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            In terms of the conception of architecture, I believe that the subject of materiality is something that brings life to the design idea. One can almost say that it is inherently the personality of the structure. It is one element that makes it possible for architecture to convey emotions. With that said, today’s case study is on Peter Haimerl’s concert hall in Germany. The incredible integration of materiality in this structure exemplifies how architecture can speak a language of its own.

**Be forewarned, this is a two-part article. The second installment will appear the week after next (thank final reviews and deadlines for the skipped week).**

Get ready for the time of the year where COFFEE BREAKs are few and far between. Maybe sometime between the not sleeping and the not sleeping you’ll get a chance to take a few minutes to relax. One can only hope…Happy Wednesday!

“Memory is a stopgap for humans, for whom time flies and what is passed is passed.”

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana by Umberto Eco is incredibly smart and a feat of literature. Yambo, an antique book dealer in his sixties, awakens to find he has no memory of his life -- except for everything he has ever read. He cannot remember his wife, mistresses, friends, hobbies, etc. but he can recall full paragraphs from Moby Dick or The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. He can quote cartoons he read as a child with his mother or recite passages in French from his favorite novels. The story is accompanied by colorful images of comics, paintings and cover art to illustrate the only “paper memories” Yambo can recall. Eco describes an enchanting world full of new discoveries yet is tinged with the sadness and struggle of losing one’s identity.

Happy Tuesday! There are many things to think about as the fall wind swirls around, creating eddies of whirling orange leaves across campus. As you pull out those scarves and jackets – perhaps even fluffy blankets – to keep you warm in studio, you might be thinking about your future. After all, you might be applying for graduate schools or searching for internships. Or worrying about doing these things in the years to come. Either way, you certainly could use all the help you can get.

As a result, I think it’s time for another fun fact. Design Intelligence has just released the top design schools for graduate and undergraduate architecture. If you want to read all about it, as well peruse through all the other useful information found in DesignIntelligence, pester the people you know who paid money for the publication, or purchase it yourself at http://store.di.net/products/america-s-best-architecture-design-schools-2015. However, if you’re happy only looking at the top ten undergraduate architecture programs and top ten graduate architecture programs (completely for free), then head over here: http://www.archdaily.com/563673/and-the-best-us-architecture-schools-for-2015-are/.

Most of the names on this list are not surprising. As usual, the Ivy League schools score well and occupy the spaces at the top of the graduate school list. In fact, the first five schools listed are Ivy Leagues (a full fifty percent of the top graduate programs). Harvard, Columbia, Yale, MIT, and Cornell lead the list, but are followed by many state schools and public universities. Thomas Jefferson’s university even makes the list, although his hallowed UVA resides at number nine (and it’s still a fantastic achievement for any university to rank in the top ten).

Undergraduate programs are not ruled by these giants in quite the same way. Cornell tops the list, but no other Ivy League universities appear. In fact, Texas and California dominate the list, Texas with Rice University and the University of Texas at Austin, and California with California Polytechnic State (in San Luis Obispo), Southern California Institute of Architecture, and the University of Southern California.

As usual, these rankings have changed over the years and will continue to change. The students attending these schools will graduate and enter the working world, replaced by new and eager minds. If anything stays consistent over time, it’s that change is inevitable and likely comes in alternating strong and weak waves. There have been many such waves over the past years, though one of the more notable ones occurred in 1871, with incredibly lasting effects.

In 1871, three universities admitted female students to their architecture programs. This was a large turning point in history because they were the first three schools to do so. The University of Illinois, Cornell University, and Syracuse University have since been followed by all other American universities. These names might sound a bit familiar. If you remember, our own Professor Marleen Davis graduated from Cornell and later taught at Syracuse. The process of change was slow, as even sixty years ago, there were not many schools that admitted women. In the present day, there is no question about women’s admittance to architecture programs. This might not have been the case if three revolutionary universities did not take action.

In this contemporary age, one of the difficult aspects of maintaining and cultivating the urban landscape is constantly ensuring that the different parts of our cities are as efficiently accessible to the people as possible. For the architect, this means that a thorough understanding of the cityscape and its inhabitants is important to be able to assess spatial construction. Oftentimes in cities, there is one significant space that becomes the central hub of commerce and social gathering. To create such a space, the architect must address the city as a whole. With that said, this week’s case study is Markthal Rotterdam: a unique building typology that might just start a new architectural trend in today’s urban cities.

Every day should begin with a fun fact. By learning something new every day, not only do I increase my knowledge, but I also have a reason to consider not hitting that snooze button (although, let’s be honest, I’m going to hit it anyway…multiple times). The fun fact for this post is rather unique, as it relates to our own architectural studies: the doctor Jonas Salk was born exactly one hundred years ago today. To the average person, who sadly lacks our knowledge of fun facts, this might not mean anything, when in fact it has great significance. Thanks to Mr. Salk, the very first inactivated polio vaccine was used, and now Polio has been nearly eradicated. This is certainly a reason for celebration.

However, I have a hunch that this name sounds familiar to us architecture folks for another reason. When we hear Salk’s name, it is usually accompanied by a whisper of wind and thin trickle of water flowing directly towards an ebbing ocean. At the mention of his name, we do not see needles and vaccines, but rather austere concrete rising from the ground, concealing and subsequently revealing warm wooden paneling. With Dr. Salk’s name, we picture the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, and we think of none other than our own well-studied and frequently idealized Louis Kahn. After all, Kahn designed this non-profit research center founded by Dr. Salk, and it serves as a testament to timeless architecture.

And Kahn is one of my favorite architects. In fact, when I wrote this last sentence, I took the time to stop and compile a list of my favorite architects. Kahn appears near the top, along with Francesco Borromini, Sou Fujimoto, Bernard Tschumi (exclusively for the Parc de la Villette in Paris), and a great multitude of others. In doing this, I noticed something somewhat odd. Most of the influential designers, and certainly all of the names of my ‘top favorite’ list, are male.

There are many logical explanations for this, of course. One key reason is that women were not allowed to practice architecture until, at least in the span of human history, quite recently. As a result, it is impossible to find older architecture that can be attributed to, or even influenced by, a woman. That’s understandable. Times change, and this prohibition is no longer the case. There are certainly other reasons as well. The field is increasingly male-dominated as one moves up the age brackets, but this is largely due to the unavailability of an architectural education for women in the past. When comparing younger architects, the discrepancy between the genders is not nearly as prevalent. Of course, we must take into account the fact that many women leave the field, or reduce the amount of work they do, in order to raise a family. As a result, there are many logical reasons why my list of favorite architects has only a sparse selection of women designers.  

Maybe this isn’t as bad as it seems. The fact that there are women on the list at all shows how much times have changed. Plus, I have a feeling that today’s young female designers will appear on this list before long, and with truly phenomenal work. A quick look around our own studios shows that there are fantastic designers – both men and women – who will do great things in life and appear on the Favorites Lists of future architecture students. And wouldn’t you know, that’s a bonus fun fact for today.

  For more information about Jonas Salk, visit: http://www.sciography.com/jonas-salk.htm

To discover more about the Salk Institute, check out: http://www.salk.edu/

For many of us, school is the one place where we have created many significant memories that will last us a lifetime. Being in school, we are granted valuable opportunities that help us towards the fruition of our dreams. Schools have a great architectural significance for us, whether we realize it or not, because the orchestration of spaces within one must adhere to the greater good of the student body. For this week’s case study, The Fangshan Campus of the Beijing No. 4 High School exemplifies how spaces can be orchestrated in a way with which the stimulation of learning and growth creates a connection with the students.

It grows on its own, of course, as she’s incredibly active with the community and architectural field itself. She attended Cornell University, and has since taught at Syracuse University and our own UT. During her time at UT, she was also the dean of the college before returning to teaching students.

As a woman in the architectural field during key eras of change, she has seen many of the previous conditions and the results of an ideological change. For example, when looking for schools at which to study architecture, she noticed that only two Ivy League schools even admitted women into the architecture program. Even the University of Virginia, notorious for excellence, only admitted male students. Cornell, however, accepted female students, and Marleen was one of them.

In design school, as well as in the working world, Marleen watched and took part in the rise of women participants. At school, roughly twenty five percent of her class was female, although this number varied throughout the country. Schools in the northeast were more likely to have larger numbers of women students, which might have explained why Cornell was so progressive for the time. As the years have passed, however, this number has risen. For example, our own program here at UT currently has a rough balance of fifty percent males and fifty percent females. This has been fairly consistent over the past few years, and is likely to continue in the years to come.

Marleen’s experiences in the working world, however, were different than those of her time at school. The ratio of men to women was vastly different. This might have been due to the fact that women in the architectural field were likely younger, if only because their ability to study the subject in college was limited in the past. As a result, there were fewer working women to begin with. These women faced other problems, as well. In such a male dominated field, it was easy to create a sort of boy’s club in which women were looked down upon or valued less than their male counterparts. This was not the case everywhere, of course, but some firms did think and act in this manner. Additionally, women were more likely to leave the workplace than men, primarily due to the results of starting a family. The long hours and hectic schedule of the architectural field do not work well with the amount of time and planning needed to raise children. As a result, many women who started families changed to careers with better schedules, chose part time work, or decided to stay home with their children.

In a sense, Marleen did a similar thing. She chose to focus on working in the academic field more heavily than in the practical one. The more consistent schedule and predictable (though not light) workload made raising a family easier and childcare more manageable. Plus, it gave her an opportunity to work with students and continues to allow us to benefit from her experiences and knowledge. We’re certainly happy she changed her focus to more academic affairs.

Many of our greatest resources and sources of learning are found closely nearby, so take the time to talk to people and learn from them. They probably have experiences as interesting as Marleen’s, which also shows how much things have changed over time.

Whether today marks the start of a glorious fall break or you still have that one midterm hanging over your head and devouring your self confidence, make sure to take a moment for yourself. We’re marking the half-point of the semester with a huge sigh of relief and a much deserved COFFEE BREAK. Welcome, friends, you’re safe here.

It is important that architects value the concept of time as a part of the language of the built form. It is important to note that spaces have the quality of becoming a live form, in a sense that spaces, like living things, have an inherent life span. Spaces mature and age just like the entities that inhabit it. With that said, the life span of the space is only able to carry on as long as it serves its function. When the day comes that it doesn’t, it is only reduced to the memory of what it once was. However, architects have the power to regenerate this memory and make it come to life again, and maybe even bigger and better than before. This week’s case study is about the International Centre for the Arts, and how effectively it is able to transcend an old architectural memory.

You did it. You made it halfway through this week. It’s time to take a moment and take a COFFEE BREAK. Go ahead, you deserve it.

Written and directed by Woody Allen in 2006, Scoop is the most charming murder-mystery I have ever seen. Scarlett Johansson and Hugh Jackman star as an American journalist escaping her destiny as a dental hygienist and an English aristocrat. Sondra Pansky (Johansson) inserts herself into the life of Peter Lyman (Jackman) as she faces the biggest scoop of her career- the case of “The Tarot Card Killer”. There are twists and turns and magic shows. It’s fun and lighthearted enough to take a break with or work through. The perfect man. The perfect story. The perfect murder.

In the creative world, sometimes ideas sneak into your mind and refuse to release their hold until you act upon them. They burrow into the crevices of your brain and sit, prodding at your mind, until you pick up a pen or laptop and set to work. Sometimes they push out whatever you were thinking before you acknowledged the new idea’s existence, like a child begging for attention. That’s what happened this week.

I had the typical creative plan for this column, with an outline and everything. I was completely prepared to write it up after finishing studio and attending Monday night’s lecture, given by Signe Nielsen. And as I sat in the auditorium, listening and taking notes, I realized that the perfect subject for this column was standing in front of me, embodied in a realistically visionary woman holding a borrowed pointer and talking faster than I could write.

My original plans changed, pushed completely out of my mind by new ideas. But that was the beauty of the lecture, of life in general. Change happens, sometimes negatively, but often positively.

Take “lost spaces,” for example. These played a large part in Nielsen’s lecture; in fact, her work would not exist without loss and change. As history progresses, a city develops. Buildings rise, fall, rise again. Some are abandoned, torn down and transformed into clearings and lots that fall into unused patches of crumbling concrete and asphalt. Thanks to constraints like money, time, and labor, few people are driven to change these areas into something beautiful, though they might think about it. However, the creators, the workers, the changers step forward and transform the once-decrepit space into something both beautiful and practical. Nielsen and all who work with her take these lost spaces and make them worth finding. Frequently, they are so integrated with the bustle of life in New York City that users don’t need to work hard to discover them – they simply get to enjoy the fact that the space is no longer lost. Some projects are built in more hidden places, but that makes finding and using them all the more enjoyable.  The changes in looks, in purpose, in atmosphere are clear and for the better.

Sometimes change is unplanned, unintentional, and surprisingly successful. Typically, though, change takes hard work. Finding losses, be they spaces, purposes, or ideologies, is easy. Filling them, transforming them into something far better, is not always so simple. Hard work and dedication accompany these efforts at change. Time plays a key role, as things and processes are rarely instantaneous. Some projects, like the ones mentioned in Nielsen’s lecture, take years of work and a large group of people working together for a common cause. Others take decades and more people than we can even begin to fathom. Take women’s rise in the design fields, for example. The changes have occurred so far span decades, perhaps even centuries of climbing. They will certainly cover many more, bringing changes as the years pass. These transformations will hopefully be positive, finding the lost spaces, talents, people that will better the world with their work and dedication. These changes might be planned, might merely emphasize and add to what has already happened. Or they may happen as abruptly and with as much spontaneity as a student having a sudden realization in the middle of a lecture.

Change is inevitable. How we bring it about, and what we do with it, directs what happens, hopefully in a positive way.

For the first studio project as a second-year student, we are tasked to design a non-denominational spiritual space in the corner of West Church Avenue and Locust Street in downtown Knoxville. This space centers on the ideology of the Quaker community and their usage of a public space called a “meetinghouse” wherein the community gathers to partake in spiritual enlightenment. Being that the space is non-denominational, the design must adhere to the pureness of forms to induce spiritual awakening that can relate to people of all walks of life. That said, for this week’s case study, I feel compelled to share the inspiration that is guiding me through my own design process: The Rothko Chapel.

Written by those in charge, history has a tendency to obscure details which do not matter to its authors. Ideas, events, people get squashed into obscurity, brushed into countless crevices for eternity. Occasionally, a hand willing to pull up these squashed entities, or a focused beam of light’s illumination bring these once-forgotten things to the public’s attention. And every once in a while, we find that these discoveries are more intriguing and exciting than we could have hoped.

Beyond the topic of aesthetics, a major part of an architect’s design is the narrative. I’ve always thought that a created object becomes more beautiful once I learn more about the story it is trying to tell. The dialogue between the built work and the spectator is of great importance in architectural design. I believe that it is the architect’s role to narrate a story through conscious design choices. In this sense, the building becomes more than just a built form — it becomes a part of the temporal consciousness of the spectator.

It’s Fall ya’ll! Happy Wednesday and happy COFFEE BREAK!

I hope you get a chance this week to sit down and enjoy the first hints of cooler weather with a good cup of coffee and an even better book. I also hope that book is The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I apologize if this isn’t new to you, but I am too obsessed to not share. Morgenstern creates an ethereal world of complex characters and controversies centered around  Le Cirque des Rêves. The story weaves through time and through the lives of those connected to a circus that shows up without warning and only opens after sundown; focusing on a grand game being played by rivaling magicians. It may be bit indulgent in the descriptions, however, the visuals are so fascinating and otherworldly that this novel borders on poetry. 

“Only the ship is made of books, its sails thousands of overlapping pages, and the sea it floats upon is dark black ink.”

                               -Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

The world moves quickly, spinning hurriedly on its circle around the sun. We humans are flung with it, traveling at a speed so great that we don’t even notice ourselves moving. What we do perceive is a steady march of time, changes wrought as years pass, ideas that ebb and flow throughout the decades, the centuries.

Sometimes we need to slow down. Sometimes we need to take note of our surroundings, both environments and ideas. Sometimes we need to appreciate the problems and joys that come with living in such a rapidly advancing world. And sometimes we need a moment to simply stay abreast of the things that matter. Thus enter IMPRINT. and Women in Design. These two student led and run organizations are partnering to produce this weekly column.

IMPRINT. is an organization made of and run by students, for anyone who enjoys anything and everything related to design. With weekly columns, fun articles, interesting suggestions for books, movies, and everything in between, IMPRINT. is the hub of information for young and old alike.

A newly-formed organization, Women in Design seeks to work with women, both students and professionals, in design fields. The organization encourages and cultivates success and confidence in its members by providing a supportive environment for cultivating ideas, as well as networking with professionals.

These organizations have come together in the space of this weekly column to discuss the information, issues, and joys that come with being a woman in a design field. This is especially important in today’s rapidly moving and changing world because design industries are greatly affected by these alterations. Take the architectural field as an example. Once run and ruled entirely by men, it now has a significnant percentage of women involved in it, too. Famous works do not always have a male name attached to them anymore. Architecture schools illustrate this change even more strongly, as they are split relatively evenly between men and women. As the years pass, more and more women will take part in what was once male-dominated, and we seek to help them as they advance.

Women have made great strides in design fields throughout the years. They have gained prowess and even fame. CoAD’s own Julie Beckman has been a part of this movement. Collaborating with her coworkers, their firm produced the National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. 

Photo courtesy of FoggyDew.

As a current third year student, I think it’s important to take an interest in this. Even as students, we both see and feel the changes wrought over the past decades. We live in a mixed world, both in terms of gender and technology. Though our experiences as students may feel different than those of adults in the field, they share much more than perhaps we realize. We face similar battles and experience the same triumphs and joys.

More than anything, though, we know firsthand what it’s like to live in such a fast-paced and ever-changing world. It’s a crazy whirlwind of constantly-evolving ideas and environments, but we live for the thrill of experiencing it all.