How I Got To SIUC

By Scott Fisher


I started my college career at Vincennes University, in Vincennes Indiana, by taking an Architecture CAD class; which was my first experience in an architecture class. My first day in a CAD class was definitely an experience for me. CAD seemed to do everything I didn’t want it to do. At this time I was also in other general classes and an architecture hand drafting class. I found out in the first week of college that I was very good at hand drafting but CAD was going to take some time for me. Later on in the semester I got use to CAD and was getting better and ending up being one of the best in my class. Continuing on to my freshmen spring semester, I continued to take general required classes and now was taking a CAD class that was to basically put everything I had done in the hand-drafting class onto the computer, in CAD. After a year of taking a lot of notes and getting the college experience, I registered for the upcoming fall semester taking the more advanced CAD courses and design courses.

The fall semester started and I was in my first design course with a new professor that I never had before. As I went through the design course I was handed projects to do that were not architecture related; they were mainly about combining shapes, lines, dots and other symbols in a way to create a unique object/design. After a few of these projects I was wondering what this had to do with architecture, but my CAD class was all about architecture drawings. So continuing through the rest of the semester working through individual, group, and community projects, I gained interest more in design class and became more knowledgeable of what was next after my two years at VU; the architecture program was only a two year program. After pages of notes, essays, hours of CAD, several models and tons of math problems, I started my last semester at VU. I was down to taking physics, advanced CAD, advanced design, site planning and a 3d digital modeling class. As I started my final semester I found out this was going to be a hard semester but I had to do good to finish my college career at VU, but I would also figure out where I wanted to transfer to get a bachelors degree. As far as the other classes I learned how to use Autodesk Viz and learned how to do site observations. I drew a hole set of CAD drawings, and finally I did design architectural projects, physics, and other general required classes.

Working closer to the middle of the semester I was told by my professors that I could not transfer to anywhere in the state of Indiana to continue my architecture to earn my bachelors…so what to do? After thinking about it and talking to my advisor, he said he was in connections with Southern Illinois University Carbondale. He said he was sure that my credits would transfer and that would be my best choice. Weeks went by and semester got busier and I found out that I knew some people down at SIUC and that some of my architecture friends at VU then were also going to SIUC. So I graduated at VU and the summer started and I decided to take a campus tour of SIUC. I got down to SIUC and took the tour and was able to meet with Dr. Wendler of the Architecture Department and was able to talk to him about the architecture program. Traveling back home that night I had a lot of information going through my head and did not know what to do. Going to SIUC would be a big change: living away from home, bigger university, being around more people I did not know, and what classes would I take? Days went by and I made up my mind that I wanted to earn my bachelors and my best choice was going to be SIUC so I applied and weeks later I heard back from campus that I got in.

Image: http://www.mdc.edu/main/collegeforum/archive/vol13-3/academics/architecture.asp

Then and Now. My Journey into Architecture and Design.

By Tara D. Loughman

Looking back, I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. For me this was always a simple choice. I grew up in a family in the construction business and was constantly around all sorts of construction sites. Of course when I was younger I hated it and wanted nothing to do with it, but as time progressed I knew it was something I wanted to do.

One thing that was always constant in our house was me rearranging my room and any other room in the house I could get a hold of. I was always building things with my little cousins Lego sets. Of course I played with Barbie’s but only to build and decorate their houses; then I was done. After awhile, I needed more of a challenge and started to do things around the house with my dad and grandpa. The more I got older, the more I wanted to design and construct new things; now I just needed more of a challenge.

After taking a few interior design classes in high school, I started to look at colleges that offered an interior design degree. My advisor suggested to me, a small, private design school downtown St. Louis. After looking at Patricia Stevens College, I knew it was a perfect fit. I graduated in March of 2006 with my associate’s degree and then went on to Maryville University to finish my bachelor’s degree. A year later, Patricia Stevens College, called me, telling me they now offer a bachelor’s degree and asked for me to come back. I did and was the first to graduate, with a Bachelor’s Degree of Science in Interior Design, at Patricia Steven’s College, in March 2009.

Immediately following graduation, I was already on my way to starting my master’s degree. I started classes at Southern Illinois University Carbondale in the fall of 2009. For the first year I took several classes to level out from interior design to architecture. This summer was the official start of graduate classes and my current position as the graduate assistant in the AID Library.

Looking back to my years growing up around my dad and my grandpa, I can really see the inspiration they gave me in my career today. It’s really nice to look back and see all that I have accomplished thus far in my life and career. I can’t wait to one day be licensed as an Interior Designer and Architect and work within the fields that my family had once proudly worked for.

Sustainable Living in Cades Cove

By Ben Temperley


This past summer break I took a trip to the Smoky Mountains, staying in a cabin in Gatlinburg, TN. On the final day of my trip, my wife and I toured the pioneer settlement outside of Gatlinburg known as Cades Cove. A cove is a relatively flat area between mountain ridges. Cades Cove began as a small pioneer community in 1821 that reached 685 (132 families) in 1850 (Brewer, 1999, p. 23). Cades Cove is now part of a national park with over 70 historic buildings. I would like to highlight the sustainable features I encountered on my tour of the cove.

The first building I encountered was the John Oliver Place. This is the oldest log cabin in the cove, built in the 1820s. Local trees were felled with simple tools (without the use of fossil fuels) to provide material for the cabin. Open spaces between the logs were filled with mud (no VOCs) to seal out the elements. The stone chimney is filled with a mud mortar. The construction process involved little embodied energy. In addition the cabin has lasted nearly 200 years!

Elijah Oliver, son of John Oliver, bought a property in Cades Cove after the Civil War (Brewer, 1999, p. 11). Without a refrigerator or a freezer, Oliver used a spring house to keep milk and butter cool. The spring house was built over a stream on his property. The cool spring water kept perishables from spoiling. In order to store and preserve meat for an entire year, Oliver built a smokehouse. Corn was stored in a corn crib for grinding into meal to last until the next harvest. Without motorized farm equipment or vehicles, animals and farm tools needed to be kept in a barn. Hay was stored in barns. Cows provided milk. Elijah even piped water from the nearby stream to his kitchen sink (Brewer, 1999, p. 11).


The grist mill was my favorite building in the cove. It harnesses energy from a creek that flows through the cove. Water is funneled through a wooden flume that pours onto the large wheel, causing it to turn and providing energy to grind grain. Again, fossil fuels are not involved. Instead, gravity is used to power the mill. The grinding speed is adjustable based on how much water is allowed to pass through a gate on the water flume.

Cades Cove had a blacksmith shop. The blacksmith shaped iron into axes, adzes, knives, bolts, saws, etc. A sustainable quality of the blacksmith shop was that iron was not wasted. If a saw broke, it could be made into a butcher knife. Iron was readily recycled, as it is today.

A final sustainable feature may be represented by the village's communal spirit. They attended church together in the churches they built. Neighbors helped each other husk corn, make molasses, peel apples and quilt. They gathered chestnuts together on weekends.

The Cades Cove families lived a sustainable lifestyle before we realized the importance of sustainability. They used local resources. Those resources were renewable. They did not rely on burning fossil fuels. The materials they used did not off-gas harmful VOCs. They lived within their means. They did not waste their resources, and their lifestyle fostered a sense of community togetherness.



Works Cited
Brewer, C. (1999). Cades Cove Tour. Gatlinburg, TN: Great Smoky Mountains Association.

Little Person in a Big World

By Rhonda C. Daugherty



I embarked on a trip this Labor Day weekend to Chicago. As I arrived and looked over the edge of my window, the tracks appealed to be woven together like rope, in no particular order. I stretched my arms up and yawned; then, I began to pack my things in my carry on bag, as we grew closer to Union Station. The whistling trains in the distance, screeching breaks, dim lighting, and dusty tunnels were crowded with people as they hustled to their destinations. I started to wonder… “Wow, I’m pretty short.” Everyone had a target and they were moving hastily to get to them. Back and forth from the entrances and exits, pushing and shoving.
How did the architect investigate circulation for both Union and Ogilvie Station? How does the architect attempt to understand the complex patterns of both travel and behavior? Is everything random or a logical guess? The three different scales I partake in were Carbondale to Chicago, Union Station to Ogilvie Station and Ogilvie to Bellwood. There are four types of rail ways in Chicago: Metra, Amtrak, CTA, and the freight trains. The function and priority must have influenced the design.

The experience became to be surreal, I boarded the train at 3:15 A.M. Sunday night, and I got off the train at 9:05 A.M. Sunday morning. Groggy and tried, I got off the train carrying my luggage and walking aimlessly to the waiting area to meet my ride as people walked swiftly around me. I had arrived at the station only to depart five minutes later…

Celebrating Our International Students!

The Master of Architecture program is pleased to be the home of nine international students representing seven different countries! Including the USA, we have students from four continents.  Each of the national flags currently hanging by the east windows in our gallery represents the countries of our graduate students.  Starting with the top image, we have students from Saudi Arabia, Japan, Taiwan, and India.  In the lower image, the flags of India, Libya, Slovenia, and finally, the USA are shown. 

Finally, hanging over our door, the flag of Nepal.  SIUC architecture has had three students from Nepal and the first international graduate of the program, Namrata Shrestha, is from Nepal. 

Accreditation!

The SIUC Master of Architecture program received great news this week! We were accredited by the National Architecture Accrediting Board for a three-year term, the maximum term for which a new program is eligible! The accreditation includes those students who have graduated the program during the candidacy period from January 2008 to January 2010. The Master of Architecture program will be reviwed again in 2013.

Illinois now allows graduates of professional programs to begin taking the Architect Registration Exam at any time after completing their degree. Licensure still requires completion of the Intern Development Program but the exam may be taken while IDP is being completed.

Congratulations to the students, faculty, and staff of the program for accreditation!

It's Final Defense Season!

Master of Architecture candidate Justin Poczatek makes the final defense of his thesis entitled "Behavior and Architecture" in the school gallery. Professor Davey's Kid Architecture Camp for High School students attended the presentation. The students asked many great questions of Justin, who handled his defense like a pro!