College of Design

Interdisciplinary teams benefit from intense design competition

Five student teams from the University of Oregon competed in the 2013 Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition, which attracted 149 team entries from 70 universities in the United States and Canada. The competition seeks to transform cities through sustainable urban design.

Salter creates huge robots for exhibit in Colorado gallery

A gigantic Styrofoam robot has commandeered a Colorado art gallery through March, thanks to Oregon artist and educator Michael Salter. An associate professor of art/new media at UO, Salter opened the solo show, “styrobot: nothing comes from nothing,” at the Galleries of Contemporary Art at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs on January 24. The show runs through March 22.

David Ping-yee Lung is 2013 Lawrence honoree

David Ping-yee Lung is the 2013 recipient of the Ellis F. Lawrence Medal, the highest alumni honor presented by the University of Oregon School of Architecture and Allied Arts. Lung, BArch ’74, MArch ’78, an educator and heritage conservation scholar, now serves as dean of the faculty of architecture at the University of Hong Kong. He holds several honors and distinctions including the UNESCO Chair in Cultural Heritage Resources Management and Lady Edith Kotewall Professorship in the Built Environment.

Program graduates its first PhD

A native of China, Lanbin Ren had never heard of Oregon when she saw a poster advertising the University of Oregon’s brand-new PhD program in landscape architecture. She was about to graduate with a master of science in architecture from the University of Cincinnati, but wasn’t ready to leave academia. “I wanted to learn something new but still related to architecture, and I thought landscape could be an option, so I applied,” she says.

Accepted in 2007, in December 2012 she became the program’s first PhD graduate.

Interior architect now ‘autism innovator’

When interior architect Kijeong Jeon, MIArch ’89, was hired to select carpet for a new building in 2008, little did he know the project would lead him to designing “calming spaces” for people with developmental disorders such as autism. Today Jeon, professor and coordinator of the interior design program at California State University, Chico, is recognized as a pioneer in the design of “multi-sensory environments” in the United States.

Intercultural program under way

Today’s college graduates must be prepared to enter a far more diverse workforce than that of their parents or even those who graduated just 10 years prior. An interdisciplinary two-year pilot program at UO that combines intercultural competency training with professional development is designed to address the increasing need for diversity in the workplace. Registration for this year’s program closes March 15.

Croatia Field School accepting applications through March 1

Applications to the University of Oregon’s 2013 Croatia Conservation Field School are being accepted through March 1 for the program on Croatia's central Dalmatian Coast June 21-July 19. Registration priority will be give to students in historic preservation, architecture, landscape architecture, and other A&AA majors and programs.

Wojick work to show at Portland gallery

Amanda Wojick usually creates art that is “intentionally fragile” using ordinary materials such as paint chips, linoleum flooring, Band-Aids, polystyrene, and different kinds of paper to create small and large abstract sculptures and drawings. But about 18 months ago she added welded steel to her palette – creating art she characterizes as “firmly situated in the world of permanence and durability.”