In a major new initiative for 2007/08, the School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation established a new Visiting Professorship in Architecture, a Visiting Artist in Visual Arts Studies, along with a Teaching Firm in Residence in Architecture. This visitor program will be extended for 2008/09 through the establishment of a Visiting Professorship in Art + Architectural History, with the shared goal to bring the highest quality educators and practitioners the school, across the curriculum.
Brian Healy, AIA is serving as Visiting Professor of Architecture for 2007/08. Healy has taught as a Visiting Professor at Yale, MIT, Harvard, the universities of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Virginia; Washington University where he was the Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture, RISD, and most recently served as Visiting Artist at Amherst College.
The work of his firm Brian Healy Architects, Boston has won awards from Progressive Architecture, Architectural Record, the Boston Society of Architects, AIA New England, AIA New York, the New Jersey Society of Architects, and ID magazine. Healy was educated at Penn State and at Yale, where he was editor of Perspecta 19: The Yale Architectural Journal, and where he received the Feldman Prize in Design and the Winchester Travelling Fellowship. Healy worked in the offices of Cesar Pelli in New Haven and Richard Meier in New York before opening his own office in Boston in 1986. Recent work includes competition-winning entries for the Mill Center for the Arts in Hendersonville, NC (2005), a Children’s Chapel at the Korean Church of Boston (2004), and for Mixed Income Housing in Chicago (2000). Healy was selected as an “Emerging Voice” by the New York Architectural League (1999), “Forty Under Forty”, as well as the Young Architect Award from Progressive Architecture (1990). Healy is teaching Arch 515 Graduate Architectural Design Studio during the Fall and Spring semesters. In Fall, his studio developed designs for a new boathouse at the RWU campus, in Spring for a sustainable urban development in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
The Master of Architecture program’s Teaching Firm in Residence for Fall 2007 is Kallmann McKinnell & Wood (KMW), Boston, led by Visiting Professor Bruno Pfister. Pfister has maintained dual careers as an architect in one of America’s leading firms, and as an educator.
A graduate of the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, Pfister has taught there, at Washington University, St. Louis; Syracuse and Harvard; and as a Visiting Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, Cornell, Maryland, MIT, Michigan, Toronto, Waterloo and Yale. Pfister has worked with Kallmann, McKinnell and Wood for 24 years, and been a Principal in the firm since 1994. He has served as project designer on a variety of award-winning academic, library and civic projects including works at Washington University, Emory University, Carnegie Mellon, the University of Kentucky, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, Columbia University, the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, and the Newton Free Library in Massachusetts. Kallmann McKinnell and Wood have won numerous awards including the American Institute of Architects Firm Award, the Louis Sullivan Award for Architecture, and the Boston Society of Architects Honor Award. Pfister taught Arch 513 Comprehensive Project Design Studio in Fall, with students completing a re-design of the Harvard Business School expansion that Pfister himself had designed.
Janet Pihlblad is RWU’s 2007/08 Visiting Artist, coming to the school from Alexandria, Virginia. Pihlblad has taught at George Washington University, the Corcoran College of Art in Washigton, the Art Institutes of Washington and Atlanta, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City. She received her BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute, and her MFA from Rutgers University, and pursued additional studies at Princeton University, Parsons School of Design, and Pratt Institute. Pihlblad has lectured as Visiting Artist at Georgia State University, and at Evanston Arts Center, Rockford Museum of Contemporary Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, the Kansas City Art Institute, the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Marymount Manhattan College, and the New Haven Arts Center. Her work has been exhibited solo and in group shows at Evanson, Rockford, in Chicago, Washington, Paris, New York, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Kansas City, Quebec City, and her work reviewed extensively.
Richard Greenwood joins the School as Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation after a long career with the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. at Brown University, following a B.A. in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. Greenwood has particular areas of interest in Historic Preservation and cultural resource management, historical and industrial archaeology, American material culture and technology. He has received several academic honors including a research grant from the Newell Goff Institute for Ingenuity and Enterprise, a Sullivan Fellowship, grants and teaching fellowships from Brown University. Greenwood has taught as an adjunct faculty member previously at Brown University, and served numerous consulting roles as historian, archaeologist, preservation planner to towns and heritage organizations in New England. Greenwood is a co-author of The Early Architecture and Landscapes of the Narragansett Basin (Vernacular Architecture Forum, 2001), numerous articles in scholarly journals. Greenwood is teaching coursework and labs in Preservation Planning, Archival Research, Professional Practice and Internship.
Murray McMillan, Assistant Professor of Art and University Core Professor comes to Roger Williams from Webster University, St. Louis, where he was recently Assistant Professor and Visiting Artist, and at Biola University, Los Angeles. He was educated at the Kansas City Art Institute and the University of Texas at Austin, where his MFA focused on transmedia work. He has been a part of many solo and group exhibitions in California, Texas, Indiana and Missouri, as well as in Spain and Bolivia. McMillan has lectured at universities and museums across the United States, and completed residencies in Barcelona and Athens, with an upcoming residency in Turku, Finland in Summer 2008. His recent work was featured in the Fall 2007 Istanbul Biannual, and in a recent issue of Art in America. McMillan is teaching coursework in Installation, Digital Media, Multi-Media, and in the University Core Curriculum.
SAAHP Re-Affirms Commitment to Freshman Teaching
The SAAHP re-affirms its commitment to Freshman Teaching in the 2007/08 academic year, scheduling many of its most accomplished full-time faculty and deans in Freshman classes.
In Architecture, Professor Andrew Cohen, AIA, Associate Professor Julian Bonder, and Dean Stephen White, AIA teach Arch 101 Foundations of Architecture, required of all Architecture and Historic Preservation majors. Cohen has been nominated in each of the past three years for the prestigious Harleston Parker Medal from the Boston Society of Architects. Bonder and MIT’s Krystof Wodizcko are winners of the 2007 ACSA Faculty Design Award. White has been a recipient of Roger Williams’ Excellence in Teaching Award.
In Art and Architectural History, Associate Professors Sara Butler, Ph.D., Luis Carranza, Ph.D., Rebecca Leuchak, Ph.D., and Deborah Walberg, Ph.D. teach sections of AAH 121-122 History of Art and Architecture I-II, required of all SAAHP majors. All are committed to interdisciplinary perspectives. Butler is an expert on American architecture and culture, Carranza on Latin American art and architecture, Leuchak on Medieval and African Art, Walberg on Renaissance and Baroque Art and Architecture.
In Historic Preservation, Distinguished Professor of Architecture and Historic Preservation Hasan-Uddin Khan teaches HP 150 Introduction to Historic Preservation, with periodic involvement from Assistant Dean Janet Zwolinski. Khan taught at MIT before coming to Roger Williams, served for many years as the Aga Khan’s Architectural Advisor, and was the founding editor of MIMAR: Architecture in Development, a groundbreaking periodical that focused on architecture and preservation in the developing world. Zwolinski came to the SAAHP in 2006/07, after recent achievements as Executive Director of Preserve Rhode Island, which won the RI State Historic Preservation and Heritage Commission’s 2006 Antoinette Downing Award.
In Visual Arts Studies, Associate Professor Jeffrey Silverthorne teaches VARTS 261 Foundations of Photography, Assistant Professor Elizabeth Duffy VARTS 231 Foundations of Sculpture, Assistant Professor Anne Tait VARTS 241 Foundations of Printmaking. Silverthorne’s work is the subject of a 2007 monograph, which features an introduction by Pulitzer Prize winning author Annie Proulx, published in Copenhagen. Tait is a recipient of recent grants from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Council on the Humanities for her work on gravestone art.
SAAHP Master of Architecture program enrolls 27 students in 2007/08, expects 50+ for 2007/08, offers 20 graduate assistantships per year
The School’s Master of Architecture program enrolled a record number of entering students for the 2007/08--27 students who have completed undergraduate requirements enrolled, including students from Roger Williams University, the University of Nebraska, New York Institute of Technology, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We expect 50+ graduate students for Fall 2008 semester. Since the program’s inception in 2001, the school has enrolled students from these institutions, as well as from Miami University, Harvard, Lawrence Technological Institute, Ohio State University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Hartford, New England Institute of Technology, and New Hampshire Institute of Technology.
The SAAHP Master of Architecture program offers 20 graduate assistantships per year supported at $6,000 per year each to its incoming graduate class. This is a remarkable level of support compared to most Master of Architecture programs nationwide. Graduate Assistants serve as research assistants to faculty, and on special initiatives underway in the school.
AIA Rhode Island establishes "Window on Architecture" at Roger Williams University Providence Campus, February 2007
In space donated by Roger Williams University, the American Institute of Architects Rhode Island has established its "Window on Architecture" chapter office at 158 Washington Street, at the University’s Providence Campus.
More than 25 donors contributed over $100,000 to fit out the space, conceived as a Rhode Island meeting place for those interested in architecture. The space has been created to host Chapter meetings, exhibitions, and lunchtime AIA Continuing Education sessions. It is also available for meetings between architecture students with local practitioners, and between those involved in the building industry and local architects.
The AIA Window on Architecture held its grand opening on February 15, 2007, attended by over 80 people, in a reception co-sponsored by AIA Rhode Island and RWU’s School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation. AIA 2007 President Mark Saccoccio, ’86, AIA and SAAHP Dean Stephen White, AIA, 2006 AIA President, welcomed attendees. This is the first time that an American Institute of Architects chapter has been established at a School of Architecture in an urban setting. It is the third overall, the others being at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, and the University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Architecture Summer Studio Designs Sustainable Office Building for US National Energy Research Institute, Colorado
In Summer 2007, advanced Architecture students, led by Assistant Professor Patrick Charles, designed a project for a Sustainable Office Building for the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. Through this student/faculty field trip to the site in June, students were exposed to client interaction with NREL staff, led by Nancy Carlisle, AIA.
Intending to reflect the state-of-the-art in sustainable technologies developed by NREL and seeking a LEED platinum rating, the project supports 800 occupants in 220,000 square feet. Beyond energy efficiency, NREL strives for the project to demonstrate how "good architecture can support and promote innovation and productivity in the workplace", as well as allow for change over time to permit the integration of future technologies. Individual comfort and well-being, positive stimulation and individual control over one's environment are key to the success of the project.
SAAHP Community Partnerships Initiatives undertaken in US and Abroad by Architecture Professors Copur, Adams and Students
Working through the Architecture Program’s Advanced Architectural Design Studio sequence, the SAAHP’s Community Partnership Initiative achieved important successes with several projects in 2006/07, in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New York, and in Istanbul, Turkey.
Professor Ulker Copur led Community Partnership studios in Turkey in Fall 2006 and Eco Village, Ithaca, New York in Spring 2007. Copur’s Fall 2006 studio, "Urban Regeneration; An Earthquake Mitigation Design, Housing in Zeytinburnu, Istanbul, Turkey", focused on earthquake mitigation planning for the 5000 inhabitants of Zeytinburnu, an area near Istanbul with a high risk of a major earthquake strike within the next 30 years. The primary goal of the project was to develop a viable regenerative Master Plan with improved quality of life and safer high-density urban housing without gentrification.
The town’s Vice Mayor, members of the Office of Planning and Construction and the City Planning Department offered continuous feedback to the students during the semester via mail and email, and in person when Professor Copur and her students visited in late November. Professor Dr. Murat Balamir at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, also provided essential concepts in earthquake mitigation planning and background information.
Professor Copur and the studio participants presented their research findings, Master Plan and housing alternatives to the Zeytinburnu Municipality authorities. Zeytinburnu’s Mayor, Vice Mayor, and members of the Office of Planning and Construction participated in the review and discussion of the projects presented by the students during a workshop at the Municipality Headquarters.
Copur’s Spring 2007 studio, "Eco Village Ithaca: A Sustainable Community" proposed an ecological Master Plan for Eco Village Ithaca, a 176 acre community adjacent to a nature preserve near Cornell University. The village is planned to include sustainable neighborhoods with their own community centers, an extension of the two existing neighborhoods.
The RWU studio proposed a plan for Eco-Village Ithaca’s future growth, including green clusters of 10-12 units and an Eco-Village Education Center/ Visitor Center, focusing on sustainability education programs. The plan for future growth is to exemplify diverse sustainability initiatives where nature, culture, technology and community are harmonized.
All phases of the project were intensively coordinated with the members and residents of the Eco Village community. During the semester, a field trip to Ithaca was organized and the studio group stayed in the Village with local families. Eco Village leader Liz Walker gave a lecture on the development and its ecological accomplishments, followed by a tour of the community. The students presented their research, Master Plan proposals and preliminary designs of the Education Center / Visitor Center, proposed green cluster and its Common House at a workshop organized by the community. Students were given the opportunity to discuss their proposals with the residents and received very useful feedback. Residents continued their involvement in the students' project via email and two Eco Villagers traveled from Ithaca to RWU for the final studio review.
Associate Professor Edgar Adams work with Architecture majors at the advanced level involved two major Community Partnership initiatives utilizing Transit Oriented Development in Southeastern Massachusetts. Each of these efforts led by Adams involved funded student-faculty research support from the community.
In Fall 2006, Adams led a design studio to investigate two possible transit oriented development sites in the city of Taunton, Massachusetts. The projects kicked off a multi-year study of the potential for transit oriented development (TOD) related to the proposed Fall River & New Bedford Commuter Rail extension. To view the draft study, click here.
In Spring 2007, Adams and students worked with the town of Raynham, Massachusetts, where one of the proposed station locations is the Raynham Park Greyhound Track. RWU students worked with local and regional planning officials to develop project goals and preliminary strategies for this 140 acre site. Using an analysis of best practices in Transit Oriented Development and planned communities, the students worked in teams to develop mixed-use pedestrian friendly neighborhoods that were linked to one another and to the station area. The relationship to the environmentally sensitive Hockomock Swamp was carefully considered by exploring linkages to an active buffer zone and groundwater mitigation techniques.
The master-plans called for 400 & 600 units and a range of retail, office, entertainment, and hotel uses. Students then developed a portion of their master-plans at an architectural scale to aid in the visualization of the proposed development. The results of the student work were presented to the South Coast Commuter Rail Task Force (http://www.srpedd.org/nbfrindex.html) and the Town of Raynham Rt. 138 Task Force. The proposals will aid the Town of Raynham in the development of TOD overlay zoning guidelines and help the land owners and transit authorities as they negotiate access and development plans.
SAAHP Faculty take National and International Trips with students for coursework
A regular feature of SAAHP activities in many courses each year is support for field trips to national and international sites. In 2006/07 and 2007/08, these have included trips to to Barcelona with Associate Professor Luis Carranza’s Arch 413 Advanced Design Studio (Fall 2006), to Istanbul with Professor Ulker Copur’s Arch 413 Advanced Design Studio (Spring 2007), to Chicago with Assistant Professor Patrick Charles’ Arch 413 Advanced Design Studio (Summer 2007), to Athens with Associate Professor Rebecca Leuchak’s AAH 322 Arts and Architecture of the Ancient World (Spring 2008). Outlined below is a more detailed account of the Barcelona experience.
Luis Carranza traveled with students from his Arch 413 Advanced Design Studio to Barcelona, Spain over several days in October. The studio visited the site of their project in Sarría, on the eastern edge of the city, and on the grounds of Torres-Lapeña’s Jardines de la Villa Cecilia, a historically important landscape within a rich cultural context. While there the class also had the opportunity to witness the context of city through many important architectural and artistic monuments such as Enric Miralles’ Santa Catarina Market, Mies’ Barcelona Pavilion, projects by Antoni Gaudi, and important urban gardens and public squares.
The trip provided students a unique chance to see Barcelona and understand the complexity of its culture, people, and landscape: urbanistic and formal tension and differences between Cerdà’s Eixample and the Ciutat Vella and the continuity of culture and its architectural expression from Roman through Gothic to the present times.
It was an invaluable opportunity and experience to see a living city whose character is constantly changing and whose public officials aren’t afraid to encourage the most contemporary architectural and urban explorations. The students’ participation added a layer of enthusiasm and knowledge to class discussions, reviews, and in the formal and contextual development of their design projects.
New England Architecture Firms continue support for scholarships, enrichment
New England Architecture firms continue their support for the School, either as continuing or new donors. Kaestle Boos Architects, Connecticut continued its major support for two scholarship funds for advanced architecture students, Newport Collaborative Architects, Newport and Providence continued its support for the Public Events Series, Saccoccio Associates, Cranston and BKA Architects Massachusetts for general support. SLAM Collaborative, Glastonbury, Atlanta initiated a new scholarship for architecture student/athletes.
Historic Preservation Fund Supports Evening Lectures, Practitioner Teaching and Class Visits
The SAAHP’s Historic Preservation Endowed Fund provided major support in 2006/07 for enrichments to the Historic Preservation program and to the SAAHP Public Events Series. The Fund was endowed in 2000 through gifts from an anonymous donor, and matched through gifts from alumni, faculty and deans, and other donors such as the Felicia Fund, Fidelity Investments, and Amica Insurance.
The HP Endowed Fund provides major support for the HP Endowed Events Series each Spring semester, which in 2008 brought Gustavo Araoz of US/ICOMOS, Washington and Jean Carroon of Goody Clancy, Boston to campus, to discuss their work. The Fund is a major source of support for SAAHP’s International Fellows Program led by Distinguished Professor of Architecture and Historic Preservation Hasan-Uddin Khan held each summer, which this July 11-12, 2008 focuses on Sustainable Urban Conservation. It also provides support historic preservation practitioners to visit the school as guest lecturers and adjunct faculty.
Ahlborg Endowed Fund supports Technology and Practice at the School
The SAAHP’s Ahlborg Fund provided major support in 2006/07 and 2007/08 for technology and practice initiatives in Architecture, including experimental constructions, and visits to the School by practicing architects in the region. The fund supported construction of tensegrity structures built in Arch 432 Architectural Technology II, taught by Professor Mete Turan, and experimental constructions fabricated in the School’s Digital Manufacturing Lab, led by Assistant Professor Andrew Thurlow. The Fund supported the participation of 50+ visiting critics to design studio reviews over the Fall and Spring semesters, a key feature of architectural education in the school.