• Masters Of Architecture 2 Year
• Thesis Option
• Vertical Studio Option

Sixth Year Thesis Option (1)

Application Process
Final Project Schedule
Milestone Dates
Proposal Requirements
NAAB Requirements
Helpful Hints for Your Submission


Application Process (fifth year spring semester)

Spring 2007

1. On or before January 31 of the Fifth Year Spring Semester, the student is expected to submit to the Architecture Professional Program Committee their initial project proposal. (500 - 700 words in an 8 1/2 by 11 format). The committee will take the next two weeks to review the proposal for compliance with the five points indicated in the submittal description attached to this document. The committee will log the proposals in and distribute them to the faculty indicated by the student as potential mentors. Students who fail to meet this deadline will not be allowed to register for the final studio. These students will have to reapply in the next cycle, the following year or register for option 2.

2. On or before March 28, students are asked to submit the name of the faculty member with whom they have reached a tentative agreement to mentor their project. Those students who have not been able to reach an agreement with a faculty member will be given a list of faculty names who have yet to reach agreement with two students. Only full time tenure track architecture program faculty are eligible to be mentors for the Terminal Project. Students are expected to approach and engage faculty members in discussions about their proposal in order to secure their agreement to serve as mentor.

3. On or before April 11, each student is required to submit to the Architectural Professional Program Committee and expanded proposal (1500-3000 words and 2-6 visual plates). This proposal must be certified by an appropriate faculty member who will serve as the mentor for the project. Faculty mentors have the soul authority to determine if the proposal meets the spirit and intent of the basic objectives of the Terminal Project.

4. Certified submissions will be recorded and the students will be given permission to register for the Final Project Studio. Students whose proposal is not certified will be required to reapply and resubmit a new proposal in the next cycle or register for the Option 2, Vertical Studio.

Final Project (Sixth Year) Schedule

Fall 2007

1. Not later than the third week of the fall semester the students will submit to the mentor's review and evaluation a programmatic report that includes the structure of the project's development and ways to address criteria for evaluation. (September 5 – September 9)

2. At the eight week of the semester the student will, with the mentor's approval, schedule and make a public presentation to a review panel a programmatic and conceptual representation of their project. (October 10 – October 14)

3. Somewhere between the 12th and 13th week the student and mentor will schedule an interim review of the student’s project. The faculty member will give the student a written or verbal evaluation of their progress relative to the expectations of the faculty for the Terminal Project. (November 7 – November 18)

4. During Finals Week of the semester the student, with the mentor's approval, will display the schematic design of their project on the designated space for review and evaluation by the entire architecture faculty. This review will determine whether the student will be allowed to continue on to the next semester. (December 12 – December 16)

5. Following a satisfactory evaluation by the faculty, the mentor and the student will determine the necessary requirements for the next phase of design development.

Students who’s project is judged to be unsatisfactory by a simple majority of the faculty will not be allowed to continue pursuing the Terminal Project. They will be awarded a grade of C- or below, at the discretion of their mentor, and required to complete two vertical studios to complete the studio requirement for the Master of Architecture Degree.

Spring 2008

6. Within the 4th or 5th week of the spring semester the student and mentor will schedule an interim review of the student’s project. The faculty member will give the student a written or verbal evaluation of their progress relative to the expectations of the faculty for the Terminal Project. (January 30 – February 11)

7. In the 10th week of the semester the student, with the mentor's approval, will schedule and make a public presentation of the final design development of their project to a review panel of three faculty chosen by lot along with the students mentor. (March 20 – March 24)

8. Students whose work is judged to be acceptable by the faculty panel will be required to produce a book documenting their research, design process, and final product within the time frame designated by the faculty for publication. All books will be submitted by the student for inclusion in the Library archive. Students should meet with their mentor to discuss the content and organization of their book in the week following the review. Students who fail to meet the established schedule for publication will not be allowed to graduate in the spring or until such time as the final book is submitted to the Architecture Program.

Students whose work is judged to be inadequate by the review panel will be required to revise their project for presentation, with the approval of their mentor, during finals week. Should their project be judged once again to be inadequate by a second panel of faculty, the student will not be allowed to finish the Terminal Project and will be required to take one additional vertical studio to complete the studio requirement for the Master of Architecture degree. Those projects judged to be acceptable will be given the summer to complete their book to graduate at the end of the summer.

9. All students who have successfully completed their project and book will be required to display an abbreviated presentation of their work within a designated space on Monday May 1 for review by the faculty to determine the Cunningham Medal short list. (students are expected to put up their work the afternoon of April 30 between 12:00 PM and 5:00PM, work not displayed in that time will be excluded from the medal judging) The finalists will be posted in afternoon by 3:00. All students not selected will need to remove their work that afternoon to make way for the selected students to put up a complete display for review by the medal jury. The presentations to the Medal jury will take place Tuesday May 2 between 10:00AM and 12:00PM and will be open to all students and faculty. All students will be responsible for remounting their abbreviated display on Friday May 5 between 12:00 PM and 4:00 PM for the graduation event.


Milestone Dates

Spring 2007
Due date for initial submission to Professional Program Committee Jan. 31
Early report on mentor selection from student to office Mar. 28
Due date for agreement between student and mentor or
submission to PPC of final proposal Apr. 11

Fall 2007
Initial Research/Program Draft 3rd week
Program/Research Review 8th week
Interim Reviews 12th & 13th week
Schematic Design Review by Faculty Finals week

Spring 2008
Interim Review 4th & 5th week
Final Review by Faculty 10th week
Project Books Due 14th week
Display work for Cunningham Medal review exhibit Sunday before Finals
Faculty review for Cunningham Medal Jury Monday Finals Week
Finalist jury review Tuesday Finals Week
Resubmission reviews Finals Week

Mentored Project PPC Proposal Requirements

Eligible Candidates
Students enrolled in the Architecture Program who have successfully accomplished all required prerequisites for the studio and have successfully completed the procedure outlined below will be allowed to register for the Final Project Studio.

Mentor Definition
Faculty members of the Architecture Program or, subject to the approval of the architecture faculty, other faculty members with particular professional expertise in the area of the proposed student project.

Proposal Requirements
The initial proposal should be structured as indicated below and respond to the following points:

1. Project Title (The title should be relatively short and descriptive of the project to be pursued.)
2. Statement of Intent identifying issue(s) to be investigated and the relevant areas of expertise and interest offered by the faculty of the architectural professional program (This portion of the text should begin to give some insight into the trajectories of research and investigation planned for the project, and as a result imply what expertise will be required to legitimately pursue.)
3. A commitment to meet the NAAB criteria identified by the faculty as relevant to the final project studios. (At the least all proposals must acknowledge a commitment to address these criterion with some indication of how you expect to do so. You are encouraged to include additional criterion if they are relevant to your proposal.)
4. Site Description (Sites can be specific or be described as a series of criterion that describe the characteristics of the site as it relates to your project proposal. Sites described in grossly general terms ie. 'in Chicago' are not acceptable.)
5. An indication of the anticipated methods of analysis for the project, including potentially descriptive methods, normative methods, and/or critical methods. (The desire here is to cite the process you plan to pursue in your final project)

Criteria for Proposal Evaluation
The following two criteria, in addition to compliance with the format indicated above, will be used to evaluate the project proposal:
1. The project must be designed and developed independently by an individual student.
2. The project must have as its intention the design of a built environment, representing an act(s) of human activity, and be of architectural significance.

Criteria for Mentored Project Evaluation
1. The project should demonstrate a comprehensive, in-depth understanding of theoretical and applied study processes learned throughout the course of the student's professional education.

2. The project should provide evidence, narrative and visual, of the student's realization of the initial design intentions, as identified in the initial project proposal, and the programmatic conclusions produced through the inquiry process.

3. The project should provide evidence of the student's ability to address and resolve issues related to architecture. For example issues surrounding space, place, tectonics, and construction at building and /or urban scales.

4. The project should provide evidence of the student's ability to bring to bear both creative and critical thinking skills in the development of their design solution.

5. The project should demonstrate the student's ability to communicate the design intentions and designed results using clear and legible architectural representations.

NAAB Criterion (minimum)
Arch 613
1. Speaking and Writing Skills: Ability to read, write, listen, and speak effectively on subject matter contained in the professional curriculum.
2. Critical Thinking Skills: Ability to raise clear and precise questions, use abstract ideas to interpret information, consider diverse points of view, reach well-reasoned conclusions, and test them against relevant criteria and standards
3. Graphic Skills: Ability to use appropriate representational media, including freehand drawing and computer technology, to convey essential formal elements at each stage of the programming and design process.
4. Research Skills: Ability to gather, assess, record, and apply relevant information in architectural coursework.
5. Formal Ordering Systems: Understanding of the fundamentals of visual perception and the principles and systems of order that inform two-and three-dimensional design, architectural composition, and urban design.
6. Fundamental Design Skills: Ability to use basic architectural principles in the design of buildings, interior spaces, and sites
11. Use of Precedents: Ability to incorporate relevant precedents into architectural and urban design projects
12. Human Behavior: Understanding of the theories and methods of inquiry that seek the relationships between behavior and the physical environment.
16. Program Preparation: Ability to prepare a comprehensive program for an architecture project, including assessment of client and user needs, a critical review of appropriate precedents, an inventory of space and equipment requirements, an analysis of site conditions, a review of the relevant laws and standards and assessment of their implication for the project, and a definition of site selection and design assessment criteria.
17. Site Conditions: Ability to respond to natural and built site characteristics in the development of a program and design of a project.


Arch 614
1. Speaking and Writing Skills: Ability to read, write, listen, and speak effectively on subject matter contained in the professional curriculum.
2. Critical Thinking Skills: Ability to raise clear and precise questions, use abstract ideas to interpret information, consider diverse points of view, reach well-reasoned conclusions, and test them against relevant criteria and standards
3. Graphic Skills: Ability to use appropriate representational media, including freehand drawing and computer technology, to convey essential formal elements at each stage of the programming and design process.
4. Research Skills: Ability to gather, assess, record, and apply relevant information in architectural coursework.
5. Formal Ordering Systems: Understanding of the fundamentals of visual perception and the principles and systems of order that inform two-and three-dimensional design, architectural composition, and urban design.
6. Fundamental Design Skills: Ability to use basic architectural principles in the design of buildings, interior spaces, and sites
11. Use of Precedents: Ability to incorporate relevant precedents into architectural and urban design projects
12. Human Behavior: Understanding of the theories and methods of inquiry that seek the relationships between behavior and the physical environment.
14. Accessibility: Ability to design both site and building to accommodate individuals with varying physical abilities.
16. Program Preparation: Ability to prepare a comprehensive program for an architecture project, including assessment of client and user needs, a critical review of appropriate precedents, an inventory of space and equipment requirements, an analysis of site conditions, a review of the relevant laws and standards and assessment of their implication for the project, and a definition of site selection and design assessment criteria.
17. Site Conditions: Ability to respond to natural and built site characteristics in the development of a program and design of a project.
23. Building System Integration: Ability to assess, select, and integrate structural systems, building envelope systems, environmental systems, life-safety system, and building service systems into building design.
28. Comprehensive Design: Ability to produce a comprehensive architectural project based on a building program and site that includes development of programmed spaces demonstrating an understanding of structural and environmental systems, building envelope systems, life-safety provisions, wall sections and building assemblies, and the principles of sustainability


Important Reminders for your M. Arch Terminal Project Proposal

Project Title:
Your title should clearly indicate the proposed project's focus.

Project Description:
This is a detailed description of the proposed project. It should include information about the program, the proposed types and scales of planning/design intervention, and the intended users.
*In other words, is this a library, a school, a house, or an urban design project?
*How big is it? Are you proposing to prepare a master plan for a larger area and proposing to design in detail a specific part of it?
*What uses do you seek to accommodate?
*Who are the users? Do they have specific demands or needs?
*If you are proposing a design-build project how are you planning to realize it? Note that a design-build project is not a design-build project if it is not built. It requires a significant degree of advance preparation and familiarity with the processes that are outside your control (permits, manufacturing etc.).Therefore the committee needs to see clear evidence of its feasibility to approve it.
**Note also that you should not be revisiting a project you were assigned in previous years. By definition, the M. Arch Terminal Project should be a student-initiated project, not one previously defined by a former studio instructor.

Site Description:
You may pursue one of the following options:
--At the point of submission the proposal the project the site is already chosen. In that case, the proposal should contain information about the site with a good verbal description supported with visuals. (maps indicating the location within the larger context-depending on the location the immediate neighborhood, city, etc.; photographic images etc.) In other words, the characteristics of the site should be clear to a reader even if s/he may have never been at this location. Your site description should also include a convincing justification as to why the proposed project/program is appropriate for this location. (eg. If you are proposing an international airport for Kearney, NE, that will not work.)

--The site has not been selected, deciding on the site is part of the proposed process. In that case, there should be a well specified list of criteria for selecting a site, or a detailed description of the process that will lead to an appropriate site for the proposed program. These criteria should include physical attributes (size, shape of terrain/topography, orientation, climate etc.) contextual attributes (location, accessibility, density of its surroundings, population around the site etc.). The description of the process for identifying the appropriate site should be clear and precise. Vague statements such as "I will do library research to determine the site" or "I will collect data to determine the site" are not acceptable. Your proposal should specify exactly what kind of data you are going to use to determine the site, where you are going to look for that information (which libraries, databases, archives etc), and a sampling of the types of questions you are planning to ask to make that decision.

NAAB Criteria
You already have been given a list of the NAAB Criteria that you are expected to satisfy during the course of this undertaking. You might already want to start thinking about how your project is going to satisfy these criteria. Thus when submitting your proposal include a brief sentence or two describing how each item will be met with your proposed project.

If you are planning to add to that list or take some items out, it is your responsibility to make a convincing case for this modification. When making your NAAB List, you might consider asking yourself the following questions as a starting point:
Consider each criterion on NAAB's list carefully.
How are you going to are going to address it?
What aspects of your undertaking will address it?
What skills you have gained in your education are you going to tap into?
Prepare your list once you answer those questions. This is clearly a tentative guideline that will get you started. As you venture into the project and you work with your respective mentors, you will discover you might need to add new ones and take out others, but this initial should provide a fairly reliable reference for you and the mentor whose help you intend to enlist.

About Process
The specifics of how you are actually going to execute this project depend on your agreement with your mentor. However, it would be helpful for the mentors with whom you plan to work to see that you have a road map in mind, a sequence of procedures you intend to complete, and a fairly good idea of what it will take to complete to realize your goals.

Finding a mentor
This is a very important component of your process and you should start looking for a faculty member who will share your interest and will work with you in the realization of your project as soon as possible. Do not leave this to the last minute. The earlier you make contact with your mentor the better.

Guidelines for Submission
*Format, Grammar and Spelling: This is a serious document: consider it a contract or a proposal letter to a potential client. Thus your proposal should not be sloppy, looking like it was put together at the last minute. Grammatic mistakes, spelling errors, bad formatting are not acceptable.
*Bibliography: This is clearly a preliminary document, it will change and expand during the thesis year. However, it is important because reveals a degree of commitment to the project, suggesting that you have made an informed choice, having investigated some related issues. When listing your sources make sure that you are using appropriate conventions.
*When generating this document or any other document for academic review consider using The Chicago Manual of Style, Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations and Strunk and White's The Elements of Style as handy references. Your ideas may be brilliant, but a bad presentation can seriously undermine their strength.

London Students
London students tend to operate under different deadlines. Experience suggests that getting approval prior to departure can relieve you of long-distance anxieties and last minute scramblings for finding a mentor. If you would like to submit your proposal for early review, then the Christmas Break is a good time to get that worked out. An early deadline will be announced at the beginning of the semester. Keep your eyes peeled for announcements.

Sixth Year Vertical Studio Option (2)

Process
Milestone Dates
NAAB Criteria

Academic Year 2006 / 2007 Vertical Studio Options
Fall 2006 - Hyde Chair: Hyde Chair Studio
Fall 2006 - Jeff Day: Subtraction
Fall 2006 - Martin Despang: Domestic Re-Rooting
Spring 2007 - Chris Ford: Destination Los Angeles
Spring 2007 - Nate Krug: Bellevue Law Enforcement Center
Spring 2007 - Mark Hoistad: Thresholds
Spring 2007 - Patricia Morgado: London Studio

Process (Fifth year, Spring Semester 2007)

1. On or before January 31, students not wishing to pursue option one for the sixth year should indicate this to the PPC and the department office by filing the appropriate form stating this intention.

2. During the sixth week (Feb. 14-18), faculty members wishing to teach one of the vertical option studios will present their proposal to the students eligible for these studios. The proposals should indicate the following:

-- framework for exploration
-- a bibliography/reading list if appropriate
-- NAAB criterion addressed in the studio
-- an indication of the expected outcome(s) of the studio.

Those eligible students will give their preference by indication their first, second, and third choice. Studios will be offered based on preference and demand with the goal of having studio populations of between 10 and 14 students. Studios that fill with first preference requests will be offered first with those having the highest composite rating offered second.

Faculty offering a studio that is oversubscribed to will make the final selection of the students for that studio. Fifth year students will be given preference for the London Studio and the Hyde Chair studios. All other studios selection will attempt to give students their highest preference.

3. On or before April 3, students will be required to submit their preferences for vertical studios. Failure to submit a preference could result in restriction from registration for studio in the fall semester. Students are encouraged to speak with the various faculty offering studios for greater insight into the content and direction of the proposal.

4. On or before May 3, students will be notified of the studio assignments for the following year. Students will be allowed to register for the assigned studio after assignments have been made. Waiting lists will be established for those students wishing consideration for a studio for which they were not assigned. Alternate assignments will occur during the week before classes should openings come available.

Milestone Dates

Spring 2007
Intent form due date Jan. 31
Faculty presentations for studio options Feb. 14-18
Student preferences due Apr. 3
Notification of studio assignment for 2006-07 May 3

Fall 2007
Interim Review Dates per syllabus
Studio Reviews Friday Dead Week

Spring 2007
Interim Submission Dates per syllabus
Final Design Review Friday Dead Week

NAAB Criterion (minimum)

1. Speaking and Writing Skills: Ability to speak and write effectively on subject matter contained in the professional curriculum.

2. Critical Thinking Skills: Ability to raise clear and precise questions, use abstract ideas to interpret information, consider diverse points of view, reach well-reasoned conclusions, and test them against relevant criteria and standards

3. Graphic Skills: Ability to use appropriate representational media, including freehand drawing and computer technology, to convey essential formal elements at each stage of the programming and design process.

4. Research Skills: Ability to gather, assess, record, and apply relevant information in architectural coursework.

5. Formal Ordering Systems: Understanding of the fundamentals of visual perception and the principles and systems of order that inform two-and three-dimensional design, architectural composition, and urban design.

6. Fundamental Design Skills: Ability to use basic architectural principles in the design of buildings, interior spaces, and sites

11. Use of Precedents: Ability to incorporate relevant precedents into architectural and urban design projects

12. Human Behavior: Understanding of the theories and methods of inquiry that seek the relationships between behavior and the physical environment.

14. Accessibility: Ability to design both site and building to accommodate individuals with varying physical abilities.

16. Program Preparation: Ability to prepare a comprehensive program for an architecture project, including assessment of client and user needs, a critical review of appropriate precedents, an inventory of space and equipment requirements, an analysis of site conditions, a review of the relevant laws and standards and assessment of their implication for the project, and a definition of site selection and design assessment criteria.

17. Site Conditions: Ability to respond to natural and built site characteristics in the development of a program and design of a project.

23. Building System Integration: Ability to assess, select, and integrate structural systems, building envelope systems, environmental systems, life-safety system, and building service systems into building design.

28. Comprehensive Design: Ability to produce a comprehensive architectural project based on a building program and site that includes development of programmed spaces demonstrating an understanding of structural and environmental systems, building envelope systems, life-safety provisions, wall sections and building assemblies, and the principles of sustainability


Hyde Chair: Hyde Chair Studio (Fall 2006 - TBA)


Jeff Day: Subtraction (Fall 2006)
studio topic:
Architectural discourse has long privileged constructive, additive, and accretive processes in design. This studio proposes the opposite: demolition, subtraction, excavation, erasure, and editing as the primary creative acts that generate “buildings.”

Subtractive procedures are most evident in projects involving a dominant existing condition, such as urban infill or the adaptive reuse of a building, but it can nonetheless be found in any design process. In the non-literal sense, subtraction defines the critical practice of design, the selective removal of obstacles to reveal new possibilities for architecture. Fundamental to this is the notion that architecture is not “complete” when the contractor leaves; it is always in flux and undergoes its greatest transformation when new uses and tenants layer themselves upon it. The act of inhabitation (settlement, occupation) itself can be a critical design strategy.

In broad terms, one can say that subtraction has two poles: tactical and strategic. Tactical subtraction defines techniques for operating incrementally on an existing condition. Tactical subtraction dominates remodel, urban infill, and adaptive reuse projects. The opposite pole, strategic subtraction demands the creation of the tabula rasa, a clean slate to be covered by a completely new order. The strategic process resides at the core of urban renewal projects. This studio is concerned with former. Ultimately, the studio will demonstrate that design is fundamentally the process of transformation of an existing condition (site), and that instead of producing finite entities, design creates momentary intensities within an ever-mutating physical environment.

studio structure:
The studio will engage “applied research within a laboratory-like atmosphere and will also include a seminar component in which we will read and discuss a series of relevant texts. Students will engage in applied research at the beginning of the studio, making periodic presentations to the group. As the semester progresses, students will develop related projects that experiment with the procedures, strategies, and tactics that we are investigating. Students will work on individual and group projects. All students will be required to work in a variety of media with the digital being our backbone. We will utilize all facilities at our disposal, including the College’s new CNC-router.

Projects:
Prologue 1:
the space of the book

Prologue 2:
the matter of the chair

Project:
the site of the building/the building of the site (note: the sites for this project may be located out of state)


Martin Despang: Domestic Re-Rooting (Fall 2006)

Studio topic:
Early Nebraskan settlers and progressive midwestern midcentury homebuilders, in almost thinking global and acting local, demonstated how to adapt to the environment with “state of the art and architectural” means. The contemporary world of the domestic realm seems to fall way beyond these achievements.

The studio of “domestic re –rooting” is an integrated examination of the influences that lead to a consistant domestic architecture in it’s time.The studio explores the destinct aspects of housing as an architectural expression of a progressive social and currently more than ever important ecological impact with an interdisciplinary approach. Rather than a goal of designing the perfect contemporary home, the studio is meant to enhance the students critical skills and awareness in realizing problems, risks, challenges and potentials of contemporary domestic design.

Description and Purpose:
The course of exploring “domestic re-rooted” is an integrated approach to study how influences of time shape the most intimate architectural space of the domestic realm. Based upon preliminary knowledge of the history of modern architecture by investigating in the story of a specific piece of local architecture, the students starting with an analysis get involved to explore the specific architectural heritage of the city the study in.

The syllabus is organized systematically:
For the research part this means researching the objects, investigating and interviewing the architect and original owners and documenting the objects in drawing and photographs. The course will lead to an enhanced understanding how a coherent understanding of society’s virtues in it’s time shapes architecture. Working together with emeritus and alumni like Keith Sawyers, Dale Gibbs and William Schlaebitz in the research field will provide a strong intergenerational and interdisciplinary background.

In a contemporary situation of reactionary backwards orientation in the single family housing sector, the course will help to raise appreciation of the authenticity of housing as a local heritage resource and give the students a basis for exploring the potentials for state of the art and architecture 21 st century housing. Utilizing the research knowledge students in collaboration with the CRP program will investigate in the urban impact of possible new domestic activity and an urban fabric for own exploration. This will generate the building types that are to be worked on furthermore. A strong emphasis will be on applying and critically questioning modern tools for creating the contemporary domestic world.

Another focus will be to explore the tectonical potentials of the Nebraskan wood heritage in collaboration with the local Arbour day foundation and the global Thermowood community. Students will get to know about the tools for post-fossil design.

Studio structure:
The studio will be structured and operated as a research laboratory. It will include seminar components and as a very important feature inderdisciplinany collaborations with both current and alumni inside and outside institutions.

Students will make intensive research within Lincoln making contact with homeowners and local colleagues and in addition using the library for global precendents.

Their progress will be communicated in periodic presentations to the group. Participation will contiously shift between group and individual work. Professional presentation of the final stage of the work in progress results in a multimedia manner to the involved institutions is an integral part of the studios idea.


Chris Ford: Destination Los Angeles (Spring 2007)

“Destruction leads to a very rough road, but it also breeds creation.
And earthquakes are to a girl’s guitar, they’re just another good vibration.
And tidal waves couldn’t save the world, from Californication.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Californication, 1999

Course Objectives
This course will use metropolitan Los Angeles as the primary vehicle for discovering new possibilities in architectural design. By immersing oneself into an unfamiliar environment, a designer enables him/herself to observe, through analysis, those defining characteristics and icons that contribute to a location’s specificity of place. Furthermore, through precedent, a designer benefits from physically engaging with and occupying architectural works that otherwise exist outside of one’s usual realm. The ultimate goal of this studio will be to generate high-concept architectural solutions.

The primary objective of this particular studio section is to help each of its (12) students develop a personal process, or series of processes, to yield architectural design. This objective presumes that each student is beginning to develop a particular sensibility in their architectural thinking. As this sensibility matures, each student will nurture a preferred method of working while also clarifying their expectation for their built environment. This studio will create a series of opportunities for each student to ultimately develop a higher understanding of heuristic thinking, in anticipation of their forthcoming role as either practicing architects or another allied advocate for the built environment.

Course Text
The primary text for the course will be L.A. Now: Volume One by Art Center College of Design, 2001. This text will serve as both a resource and intellectual framework with which each student can, at some preliminary point, become engaged with quantifiable demographics and prevalent culture of a community different from their own. This text will play a key role in the studio’s daily pursuit of design excellence and will hopefully serve more as a reference manual than a formal reader. Additional readings will be distributed on occasion as the course develops.

Course Projects
This course will address emphasize the urban context of architectural design in its pursuit of three architectural design problems. Regardless of their developing heuristic process, each of the students will be held accountable for producing a comprehensive architectural solution. All three sites for these respective three projects would be in various parts of Los Angeles. Potential sites include Downtown, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Culver City and Santa Monica. Embodying a confluence of diverse geologic, economic and cultural conditions, these sites will offer competitive alternative venues to understanding universal urban conditions.

Perhaps of special interest, this studio will be participating in the invitation-only Lyceum Fellowship competition. In addition to submitting a competition entry, students will also submit a travel proposal. The first place travel prize is $10,000 and is expected to fund approximately six months of travel. For more information on the Lyceum, please see http://www.lyceum-fellowship.com.


Nate Krug: Bellevue Law Enforcement Center (Spring 2007)

“Green/building development” is an issue that has both local and global implications. “Human societies have been altering the earth since they began. But the pace and scale of degradation that started about mid-century - and continues today - is historically new. According to Postel “the central conundrum of sustainable development is now all too apparent: population and economies grow exponentially, but the natural resources that support them do not." A primary contention for expansion and enhancement of a university education through curriculum greening is to acknowledge the reality that twentieth century human society is affecting the environment in ways which are historically unprecedented and which are problematic for both natural ecosystems and humanity.

the task
The City of Bellevue has purchased 290 acres of open land for development to house some local needs – 20 acres has been designated for the Veterans Administration with that facility currently under construction. Other activities planned for the remaining acres include A NEW LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER (police station) [to be designed to LEED criteria], a major city park, and a new library. The library was the task for a vertical studio last fall with the additional undertaking of master planning the entire acreage. The placement and subsequent design of the law enforcement center will be in accordance with one of those four master plans, making this project the second in a series that perhaps could include many more design problems.

Efforts are currently underway to secure all existing background information and work completed to date (programmatic statement, site information, etc) in order to determine the size and scope of work the studio will involve for the semester. However, it is most definite that the project will involve working with the “Greening the Curriculum” Task Force1, Willis Regier3, AIA, the City of Bellevue, John Stacey, Jr. Bellevue Chief of Police, and perhaps other student groups (e.g. the emerging green builders5) / professionals.

The thrust of this project is aimed at addressing many goals. As an academic exercise, the project is set to develop your grasp and control of the total building, from initial problem definition to refined facility design. In achieving this, one must continue to develop an understanding of the importance of sources both within and outside of architecture in formulating a conceptual basis for design. In addition, the project is seen as a vehicle to continue your development of a personal design strategy or philosophy. As a “green” design challenge, the project should instill a sense of rigor and self discipline and allow a continued development of research, representation, and communication skills now expanded into the realm of sustainability – materials, methods, approach.

Conformation that an upper level studio would be centered on a Bellevue Law Enforcement Cent has been sent to Willis Regier. He has informed the Bellevue City Council (Gus Erickson), the Chief of Police, the Mayor of Bellevue (Jerry Ryan), and the City Administration (Gary Troutman) of our participation. The conformation explained that we cannot offer professional services. What we can and do provide, however, is an exploration into a wider, more varied set of ideas resulting in a more informed and enlightened client. We, the College of Architecture, actually seek out projects of this nature to allow us to become part of the wider Nebraska community which we strive to serve while enabling us to showcase the design talents of our varied student body.

notes
1A cross-disciplinary, inter program task force has been assembled from architecture (ARCH), architectural engineering (AE), community and regional planning (CRP), construction management (CM), and interior design (IDES) to propose and hopefully implement a program that serves two basic purposes: first, to promote and provide the integration of principles of sustainability and “green building/development” into the curricula of multiple programs and departments at the University of Nebraska; and second, to set up a framework and expertise to provide university-wide, as well as continuing, education in the area of sustainability as it relates to the built environment. The proposal focuses upon “engaged learning” for both students and faculty on a cross- and inter-disciplinary basis as it will help to facilitate multiple course offerings, engage a campus-wide body of students and faculty, and hopefully in time, influence policy and procedures of the University of Nebraska System in the area of facilities management, construction, demolition, and renovation activities.

3Willis Regier, A.I.A., is a retired architect and life-long resident of Bellevue, Nebraska. He has become the “point man” for us on the project and his involvement has and continues to be purely pro-bono, looking out for the best interest on behalf of the City of Bellevue.

5Emerging Green Builders is a newly formed student group here on the UN-L campus “representing a coalition of students intent on promoting the integration of future leaders into the green building movement” (as defined by the U. S. Green Building Council).


Mark Hoistad: Thresholds (Spring 2007)

Topic of the Studio
Throughout most of human history, urbanization was an integrated proposition. The distinction of different uses had more to do with the project in section rather than in plan. Modern utopian notions went about the process of sanitizing the city through a process of segregation uses. The adoption of zoning served as the primary vehicle for this transformation in the United States. Cities and design professionals have been challenging the wisdom of this notion for the past two decades with only minimal effect. This studio seeks to explore the potential of (re)integrating different uses within the evolving urban fabric of the city.

Framework for Development
Notions of public and private space are central to the facilitation of civic and domestic life. Interestingly enough in vibrant communities, the boundaries between these two realms are not absolute. They overlap and flow into each other changing with circumstance, time of day, and/or time of year. This studio will seek to focus on the demonstration and erasure of the threshold(s) between the domestic and civic space as a vehicle to explore the possibility of an integrated community. In addition the studio will include the forces which influence the development process. Issues including economy, collaboration, and politics will be integrated into the design process.

Evaluation Criteria
The journey and the final result are equally important to learning. Bearing this in mind both process and product will be evaluated to determine achievement. Interim due dates will be defined with expectations identified to help structure the journey. However, the real measure of professional discipline and rigor will be found in the consistent effort by the student and the level of dialogue that results from the tangible expression of these efforts. Ultimately all, both process and product, depend on a level of making. The final product should be the most developed and clear representation of the ideas of the student in relation to the requirements of the project. Evaluation will be centered on examining the tangible results of the ‘things’ made by the students.

Expected Outcome(s)
Beyond the NAAB criteria listed below, the studio intends to serve as a catalyst both for positive influence on the (re)development of an inner zone of a city and raising the bar for the redevelopment targets identified by the city. The project will focus in on the targeted projects identified in the evolving Antelope Valley or the Downtown Development master plan. The results of these efforts will be presented to those directly involved in these efforts.


Patricia Morgado: London Studio (Spring 2007)
Professor Patricia Morgado
Travel Abroad Application Required