Five College of Design undergraduates participated in the April 18, 2008 University Undergraduate Symposium celebrating student creativity, performance, public engagement, research, and scholarship.

Daniel Carlson, Architecture BDA
To Whom Does it Concern?
Faculty sponsor: Leslie Van Duzer

Fran Doherty, Architecture BDA
Transit Oriented Development in Spain and Portugal

Evan Douglas Hall, Architecture BS
Making the Urban Fiber Visible: A Travel Fellowship Analyzing Japanese Urban Planning Techniques and Architecture
Faculty sponsor: Ann Forsyth

Michael Janicki, Architecture BS
The Menomonee River Valley Redevelopment Initiative: Milwaukee's Green Heart of New Industry & Recreation
Faculty sponsor: Lance Neckar

Dane Steinlicht, Architecture BDA
The Ice Museum: Built to Last
Faculty sponsor: Billy Weber

Posted by Michael Fraase at 02:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

William Conway's (Architecture) collaborative project, Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas, has received two awards.

The project will be presented with the 2008 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Regional and Urban Design Award, a national award, at the AIA annual convention in Boston, May 14-18, 2008.

The project also received one of six 2008 National Council of Architectural Registration Board (NCARB) Prizes, announced last week. This award "supports practice and education projects at the university level." Dean Tom Fisher was a juror for the NCARPB prize.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 08:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mary Guzowski (Architecture) is featured in the 2007 issue of Research (.pdf; 3.8Mb), the annual publication of the University's Office of the Vice President for Research.

Hard copies of the publication are available from Anne Schultz in the College of Design's McNeal Hall office.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Daniel Jasper's (Graphic Design) poster for the Products of Our Time exhibition was selected as one of the best direct mail pieces for the AIGA Minnesota Design Show 2008 competition.

The Design Institute's Digifab map, a guide to the digital fabrication processes and facilities at the University and around the Twin Cities, was selected as one of the best brochures.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The College of Design's Center for Changing Landscapes has received the Minnesota chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (MASLA) award of excellence for the center's work on the Minnesota River State Trail. The award of excellence is the highest award given. The award will be presented to the Center for Changing Landscapes at the MASLA annual awards dinner on Friday, April 18 at the Como Park Zoo Visitors Center, 1225 Estabrook Drive, Saint Paul.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 08:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Caren Martin (Interior Design) has received the Interior Design Educators Council Presidential Award "in appreciation for significant contributions to the interior design profession." The award was presented at the council's international conference in Montreal on March 8, 2008. Martin's Rebuttal to the Institute for Justice's "Designing Cartels: How Industry Insiders Cut Out Competition" was cited and has been accepted for publication by the Journal of Interior Design, for May 2008 (Vol. 33, Issue 3).

Posted by Michael Fraase at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sarah Wolbert (MArch student) has received a President's Student Leadership and Service Award (PSLSA). The award will be presented at the President's Award Banquet taking place on May 5, 2008 in the Great Hall of Coffman Union.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 01:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The School of Architecture has won one of six 2008 education honor awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). "An Incomplete Curriculum for Transformation," directed by Ritu Bhatt, Renee Cheng, John Comazzi, Ozayr Saloojee, and Marc Swackhamer, explores an "evolving curricular structure" that builds on tradition, embraces challenges, and expects change.

Notice of the award was published in the Chronicle of Higher Education's architecture weblog, Buildings & Grounds.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 04:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

College of Design alumnus Dan Nepp (B.Arch 1987), principal of Tea2, has received the Midwest Home magazine architect of distinction award.

Former architecture faculty member, Todd Hansen, principal of Albertsson Hansen, has received the Midwest Home magazine emerging talent award.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

John Carlson (B.S. '07 Housing Studies) accepted a position with Opus North Corporation in February 2008. A member of The Opus Group, Opus North is a full-service design-build development firm headquartered in Chicago, serving the north central portion of the United States with an emphasis on office, industrial, retail, multifamily, government, and institutional projects.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The University's Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) offers financial awards each semester to full-time undergraduates for research, scholarly, or creative projects undertaken in partnership with a faculty member outside of their regular coursework. The Spring 2008 UROP recipients are:

Daniel Carlson, Architecture BDA
"To Whom Does it Concern?"
Faculty sponsor: Leslie Van Duzer

Fran Doherty, Architecture BDA
Transit Oriented Development in Spain and Portugal

Andrea Erickson, Graphic Design
"A Synergy of Design and Video"
Faculty sponsor: Brad Hokanson

Evan Douglas Hall, Architecture BS
Making the Urban Fiber Visible:  A Travel Fellowship Analyzing Japanese Urban Planning Techniques and Architecture
Faculty sponsor: Ann Forsyth

Michael Janicki, Architecture BS Arch
"A Case Study on Sustainable Suburban Infill Development"
Faculty sponsor: Lance Neckar

Alicia Liebel, Architecture BA
"Affordable Housing Initiatives: How Cultural Considerations Can Inform Design Innovation"
Faculty sponsor: Tasoulla Hadjiyanni

Shannon Meza, Housing Studies
"Affordable Housing and Development and Employer Involvement Survey"
Faculty sponsor: Ann Ziebarth

Micheal Michalak, Architecture BDA
"Photorealistic Imagery for Enhanced Perception in Virtual Reality"
Faculty sponsor: Lee Anderson

Melissa Norton, Architecture BDA
"Using Virtual Reality to Simulate Building Construction"
Faculty sponsor: Lee Anderson

Dane Steinlicht Architecture BDA
"The Ice Museum: Built to Last"
Faculty sponsor: William Weber

Posted by Michael Fraase at 09:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The 2008 education rankings from Design Intelligence have been published. The College of Design's School of Architecture, Department of Landscape Architecture, and interior design program all improved in the rankings.

Nationally, the College of Design is tied for second place with Kansas State and Oregon in sustainable design practices and principles.

Design Intelligence named Dean Tom Fisher one of the country's 25 most admired and respected educators, as seen by professional practice firm presidents and managing directors.

The School of Architecture was cited as having "a strong tradition of design with world class leadership" and known for "bringing together multiple design studios in innovative ways.

The rankings:

Architecture:

• Tied for fifth place -- along with Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Berkeley, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin-Milwaukee -- among national graduate programs in the view of Midwest practitioners.


• Tied for first place -- with Yale and Clemson -- in the pass rate of graduates in the pre-design portion of the Architectural Registration Exam.


• Tied for first place -- with Harvard and Georgia Tech -- in the pass rate of graduates in the mechanical and electrical systems portion of the exam.


• Placed sixth in the construction documents portion of the exam.

Landscape Architecture:

• Tied for 18th place nationally among graduate programs with Cal Poly Pomona, Utah State, Colorado-Denver, and SUNY.


• Placed ninth among national graduate programs, in the view of Midwest practitioners, and in fifth place among graduate programs in the Midwest.

Interior Design:

• Tied for seventh place nationally among graduate programs with Arizona State, Florida, and Virgina Tech.


• Tied with Arizona State, Drexel, and Tennessee for 10th place among undergraduate programs nationally.


• Among Midwest schools, the graduate program is ranked fourth after Purdue, Iowa State, and Kansas State.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Denise A. Guerin, Morse-Alumni Distinguished Professor, has been awarded the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) Distinguished Educator Award for 2007. There is only one of these given each year.

Dr. Guerin's award is for her significant contribution to defining and documenting the interior design profession's body of knowledge, her coordination of the only searchable database of research on design and human behavior (InformeDesign), her work with legal regulation of interior design practice, and her research on sustainable design.

Posted by Laura Weber at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Driven to do it better" is the theme of this year's Quality Fair, January 31, 2008. Like last year, the Quality Fair will showcase quality improvement poster sessions connected to the University's Strategic Positioning Action Strategies: exceptional students, exceptional faculty and staff, exceptional organization, and exceptional innovation. New this year is a summary of written best practice or success stories about ideas, big and small, that work in units and that we think should be shared with the rest of the University.

Three College of Design posters have been accepted for the Quality Fair:

• CDesK: The design, engineering, manufacture, and marketing of a unique furnishing solution -- Kevin Groenke


• The Digital Content Library -- Jodie Walz


• Greening the College of Design -- 2007-09 -- Virajita Singh

Additionally, a best practices written summary has been accepted for the Quality Fair: Janet Abrams' Digifab: A guide to digital fabrication processes and facilities.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 08:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Laura Musacchio (Landscape Architecture) has been invited to join the editorial board of the international scientific journal Landscape Ecology. As an editorial board member, she will serve as a coordinating editor for manuscript reviews.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 04:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Apparel faculty and students received several awards at the International Textiles and Apparel Conference in Los Angeles:

• Lectra Innovation Award for Faculty Research: Elizabeth Bye (Clothing Design), Karen LaBat (Clothing Design), Ellen McKinney (2007 Ph.D. graduate), and Dong-Eun Kim (graduate student)


• Consumer Behavior Best Paper for “The role of shame and guilt on consumer's decision making concerning illicit products”: Jae-Eun Kim (graduate student), Hueon Jeong Cho (graduate student), and Kim Johnson (Retail Merchandising)


• Lois Dickey Fellowship: Juyeon Park (graduate student)


• Oris Glisson Fellowship: Hyeon Jeong Cho (graduate student)


• Award for Best Sustainable Design presented by the Educators for Socially Responsible Apparel Business: Wesley Martin (Clothing Design undergraduate student)


• Undergraduate Best Paper: Ashley Lademann (Retail Merchandising undergraduate student)

Posted by Michael Fraase at 03:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Kate Solomonson (associate dean for academic affairs and Architecture) will lead the design and architecture collaborative portion of Quadrant, a program formed under a $672,000 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation award to the University of Minnesota Press and the Institute for Advanced Study.

"Interdisciplinarity has become intensely important in higher education in general," Solomonson told The Chronicle of Higher Education. "I look at the Quadrant project as an opportunity to think about what it actually means." Solomonson told the publication that Quadrant may offer a chance "to take a look at design and sustainability in cultural terms."

Posted by Michael Fraase at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Grant Eull (B.S. 2001 Graphic Design) will be honored with the University of Minnesota Alumni Association Rising Star Award on Tuesday, October 30, for outstanding volunteer leadership in support of mentoring, college to career programs, and community building among graphic design students and alumni.

Eull has served as a mentor to CDes students since 2004 and began taking a larger leadership role in recruiting mentors and matching students in 2005. Since that time, he has also established a blog for graphic design mentors and students, and facilitated a host of experiential learning and community building activities including annual studio gatherings, social events, graphic design firm tours, and portfolio review nights.

Eull was a founding member of the College of Design Student and Alumni Board, which sponsors the college mentor program and serves as an advisory group for CDes student services college to career program.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 03:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Arthur Chen (CWHS, Architecture) and Benjamin Ibarra Sevilla (Architecture, CWHS) recently returned from a trip to the Philippines, where they advised the state party on the development of a world heritage site nomination. The Philippines hopes to have the Batanes province -- a sparsely populated, ten-island archipelago of historic significance and natural beauty -- added to UNESCO's list of world heritage sites, as a cultural landscape. After the Philippine state party's nomination failed to be inscribed in 2007, UNESCO asked the Center for World Heritage Studies to consult on the revision of the nomination dossier, to be resubmitted in 2008.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dean Bev Durgan of the Minnesota Extension Service has presented William Angell (Housing Studies) with a dean's award as a distinguished extension campus-based faculty member. Angell received the award for his exemplary work in the field of indoor air quality.

"Bill’s distinguished work in the field of indoor air quality personifies Extension’s mission to connect community needs with University resources. During the past 17 years, he has delivered more than 750 courses to over 10,000 participants in 22 states and eight Indian nations while creating a consortium of four institutions of higher education that provide interdisciplinary training on ways to measure and mitigate radon -- a health risk in households that kills approximately 22,000 Americans each year."

Posted by Michael Fraase at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The College of Design was a partner in a Project Homeless Connect Minneapolis/Hennepin event that took place at the Minneapolis Convention Center on October 1.

Several CDes employees participated in the event: Lori Gilbertson (Student Services), Char Klarquist (DHA), and Virajita Singh (CSBR).

Project organizers estimate the event served 1,800 people. The event served as a one-stop shopping model for delivering services to the homeless including housing, employment, medical care, and mental health care.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 08:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Laura Weber's (Communications) nomination of the Minneapolis Truckers Strike of 1934 is one of the 150 featured topics in "MN 150: The People, Places, and Things that Shape Our State," which opened Oct. 13 at the Minnesota History Center. The exhibit was created from more than 2,700 nominations provided by Minnesotans and launches the 2008 celebration of 150 years of Minnesota statehood.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The College of Design 2006-07 lecture series posters designed by Jeanne Schacht (CDes graphic designer) were awarded a bronze award for Excellence in Design, Poster Series, by District V of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). CASE is an international association of education advancement officers and professionals who work in the fields of alumni relations, development, and communication.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Elizabeth Bye (Clothing Design), Karen LaBat (Clothing Design), Ellen McKinney (graduate student), and Dong-Eun Kim (research assistant) received the Lectra Innovation award for faculty research for their paper, "Optimized Pattern Grading." The research was conducted in the college's Human Dimensioning Lab. The award will be presented November 8, 2007 at the International Textile and Apparel Association (ITAA) annual meeting in Los Angeles.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The School of Architecture was the subject of a feature story on the Autodesk Web site covering the school's use of Revit Architecture building information modeling software. The school began integrating the software into its curriculum more than four years ago.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 06:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ralph Rapson, retired head of the School of Architecture, has been named one of the Metro 100, by Metro magazine.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Laura Musacchio (Landscape Architecture) participated as a member of an international scientific panel at the closing plenary session of the 2007 World Congress of Landscape Ecology that was held in Wageningen, the Netherlands in July. Participants were asked to present their perspective of the most important emerging trends in landscape ecology. Musacchio identified three trends: the importance of translational research as model for collaboration; the emerging importance of urban ecology at the international level; and the need to investigate the scientific basis of design and landscape sustainability. In addition, she co-organized a symposium at the World Congress, the Scientific Basis for the Design of Landscape Sustainability, which will be published as special issue of Landscape Ecology.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Marc Swackhamer (Architecture) and partner Blair Satterfield (Rice University) received the best of category award in the environments category of I.D. magazine's 53rd annual design review for their project, "Drape Wall + House." The winning entry can be seen in the July/August issue of I.D. magazine.

Swackhamer's current research -- a collaboration with Gary Meyer (Computer Science and Engineering) -- explores the use of proprietary predictive paint in an architectural context. Their new work will be featured in the upcoming "Here By Design" exhibition at the Goldstein Museum of Design.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tim Larsen, College of Design advisory board member, is being honored by his alma mater, Minnesota State University Moorhead, and the AIGA.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 09:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The six Design Democracy fellowship finalists, all M. Arch. students, have been announced: Josh Ehr, Malea Jochim, Amanda Olson, Derek Peterson, Nate Steuerwald, and Shengyin Xu.

The fellowship -- established through gifts from Target Corporation and from individual architecture alumni, firms, and allied professions -- supports professional degree architecture students. Promoting the values of design democracy -- good design, every day, for everyone -- the fellowship recognizes exemplary projects.

Contributors include Ericksen Roed and Associates, Mulvanny G2 Architecture, Michaud Cooley Erickson and Assoc., MBH Architects Inc., RSP Architects, Pickard Chilton Architects Inc., Ryan Companies US, Target Corporation, Scott Berry, Dennis Mulvey, and Rich Varda.

Second-year professional degree architecture students are eligible for the award. Students apply at the end of their second year in the M. Arch. program. From the applicants, finalists are selected and make public presentations to compete for two $5,000 awards.

The fellowships are awarded based on academic achievement, an essay, portfolio review, and presentation. Winning presentations should demonstrate thoughtful, original, dynamic, and timeless solutions to common design problems using forms and materials that represent creative, practical, and cost-effective use of resources. Eligible projects may originate from within or from outside of the studio, but must have been produced in an academic setting from 2007-08.

Jurors for the award are Tom Fisher (Architecture), Jan Abrams (Design Institute), Scott Berry, and Rich Varda (practitioners; Architecture alumni).

• Download the Design Democracy fellowship poster (.pdf; 120Kb)

Posted by Michael Fraase at 10:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The college election for the faculty senate resulted in the election of Marilyn Bruin (DHA) as the college's new senator. The College of Design faculty senators are:

• Marilyn Bruin, term expires in June 2010


• Kristine Miller, term expires in June 2009


• Stephen Weeks, term expires in June 2008

Posted by Michael Fraase at 04:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Steven McCarthy (DHA) was featured in an article in Page, a German design and media culture magazine. The article, entitled "My Home is Your Castle," reproduced 10 images from McCarthy's commercial rhetoric art project.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The University is creating a community on 5,000 acres in its UMore Park property in Dakota County. Several CDes faculty members are involved with the project's six academic task forces:

• Marilyn Bruin (DHA) -- Environment
• John Carmody (CSBR) -- Energy
• Louise Goldberg (CSBR) -- Energy
• Kathleen Harder (CTS) -- Transportation
• Lance Neckar (Landscape Architecture) -- Transportation
• Bob Sykes (Landscape Architecture) -- Transportation
• Dewey Thorbeck (CRD) -- Environment

Six public listening sessions are scheduled for September in the Rosemount area as part of the academic mission task force process. Details are available at the UMore Park Web site.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ashley Lademann (DHA undergraduate) received the International Textile and Apparel Association award for outstanding undergradute research. Lademann will present her research at the association's meeting this fall. Brittany Wahlin (DHA undergraduate) will present her honors research in a paper at the association's meeting.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 08:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Don Wexler (1950, Bachelor of Architecture) is being presented with a lifetime achievement award and a star on the "Walk of Stars" in downtown Palm Springs by the Palm Springs Modern Committee. One of Wexler's Palm Springs houses is shown below.

Photo: Sue Danielson Bretheim.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 06:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Virajita Singh (CSBR) and Ozayr Saloojee (Architecture) have received $15,000 in funding from the Graham Foundation for a spring 2008 symposium on sacred sites.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA) has approved Marc Swackhamer's (Architecture) conference proposal for a national event to be held in Minnesota during the fall of 2008. Swackhamer, along with partner Blair Satterfield, won a best of category in environments award in I.D. magazine's 2007 annual design review issue for their "Drape Wall/Drape House."

Posted by Michael Fraase at 06:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Bret Wieseler, 2007 graduate of the Master of Landscape Architecture program, is the recipient of an honor award in the general design category in the 2007 ASLA Student Awards Program, for his work: (In)Security: Access and Anxiety in the Wall Street Financial District. Wieseler is the fourth student to win a national graduate level ASLA design/research award since 2003.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 01:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Goldstein Museum of Design received a $30,000 McKnight special events funds grant for the exhibition Here by Design III: Process and Prototype. The exhibition, curated by James Boyd-Brent (DHA), runs October 20, 2007-January 20, 2008 in both the Goldstein's gallery in McNeal Hall and the HGA gallery in Rapson Hall. The Goldstein also received a $1,200 grant from the University's Summer Cultural Program for a poster and announcement for the Products of our Time exhibition. The exhibition, curated by Daniel Jasper (DHA), will run July 21-September 30.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Lin Nelson-Mayson (Goldstein Museum of Design) was invited to join the nominating committee for the Ninth Annual Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards. The National Design Awards are comprised of six design categories: architecture, communications, fashion, interiors, landscape, and product design. Additionally there are achievement awards -- corporate and lifetime -- and the design mind award.

Posted by Michael Fraase at 01:22 PM | Permalink |