his fellow architects as his extended family”. I think we all feel the same about Ron.

Below is Ron’s obituary, as printed in the Savannah News Press this morning, including service times and locations.

On behalf of the Chapter, I send our deepest condolences to Ron’s family and co-workers. Ron will be greatly missed and always remembered.

Sincerely,

Patrick L. Phelps, AIA
President, AIA Savannah

Ronald Kolman FAIA – passed away quietly on Tuesday, December 1st.
He was born in Savannah on September 18, 1932 and was predeceased by his parents, Barney and Eileen Kolman. Mr. Kolman was an accomplished and highly respected architect and public servant. He graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1957 and returned to Savannah to establish practice here that lives on as Lominack Kolman Smith Architects.

Among his many achievements were his public service with MPC, Historic District Board of Review, Historic Savannah, Union Mission, many other civic organizations, as well as many city and county appointments. He was also a charter member of the Savannah Sport Fishing Club.

His service to his profession was unequaled. His professional achievements were many. He served as President of the South Georgia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects six times, received Bronze Medal (AIA Georgia), the Kolman Award (AIA Savannah), the Rothschild Award (AIA Georgia), and became a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects in 2001.

Mr. Kolman enjoyed traveling and exploring the country with his wife and friends. He loved woodworking and was a member of the Low Country Woodturners. He loved his family dearly, was an advocate for those in need, volunteered tirelessly to bring joy to others, and worked very hard to make Savannah a better place for all of us.

Mr. Kolman is survived by his wife of 57 years, Anne Lee Tyree Kolman, two daughters, Anne Kolman Smith (Edgar) and Karen Kolman Gwinner, his sisters Bette Kolman Perry (Edward) and Dolores Kolman Beacham (Franklin), grandchildren, Amy McKinney, Chris Gwinner, Ben Gwinner, Edgar Smith III, and Rosie Gwinner, two great-grandchildren and several neices and nephews.

Memorial Visitation: 5:00 – 7:00 P.M. Thursday at Fox & Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel. Memorial Service: 2:00 P.M. Friday at Fox & Weeks Funeral Directors, Hodgson Chapel.

The family requests that donations be sent to any charity of choice.
Please sign the on-line guest book at www.foxandweeks.com .

Walt Disney Imagineering is coming to Savannah. They have internship opportunities in Architecture, Project Management, Digital Design, and Interior Design.

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

Take a moment to relax and watch this incredible video of the world’s second largest aquarium tank.

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.

The simplest of design principals is taught to architecture students in some of the earliest design studios they experience, and yet for some, it is only at the end of their formal education when they are reminded and coerced into returning to these principles that they impact and influence work. This is one of the more beautiful and perplexing aspects of architectural education; that the synthesis of material must happen at the student’s moment of choosing, it cannot be forced, it can only be inspired to occur. Some simply sit and let the knowledge wash over them in waves rather than arranging the various and disparate contributors (client, program, technology, theory, formal ordering) into inspiring architecture; this is the purview of the developing mind. Others engage the conversation readily, and begin to use the knowledge as the basis of their next endeavor. However, all are able… the question is when will they employ the tools?

My studio dictum: As simple as it can be, as complex as it needs to be…

“On the occasion of the exhibitions Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward and Learning By Doing, the Guggenheim and Google SketchUp invite amateur and professional designers from around the world to enter Design It: Shelter Competition. From now until August 23, you can submit a 3-D shelter for any location in the world using Google SketchUp and Google Earth.”, Guggenheim Museum