The 2015-16 Sustainable Cities Year Program (SCYP) with the City of Redmond officially kicked off with a gala celebration at the UO’s Ford Alumni Center October 1. During the yearlong partnership between UO and Redmond, hundreds of students and faculty members will pour 50,000 hours of work into applied projects with sustainability-focused solutions.
A prolific architect of Oregon buildings, and one of the first of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts' African-American graduates, now has his name permanently installed within Lawrence Hall. An annual $5,000 faculty award in his name is also being initiated.
The 2015-16 academic year introduces new faculty members to several A&AA departments and programs. The professors new to the school bring a wide spectrum of expertise and creativity in architecture, the history of art and architecture, arts and administration, and product design. They come to UO from schools including Istanbul Technical University, University of California at Berkeley, University of Denver, Stanford University, and the University of Minnesota.
Architecture
Employing a unique engineered wood product only recently produced by Oregon mills, a UO student team has won an Honorable Mention in a competition hosted by the American Institute of Architects Northwest and Pacific Region.
The students in Professors Judith Sheine and Mark Donofrio’s spring studio designed a parking structure using Oregon’s newest structural wood product—cross-laminated timber, or CLT—an exceptional accomplishment in architectural education and design practice.
A&AA Interim Dean Brook Muller will lead a weeklong workshop in Cairo focusing on small-scale urban innovation to improve local environments and productivity. Muller is the sole American on the team of professors and practicing architects working as instructors or organizers during the Urban Innovations workshop August 22-29.
Researchers at the University of Oregon and industry partners will use $1 million in funding from the Environmental Protection Agency to study how indoor air quality is affected before and after home weatherization projects and what that means to human health.
Professor Mark Gillem, FAIA, is among 14 University of Oregon faculty members chosen as recipients of the 2015-16 Fund for Faculty Excellence Awards. The awards honor tenured UO faculty at the forefront of research and discovery who have demonstrated academic excellence and world-class teaching.
A&AA is wrapping up its 100th anniversary this month after a full year of events, exhibitions, and celebrations. The school is now embarking on a capital campaign to imagine the future of art and design education and facilities for the next 100 years. In envisioning the school’s future, the A&AA Building Project Work Group in January issued a request for proposals (RFP) from student teams for a competition to design a transformative learning environment for A&AA. In May, the finalists were announced.
Five of the 11 University of Oregon students awarded Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarships to fund their summer 2015 study abroad programs are students in the School of Architecture and Allied Arts.
Gilman Scholars receive up to $5,000 to apply toward study abroad costs. The A&AA students are:
• Halley Anderson — Japan, architecture
• Josie Christensen — Palau, art and anthropology
• Alfredo Gonzalez-Cruz — Italy, architecture
• Zak Johnson — Japan, landscape architecture
• Amanda Oliver — Palau, digital arts and anthropology
For Olivia Asuncion, who was born with a physical disability and has used a wheelchair since age 13, fire drills were always a source of panic and anxiety.
