NEWSLETTER - October 20, 2023 |
|
|
Led by 3rd year coordinator and lecturer, Lauren Phillips, along with Dr. Ke Sun, Logman Arja, Adrian Anaya, Roberto Becerra, Marshall Drennan, Deborah Pittman, and Sara Velasquez, students from the HCOA’s Architectural Design V studio (ARCH 3601) traveled to Fort Worth to visit one of the most significant architectural sites in the United States, the Fort Worth Cultural District. This course emphasizes the social, civic, and cultural roles of architecture in complex urban conditions, and students were invited to research—through their own experience—a constellation of interrelated architectural projects including Philip Johnson’s Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Tadao Ando’s Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Renzo Piano Pavilion.
The centerpiece of the students’ investigation centered on architect Louis I. Kahn’s Kimbell Art Museum, 1998 recipient of the American Institute of Architect’s prestigious Twenty-five Year Award, and widely considered one of the most important and successful projects of the twentieth century. Students were joined by the college’s own Distinguished Alumnus, W. Mark Gunderson, AIA, who presented his lecture, A Silvery Light and Golden Dust: The Design of the Kimbell Art Museum, followed by a brief Q&A. Prior to presenting his lecture, Gunderson led students through a guided tour of Tadao Ando’s Modern Art Museum.
The following morning, students explored Downtown Fort Worth with their instructors, taking note of significant works of architecture not only as buildings, but as framers of urban space and the public sphere. Instructors helped students to articulate the phenomenological experience of the human body as it traversed variegated urban conditions.
The research trip to Fort Worth introduced students to the potential of architectural design in the shaping of public space and the embodiment of civic institutions as they prepare to embark on an intensive design exercise for an urban project situated in Lubbock.
|
|
|
During the second day of ARCH 3601’s studio travel to Fort Worth, Assistant Professor Dr. Ke Sun’s section explored how the act of walking in the city can become a method that registers the urban environment as embodied encounters. Prof. Sun asked the students to investigate and experience the city as a series of psychologically charged situations through an aimless mode of walking/touring that connects to the urban flânerie. In the morning, students convened to briefly discuss the distinctions between walking-as-touring versus wayfinding to understand the undertone of the urban walk. Each student was then asked to take on the role of urban protagonist and explorer, guiding the entire studio section through the urban landscape in a seemingly aimless walk.
The objective for each student-led walk was to engage in a spontaneous and intuitive journey, attuned to individual’s psychological inquiries of the urban space. The walks revolved around each student’s driven pursuits of their readings of the city that occur in temporary markers, images, sights, sound, events, unexpected places, and tastes. This practice required each student to be responsive to unlikely, unexpected, and sometimes subtle cues of the street as well as taking photos of random objects (objet-trouvé), unanticipated sounds, encounters of urban architecture, unusual incidents of ordinary sights, or, quite simply, uncanny places. One student took the studio to a place that he calls an urban “portal” that acts as a passage between juxtaposed urban territories and streets. Another student led the cohort on a meandering path through a hotel lobby, eventually reaching an unexpected rooftop that brings the public urban space into interior scale. Other walks revealed a surrealistic mural, an urban greenhouse, and a monumental urban facade. The urban walk concluded with a ghostly tale told by a bailiff at the courthouse.
|
|
|
Assistant Professor Dr. Asma Mehan, and HCOA MArch student, Zachary S. Casey, have co-authored an article published in the Q1 journal, 'Sustainability' titled "Blue Infrastructures: An Exploration of Oceanic Networks and Urban–Industrial–Energy Interactions in the Gulf of Mexico."
The article provides insights into the intricate relationship between marine environments and urban infrastructures. Dr. Mehan and Mr. Casey particularly delve into the role of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) and scrutinize ecological practices such as dredging. The research underscores the significance of assessing how offshore structures in the Gulf can be sustainably repurposed into marine habitats.
Central to this investigation is the hypothesis that oceanic infrastructural developments are instrumental in molding the interface of urban, industrial, and energy sectors within marine contexts. The Gulf of Mexico is the focus of the study because of its industrial depth and expansive marine grid. Emphasizing the intertwined nature of marine infrastructures, the authors denote oceans as pivotal platforms for impending urban expansion, especially as land resources wane.
The article can be found here: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/18/13699
|
|
|
Assistant Professor Dr. Ali Ghazvinian, co-led an innovative project titled “MycoKnit.” This project, developed in collaboration with Dr. Oghazian, assistant professor at the College of Art and Design at Louisiana State University, and faculty members from Penn State Stuckeman School, Felecia Davis and Benay Gürsoy, is now on display at the "Knitting Beyond the Body" exhibition at Kent State University Museum and will be open through August 1st, 2024.
The project delves into the use of mycelium – the root of fungi – combined with knitted fabric to form a robust yet lightweight building material. This composite structure promises both lightweight and biodegradable characteristics.
MycoKnit project is a testament to exploring sustainable building materials, particularly emphasizing the synergies of knitted textiles and mycelium-based architectural structures. The integration of these organic systems offers a sustainable building material, strong in both tension and compression. One of the project's fascinating aspects is how knitted textiles serve as a growth base for mycelium materials, aiming for a sustainable building and structural solution.
Visitors at the Kent State exhibition can witness the MycoKnit gridshell structure in all its glory. This structure fuses bending active elements crafted from fiberglass tent poles with industrial knit panels formed on a Shima Seiki Computerized Flatbed Machine. These panels have been enriched with living mycelium mixtures, taking shape under the influence of gravitational forces and the gridshell design.
The textiles employed in the project are particularly noteworthy. Crafted from 100% undyed wool yarn, they are entirely biodegradable. The fiberglass tent poles, while flexible, have the advantage of being reused for similar projects in the future.
Joining Ghazvinian, Oghazian, Gursoy, and Davis in this pioneering venture are core members Dr. John Pecchia from the College of Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, Dr. Andre West from the Zeis Textiles Extension at the Wilson College of Textiles at NC State, and Jenna DeCandio from the Knit Lab at NC State. Other team members contributing to the MycoKnit vision include HCOA PhD student Tahmures Ghiyasi and Paniz Farrokhsiar, Parachi Masown, Alale Mohseni, and Katy Gerace, students at Penn State. This collaborative project is the result of the union of different architectural design, and material science expertise.
The MycoKnit initiative garners support from the Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM) Foundation Research Prize (2021) and the SCDC (Stuckean Center for Design Computation), showcasing the combined efforts and expertise of its dynamic team.
|
|
|
Assistant Professor Dr. Asma Mehan recently presented her paper, "Cityscapes of the Cold War," on September 22nd, 2023. The presentation was a highlight of an international online workshop themed “Third Worldism between the 1950s and 1980s.” This collaborative academic event, co-organized by Montgomery College, Maryland, USA and the University of Bologna, Italy, brought together scholars and experts to discuss and dissect the profound impacts and intricacies of Third Worldism during a pivotal period in global history.
|
|
|
Jim and John White, Emeritus Professors of the Huckabee College of Architecture, were honored by Lubbock Habitat for Humanity at their 2023 'Blitz Build' event. This annual initiative, which aims to construct 3 homes in just 12 days, was dedicated to the White brother's in recognition of their pivotal roles as "the visionary minds" behind the habitat house drawing plans since 1987. Each year, Lubbock Habitat for Humanity names the project in honor of one or multiple 'founding members.' To read more about the event as well as the White brother's dedication, visit KCBD.com by clicking here.
|
|
|
Design Leadership Alliance Award Winners 2023
|
|
|
The Design Leadership Alliance (DLA), in partnership with Texas Tech University Huckabee College of Architecture, are pleased to announce the Award Winners for 2023:
|
|
|
DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD 2023 - Since his graduation from the Huckabee College of Architecture in 2004, Lance Evans, RA, has focused his professional career solely on the design of sports and entertainment venues. He is an acknowledged firm-wide leader in sports and entertainment design at HKS, Inc., Los Angeles, where his resume includes many recognizable and celebrated projects, such as AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Dodger Stadium renovations, and Hollywood Park’s YouTube Theatre in California. He was the lead designer for U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. In 2021, SoFi Stadium was awarded the UNESCO Prix Versailles World Prize for Architecture and Design in the Sports category. Sports venues designed under Lance’s leadership have hosted two Super Bowls, the NCAA Final Four, the College Football National Championship, and are soon to host the World Cup and Summer Olympics.
Lance shares his passion for the world of sports design with the public, the profession, and in academia. He has been interviewed in the media and spoken at industry conferences, including the World Architecture Festival in 2017 in Berlin, Germany. His work has also appeared in AIA Architect and Architectural Record.
Lance is scheduled to guest lecture for the Huckabee College of Architecture “Publicness” Lecture Series and will kick-off the series events for the spring semester on January 29th, 2024.
The Design Leadership Alliance and the Huckabee College of Architecture are proud to confer the Distinguished Alumnus Award for 2023 on Lance Evans, RA.
Lance Evans will be formally recognized on November 2nd and will receive the Distinguished Alumnus Award medal at the HCOA Alumni Reception in conjunction with the Texas Society of Architects Annual Conference in Fort Worth.
|
|
|
KLEINSCHMIDT AWARD 2023 - For over two decades, Professor Dr. Clifton Ellis has been an invaluable member of the Huckabee College of Architecture (HCOA). As an architectural historian his role grew from an assistant professor to a tenured associate professor, and in 2011 he was named the Elizabeth Sasser Professor of Architectural History. Dr. Ellis was promoted to full professor in 2020. He has also served in the administration of the college, first as chair of instruction, then associate dean of academics, and most recently as associate dean of research and innovation.
Dr. Ellis holds four degrees and his research focuses on the architecture and material culture of the colonial and antebellum South. During his career, he has co-authored two publications and he is currently developing his third book. Ellis has a long list of peer reviewed research, published articles, and conference presentations. He has received numerous teaching awards while at Texas Tech University (TTU), including the TTU Global Scholarship for the 21st Century Award, an award conferred upon faculty who demonstrate exemplary leadership in study abroad programs. He was twice awarded the Barney E. Rushing Award for Outstanding Research and the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award, two of the most prestigious honors that TTU confers on its faculty, as well as the Michael Jones Faculty Excellence Award from the Huckabee College of Architecture.
In addition to leading the architectural history curriculum at the HCOA, Dr. Ellis has developed a number of specialized history courses taught at the Lubbock campus and abroad. He is widely praised by his colleagues in the architectural history discipline, and notably by students -past and present- for his mentorship, scholarship, and inspiration.
The Design Leadership Alliance and the Huckabee College of Architecture are proud to confer the Kleinschmidt Award for 2023 on Clifton Ellis, PhD.
Dr. Ellis will be formally recognized on November 2nd and will receive the Kleinschmidt Award medal at the HCOA Alumni Reception in conjunction with the Texas Society of Architects Annual Conference in Fort Worth.
|
|
|
DESIGN HONOR AWARD 2023 - Known as Austin’s first park, this 84-acre park nestles between downtown and sprawling neighborhoods along the banks of Shoal Creek, which cuts across the city. The city adopted a master plan for the park focusing on its built elements, historic features, and cultural resources. The first phase of implementation based on this plan rehabilitated, preserved, and enhanced the park’s southernmost tip, affectionately referred to as the park’s “recreational heart and cultural soul.”
The new design weaves together the mature existing vegetation with a robust program of facilities and amenities including event rental spaces, new restrooms and storage facilities, natural playgrounds, a basketball court, and an interactive water feature that recalls the karst limestone aquifers found in the Texas Hill Country. Existing features, including a densely wooded hillside, Civilian Conservation Corps-era picnic tables, and the historic Tudor Cottage, are preserved and enhanced to embrace the park’s rich history. Read more...
|
|
|
DESIGN HONOR AWARD 2023 - A restoration of the original historic structure centered on maintaining the fabric of the downtown neighborhood, while the site’s steep pitch grade led to the opportunity for a modern intervention. Excavation of the crawlspace allowed for a concrete and glass studio and secondary dwelling, placed discreetly beneath the antique house.
In contrast to the refined details and vertical proportions of the traditional bungalow above, a horizontal, rough, minimalist architecture of cantilevered steel arbors, board-formed concrete walls, and wide panes of glass are carved out from under it. Paramount to the design are full-bleed visuals that use detail-less floor to ceiling glass walls to decompress interiors and extend outdoor spaces to the extent of each property line. Floating roofs connect the new and old architecture offering distinct moments throughout the landscape. Read more...
|
|
|
DESIGN MERIT AWARD 2023 - Shibui is a single-family residence, located above the Blanco River in Wimberley’s oak-juniper woodlands that balances simplicity and complexity through careful details and textures. The original suburban-esque cabin and its prior additions were awkwardly sited, overlooking a gully to the east, and abruptly meeting an asphalt driveway to the west. Vehicular access to the site compressed entry to the house but channeled water during the frequent storm events around the low-slung structure.
Approaching the design ecologicaly focused on saving existing paths and re-routing the arrival sequence to maintain the home’s adjacency to the drive. A rebuilt skewed limestone retaining wall lengthens the entrance to a glass entry carved asymmetrically through the structure.
The architecture brings attention to the path of the sun and the living spaces are sheathed in frameless windows that are detailed to be site glazed from the floor to the ceiling reducing the cost of window pre-manufacturing. Wide, cinematic views juxtapose low 8’-0” ceilings with folding glass walls that emphasize while minimizing thresholds to nature. Thin, white walls diffuse light reflecting nature’s subtle changes. Read more...
|
|
|
The Design Award Winners for 2023 will be celebrated on Thursday, November 2nd, 2023 at the Huckabee College of Architecture Alumni Reception in conjunction with the Texas Society of Architects Annual Conference in Fort Worth, Texas.
|
|
|
All alumni and friends of the Huckabee College of Architecture are invited to attend!
Texas Tech University
Huckabee College of Architecture
Alumni Reception
The Omni Hotel - Ballroom #4
1300 Houston Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102
6:30 PM (CDT)
Additional information to follow.
|
|
|
The Huckabee College of Architecture hosted its annual 'DLA Day' on Friday, October 13th, followed by the inaugural "TTU HCOA Alumni BBQ Tailgate" for Saturday's Homecoming game against Kansas State.
DLA Day serves to gather the Dean's Circle, an alumni group of architecture professionals and academics with the Dean, as well as students and faculty of the college. During this event, they discuss the previous year's achievements, the current state of the college, and establish goals for the upcoming semesters. Subsequently, the DLA members in attendance participated as guest critics for the 4th year studios midterm reviews, a studio group that is working closely with the architects and builders involved in the upcoming renovations to the HCOA. The group also attended a volunteer summit, where Texas Tech University hosted board members from every college to rally together in support of each others programs.
|
|
|
That evening a long-table dinner was held in the HCOA Gallery, where faculty, students, and members of the Design Leadership Alliance came together to share a meal and engage in conversations about the architecture program at Texas Tech.
|
|
|
The following day, the college hosted its inaugural Alumni BBQ Tailgate to celebrate homecoming weekend at the university. Alumni from across the United States attended, reconnecting with peers, former professors, and friends of the HCOA. The delicious spread was catered by Cagel Steaks and BBQ.
|
|
|
A heartfelt thank you to DLA President David Hart, the Dean's Circle, and the entire DLA for their unwavering support of our program. The Huckabee College of Architecture DLA Day 2023 and Alumni Tailgate were a tremendous success and we extend our deepest appreciation to all those who made the journey and invested their time in order to attend. We look forward to hosting again next year!
|
|
|
Donations are critical to the advancement of our program. With your contributions, we can fund our merit-based scholarships, recruit extraordinary faculty, fund research endeavors and improve our facilities. No gift is too small to make an impact on our students, faculty, and staff. If you're interested in giving, the Texas Tech University Office of Institutional Advancement has a convenient web portal for making secure, online donations to one of the established Huckabee College of Architecture funds. Click here to donate.
|
|
|
If you're not already, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook for the latest updates from the HCOA and be sure to like and share our content within your own networks! Do you have news or updates to share? Email architecture@ttu.edu for a possible feature in the next newsletter!
|
Follow us on social media:
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
2500 Broadway | Lubbock, TX 79409 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
| |
|
|