Faculty Work
| Project Title | Preservation by Adaptation: Is it Sustainable? |
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| Author(s) | Greg Donofrio |
| Date posted | April 5, 2013 |
| Project Description | The historic preservation field is aggressively promoting itself as ''green.'' Adaptive reuse of historic buildings is now widely considered a sustainable development practice. As with architecture in general, however, sustainability in preservation is too often narrowly framed around environmental issues such as the conservation of materials, energy, and water. Commonly accepted definitions of sustainability recognize two other components: economics and culture. Rarely does the preservation field consider sustainability as an entire system of interrelated environmental, economic, and social relationships, as envisioned by the Brundtland Report of 1987. This article offers several reasons for the preservation field to engage in the full spectrum of sustainability concerns, including economic and social issues. |
 Stereograph of butcher shops on the ground floor of Faneuil Hall Market, late nineteenth century.   National Trust for Historic Preservation, poster for Preservation Week, May 11–17, 1980. | |
| Project Title | A Better Path to Licensure through Research Practices |
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| Author(s) | Renee Cheng |
| Date posted | April 4, 2013 |
| Project Description | Last June, the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) released data on a wide variety of topics across several decades related to internship, examination and licensure for architects. "NCARB By the Numbers" revealed that the mean time from graduation to completion of the Intern Development Program (IDP) is 6.4 years with an additional two years to complete the exam and achieve licensure. In real numbers that means the total amount of time from high school to licensure for architects in America is 14.5 years. The knowledge loop between the architectural profession and academia has the potential to be a rich and interactive exchange leading to meaningful advancement of the discipline. One can imagine priorities developed by professionals would ensure the value of their expertise to clients on a day-to-day basis. While complementary research priorities collectively developed with academic researchers would address broad societal needs, advance building technology and reduce waste at many scales in the building industry. In the midst of this dynamic mix of professional experts and academic researchers, students could thrive, guided by both mentors and professors in individual research projects that connect to multi-year research goals. And if the students' role in these research efforts could be counted in their IDP, meaningful work would systematically lead to licensure, potentially upon graduation of an advanced post-professional degree. The first steps towards this ideal world begins at the University of Minnesota with our first cohort of Masters of Science in Architecture, Research Practices concentration. Pending finalization of the MS and the Consortium, we expect our first cohort to enter in Fall 2013. |
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| Project Title | Does Food Systems Planning Have a History? |
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| Author(s) | Greg Donofrio |
| Date posted | March 26, 2013 |
| Project Description | Greg Donofrio's 2007 article "Feeding the City" was republished in the "Best of Gastronomica," Spring 2013. Original abstract from 2007: The food system has, until recently, been conspicuously absent from city and regional planning practice, education, and research. Earlier in the twentieth century, food issues were a central concern of the nascent planning profession. Keywords:urban planning, regional planning, city planning, food system planning, food distribution, history, Clarence Stein, Charles Mulford Robinson, George Ford, Lewis Mumford, public market, municipal market, terminal market, supermarket, food, agriculture, New York City, New York State, Greenmarket, farmers market, Regional Planning Association of American (RPAA), City Beautiful movement |
  Planners were awed by the global reach of the food system. From Walter P. Hedden, Port of New York Authority, papers on marketing within the Port of New York District, 1925, n.p.  Cartoons like this one from the Brooklyn Eagle (date unknown) reflected anxiety about the cost of food and a distrust of the food marketing system. From Housewives League Magazine 1, no. 4 (April 1913): 8. | |
| Project Title | Constructing the Significance of the Plymouth Buildling |
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| Author(s) | Greg Donofrio, with Meghan Elliott and Ryan Salmon (Preservation Design Works, LLC) |
| Date posted | March 26, 2013 |
| Project Description | Using primary and secondary research, Greg Donofrio and his colleagues Meghan Elliott and Ryan Salmon of Preservation Design Works, LLC argue that the Plymouth Building embodies advancements in several aspects of concrete engineering knowledge and building practice, including the concrete skeleton frame, use of deformed reinforcing steel, an integrated contractor-engineering delivery, and cold weather concreting. Use of a true reinforced concrete skeleton frame structural system made it possible to dramatically alter the façade as building owners sought to adapt to changing architectural styles. Or, as a Minneapolis Tribune article published in 1910 put it: "The outside...can be redressed time and again; just husked like corn every century or two, and a new exterior added." The Plymouth Building represents an important step in the development of modern reinforced concrete engineering and design eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office and the National Park Service agreed. |
 Photograph of excavation and construction of the foundation of the Plymouth Building, Minneapolis, MN, January, 1910. Workers continued to mix and pour concrete as temperatures dropped to a low of two-degrees Fahrenheit on February 16 and 17, 1910. Smoke  Photograph of the “M/B Bar” twisted square steel bar reinforcement used in the construction of the Plymouth Building, April 1, 1910.  Photograph of the construction of the masonry curtain walls of the Plymouth Building, September 12, 1910.  Photograph of the original main façades of the Plymouth Building, October 25, 1910. Original decorative features included rusticated terra-cotta pavilions, red brick walls laid in a Flemish bond with molded brick window sills, and a twelfth-story richly  Photograph of the main facades after “modernization” in 1936. | |
| Project Title | Architecture of Thought, University of Minnesota Press, 2011 |
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| Author(s) | Andrzej Piotrowski |
| Date posted | May 16, 2012 |
| Project Description | "Architecture of Thought traces conflicting religious, political, and symbolic complexities in architecture that have been overlooked. Against the rational systems of Western thinking, with their emphasis on language, human intentionality, and forces of power, Andrzej Piotrowski probes places, buildings, and spatial practices that have eluded architectural history." (from a review by Bronwen Wilson) "Architecture of Thought is written with passion as well as learning. Andrzej Piotrowski draws material from amazingly diverse sources, in a refreshing approach to familiar and unfamiliar architecture alike." (from a review by Charles Burroughs) |
 Images from the cover and chapter 1.  Image from chapter 2.  Images from chapter 3.  Images from chapter 4.  Image from chapter 5. | |
| Project Title | Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas: Lifestyles and Ecologies |
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| Author(s) | William F. Conway FAIA (C+S Architects, P.A.) |
| Date posted | March 9, 2011 |
| Project Description | Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas: Lifestyles and Ecologies was a multi-phase research project that explored opportunities for sustainable neighborhood development along an existing 32-mile rail line in Northwest Arkansas. Sponsored by the University of Arkansas School of Architecture and its Community Design Center (UACDC), the project was organized and directed by UACDC Director, Stephen Luoni. In 2006, William F. Conway, FAIA was retained as a Visiting Professor by the University of Arkansas School of Architecture. Conway led one of four design studios charged with making development proposals along the rail line and collaborated on remaining phases of the project. 2010 American Architecture Award The Chicago Athenaeum |
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| Project Title | MacArthur Park Master Plan |
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| Author(s) | William F. Conway FAIA (C+S Architects, P.A.) |
| Date posted | March 9, 2011 |
| Project Description | In 2007 C+SA was awarded a contract by the City of Little Rock to provide a master plan for the historic 33 acre MacArthur Park. A former confederate encampment and home to two regional museums, the park had gradually lost both its user base and surrounding resident population due to the severing effects of freeway construction and population out-migration. A new model for park master plans, C+SA's approach leverages the economic, environmental, and social value of a renovated park as a catalyst for the development of immediate neighborhoods and surrounding districts. Identifying: 1) components within the park, 2) components along the park, and 3) components that extend the park, the plan knits together park renovation, neighborhood development and multi-modal transit patterns. The resulting urban network links the park to Little Rock's riverfront development, community nodes, active recreation facilities, schools, wildlife areas and other pedestrian amenities. C+SA's Master Plan was completed in 2009. Construction on park renovations began in 2010. 2010 Institute Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
 Master Plan (above)  Project components (above)  Park edge view (above)  Green network (above)  McMath Boulevard view (above) | |
| Project Title | podcast interview on future of education |
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| Author(s) | randy deutch, architects 2 zebras |
| Date posted | March 1, 2011 |
| Project Description | there is a nice write up and link on a podcast interview I did with Markku Allison from AIA. Markku and I have worked on a number of projects, including the follow up on the Integrated Practice Report originally published in 2006. In that report, I wrote on how education might change relative to BIM and Integrated Practice. In 2010 Markku did a series of interviews to check in with the authors to see what had changed and what their new ideas were for "what's next". The link to the whole interview is in this blog, but the write up catches most of the highlights of the "what's next" for architectural education as i see it. http://architects2zebras.com/2010/05/21/the-last-architect/ |
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| Project Title | Boomerang House |
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| Author(s) | William F. Conway FAIA (C+S Architects, P.A.) |
| Date posted | February 23, 2011 |
| Project Description |
The new home's unique "boomerang" shape comes from the intersection of an economical and energy efficient rectangular volume and required 75' lakeshore setback requirement. This site strategy allows the home's garden level guest bedrooms to benefit from the earth's insulating qualities while maximizing passive solar gain and natural daylight from the west-facing orientation. The interior of the stucco- clad home is defined by two parallel concave walls: a diaphanous west elevation that both responds to and overlooks the lake and a thickened east wall that gathers servant spaces to create a narrow passage at the main entrance. 2010 Design Award Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) |
 "Lantern on the lake" (above)  Drive court (above)  Floor plans (above)  View at living room (above)  Home office (above) | |
After living in their home for nearly 30 years, this empty-nester couple was ready for a change. Their developer-built home offered few unobstructed views of the lake, was poorly insulated with fenestration and mechanical systems operating well beyond efficient life spans. Yet their location-a suburban lakeside lot-offered much valued serenity and the luxury of a short commute. Introduced to this sloping lakeside site, and sweeping lakeside view, the architects responded with a singular gesture-a 100' x 18' x10' segmented bar carved into the profile of the hill.| Project Title | Phase 1 of IPD case studies now published online |
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| Author(s) | renee cheng |
| Date posted | February 8, 2011 |
| Project Description | The first phase of the IPD cases is now posted on the AIA website, most easily reached through the Center for Integrated Practice home page. http://network.aia.org/AIA/CenterforIntegratedPractice/Home/Default.aspx There are two versions, an interactive pdf and a printable version. Many thanks go to the core team of Katy Dale and Kai Samela and the invaluable help of so many others. We are looking forward to starting phase 2! |
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| Project Title | Stereotomic Transmission: Stonecutting Studies of Three 16th Century Mexican Rib Vaults |
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| Author(s) | Benjamin Ibarra-Sevilla |
| Date posted | September 29, 2010 |
| Project Description | Stereotomy, the science of cut solids, is a field of study that connects building technology to the history of Architecture. Deviating from past studies that focused on the art historical implications of stereotomy, the focus of this research is to better understand the true origin of the discipline of stereotomy and the means of its transmission from Europe to America through the lens of Architecture. Three 'late-gothic' masonry vaulting systems in Oaxaca, Mexico have been chosen as the focus for this research. The rib vaults will be documented in both analog and digital format and then studied using three-dimensional modeling. |
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| Project Title | IPD Case studies |
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| Author(s) | Renee Cheng |
| Date posted | August 23, 2010 |
| Project Description | My most recent grant is funded by AIA national to study Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) Case studies. The work is being done in collaboration with AIA Minnesota with an interdisciplinary advisory group that will give periodic feedback. Unusual for this particular group of case studies is that all the projects will use multi-party agreements, contracts that typically bind the owner, architect and contractor to a single contract. The duration of this grant is short, wrapping up in December, but we hope that there will be additional phases over the next year or so. The work builds on previous case studies that I have done over many years, most recently focused on projects that use BIM and implement IPD principles. AIA is most interested in understanding the collaboration needed in IPD and better defining the skills an architect needs to set up, lead and/or participate in these endeavors. This fits well with my own agenda to explore the value of an architect in this new type of contractual arrangement. I expect that there will be some core skills unchanged from the traditional expertise of an architect, and some new or hybrid skills required. Eventually, this feeds into my interested in pedagogy, how should education change to support both the old and new ways of thinking. |
-thumb-autox100-53066.jpg "Photo by Jonathan Cohen of Autodesk HQ Waltham (previous IPD case study), architect KlingStubbins, contractor Tocci") Photo by Jonathan Cohen of Autodesk HQ Waltham (previous IPD case study), architect KlingStubbins, contractor Tocci | |
| Project Title | Ethics for Architects |
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| Author(s) | Thomas Fisher |
| Date posted | August 16, 2010 |
| Project Description | My next book, Ethics for Architects, will be published by the Princeton Architectural Press and available by the end of 2010. In it, I apply the theory developed in my last book, Architectural Design and Ethics, Tools for Survival (The Architectural Press, 2008) to 50 case studies of ethical dilemmas that architects have encountered in the course of practice and that they have described to me. I show in the book how a "holonistic" view of ethics can help us see that our best interest always lies in working toward the best interest of the whole. |
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| Project Title | OSWall (Open Source Wall) |
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| Author(s) | Marc Swackhamer, Blair Satterfield |
| Date posted | August 13, 2010 |
| Project Description | Oswall (Open Source Wall) is an experimental wall prototype that challenges conventional residential wall construction through an open, collaborative approach to material, fabrication, and installation methods. It proposes an "open source" construction platform in which third-party designers, engineers, scientists, or "do-it-yourselfers" can create, produce, market, and sell "applications" that are plugged into the wall. |
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