A few weeks ago the graduate students embarked on their first project of the semester. The professors teaching the class are Stewart Wessel and Thomas McPeek. The project is for a local winery located near Carlyle, Illinois and the students traveled to meet the potential client August 26. The clients, Doug and Jodie Palm, have a passion for winemaking and have already produced wine from their first crop last year. They expect to expand their business to include a few more acres of vines as well as an entertaining facility to host guests and eventually banquets. Currently the couple and their two kids live on the property but eventually plan on finding other accommodations.
Doug Palm gave a detailed vision of what he imagines the winery will be in the next five or ten years. He has divided it into three stages. The first stage includes remodeling his basement to have its own exterior entrance in order to have wine tastings for the public. In addition, Palm would like to have gathering spaces for guests both indoors and outdoors. In the second stage of the development, the current house on the property would become a tasting hall and small restaurant facility to accommodate 100-150 guests. Also the outdoor dining area would be enlarged to take advantage of the spectacular views. With more guests coming to the winery, the production facilities would also have to grow significantly. In the third stage, a banquet facility that could entertain up to 500 guests would be added to the property.
The Palms did not seem discouraged by the fact that there are competing wineries in the area. In fact, they were excited to be considered part of the southern Illinois 'wine trail' and believe having wineries nearby will bring in more business. Doug and Jodie Palm were very enthusiastic during the meeting with the students. They know what they personally have in mind but would like to see the students' visions.
--Laura Widholm, M. Arch. Student
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
School of Architecture Lecture Series
The School of Architecture at SIUC is pleased to announce the lecture schedule for Fall 2009 and Spring 2010. Visit our Lecture Series web page for details.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
International Potluck 2009
After finishing my work with no waste of time I headed towards the Alumni Lounge of Student Recreational Center around 6 P.M. last Thursday (September 10th) for a special event in town, there was potluck and in addition, it was International Potluck organized by International Students and Scholars (ISS).
With a bunch of people from different countries gathered together for diverse food and fun, the environment turned out to be a very amusing and pleasurable. People from different countries participated in it including Nepal, India, Japan, China and many more. Each country’s people prepared some food which was a specialty and traditional in their own country and served to the people from different parts of the world. People were seen talking about foods so curiously and some were even seen serving to their own friends who were still waiting in queue to have the food. Some type of foods served by different countries were “Chana Curry” with “Bitten Rice” by Nepalese, “Fried Rice” by Indians, “Sushi” by Japanese, “Chicken” by Srilankan, and so on. The Program was sponsored by ISS with some amount of funds to buy stuffs for each participating country.
Everybody was invited to this event and more than expected came. People had to wait a little longer to get to the food table! But, everyone seemed to be enjoying very much despite of long wait. With the video of International Festival 2008, projected on one side and with really delicious food in front, it was apparent that everyone was busy enjoying the moment. Though the program was scheduled for up to 8 P.M., Dinner program was over by around 7:30 P.M. and after that people just enjoyed talking, music and some dance.
At the end of the day, the event was a success and I personally feel that it was a nice moment to remember in future from SIUC which I enjoyed a lot. Thanks to International Students and Scholars (ISS), and these type of programs of bringing peoples from different countries together should be promoted.
-- Namrata Shrestha, M. Arch. Student from Nepal
With a bunch of people from different countries gathered together for diverse food and fun, the environment turned out to be a very amusing and pleasurable. People from different countries participated in it including Nepal, India, Japan, China and many more. Each country’s people prepared some food which was a specialty and traditional in their own country and served to the people from different parts of the world. People were seen talking about foods so curiously and some were even seen serving to their own friends who were still waiting in queue to have the food. Some type of foods served by different countries were “Chana Curry” with “Bitten Rice” by Nepalese, “Fried Rice” by Indians, “Sushi” by Japanese, “Chicken” by Srilankan, and so on. The Program was sponsored by ISS with some amount of funds to buy stuffs for each participating country.
Everybody was invited to this event and more than expected came. People had to wait a little longer to get to the food table! But, everyone seemed to be enjoying very much despite of long wait. With the video of International Festival 2008, projected on one side and with really delicious food in front, it was apparent that everyone was busy enjoying the moment. Though the program was scheduled for up to 8 P.M., Dinner program was over by around 7:30 P.M. and after that people just enjoyed talking, music and some dance.
At the end of the day, the event was a success and I personally feel that it was a nice moment to remember in future from SIUC which I enjoyed a lot. Thanks to International Students and Scholars (ISS), and these type of programs of bringing peoples from different countries together should be promoted.
-- Namrata Shrestha, M. Arch. Student from Nepal
The Green Debate
To be, or not to be… Green.
This is a topic that has been bothering me for awhile, and I thought I’d make a post on the blog to get other people’s opinions on it. Being “Green”, “Sustainable”, “Smart” are all buzzwords lately, and for as many words as there are for it, there are ideas on how to “be,” whether it’s good environmental design, or the use of “smart technology.” I guess this is more geared to smart technology, ranging from solar panels to computerized building systems, as I hope that good environmental design should always at least be considered. I’ve heard time and time again in crits that “the technology just isn’t there yet”, or “let’s just wait until technology gets better.” These are just a couple of quotes from practicing architects. As up and coming architects whose jobs will be to specify the use, or gently urge our clients to use these technologies, we need to decide for ourselves if the benefits outweigh the costs. As the generation that has been given the job of “saving the planet,” do we just “wait for technology to get better” or do we use these technologies knowing that they won’t pay off, but maybe it will push technology just a little bit further with each project? Sure, the cost effective answer is to wait -- wait until technology gets better and cheaper. The problem is that this same answer was used 30-40 years ago during the energy crisis of the 70s. We waited. Not until technology got better, or cheaper, but until the problem got worse. So, do we wait? Do we hope that the problem goes away for the next 40 years until our kids are old enough to be faced with the problem? I took a little bit more biased position than I intended, but I want to hear other thoughts. Are there good reasons to wait?
--Jason Epley, M. Arch. Student
This is a topic that has been bothering me for awhile, and I thought I’d make a post on the blog to get other people’s opinions on it. Being “Green”, “Sustainable”, “Smart” are all buzzwords lately, and for as many words as there are for it, there are ideas on how to “be,” whether it’s good environmental design, or the use of “smart technology.” I guess this is more geared to smart technology, ranging from solar panels to computerized building systems, as I hope that good environmental design should always at least be considered. I’ve heard time and time again in crits that “the technology just isn’t there yet”, or “let’s just wait until technology gets better.” These are just a couple of quotes from practicing architects. As up and coming architects whose jobs will be to specify the use, or gently urge our clients to use these technologies, we need to decide for ourselves if the benefits outweigh the costs. As the generation that has been given the job of “saving the planet,” do we just “wait for technology to get better” or do we use these technologies knowing that they won’t pay off, but maybe it will push technology just a little bit further with each project? Sure, the cost effective answer is to wait -- wait until technology gets better and cheaper. The problem is that this same answer was used 30-40 years ago during the energy crisis of the 70s. We waited. Not until technology got better, or cheaper, but until the problem got worse. So, do we wait? Do we hope that the problem goes away for the next 40 years until our kids are old enough to be faced with the problem? I took a little bit more biased position than I intended, but I want to hear other thoughts. Are there good reasons to wait?
--Jason Epley, M. Arch. Student
Deep in the Heart of Texas!
This past week graduate students as well as the senior interior design studio took a trip down south to Texas. The agenda included Dallas and Austin as the cities of interest. Our upcoming project (a boutique hotel) is situated in Dallas so we were able to do detailed site studies as well as check out the local architecture. We headed to the Stockyards in Dallas, checked out a W Hotel, toured the new Cowboys football stadium (shown above), and enjoyed the Kimball Art Museum. We were also given a fantastic tour of the architecture firm HKS. After two days in Dallas we were off to Austin for two more office visits with Noack Little Architects and Interior Design and PageSouthernlandPage. Each firm was vastly different in scale and management opening our eyes to the different avenues we have when choosing employment opportunities. Another one of the exciting points of the visit to Austin was checking out the University of Texas architecture program. which is the largest in the nation. We headed home Saturday evening to regroup and now we’re back to designing!
--Laura Stock, M. Arch. Student
More images from Texas:
Friday, August 28, 2009
Summer 2009 Graduate Studio
This past summer the third class of graduate architecture students began their pursuit of the Master of Architecture degree! The class is currently working and putting in the extra hours to ensure the NAAB accreditation for the Master of Architecture program. The class of 15 graduate students took Architecture 550: Regional Architecture Studio. The classes were divided into two section taught by Dr. Michael Brazley and Professor Robert Swenson. Each section had a different project, Dr. Brazley’s section focused on a hi-rise mixed-use design located in either Chicago, IL or Louisville, KY. Professor Swenson’s class focused on a math, science and fine arts academy to service the areas of Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, and Western Missouri.
Professor Robert Swenson’s section took a few field trips this semester. The goal of the these trips were to visit the Illinois Math and Science Academy (Aurora, Il), Arkansas Math and Science Academy( Hot Springs, AR), and Brehm Preparatory School( Carbondale, IL). This gave the students an idea of the project they faced for the semester. The trip also included visits to the William Clinton Presidential Library (Little Rock, AR), the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio River (Cairo, IL), trips to study the areas of Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, and Southesast Missouri, and individual travel to student’s respective sites.
Dr. Brazley’s class traveled to Chicago, IL this summer. They spent a few days visiting, studying, and scrutinizing, sites in Chicago. They then proceeded to choose a site based on each students individual decision on which site offered the best solution to their design problem. While in Chicago they also visited a few Chicago firms. This gives the students a perspective of how the practice of architecture is implemented. Often times students can become blind to the “real world” practice of architecture while they are immersed and engulfed into their respective semester projects. All of this summer’s Studio Projects are displayed in Quigley Hall on the 1st floor for the next few weeks. Feel free to come in and take a look at what the students are up to!
--Jason Kubichan, M. Arch. Student
Professor Robert Swenson’s section took a few field trips this semester. The goal of the these trips were to visit the Illinois Math and Science Academy (Aurora, Il), Arkansas Math and Science Academy( Hot Springs, AR), and Brehm Preparatory School( Carbondale, IL). This gave the students an idea of the project they faced for the semester. The trip also included visits to the William Clinton Presidential Library (Little Rock, AR), the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio River (Cairo, IL), trips to study the areas of Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, and Southesast Missouri, and individual travel to student’s respective sites.
Dr. Brazley’s class traveled to Chicago, IL this summer. They spent a few days visiting, studying, and scrutinizing, sites in Chicago. They then proceeded to choose a site based on each students individual decision on which site offered the best solution to their design problem. While in Chicago they also visited a few Chicago firms. This gives the students a perspective of how the practice of architecture is implemented. Often times students can become blind to the “real world” practice of architecture while they are immersed and engulfed into their respective semester projects. All of this summer’s Studio Projects are displayed in Quigley Hall on the 1st floor for the next few weeks. Feel free to come in and take a look at what the students are up to!
--Jason Kubichan, M. Arch. Student
Friday, August 21, 2009
Saluki Seniors Take First Place!
Congratulations to Maria Vera's section of Architecture 452 (Senior Studio) for receiving a first place award in the Rouse Detroit Competition! Rouse Detroit is a competition to solicit ideas to reinvent the city of Detroit, Michigan.
The SIU students submitted their work from spring senior studio. They designed a renovation for an existing high school in Detroit incorporating steel from nearby recycling efforts in the automotive industry and many other green technologies and ideas. The design is visible at the top of the right column on the link above. It is labeled SoIL.
Among the team members who worked on the design were Matthew Jackson and Kang-Hsin Fan, both of whom are continuing their education in the Master of Architecture program at SIUC. Congratulations to Professor Vera and her class!
The SIU students submitted their work from spring senior studio. They designed a renovation for an existing high school in Detroit incorporating steel from nearby recycling efforts in the automotive industry and many other green technologies and ideas. The design is visible at the top of the right column on the link above. It is labeled SoIL.
Among the team members who worked on the design were Matthew Jackson and Kang-Hsin Fan, both of whom are continuing their education in the Master of Architecture program at SIUC. Congratulations to Professor Vera and her class!
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