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April is National Landscape Architecture Month

Art & Design, Landscape Architecture, Alumni, , , , ,
Design by Lewis E. Aqüi (BLA 1988), ASLA, LEED AP, principal and owner of Lewis Aqüi Landscape + Architecture Design (LA2d), Miami, Florida

Design by Lewis E. Aqüi (BLA 1988), ASLA, LEED AP, principal and owner of Lewis Aqüi Landscape + Architecture Design (LA2d), Miami, Florida

 

The month of April—National Landscape Architecture Month (NLAM)—is a fitting time to celebrate and promote one of the fastest growing professions in the world.

Throughout the month, the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture will be highlighting the careers our alumni, who work all over the world in a range of fields. From community parks to residential design, urban planning to transportation corridors, landscape architects have the keen ability to see what is not already there and are an essential part of our society.

The Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture has a vast alumni network with professionals working as principles and designers at private firms, national parks, and universities across the U.S. and abroad. Alumni help our students through internships and job placement, donations, and professional contributions. Our graduates are our greatest advocates and important assets to the success of the program at LSU. Their success and placement at top firms around the world are one of the reasons why our BLA and MLA programs are consistently ranked top in the nation.

In celebration of National Landscape Architecture Month, the LSU College of Art & Design and Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture will share an alumni profile on Facebook and Twitter every day, throughout the month of April. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter—hashtags #lsulandscape and #nlam—and share these posts with your own friends and followers. Help us highlight the remarkable careers of landscape architects and celebrate the profession while encouraging the next generation of designers to pursue careers in this field.

About LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture
The Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture has established an international reputation as one of America’s leading and consistently top -ranked programs. Part of the LSU College of Art & Design, the school offers Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture programs. For more than 70 years, the program has produced landscape architects who practice all over the world and participate in the full spectrum of the discipline. For more information, visit landscape.lsu.edu.

Interested in taking a summer course at LSU? April 27 is the last day to enroll!

Art & Design, Students, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design, Art History, Art, Architecture, Resources

 

Summer classes give students an extra chance to complete classes, stay on track, and get ahead in their degree program. Taking summer courses also helps lighten heavy loads during the spring and summer semesters without delaying graduation. Students also benefit from smaller class sizes, and coursework helps keep students in the learning groove through focused attention on a particular subject versus splitting time between four or more classes.

Below is a sampling of courses offered this summer through the LSU College of Art & Design. This list is not meant to be comprehensive. View a complete listing in the LSU Course Catalog. Students may enroll in summer courses now through 7 p.m. of April 27, 2015, without incurring late registration fees.

ART 1551 Basic Design

Session A, Monday–Thursday, 9:00 a.m.–noon

Basic Design introduces students to basic graphic design, black and white, with a focus on hand skills. Open to all majors.

Instructor: Gerald Bower

View a portfolio of work completed in ART 1551.

ART 4941 Special Studies in Photography: Malleable Narratives

Session B, Monday–Friday, 9:00–11:50 a.m.

This course considers how narratives function in and as works of art. Emphasis is on aspects of narrative in time-based media such as photography, film, animation, and audio works. Students will propose individual studio-based projects and explore a range of contemporary and historical examples of artists working in this tradition via slideshows, screenings, readings, and group discussions/critiques. Open to any Student pursuing a BFA in the School of Art with an interest in photography or moving-image work.

Instructor: Kristine Thompson

View a portfolio of work completed in ART 4941.

ART 4992 Concepts in Advanced Digital Photography

Session B, Monday–Friday, 12:45–3:35 p.m.

Concepts in Advanced Digital Photography offers students who have acquired the basic  skills of Intro to Digital Photography (ART 3992) an opportunity to critically explore the ever-changing digital landscape through a series of readings, discussions, and advanced projects, concluding with a digital portfolio. The course will emphasize the use of a digital SLR camera, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom software applications, and output through inkjet printing.  Open to anyone who has taken ART 3992.

Instructor: Kristine Thompson

View a portfolio of work completed in ART 4992.

ARTH 1441 Historical Survey of the Arts: Renaissance to Modern

Session B, Monday–Friday, 9:00–10:30 a.m.

Explore the history of art beginning with Renaissance masters such as Michelangelo and Leonardo and ending in the present age. Discover the works of artists such as Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Vincent van Gogh, and more. Classes will be more than just lecture—with campus tours, visits to the LSU Museum of Art, activities, and discussions. Anyone may enroll. This course fulfills the general education requirement in art and is required for art students.

Instructor: Alicia D. Ridout

ARTH 4422 History of Modern Design

Session B, Monday–Friday, 10:00–11:30 a.m.

History of Modern Design is a survey from the Arts & Crafts Movement to contemporary design, covering architecture, interiors, furniture, lighting, and ceramic, plastic, textile, and metal production, with emphasis on design theories.

Instructor: Susan Elizabeth Ryan

ID 4772 Sustainable Issues (with a focus on LEED-CI)

Session A, Tuesdays & Thursdays, 4:00–7:30 p.m.

Sustainable issues prepares design students to take the LEED Green Associate Exam. Open to all majors.

Instructor: Matthew Edmonds

Get Out of Town! Externships Provide Eye-Opening Experiences for LSU Architecture Students

Art & Design, Students, Architecture, Resources
lsu architecture externships

Kyle Springmann makes a site visit during his externships at assemblageSTUDIO in Las Vegas.

Over the 2014 winter break, the School of Architecture had 10 students participate in externships at prestigious design firms all over the country.

The School of Architecture facilitates a one week, unpaid externship program that takes place during winter and spring break for students interested in learning more about the profession. Externships provide unique opportunities for students to shadow professionals in architecture and design practices. Students who participate in externships develop a sense for the transition from school to professional practice and are introduced to the environment of an architecture office.

The 10 students were placed at prestigious firms in Seattle, Atlanta, New York City, Chicago, Boston, and Las Vegas.

Third-year student Richard Abbot was placed at Olson Kundig in Seattle, Washington. A Seattle-based firm of more than 90 employees, Olson Kundig Architects’ worldwide work includes museums, commercial design, academic buildings, exhibit design, interior design, places of worship, and residences—often for art collectors.

SOM, Chicago

SOM, Chicago

Third-year students Isabella Gizinski and Brianna Leblanc were both placed at Mack Scogin Merrill Elam in Atlanta, Georgia. Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects executes designs and management work for project types ranging from airports and hospitals to corporate and industrial campuses. In addition to architecture, services offered by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects include graphic design, exhibit design, interior design, planning, programming, and research.

Second-year student Eva Knapp was placed at H3 in New York City. H3 is a nationally recognized leader in the planning and design of active public spaces that enhance the fabric and culture of the community. H3 designs projects that respond to context, honor cultural heritage, and serve as catalysts for vibrancy.

“The experience made me realize the difference between college work and real-world work,” said Eva.

Laura Kurtz was placed at Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) in New York City. BIG is a Copenhagen and New York City based group of architects, designers, builders, and thinkers operating within the fields of architecture, urbanism, research, and development. BIG’s architecture emerges out of a careful analysis of how contemporary life constantly evolves and changes.

lsu architecture externships

Margaret Long, Renzi Terrebonne, and Sara Loquist participated in externships at SOM, Chicago.

Graduate students Renzi Terrebonne and Sara Loquist, as well as third-year undergraduate student Margaret Long, were placed at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in Chicago, Illinois. SOM is one of the largest and most influential architecture, interior design, engineering, and urban planning firms in the world. SOM’s unrivaled portfolio contains some of the greatest design achievements in the modern era. SOM is renowned for their iconic buildings and their steadfast commitment to design excellence, innovation, and sustainability. Renzi worked in the architecture division; Margaret and Sarah worked on a presentation about the UN Climate Control Summits and design implications.

“It was an amazing experience to be a part of such a big and accomplished firm,” said Margaret.

Undergraduate student Jacob Thevenot was placed at NADAAA in Boston, Massachusetts. NADAAA is a platform for design investigation at a large scale and with a great geographic reach. NADAAA’s projects range in scale from furniture to architecture and urban design, with a focus on craft, construction, and digital fabrication.

 

Third-year student Kyle Springmann was placed at assemblageSTUDIO in Las Vegas, Nevada. assemblageSTUDIO creates site specific projects which embrace the inherent qualities of the respective environment. Design and sustainability are brought together to develop appropriate desert responses to modern living and working spaces.

“Working under the guidance of Eric Strain and his team at assemblageSTUDIO was a positive and eye opening experience to say the least,” said Kyle. “ I highly recommend that all architecture students extern before graduating as it is a great opportunity to network and share experiences with people from around the country.”

The School of Architecture will have at least 10 students participate in externships over the upcoming spring break. Visit design.lsu.edu/architecture/student-resources/externships for more information about the LSU externship program.

Alumni Spotlight: Seth Rodewald-Bates, MLA 2005

Art & Design, Landscape Architecture, Alumni, Alumni Profiles, , ,
lsu landscape architecture alumni work

Seth Rodewald-Bates and his wife, Elisabeth Davies, reused former shipping containers in building their home in the Carrollton neighborhood. Their house is built out of two large shipping containers with an extended living area done with more traditional building materials. One container is now the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. The other container was cut, with a 28-foot section being used as an office/dining area and the smaller section is being used as a shed in the backyard. (Photo by Kathleen Flynn, NOLA.com l The Times-Picayune)

Seth Rodewald-Bates, MLA 2005, is a licensed landscape architect in Mississippi and Louisiana, an associate at Spackman Mossop Michaels, and an adjunct faculty member at Tulane University, where he teaches a course on site strategies. Years ago, Seth’s interest in container architecture was piqued during a graduate studio at RRSLA that looked at industrial canals and shipping in New Orleans. Today, Seth and his wife, Elisabeth Davies, may be the only people in New Orleans living in upcycled shipping containers.

Seth grew up in East Texas. He received a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Stephen F. Austin State University, where his interest in landscape architecture started with plants. Seth said planting design remains a big component of his work.

After receiving a MLA from the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, Seth worked as a landscape architect at Sasaki Associates in Boston for a year. He moved back to Baton Rouge and decided to take a sabbatical for a few months to work as an intern at the Chinati Foundation (chinati.org), a contemporary art museum located on 340 acres in Marfa, Texas, that focuses on large-scale installations, emphasizing works in which art and the surrounding landscape are inextricably linked.

“I wanted to learn a bit about contemporary art,” said Seth. While in Marfa, Seth met his wife, who is now an assistant pastry chef for Link Restaurant Group—in other words, for some of the best and hottest restaurants in New Orleans, including Butcher, Pêche, Cochon, and Herbsaint.

After his internship at Chinati, Seth accepted a position as a landscape architect at Newton Landscape Group in Baton Rouge. He and his wife moved to New Orleans, and Seth commuted to Baton Rouge for six years. He worked on high-end residential design-build projects at NLG for a total of eight years and taught landscape architecture courses at LSU from 2009 to 2011.

He joined Spackman Mossop Michaels in New Orleans in July 2014 and now works for two of his former LSU professors, Elizabeth Mossop and Wes Michaels, “which so far, hasn’t been awkward at all,” he laughed.

 

With offices in Sydney, Australia, as well as New Orleans, Spackman Mossop Michaels is an award-winning, international landscape architecture and urban design firm. Spackman Mossop Michaels employs a few other LSU alumni, as well, including Emily Bullock (MLA 2011). Seth is currently working on several hospitality projects for hotels in New Orleans, select residential properties, and a large-scale park project. “We have a full LSU contingent here and are all very familiar with each other,” Seth said.

As a member of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture Professional Advisory Board, Seth provides guidance, support, and helps establish development opportunities for the school. “LSU was a great experience for me. The school’s fantastic alumni network has helped me through the years both personally and professionally,” he added.

Recently, Seth and his wife built a 720-square-foot home out of two, four-ton shipping containers on a narrow lot in Uptown New Orleans. They’ve been living in the eco-friendly, low-footprint home for a little over a year now. “It’s a work in progress, but we love it,” Seth said.

They enjoy many of the same creature comforts of any modern home, including a modern stainless steel and granite kitchen with an island and five-burner stove and office space with built-in book shelves. They even have a plunge pool, and the containers’ original steel doors function perfectly as hurricane shutters.

Seth and Elisabeth’s new home has been making headlines, with features in the Times-Picayune and Nola.com. WGNO, the New Orleans ABC affiliate, interviewed Seth about his home last week before the New Orleans Home & Garden Show. Picking up on the global trend, one of the highlights at the show was a village built from shipping containers at a variety of scales, from homes, bunk houses, and yoga studios to duck blinds, dog houses, and playhouses.

“I think they interviewed us because Elisabeth and I are the only people living in shipping containers in New Orleans,” laughed Seth.

Watch Seth on WGNO.

From horticulture and contemporary art in Texas; landscape architecture and teaching in Boston, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans; to eco-friendly living in shipping containers with a pastry chef, Seth Rodewald-Bates is truly enjoying a sustainable lifestyle.

In celebration of National Landscape Architecture Month, the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture will share an alumni profile on Facebook and Twitter every day throughout the month of April. Use hashtags #lsulandscape and #nlam to follow National Landscape Architecture Month at RRSLA.

Professor Mark E. Boyer Named New Director of LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture

Art & Design, Landscape Architecture, Alumni, Faculty,

lsu mark boyerLSU’s Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture has selected Professor Mark E. Boyer, head of the University of Arkansas’s Department of Landscape Architecture, to serve as the school’s new director.

Pending approval from the LSU System Board of Supervisors, Boyer, who received a Master of Landscape Architecture from the Robert Reich School in 1996, will assume directorship of the school effective July 2015.

“It is amazing to come back home,” said Boyer, who was born in Michigan and grew up in Kansas. “I’m not from Louisiana, but as someone once told me, once you’ve been to LSU, it gets in your blood. I’m excited to come back and completely honored to be offered the position as director of the school.”

The process to find a new director for the school began in the summer of 2014. After an extensive search, the Director Search Committee, headed by Professor Emeritus Suzanne Turner, identified several excellent, qualified applicants. The committee invited the final candidates to present in an open forum to LSU College of Art & Design faculty, students, and staff.

“His presentation to our students and faculty revealed a sincere passion for the profession reminiscent of our founder, Dr. Robert S. Reich,” said LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture Interim Director Van Cox, who will continue to serve in the position through June 2015. “Mark understands our traditions and is committed to an even better future. We are delighted to welcome Mark back ‘home.’”

Boyer, a registered landscape architect in Louisiana and Arkansas, received his BS in landscape architecture with distinction from the University of Kentucky after serving four years in the United States Air Force. He followed two years of practice with a graduate degree in landscape architecture. While pursuing his MLA at LSU, Boyer worked on several projects that dealt with protecting/restoring sensitive ecosystems and lands in an interdisciplinary approach with geographers, coastal ecologists, state resource managers, federal agencies, and federal wildlife managers.

“I was at LSU when Robert Reich was still teaching,” said Boyer. “I was fortunate to be around and work with Neil Odenwald, Suzanne Turner, Wayne Womack, Dan Earle, Jon Emerson, Chuck Fryling, Bruce Sharky, Max Conrad, Sadik Artunc, and Van Cox—so I understand the foundation and the legacy of the program. I am looking forward to building the next phase of the school’s legacy, with the faculty we have and the new faculty who are going to join us.”

“Mark was an outstanding student here, has since demonstrated his professional and educational leadership elsewhere, and is now rejoining us with the opportunity to guide the school to even greater excellence,” added Cox.

Following his graduate education, Boyer entered private practice again as a landscape architect at Patrick C. Moore Landscape Architects + Site Planners (now Environmental Resources Management) in Alexandria, Louisiana, where he was involved in institutional site design, master planning, and large-scale state and national park projects. He joined the faculty at the University of Arkansas in 1998 and has taught courses on landscape architecture construction materials and technologies, ecological design studios, and interdisciplinary courses on urban stormwater management and constructed wetlands. He has won several teaching awards at the departmental and national level and was inducted into the highly distinguished University of Arkansas Teaching Academy.

Boyer has received numerous grants for his research on landscape architecture design and construction technologies; sustainable design; green roofs and bio-retention; and sustainable and alternative stormwater management technologies. He has presented papers at national and international conferences and his work has been published in dozens of peer-reviewed publications. Boyer received bevies of merit and honor awards from the national and regional organizations of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), the American Institute of Architects, and others for the planning and design of an urban greenway in Warren, Arkansas, and as a project design team member of “Habitat Trails: from infill house to green neighborhood design.”

Boyer was named head of UA’s Department of Landscape Architecture in 2010, after serving as interim director for two years. He also served as interim associate dean of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and is currently co-director of the Wally Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center, a university-wide center focused on developing teaching excellence.

His extensive involvement in landscape architecture professional organizations includes serving for two years as second vice president of the Council of Educators of Landscape Architecture (2012–14), an elected position. A member of ASLA, he served on the Committee for Education (2012–14). He has volunteered for the Task Analysis Experts Committee and the Cut Score Committee of the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards (CLARB), the organization that certifies landscape architecture professionals and establishes and promotes standards for professional competency and conduct.

Boyer said, as director, he will focus on continuing the efforts that have garnered the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture a stellar reputation and top billing in annual rankings of landscape architecture graduate and undergraduate programs compiled by DesignIntelligence, the leading journal of the design professions. He also has plans to focus on recruitment and continue his work with ASLA to market and promote the landscape architecture profession as a whole. Most of all, he is looking forward to working closely with the faculty, staff, and fellow Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture alumni.

“The faculty are essential in establishing the culture of the program and experience of the students so they get LSU in their blood, as well, and stay connected as alumni,” added Boyer. “Alumni are critically important to the success of the school. I will be relying on those relationships to develop partnerships and create more internship and job opportunities for our students and graduates.”

“We are happy to welcome Mark to the college and community,” stated LSU College of Art & Design Dean Alkis Tsolakis. “He brings a wealth of professional, educational, and administrative experience. He will maintain the high standards that have distinguished the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture and will contribute to the interdisciplinary collaboration and integration both within the College of Art & Design as well as within the academic and professional world.”

About LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture
The Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture has established an international reputation as one of America’s leading and consistently top-ranked programs. Part of the LSU College of Art & Design, the school offers Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture programs. For more than 70 years, the program has produced landscape architects who practice all over the world and participate in the full spectrum of the discipline. For more information, visit landscape.lsu.edu.

Contact
Angela Harwood
Communications Manager
LSU College of Art & Design
225-578-9041
aharwood@lsu.edu

(Wet)Land Building with Kiel Moe, Spring 2015 Nadine Carter Russell Chair

Art & Design, Students, Community Outreach, Coastal Sustainability Studio, Architecture, Faculty, , , ,
lsu nadine carter russell chair kiel moe

Kiel Moe, Spring 2015 Nadine Carter Russell Chair

Kiel Moe, a registered practicing architect and associate professor of architecture and energy at Harvard Graduate School of Design, was named one of two 2014–15 Nadine Carter Russell Chairs, a rotating residency shared among the four disciplines within the LSU College of Art & Design—this year, hosted by the School of Architecture.

[Guy Nordenson, structural engineer and professor of architecture and engineering at Princeton University, was the fall 2014 Nadine Carter Russell Chair.]

Moe is co-director of the Master in Design Studies program and the Energy, Environments & Design Research Lab at HGSD, where he teaches and coordinates core design studios, seminars on forms of energy, and lectures on architecture and energy. His research and design practice centers on an agenda for design and energy that is at once more ecologically and architecturally ambitious, focusing on both buildings as manifestations of large-scale energy systems as well as overlooked and discrete thermal parameters in buildings that yet have great impact on the power and thermodynamic depth of architecture.

kiel moe architect

Maximum power design by Kiel Moe

As the spring 2015 chair, Moe presented a lecture that was open to the university and the public. [View his lecture, “Maximum Power Design.”] He has visited LSU several times throughout the spring semester to work with architecture students in Assistant Professor Shelby Doyle’s graduate design studio, ARCH 7004.

The focus of the studio, “Architecture of (Wet)Land Building: Wax Lake Delta NERRS Research Center,” is to propose designs for the flagship Louisiana National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) facility in the Wax Lake Delta, to be part of the national system that protects more than 1.3 million acres in 28 reserves in 22 states and Puerto Rico. Louisiana is currently the only Gulf Coast state without a NERRS site or facility. The 35,000-square-foot facility will include office space, laboratories, classrooms, exhibition space, and a dormitory—as well as a program for educational outreach.

As co-instructor of the course, Moe introduced his energy methodology, expanding the students’ understanding of energy systems in architecture—especially in the context of Wax Lake—and exposed students to principles of maximum power, transformation, and feedback as a co-motivator for the design of buildings.

“It has been a privilege to teach with Kiel, and his presence at LSU is a unique opportunity for our students,” stated Doyle. “Professor Moe’s research provides a productive and generative link between architecture and the dynamic ecology of the Wax Lake Delta, and I am looking forward to seeing this influence in the students’ design proposals.”

 

Moe accompanied the students on a field trip to the Wax Lake Delta in March. [View photos from the Wax Lake Delta on Flickr.] Earlier in the spring, the students visited the National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) in Grand Bay, Mississippi, and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium (LUMCON) DeFelice Marine Center in Cocodrie, Louisiana, to experience and document two architectural precedents that combine ongoing scientific research and public education and outreach.

[View photos from the Gulf Coast field trips on Flickr.]

Studio collaborations with Dr. Robert Twilley, executive director of the Louisiana Sea Grant Program and professor of oceanography and coastal sciences at LSU, and Dr. Pamela Blanchard, associate professor of education, provided the students with important background information to help them develop their proposals. Much of Twilley’s research is focused on understanding the ecosystem ecology, management practices, and biogeochemistry of coastal wetlands in the Gulf of Mexico and throughout Latin America—from Florida to the Yucatan Peninsula. Blanchard served as Louisiana Sea Grant’s education coordinator for four years and helped start the Ocean Commotion and LSU Coastal Roots programs. Her responsibilities in the School of Education are centered on helping elementary and secondary science educators teach science in rigorous, creative, meaningful, and engaging ways.

The LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio provided financial, planning, and institutional support for the course. CSS works to envision and design sustainable systems that reduce vulnerability to increased storm strength, coastal hazards, habitat degradation, and global environmental change. The results of this design experimentation provide a sound basis for major policy decisions for adaptation through more sustainable land-use planning protection, and education.

“It has been an honor to be named the Nadine Carter Russell Chair,” said Moe. “I am very much enjoying the opportunity to engage the LSU community and context. The residency provides an excellent opportunity to discuss and apply a wide range of ideas about ecology and design in a rich and complex context. The engagement of the School of Architecture and CSS has been impressive.”

 

Moe attended the studio’s mid-term reviews and critiqued the students’ proposals. He will return to Baton Rouge to participate in final reviews and critiques at the end of the semester.

More about Kiel Moe
Kiel Moe received his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Cincinnati, his Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia, and his Master of Design in Design and Environmental Studies from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design Advanced Studies Program. In recognition of his design and research, Moe was awarded the 2009–10 Gorham P. Stevens Rome Prize Fellowship in Architecture and the 2012 Barbara and Andrew Senchak Fellowship for MacDowell Colony. He received the 2013 Boston Design Biennial Award, the 2011 Architecture League of New York Prize, the 2011 AIA National Young Architect Award, as well as numerous design awards for individual projects from the AIA, North American Wood Design Awards, and the Boston Society of Architects. He is the author of six books, including Insulating Modernism: Isolated and Nonisolated Thermodynamics in Architecture (Birkhauser, 2014); Convergence: An Architectural Agenda for Energy (2013); and Thermally Active Surfaces in Architecture (2010).

About the Master of Architecture Program at LSU
The LSU School of Architecture graduate program focuses on engaging students and faculty who share interests in design and the built environment. The backbone of the Master of Architecture program is the Design Studio, where students engage in the design education process. The graduate program integrates innovative design with technical, social, and practical concerns to address complex global conditions. Courses and studios focused on history, theory, sustainability, digital media, and community design provide the knowledge to solve real-life problems in the built environment. Studio projects center on spatial design, Louisiana coastal issues, and community design efforts. For more information, visit architecture.lsu.edu.

Marsha Cuddeback Presents Research at Sustainability Conference in Denmark and IDEC Conferences

Art & Design, Research, Interior Design, Faculty, , ,

marsha cuddebackMarsha Cuddeback, Ruth Z. McCoy Professor of Interior Design, presented her paper, “Sustainable Design Education in the Twenty-First Century: Reconceptualizing Course Content and Pedagogy,” at the Eleventh International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic, and Social Sustainability, January 21–23, 2015, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The conference is hosted by the On Sustainability Knowledge Community, an organization dedicated to the concept of independent, peer led groups of scholars, researchers, and practitioners working together to build bodies of academic knowledge related to topics of critical importance to society at large. Focusing on the intersection of academia and social impact, the community brings an interdisciplinary, international perspective to discussions of new developments in the field including research, practice, policy, and teaching. Cuddeback’s travel was funded, in part, through the School of Interior Design and the LSU Office of Research & Economic Development.

Cuddeback’s paper describes an approach to course design for professional interior design undergraduate students that responds to the challenges and opportunities emerging designers face as they move further into the 21st century. Merging expanded course content with innovative instructional methods attempts to emulate the dynamic and complementary relationship between the natural and constructed environments and acknowledges the urgent need to fully integrate a sustainable design pedagogy in higher education design courses and curricula. Doing so creates a learning environment where students expand their knowledge base and develop a responsive design ethic that can be applied and tested in course assignments, design problems, and creative activities. This approach advances a process for synthesizing traditionally disparate course content with new content and significant learning methods as a means to foster a paradigm shift in the way we live, learn, design, and make.

Also within the past year, Cuddeback, along with Associate Professor TL Ritchie, presented their paper, “Expanding a Self-Learning Model in Interior Design,” at the IDEC Southwest Regional Conference. This paper describes the opportunities for traditional service-learning pedagogy to evolve and extend its impact and level of engagement to other forms of experiential education while maintaining rigorous academic outcomes. Cuddeback and Ritchie received one of two Best Paper awards during the conference.

This spring, Cuddeback will host a workshop at the IDEC 2015 Annual Conference entitled, “Dynamic Balance: Crafting an Immersive Approach to Interdisciplinary Course Design.” The workshop is an opportunity to examine a dynamic and balanced teaching pedagogy and learn how to develop, implement, and assess a short-term, off-campus, interdisciplinary, and vertically integrated course based on experiential learning. The workshop will help develop the “behind-the-scenes” framework educators need to gain institutional support.

At the same conference, Cuddeback and Ritchie will present another paper, “Cultural Agency: Exploring Perception, Product and Approach.” This paper integrates research and analysis informed by cultural diversity in the design studio to provide opportunities to understand the interior environment as both a product and expression of culture.

In June 2014, Cuddeback was appointed as an IDEC National Teaching Collaborative Coordinator. IDEC will launch a new online resource for educators during the IDEC 2015 Annual Conference, which includes innovative teaching ideas, online Pecha Kucha, K-12 teaching modules, and workshop webinars. These are the first of a series of offerings that IDEC will be providing to members and non-members.

LSU Interior Design Faculty Present Research at National IDEC Conference

Art & Design, Research, Interior Design, Faculty, , , ,
lsu interior design faculty

Four interior design faculty represent LSU at national IDEC conference. From left: Marsha Cuddeback, TL Ritchie, Jim Sullivan, and Jun Zou

Four LSU School of Interior Design faculty members will present at the Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) 2015 Annual Conference | Catalyst for Innovation. The mission of the IDEC is the advancement of interior design education, scholarship, and service.

Marsha R. Cuddeback, Ruth Z. McCoy Professor of Interior Design, will present a workshop entitled, “Dynamic Balance: Crafting an Immersive Approach to Interdisciplinary Course Design.” This workshop is an opportunity to examine a dynamic and balanced teaching pedagogy and learn how to develop, implement, and assess a short-term, off-campus, interdisciplinary, and vertically integrated course based on experiential learning. The workshop will help develop the “behind-the-scenes” framework educators need to gain institutional support.

Cuddeback and Associate Professor TL Ritchie will present their paper, “Cultural Agency: Exploring Perception, Product and Approach,” at the conference. The paper integrates research and analysis informed by cultural diversity in the design studio to provide opportunities to understand the interior environment as both a product and expression of culture.

Cuddeback was appointed as an IDEC National Teaching Collaborative Coordinator in June 2014. IDEC will launch a new online resource for educators during the IDEC 2015 Annual Conference, which includes innovative teaching ideas, online Pecha Kucha, K-12 teaching modules, and workshop webinars. These are the first of a series of offerings that IDEC will be providing to members and non-members.

Jim Sullivan, associate professor and chair of the LSU School of Interior Design, will present his paper, “Koolhaas and the Autonomy of the Interior,” which examines writings and projects by Rem Koolhass to illuminate the statutes and operation of interiors of his work.

Jun Zou, associate professor of interior design, along with Feihu Chen, professor at the College of Architecture at Hunan University in China, will present their paper, “Concerting with Past Souls and Future Minds,” during the Journal of Interior Design Symposium directly following the conference. The paper outlines two design scholarship=pedagogy projects: Meishan (Plum Mountain) Ecological Park design (Anhua, China) and Magnolia Mound Plantation daylighting analysis (Baton Rouge, Louisiana). Both projects involve environmental art & design programs at Hunan University and the School of Interior Design at LSU. The collaborative experience is examined to motivate further thinking and actions from interior design professionals riding the waves of the globalization and sustainability movement in which local culture and traditions may be overwhelmed or rejuvenated.

Professor Cat Marshall Leads Hyde Workshop at University of Nebraska–Lincoln

Art & Design, Landscape Architecture, Faculty, ,

 

Cathy Marshall, an associate professor at the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, spent February 16–20 leading the Hyde Workshop of Landscape Architecture at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

The workshop explored the profound engagement of site and the creation of meaning through drawing as a generative force for understanding the Nebraska landscape. Marshall started teaching the course remotely in January. Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and Master of Architecture students at UNL developed a series of drawings on their chosen studio landscape using the theories and methods introduced in the weekly, online lectures.

During her week in Nebraska, Marshall met with the students in the workshop to provide feedback on their work, which was exhibited at UNL on Wednesday, February 18, and gave a public lecture at UNL’s College of Architecture. In her lecture, “Poverty Point, Revising the Sacred Landscape,” she discussed her research on Poverty Point Historic Site, a World Heritage Site, and work completed in her advanced landscape Design Studio titled, “Poverty Point,” last fall.

About Associate Professor Cathy Marshall

Marshall teaches core design studios in the landscape architecture undergraduate program and landscape systems and site design, as well as representation and advanced research seminars, in the MLA program at LSU. Her research focuses on tracing the natural forces and spatial memory of the sublime in Louisiana. Her work has been published in Landscape Architecture Magazine and the Journal of Landscape Architecture, and she has contributed chapters to Transforming with Water and Perspectives on Creativity. She has presented her research at international and national conferences, including International Federation of Landscape Architects, International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture, Alliance for Historic Landscape Preservation, Environmental Design Research Association, and the Iraqi War Memorial Symposium.

Consul General of France in Louisiana Grégor Trumel to Give LSU Art & Design Spring Commencement Address

Art & Design, Students, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design, Events, Art, Architecture, ,

lsu art and design commencement

The College of Art & Design is excited to announce that Grégor Trumel of the Consul General of France in Louisiana will give the commencement address at the LSU College of Art & Design graduation ceremony this spring.

Appointed by the president of the French Republic, Trumel assumed his duties as consul general of France in Louisiana in August 2014. He previously served as first counselor, press counselor, and deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of France in Denmark, and has also served in Paris and the Netherlands. Joining the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2000, Trumel has gained significant professional expertise in European diplomacy, particularly during the period of the Danish presidency of the European Union in 2012. He specializes in human resources and was head of executive management in Paris, a position that oversaw the activities of ambassadors, directors, and consul generals. A graduate of Sciences-Po (Political Studies Institute), Trumel has also studied economics and literature. He is passionate about modern music, especially the music of Louisiana—Cajun, zydeco, and rhythm ‘n blues.

LSU College of Art & Design Dean Alkis Tsolakis will present Trumel with an Honor Award for continuing the consulate’s 212-year tradition of preserving and enriching the cultural heritage of the state of Louisiana.

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Trumel’s commencement token featuring the Residence of France, Prytania Street, New Orleans

At the commencement ceremony on May 15, the LSU College of Art & Design will grant 137 bachelor’s degrees and 23 master’s degrees: 26 Bachelors of Architecture and four Masters of Architecture; 67 Bachelors of Fine Arts, five Masters of Fine Arts, and one Master of Arts in Art History; 21 Bachelors of Interior Design; 23 Bachelors of Landscape Architecture and 13 Masters of Landscape Architecture.

Twenty-eight graduates selected for membership in Tau Sigma Delta will be honored in a robing ceremony and reception on Wednesday, May 13, 3–5 p.m., in the Design Building Atrium. Tau Sigma Delta is the honor society for art and design. These students make up the top 20 percent of the May 2015 graduating class.

lsu landscape student erin percevault receives olmsted scholarship

Landscape architecture senior Erin Percevault, BLA, will graduate from the LSU Honors College, after presenting her Honors Thesis at the ninth annual Ogden Honors Research Colloquium in West Laville Hall on April 22, 2015. Erin was also selected the LSU’s Tiger Twelve Class of 2015 for demonstrating through scholarship, actions, and contributions the principles presented in the LSU Commitment to Community.

lsu graphic design alumniGraphic design student Juan Pilar Baldera Jr. is the student speaker for this year’s commencement ceremony. Juan has served as an ambassador for the LSU School of Art at recruitment events and open houses, where he has encouraged prospective students to embrace a career in the arts. He is a member of the Graphic Design Student Office in which students of the LSU School of Art work with faculty advisors to provide professional design services for local community organizations and university departments. Juan’s work will be on display, along with work by graduating graphic design seniors, at the exhibition Keep Unfolding, May 11–15, 2015, in the Design Building Commons, room 102. A reception will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 13.

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Each year, one student from each program at the LSU College of Art & Design is selected by administration to receive Dean’s Medals. Medals are awarded to high-achieving students with remarkable levels of participation and interaction with students and faculty. This year’s Dean’s Medal recipients are:

  • Mallory Lynn Estopinal, Bachelor of Architecture, and James Paul Canales, Master of Architecture, will receive medals on behalf of the LSU School of Architecture;
  • Philomena Alice Baldwin, Bachelor of Fine Arts, and Veronica Kay Hallock, Master of Fine Arts, will receive medals from the LSU School of Art;
  • Tracy R. Manuel will receive a Bachelor of Interior Design and a Dean’s Medal from the LSU School of Interior Design; and
  • Erin M. Percevault, Bachelor of Landscape Architecture, and Anna Wray Shaw, Master of Landscape Architecture, will be awarded medals from the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture.

Fifteen graduating seniors have been named Distinguished Communicators. These students have demonstrated exceptional communication skills, as well as a commitment to community service, excellence in their fields of study, and superior leadership skills:

  • Kim Allen, BFA, advised by Darius Spieth;
  • Bianca Bergeron, BID, advised by John Campbell;
  • Eugenie Borchardt, BArch, advised by William Doran;
  • Harrison Daigle, BArch, advised by Jason Crow;
  • Mallory Estopinal, BArch, advised by Kristen Kelsch;
  • Nathaniel Frank, BArch, advised by William Doran;
  • Samantha Hardy, BFA, advised by Derek Ostrenko;
  • Kyle Hymel, BArch, advised by Kristen Kelsch;
  • Tracy Manuel, BID, advised by Marsha Cuddeback;
  • Morgan Melancon, BID, advised by Marsha Cuddeback;
  • Erin Percevault, BLA, advised by Kevin Risk;
  • Kathryn Seal, BArch, advised by William Doran;
  • Christopher Weimer, BArch, advised by William Doran;
  • Teresa Williams, BArch, advised by William Doran; and
  • Hannah Willson, BID, advised by Marsha Cuddeback.

Distinguished Communicators will celebrate their great accomplishments at the LSU Distinguished Communicator Medal Ceremony on Thursday, May 14, 8–9 a.m., in the Business Education Complex Auditorium, room 1510.

The College of Art & Design will honor four faculty members whose retirements occur at the end of the 2014–15 academic year.

  • Associate Professor Michael Pitts has taught architecture at LSU since July 1983.
  • Professor Christopher Hentz has taught jewelry making and metalsmithing, CAD, CAM, RP, digital fabrication, and three-dimensional design at LSU since July 1983.
  • Professor Thomas Neff has taught photography at LSU since 1982. His series of portraits and written narratives of citizens in New Orleans who did not evacuate when Hurricane Katrina struck, Holding Out and Hanging On: Surviving Hurricane Katrina, was published by the University of Missouri Press in 2007. Neff’s work will be featured in an exhibition, Katrina + 10, at the Glassell Gallery at the Shaw Center for the Arts in downtown Baton Rouge, August 27–October 10, 2015.
  • Professor Kimberly Arp has taught printmaking at LSU for 35 years. He received an education award from the Southern Graphics Council in conjunction with the exhibition 30 Years of Printmaking at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, which showcased 30 years of LSU student artwork archived and preserved by Arp.

The LSU College of Art & Design Commencement Ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. on May 15, 2015, in the LSU Student Union Theater. The ceremony will be followed by a reception for art and design graduates and their families in the LSU Design Building Atrium. The LSU School of Art is hosting a reception that afternoon at the LSU Foster Gallery, where senior BFA student work will be on exhibit at the BFA Senior Exhibitiion, May 6–15, 2015.

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