PT Architecture Center 7/7 Mtg. Follow up

Dear all who attended the 7/7 mtg and those who are members of this blog.

On July 7th, a group of interested architects, and members of the construction and engineering sectors met at Piedmont Triad Partnership to discuss the proposed plans for a Center for Architecture and Design in the Triad as well as a School of Architecture. It was suggested as a follow up that we activate the blog that consultants, Sharon and Rodner established to continue our dialogue.

The questions we invite your comment on are as follows:

1) What are suggested next steps for the Professional community to take to assist education with the formation of a School of Architecture.
2) Who wants to be involved in planning the Architecture Center and the School?
3) Who else should be at the table? other than ones present at meeting
4) When is the best time for our next meeting/ Day of week/ Time of Day.

Feel free to post other questions for comment.

Best wishes, Margaret

Comments...

Apologies for the late posting, but here are a few thoughts:

The editor’s comments from the April 2009 Architectural Record are helpful:

“Today’s students, […], had moved beyond the icon, to a finer-grained architecture. Rather than focus on a structure’s immediate physical attributes, they maintained that chief among their interests was a matrix of concerns that, for want of terminology, could be described as humane. How did a given project fulfill its social contract for the community it was meant to serve? What sorts of relationships to the landscape, the neighboring buildings, the urban fabric, or the geographic region would a project create for its inhabitants? What alternatives could it pose for its users or clients? Could its initial agenda shift over time? As a fundamental, overriding question, how could a project be described as sustainable?”

I think this is a void exists in architectural education; students often are taught to idolize certain “auteurs” and their bodies of work, or to strive towards being a “starchitect” themselves. While this may be exciting, “starchitecture” doesn’t constitute the majority of the spaces, buildings, landscapes, and ruins that we all live and work with daily, and it embodies a hierarchical work process that is often built on younger designers’ long hours and mono-tasking.

North Carolina has a rich history of “going against the grain” in search of something more “humane”: Black Mountain College, Penland School of Crafts, etc. are/were prominent cultural players. I think a successful architectural education would succeed in challenging future generations by:

• creating a new opportunity to intensely craft with both physical and digital tools
• promoting quality and regionalism instead of quantity and globalization
• enabling students to explore the existing rules/conditions with as much exuberance/creativity as generating their own rules
  

I think the Piedmont program could also seize an opportunity to define “Professional Practice” in a way that’s not the final class we all take as we’re wrapping up thesis projects: the architectural education of future designers needs to be as much about practice and lifestyle as about design. A program in the Piedmont could offer a new strategy of corporate or office/studio-linked education, where processes of working together in a team are just as valuable as the design of buildings. This could lead into the trends towards Integrated Project Delivery, etc. that software like BIM and intensely multi-disciplinary design projects entail.

The program could also seek to utilize new modes of funding/financial aid; students of a 5-year professional program are faced with additional financial demands beyond the typical undergraduate degree cost. The 2- and 3-year master’s versions of the architectural degree could additionally be explored, as a way to stimulate both fresh and seasoned educational inquiries.

Thanks for involving us in the discussion; I think we can all agree that this is an exciting prospect for our area.

June 11 Presentation of the Feasibility Study for Architecture Education

Dear Colleagues:





I am pleased to announce a meeting on Thursday June 11th to hear a presentation of the feasibility study for Architectural Education conducted by Sharon Matthews and Rodner Wright. Please hold this date in your calendar and plan to be with us on June 11th from 3-5pm. Present at this meeting will be the architectural industry and educational institutions. The purpose is to discuss the final report, build partnerships and establish next steps. Architects and educators who have participated in interviews, focus groups, and meetings about this initiative are invited. We will hold a meeting later in the summer to broaden the stakeholder group based on the discussion on June 11th.

The report will be distributed prior to the meeting. This announcement is to alert you of the date and time and to request an RSVP so we can make preparations for the number who can attend. Directions to PTP are provided below.

I look forward to hearing from you.

RSVP to:
Margaret H. Collins
Director, Creative Enterprises and the Arts
Piedmont Triad Partnership
7025 Albert Pick Rd.
Greensboro, NC 27409
336-668-9657
mcollins@piedmonttriadnc.com
http://www.piedmonttriadnc.com/


7025 Albert Pick Road · Suite 303 · Greensboro, NC · 27409

FROM GREENSBORO AND PIEDMONT TRIAD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Follow Bryan Boulevard west toward High Point/Winston-Salem. Merge onto NC 68 South. Cross under Interstate 40 and turn left onto Albert Pick Rd. Follow directions below (from Albert Pick Rd)

FROM WINSTON-SALEM
Take the NC 68/Piedmont Triad International Airport exit (#210). Continue straight off the exit, crossing over NC 68. Follow directions below (from Albert Pick Rd)

FROM HIGH POINT
Take NC 68 North towards Greensboro. Turn right on Albert Pick Rd. Follow directions below (from Albert Pick Rd)

FROM BURLINGTON / Raleigh
Take I 40 West to Greensboro. Take I 40 Business through Greensboro. Take the NC 68/Piedmont Triad International Airport exit (#210). Turn left onto NC 68 South. Turn left onto Albert Pick Rd. Follow directions below (from Albert Pick Rd)

FROM ALBERT PICK RD
From the Intersection at NC 68; pass through the light at Regional Rd, you will pass several businesses on your right and I-40 will run parallel on your left. Immediately after the Alltel Office Building (approximately .5 miles), turn right into the Airpark East business park. Follow the road to the traffic circle, go halfway around it and you will see the sign for building 7025. Go straight into the parking lot.
The PTP offices are located on the third floor of 7025 Albert Pick Rd in suite 303. The Triad Room is in Suite 304, also on the third floor.

NCA&TSU plans M. Arch Program

As of May 1, 2008 through January 15, 2009 NCA&TSU as complied with the UNC Tomorrow Phase I, II and Phase II - Addendum Response Plans. In each of NCA&TSU's responses to the UNC Tomorrow mission, the Masters of Architecture program is included. The web site for NCA&TSU's UNC Tomorrow response is http://www.ncat.edu/chansrch/unc_tomorrow.html. In particular is NCA&TSU's UNC Tomorrow Phase II Response Plan - Addendum, page 10 of 11, and Appendix B. pages B-11 through B-14.



NCA&TSU is the only institution that has submitted new curriculum planning documents to UNC-GA for a MAsters of Architecture.



NCA&TSU is well positioned in facilities, curriculum, faculty and in a rich history of architecture for the state of North Carolina, being the first institution with an Architectural program established in 1927.



The Masters of Architecture program shall be supported by the College of Engineering, its faculty( civil, environmental, geomatics, architectural), studios, labs, library and other research resources. The Landscape Architecture program fully supports the M. Arch program through its faculty, studios, labs, library and other research resources. The School of Technology supports the M. Arch. prgram through its faculy (2d,3d,4d,5d building information modeling, visualization, simulation, studios, labs, library and other research resources). In addition, the Construction Management & OSH program has several studios, labs, libraries and established faculty which will further enhance the M. Arch. program.



The M. Arch. planning advisory board is comprised of key architectural practitioners and academia such as Dr. Sandy Moore, New Jersey Institute of Technology College of Architecture, Marshall Purnell, FAIA, Perry Howard, FASLA, Carol R. Johnson, FASLA, Kelvin Wilkes, FAIA, David Lee, AIA LEED.

Other traid architects in support of the program are Sharon Graber, AIA, Major Sanders, AIA, Clinton Gravely, FAIA.

Support/contributions for a new educational initiative for architecture from UNCG could include:

•existing courses, e.g. studios, building systems, professional practice, graphics, history/theory, historic preservation,  general education, etc.

•access to existing facilities:  prototype/product shop, advanced prototyping/fabrication lab (aka FabLab, 

including laser cutter, CNC router, rapid prototyping,etc.), digital studio

•faculty expertise (4 fulltime faculty + several adjunct faculty are trained as architects + 4 product design + 4 interior design....)

•participation in existing study abroad programs, e.g. Finland, Manchester/UK, Australia, Hong Kong, etc. 

(these are architecture programs)

•collaborative projects with interior architecture students and faculty, e.g. design/build, etc.

•administration and advising support

•advisory board participation (our board currently has several architects on it, as well as interior designers,  product designers, graphic designers, furniture industry executives, etc.)

NOTE:  With the current budget situation in North Carolina, it is impossible to say at this point how UNCG might contribute to needed resources, e.g. additional faculty lines, facilities, funding, etc.  This situation will be unfolding over the next year or so.

Key issues, questions, and observations

Scope of conversations

Meetings with:
Faculty and Dean at UNC-G Interior Architecture program; PTP committee; Jim
DeCristo/NC School of the Arts; Adam Arney/UNC-G (serious gaming); Carol Strohecker/director of the Center for Design Innovation; Tony Graham/NC A&T; Bob Powell/NC A&T; Alton Thompson and Ken Murray/NC A&T; Dennis Carroll and Carole Stoneking/High Point University; architects’ focus group representing Winston-Salem and Greensboro practitioners; Don Vaughan/North Carolina state legislator; Rosemary Wander/UNC-G; Herb Burns/Forsyth Tech; Don Kirkman/PTP president; Steve Patton/Guilford Tech; David Crawford/NC AIA; Harold Martin/UNC General Administration; Steven House/Elon University; Robin Abrams/NC State architecture program; architects from AIA Raleigh; Ken Lambla/Dean, UNC-Charlotte; Dave Perrin/Provost, UNC-Greensboro; Oliver Evan/President, Kendall College of Art and Design; Marvin Malecha/Dean, NC State; Alton Thompson/Provost, NC A&T; Phil Freelon and Durham architects

Upcoming meetings with:
Appalachia State, Benjamin Briggs, Piedmont Triad foundations


Key issues, questions, and observations arising from the discussion.

How can the professional community support a program?
Stronger mentoring for students and interns, funding, program participation as instructors/jurors/critics. Individual architects clearly support the development of an accredited program. The profession, as either a professional association or foundation or some other form of institution, has not yet been identified as demonstrating support.

How can we demonstrate economic need for more architects in the region?
This will be the strongest argument for a new program with the UNC system in the current economic climate.

How can a new program serve the industry in a way that current programs do not?
Possibilities include community development, historic preservation (including local industrial buildings), professional collaboration, changes in architectural practice.

How can a new program support the diversity agenda promoted by the national AIA?
The demographics of the profession should be closer to the overall demographics of the population.

Support for an accredited program is the strongest at the highest academic levels of administration at UNC-G, NC A&T, Elon University, and High Point University. There has not been, to date, any demonstrated interest from Wake Forest University, and, NC School of the Arts is focused on the performing arts.

Steps on the way to developing an accredited program can include support for existing programs such as the Boston Architectural College low residency degree; the development of a schedule of education events (sponsored lectures, exhibitions, etc.); the establishment of a design center and/or an institute for the study of some subject matter critical to the profession (examples might include the center for architecture in Alexandria VA, the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in NY, and the Center for Classical Architecture).