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LSU’s Jeff Carney To Speak at White House Frontiers Conference

Research, Community Outreach, Coastal Sustainability Studio, Architecture, Faculty, Doctor of Design, , ,

jeff carneyLSU’s Jeff Carney will speak at the White House Frontiers Conference on Thursday, October 13, 2017. He will discuss “Educating for Climate-Smart Design” as part of a panel in the “Frontiers Global” track of the conference.

“It is an honor and privilege to join such a diverse group of innovators from across the country,” commented Carney. “Connecting design research and design education is a central theme to our work, and I am excited to represent LSU at this event.”

President Obama will host the White House Frontiers Conference, a national convening co-hosted with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University to explore the future of innovation in the U.S. and around the world. The convening will include topics inspired by the November issue of WIRED, which will be guest-edited by the president on the theme of “Frontiers.” The conference will focus on building U.S. capacity in science, technology, and innovation and the new technologies, challenges, and goals that will continue to shape the 21st century and beyond.

Carney is director of the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio (CSS) and associate professor in the LSU School of Architecture. He received his bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis and master’s degrees in architecture and city and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley. Carney’s work in Louisiana centers on leading trans-disciplinary coastal and delta design and research efforts. He led a multi-year HUD-sponsored project called the Louisiana Resiliency Assistance Program; administers workshops for the Louisiana Community Resilience Institute and associated Mayors’ Workshops; and was a team leader for “The Giving Delta,” an award-winning submission for the international Changing Course Design Competition that reimagined ways of living and working on Louisiana’s dynamic delta coast.

Carney is currently leading the design and development of the science- and engineering-informed exhibition space called “Shifting Foundations” within the LSU Center for River Studies. For this project, commissioned by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, CSS faculty, research fellows, and students are producing a range of visualization tools to animate a 9,000-square-foot exhibition space. The project communicates to stakeholders Louisiana’s coastal and delta history, current challenges, and dramatic efforts to proactively develop a more resilient coast.

Visit frontiersconference.org for more information about the White House Frontiers Conference. Visit css.lsu.edu for more information about the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio and architecture.lsu.edu for more information about the LSU School of Architecture.

Interior Design Students Gain Universal Design Experience

Art & Design, Interior Design, Lectures, Faculty, , , , ,

If there was a theme for the School of Interior Design’s 2016–17 academic year, it would be Universal Design—an inclusive design practice that considers the access, understanding, and use of an environment by all people, regardless of ability or disability, age or size.

universal design film seriesThe fall 2016 semester began with a Universal Design Film Series, organized by Associate Professor Marsha Cuddeback. Students throughout the school were encouraged to attend. The series began with a collection of five short films from the 7th International Film Festival: Breaking Down Barriers: Macropolis, directed by Joel Simon; Lefty and Loosey, directed by Zico Abrar; Minority Effect, a 48-hour disability challenge; The Interviewer, directed by Genevieve Clay-Smith; and Among the Giants, directed by Cory Tomascoff. The next installments featured Lives Worth Living, directed by Eric Nedel, and Passion Fish, directed by John Sayles.

The theme will continue throughout the fall semester with a visit from Judith Heerwagen, an environmental psychologist whose work focuses on the behavioral, psychosocial, and health impacts of buildings and on translating research into design guidance. Heerwagen is a research psychologist with the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Federal High Performance Green Buildings. She will present a Paula G. Manship Endowed Lecture, “The Social Value of Design,” at the LSU College of Art & Design at 5 p.m. on November 2, 2016, in the Design Building Auditorium. The lecture is free and open to the public.

The universal design theme really revs up moving into the spring 2017 semester. The Interior Design Student Organization will facilitate an empathy workshop—or universal design experience—open to second-, third-, and fourth-year interior design students. They are working with Cuddeback on a toolkit to help instruct students about aging in place by simulating the decline in abilities and senses over time. All fourth-year interior design students working on their capstone projects are required to adopt universal design principles in their specialized areas of focus.

Cynthia Leibrock, principle and founder of Easy Access to Health, will visit LSU January 24–27. Leibrock is an award-winning author, an international lecturer, and a designer with more than 30 years of experience. Her mission is to improve the lives of older and disabled people through design.

Easy Access to Health, located in Livermore, Colorado, offers consulting services in patient-centered design, planning for independent living, product analysis, and judiciary witness services. Prominent projects include the Betty Ford Center, the UCLA Medical Center, automotive interior design for Toyota, and a universal design exhibit—with Julia Child—in the Smithsonian. Leibrock has also completed a showroom for the Kohler Company in which over a million consumers have learned about universal design, and a “living laboratory” in Fort Collins, researching the environmental needs of older people.

Leibrock will deliver three lectures, including a Paula G. Manship Endowed Lecture on residential design for health and longevity that is open to the public on January 25, 2017. Her other two lectures will be open to students in the College of Art & Design and will focus on commercial universal design and healthcare interior design.

green mountain ranch

Associate Professor Marsha Cuddeback received a universal design fellowship at Green Mountain Ranch.

Leibrock also offers universal design fellowships for selected design professionals at her ranch—the “living laboratory” in Colorado. Cuddeback was one of the summer 2016 recipients of the fellowship, chosen for her research exploring commonalities of universal design and the sustainable built environment. Cuddeback spent four days in Leibrock’s home at Green Mountain Ranch, which features more than 200 ideas installed to demonstrate the complementary aspects of green and universal design. As Leibrock’s website, agingbeautifully.org/ranch.html, states, “The house is visitable by wheelchair users and adaptable to tall and short users, to people with low vision and low hearing, to those who want to do rehab at home, and to those requiring a caregiver. All features are visually integrated, not advertising age or disability. More than half of these ideas cost less than $50 in remodeling or new construction.”

green mountain ranch

Green Mountain Ranch features more than 200 installations to demonstrate the complementary aspects of green and universal design. (Photo courtesy of Cynthia Leibrock)

Also in spring 2017, the College of Art & Design will welcome the 2016–17 Nadine Carter Russell Chair—a rotating residency that alternates among the four schools within the college. The college has named architect Edward Steinfeld as the 2016–17 Nadine Carter Russell Chair in Interior Design.

Steinfeld is a registered architect and gerontologist with special interests in universal design, accessibility, and design for the lifespan. He is a professor of architecture and director of the IDEA Center at The State University of New York at Buffalo. He has directed more than 30 sponsored research projects, including two centers of excellence grants from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, one on universal design and the built environment and the other on accessible public transportation. Steinfeld serves on the Board of Directors of the Global Universal Design Commission. He has over 100 publications and three patents—many of his publications are considered key references in the fields of accessible and universal design. His current work includes projects on anthropometry of disability, development of universal design standards, design of a new demonstration bus, and development of new wayfinding systems for buildings. Steinfeld holds a doctorate degree in architecture from the University of Michigan and a professional degree in architecture from Carnegie Mellon University.

Steinfeld will visit throughout the spring semester and will present the Nadine Carter Russell Endowed Chair Lecture at the college on February 8, 2017. This lecture is also free and open to the public.

Stay tuned throughout the 2016–17 academic year for ongoing news about visiting professionals and lecturers, the Nadine Carter Russell Chair, and the School of Interior Design’s Universal Design Experience.

LSU Landscape Architecture Receives #1 National Ranking and Professor Max Conrad Named a Most Admired Educator

Art & Design, Landscape Architecture, Honors & Awards, Faculty, , , ,

lsu landscape architecture ranked #1

The undergraduate and graduate programs at the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture (RRSLA) have once again received top rankings from DesignIntelligence magazine, the leading journal of design professionals. The 2016–17 issue of “America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools” ranked the undergraduate program as number one in the nation and the graduate program as number six in the nation for 2016–17.

Max Conrad

Professor Max Conrad was named one of DesignIntelligence’s 25 Most Admired Educators for 2016-17.

In addition, Professor Max Conrad, who is celebrating his 50th year teaching at LSU in 2016, was named one of DesignIntelligence’s 25 Most Admired Educators for 2016–17. “[Conrad] has received many nominating letters as possessing traits that others will admire for the next 50 years including impromptu speaking, a highly cooperative style, personal magnetism, impeccable honesty, and an overall winning professional demeanor,” (DesignIntelligence, issue Q3 2016).

The LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture undergraduate program has been consistently ranked in the top two in the nation for more than a decade; the 2016–17 ranking is the seventh time the undergraduate program has held the number one position since 2006. The graduate program has been ranked within the top six in the nation for over 10 years, sharing top rankings with Harvard, Cornell, the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Pennsylvania. LSU is by far the most affordable graduate program of the top six.

“I’m pleased that our rankings remain strong,” commented Mark Boyer, director of the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture. “As I’ve told current and prospective students, regardless of what the number is, the fact that you can tell a prospective employer that you have a landscape architecture degree from LSU is what matters. The number of awards our alumni, students, and faculty are receiving this year is a testament to that truth.”

DesignIntelligence’s research ranks undergraduate and graduate programs from the perspective of leading practitioners. A total of 2,920 hiring professionals from 2,218 professional practice organizations participated in the research and were asked to rank the accredited schools best preparing students for success in the profession and designing a sustainable future. Firms are queried about additional issues, as well, such as how programs rate in teaching various skills, such as communication, computer applications, construction methods and materials, design, planning, research, cross-disciplinary teamwork, sustainable design practices and principles, and theory.

Surveys for “America’s Best Architecture & Design Schools” are conducted annually by DesignIntelligence on behalf of the Design Futures Council. The research ranks undergraduate and graduate programs from the perspective of leading practitioners. Survey participants are professionals in architecture, industrial design, interior design, and landscape architecture, drawn from the Greenway Group database of leading firms throughout the United States.

Visit di.net to for a complete list of design school rankings.

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.

Graphic Design Professor Richard Doubleday: International Educator and Poster Designer

Art & Design, Art, Graphic Design, Exhibitions, Faculty, , ,

 

Posters designed by Richard Doubleday, associate professor of graphic design at the LSU School of Art, are currently on exhibit in solo shows in Jackson Mississippi and Mérida, Venezuela, and in a juried exhibition in Quito, Ecuador, where he is also leading a workshop.

His solo exhibition, A Universal Language of Vision, is on display at Jackson State University’s Johnson Hall Gallery, September 22–December 1, 2016, and will travel to the Congreso Internacional de Diseño Gráfico SIGNO in Mérida, Venezuala, November 2–December 1, 2016. Accompanying Doubleday’s posters in these exhibitions is an essay by the design and decorative arts historian Dr. Graham Twemlow, who discusses Doubleday’s work. Translations of the essay are displayed in English, Spanish, and Mandarin. (The English version of the essay is provided below). Doubleday gave a gallery talk at Jackson State University about his work as a poster designer and international educator. He frequently leads graphic design workshops around the world, most recently in China, Ecuador, and Mexico.

 

Doubleday’s posters were also included in the Ecuador Poster Bienal in Quito, Ecuador, in late September 2016. While in Quito, he also led a three-day workshop at the Centro Cultural de la Pontifica Universidad Católica del Ecuador.

Richard B. Doubleday Posters: A Universal Language of Vision by Dr. Graham Twemlow

March 2015

It is generally accepted that the pictorial lithographic poster – one that incorporated text and image – was conceived by the French artist and lithographer Jules Chéret almost 150 years ago. One critic of the time suggested that Chéret was “an innovator. In creating the art poster he conquered new territory for art”.  Since that time the contemporary poster has existed in many manifestations, from the highly ornamental fin de siècle posters of Alphonse Mucha, the Sachplakat (object poster) of the Berlin-based poster artists, the minimalistic works of the Bauhaus teachers and the photomontage creations of the Russian Constructivist designers. In today’s society, however, the traditional function of a printed poster has been sidelined by other methods of promoting a service or activity. For example there is no real need for a movie poster – the public learns of a film’s existence through a variety of media sources such as newspapers, magazines, television and online reviews and blogs. Richard B. Doubleday is one of a growing pantheon of contemporary graphic designers who aims to keep the poster alive. No longer reliant on lithography for expensive print editions, he embraces today’s technology by producing small print-runs via digital inkjet printing. As one commentator has previously stated Doubleday’s method is eclectic with no singular style dominating his design output and, although his passion for design history permeates his work he is careful to avoid mere pastiche. Indeed his works are modernist in concept, with a preference for a condensed sans serif Akzidenz Grotesk typeface, carefully constructed and positioned, ensuring clarity of communication. Hints of the ordered Swiss Style of graphic design with its pared down simplicity and use of overprinting can be identified in his work. Doubleday’s beautifully crafted poster for the ‘300 Year Anniversary of Cyrillic’ exhibition clearly is an homage to one of the Swiss School’s leading exponents, Max Huber, and the dynamics of the spatial layout for the ’First Red Cross International Poster Exhibition’ (held in Beijing in 2002) poster is redolent of the noted Swiss graphic designer and teacher Josef Müller-Brockmann – but with all the added colour to be found in the work of the Swiss graphic design studio Odermatt & Tissi. But it is combining a photographic image or images (his own photographs) with colour and text that Doubleday turns to most frequently as a means of communicating a visual message. Many of his posters are vehicles to publicize the numerous exhibitions and workshops that he stages at different academic institutes around the world – in countries such as Mexico, Hong Kong and China. In these experimental works he often begins with an image of a cultural icon (a sculpture of an Emperor, a Buddha, or a Philosopher), then layers the rectangular space of the poster with texture and colour, adding carefully placed text, often set in a distinctive sans serif typeface, thereby positioning the historical references in a contemporary context.  His 2010 workshop and exhibition poster for the School of Design at the Nanjing Arts Institute, China, is a good example of this technique. Doubleday’s photograph of the charming Jiangsu Province waterway is combined with a Chinese figurine, saturated with rich atmospheric colours and overprinted with the Chinese characters for ‘Nanjing’.  The use of computer technology, too, is combined with the hand-made. In Doubleday’s poster for a lecture he gave at Tokyo’s Tama Art University in 2008, titled ‘A Visual Investigation of Cultural Identity’, he explained that it “was executed with origami hand-made paper and cut into shapes using an X-Acto knife and collaged. Later it was scanned into the computer to compose the typography”. Illustration also features in his work. His entry for the 2009 Good 50 x 70 social communication poster contest, fulfilling the ‘Climate Change’ brief, features an appealing drawing of a young polar bear evidently feeling the effects of the ‘global warming’ expressed in the poster’s title. In this instance a slight nod towards the work of the French graphic artists Raymond Savignac or Bernard Villemot might be detected.

In his seminal 1944 work Language of Vision the painter, designer, photographer, educator, and writer Gyorgy Kepes states that “visual communication is universal and international: it knows no limits of tongue, vocabulary, or grammar…” This is exactly what Doubleday achieves with his poster designs. Whatever country, event, or cause Doubleday is depicting the visual message is ‘universal and international’.  He recognises that, as Kepes asserts, “visual language can convey facts and ideas in a wider and deeper range than almost any other means of communication”. Doubleday accomplishes this by embracing the culture of a specific country yet interpreting it in a contemporary form. Josef Müller-Brockmann once stated that all design has political overtones. In his view it might represent conservative views, or show humanist tendencies, or demonstrate a socially oriented bias. Doubleday’s work veers towards the socially related and humanist side of the political spectrum. In his hands the poster is alive and well.

From One Boot to Another: LSU Students Spend a Semester in Rome

Academic Programs Abroad, Students, Interior Design, Architecture, Resources, , , ,
lsu rome program

Students spend the first few days in Rome in shock and awe, like when they visited the Basilica of St. Sabina.

Students expand their world-view in LSU’s first semester-long Academic Program Abroad

The results of a comprehensive survey exploring the long-term impact of studying abroad conducted by the Institute for the International Education of Students (iesabroad.org) shows that “study abroad positively and unequivocally influences the career path, world-view, and self-confidence of students.” Benefits of studying abroad include increased maturity, tolerance, and intercultural development. Students gain a better understanding of their own cultural values and biases, and the experience has a lasting impact on their world-view. Studying abroad also leads to long-lasting friendships with other students, and a majority of those surveyed responded that they continue to seek a greater diversity of friends and experiences. Students benefit no matter how much time they spend abroad, but “the longer students study abroad, the more significant the academic and cultural development and personal growth benefits.”

The LSU College of Art & Design has had several short-term spring and summer intersession study abroad programs in place for years, including Art in Ireland, Art in Florence, Footsteps in Berlin, and Contemporary Dutch Design. As of fall 2015, LSU College of Art & Design students can spend an entire semester—more than four months!—studying in Rome. The College of Art & Design in Rome, formerly a summer-length program, is LSU’s first faculty-led, semester-long program run by LSU Academic Programs Abroad (APA).

“We have domestic and international exchanges throughout the world to different partner universities that students can go to during the fall and/or spring, but the Rome program is the first time we took the LSU faculty-led model that has been so successful in the summer and applied it to an entire fall semester,” said Jill Clemmons, assistant director of APA at LSU.

The program is offered during the fall semester and is a 17-week, 15-credit-hour, design curriculum taught by LSU and University of Arkansas Rome Center faculty. Designed to integrate within the curriculum in the School of Architecture, the coursework enables students to engage in the built environment of Rome while testing observations through design work. Field studies, travel, and housing are coordinated through the administrative staff at the University of Arkansas Rome Center at Palazzo Taverna, a 13th-century palace located between the Vatican and Piazza Navona, home to private residential apartments, banqueting halls, diplomatic residences, and art studios.

lsu rome program

Studio spaces are located in the Piazza Taverna. Here, students present their work to faculty and guest critics during mid-term reviews.

The program is open to other design disciplines in the college besides architecture; in fact, three interior design students participated in the first semester-long program in fall 2015. Directed by A. Hays Town Professor Ursula Emery McClure, LSU School of Architecture faculty members rotate teaching in Rome each fall.

“One of the things I loved about teaching the program,” said Holton, “it wasn’t a group of students who already knew each other. We had fourth- and fifth-year undergraduate architecture students in studios with fourth-year interior design undergrads and architecture grad students. Students from a total of four universities were studying at the Rome Center. The students—and their work—benefitted from these different influences and perspectives.”

“Everyone knew how to do something differently,” recounted Tina Naraghi-Pour, a Baton Rouge native with dual U.S./Iranian citizenship who received her Bachelor of Architecture from LSU in May 2016. “We got different perspectives from people above and below us in the program, and seeing more diverse approaches was refreshing.”

LSU students are required to take the architectural design concentration studio and a seminar course on vernacular architecture and material culture, combined worth 12 credit hours, and they can choose an approved, three-credit-hour elective. Most take Architecture in the City, a course co-taught by LSU and University of Arkansas Rome Center faculty.

“I think I did the most—and the best—work I’ve ever done during the Rome program,” Tina avowed. “Inspiration came easily, and if it didn’t, we could take a break and walk around Rome to get inspired again.”

A member of a New Orleans family of Italian descent, Cody Maffei attended the Rome program in the fall semester of his fourth-year in the Bachelor of Architecture program. “We had to learn to work within the assigned studio hours. It completely changed the way I work; I get up a lot earlier, even now that I’m back. It was nice to have to leave the studio—more time to enjoy aperitivos,” he jested.

For their fall 2015 studio project, students investigated the juxtaposition of the old and the new to develop a program for the 2024 Olympic diving event set to take place in Rome. Inspired by the location of the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, the project site was the Hippodrome of Domitian and the immediate surrounding areas on Palatine Hill. The project parameters covered an approximate space of 30,000 square feet for the entire Olympic diving venue, including the pool and diving platforms, seating for 600 spectators, concessions, ticketing, restrooms, locker rooms, and the myriad of other details that a project of this scale entails, such as providing separate points of entry for each user group—athletes, spectators, and journalists. The students had to explore temporary, additive building processes since excavation and permanent structures would be prohibited at the location, an active archaeological site and one of the most ancient and historic parts of Rome. The design project engaged adaptive reuse and new construction, interior and exterior environmental conditions, and preservation and demolition procedures.

 

“It was fun—and challenging as an interior design student—to work on a project at this scale and to experience the way the architecture students worked,” acknowledged Kelsey Liggio, one of three interior design students who participated in the program in fall 2015. Interested in pursuing a graduate program in architecture, attending the Rome program during her senior year helped her get a feel for the transition from interior design to architecture, and she walked away with some great additions to her portfolio.

lsu rome program

Kelsey Liggio (BID 2016) sketches at the Piazza Farnese.

Sara Loquist, a non-traditional graduate assistant with a background in business who received her Master of Architecture from LSU in May 2016, also found the project challenging. “Because we couldn’t excavate, at first we felt limited in what we could do. It was more like a puzzle; the program had to fit inside the spaces that were already there, which required a whole different mindset. Getting different perspectives from the interior design students was helpful—thinking about materiality versus structure. We were able to build off each other’s ideas and methods.”

The vernacular architecture and material culture seminar delves into the origins and development of the architecture/tectonic culture of the Roman Empire. The seminar, titled the Rome Tectonic, traces the influences of the empire’s material innovations through the lens of concrete. Students conduct their own concrete experiments, developing and pouring their own concrete mixes based on unique questions and hypotheses. In fall 2015, students made more than 100 12-by-12-inch concrete casts. Among other concepts, students attempted to create transparent, glow-in-the dark, magnetic, squishy, and thin-but-strong recipes for concrete.

“We got to be Romans and make our own concrete,” Cody remarked. The experiment led to a few sobering moments in his search to find an unusual material in a non-English speaking country. He recalled having a “pretty hilarious” experience trying to find powdered iron at the “Roman equivalent of Home Depot,” a small, mom-and-pop hardware store. “I eventually had to order it on the Internet,” he said, laughing.

lsu rome program

For the Rome tectonic seminar, the students developed and poured their own experimental concrete mixes, making more than 100 concrete casts.

“The support of the Rome Center is crucial to our success,” Holton commented. “Their staff offers 24/7 assistance, helps us find materials, and arranges field trips and excursions.”

Holton arranged several class excursions through the Rome Center when he taught in fall 2015, and the Architecture in the City course included weekly excursions to nearby tourist attractions and cultural sites. As part of the tectonics class, Holton arranged a field trip to the Tasullo Concrete Research Facility in Bergamo, Italy. The students visited the lab, toured the concrete mine, and then hiked over the Dolomites, the unique geological formations from which the concrete is mined.

 

“We worked hard and we played hard,” said Kelsey. “Every weekend, we went on a different excursion. Everything the school provided was 100 percent for our knowledge and fun.” The trip to the Dolomites was one of her favorite excursions. “We had access to all these places we normally wouldn’t have gone or been allowed to visit on our own,” she explained. “I will never be able to recreate this experience, which makes it all the more special.

Students have multiple opportunities to travel throughout Europe during their semester abroad, and most take advantage of the Thanksgiving break to travel further afield. In fall 2015, collectively, the students visited a total of 31 cities, including Venice, Barcelona, Lisbon, London, Dublin, Budapest, and Munich.

“It was nice to have access to such a casual travel experience,” said Cody. “Everything was so close; you could just hop on a train and be in Bilbao or Verona.”

Holton made sure the students saw more than just the touristy areas of Italy during their time there. In a two-week workshop at the beginning of the semester, students from all four universities participating in the program—LSU, University of Arkansas, Philadelphia University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute—were divided into groups and assigned a neighborhood outside the city center to research and present their findings.

Cody’s group was assigned the Garbatella neighborhood, a web of curved sidewalks, angular plazas, and maze-like courtyards designed in the Fascist era of Mussolini and forced to convert to Communist design principles in the 1970s. “Garbatella was a good example of idyllic Italian suburbia,” observed Cody. “It was interesting exploring a place in Rome I wouldn’t have normally visited.”

The semester-long program in Rome is a life-changing experience for all involved and a great opportunity for faculty and student enhancement.

“It was great working with the other faculty members there,” reported Holton, who had the opportunity to be a juror for Europan, a biennial competition for young architects to design innovative housing schemes for sites across Europe. “Being one of the jurors was a fascinating experience.” Holton also connected with former colleagues from his time working with Bernard Tschumi, two of whom participated as jurors for the LSU students’ final reviews.

Kelsey said her interior design senior capstone project was inspired by her time studying abroad. Her project was based on the preservation of an abandoned industrialized structure in Rome, the former Pontifical Arsenal. She proposed converting the structure into a contemporary workplace, gallery, and recreational outdoor space. “The main goal was to preserve the former Pontifical Arsenal, reconnect the surrounding neighborhood suffering from neglect, and provide for the future,” she explained. Her conceptual ideas were based on the Tiber River and Italian architect, Carlos Scarpa.

lsu rome program

Kelsey Liggio’s interior design capstone project, inspired by her time studying abroad in Rome, proposed converting the former Pontifical Arsenal into a contemporary workplace, gallery, and recreational outdoor space.

Overall, LSU’s first faculty-led, semester-long program abroad was a great success.

“Our bubble has expanded; we came away with a whole new family,” added Tina, who worked the entire summer to pay for the program. “It was money well spent; I will never regret the money I spent there.”

Cody concluded, “We made friends with people we would have never met before Rome. We lived within walking distance of the Vatican—we actually strolled through it on our way to studio every day. Walking on roads that are so old, that weren’t designed for cars, seeing materials in use that aren’t as prevalent in the United States, living in a place with so many monuments and masterpieces casually placed next to each other . . . experiencing Rome is like seeing the greatest hits of art and architecture. What a great way to live your life for a semester!”

Visit artanddesignrome.lsu.edu to follow the progress of current students studying abroad in Rome and learn more about the program, and see more photos on LSU School of Architecture’s Facebook page in the 2016 Rome Program photo album.

Alumni Spotlight: Charles Jones, BArch 2006

Art & Design, Alumni, Architecture, Alumni Profiles, , ,

charles jones

Charles Jones (BArch 2006) is a founding principal of One to One Design in New Orleans and digital fabrication director of the CNC lab at Tulane’s School of Architecture. (Photo by Dave Armentor and Thom Bennett)

Design & Technology: Expanding the Role of the Contemporary Design Professional

After graduating in 2006, LSU School of Architecture alumnus Charles Jones worked under his mentor, Jack Ford, and taught a design studio at LSU before relocating to Los Angeles to work for Frank Gehry. Before moving back to New Orleans, he spent two years in Dubai, where he helped establish a multimillion-dollar digital fabrication and research lab for American University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Design. He currently teaches advanced digital media seminars and is the digital fabrication director of the CNC lab at Tulane’s School of Architecture.

Three years ago, Jones and David Merlin, a colleague at Tulane, established One to One Design, a New Orleans–based multidisciplinary design firm that offers full-service design, constructability analysis, and design, technology, and façade consulting. One to One’s strength is in leveraging technology to enhance the design process, using innovative data management, documentation, analysis, prototyping, and visualization techniques to test ideas and discover unique design opportunities.

“Acknowledging that the landscape of the profession is changing, it is tough to start a firm that solely focuses on architecture,” Jones commented.

Teachers at heart, Jones and Merlin also help train New Orleans architectural offices on how to use Revit, and they have recently started working with Mode Lab and Autodesk to provide software previews and instructional information. Notably, they collaborated with Mode Lab to deliver software data sets and a high-impact video preview for Formit, Autodesk’s answer to SketchUp.

“Versatility is big for us,” added Jones. “We stay in touch with technology’s influence on the profession through academia, and our identity is less formally driven. Every project presents a new opportunity. What we architects learn best in school is how to solve problems; we enjoy dissecting problems and finding rich ways to provide design solutions.”

 

One to One’s consulting work includes projects in conjunction with Enclos and Optimum Designs, including the design and detailing of a street gallery façade for San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art Expansion, designed by Snøhetta. The firm was contracted to help detail and rationalize the glass paneling on two new subway canopies in New York and an entrance canopy for Capital One’s future headquarters in Virginia.

Designed by Toshiko Mori, the MTA canopies are an integral part of the Hudson Yard Development project. One of the two canopies is complete, and the second is in its final phase of construction. One to One is currently assisting in the design phase by performing various types of analysis on the Capital One Canopy; estimated completion is late 2016.

“These projects—more directly related to research—keep us fresh and relevant, allowing us to test design tools and their relationship to documentation and analysis,” said Jones. “Competitions are another great platform to test design ideas. As teachers, we have the opportunity to hire former students over the summer to engage in more research-based projects, typically architectural competitions.”

One competition, the Bee Breeders Cannabis Bank International Architecture Competition, proved to be rather timely. In June 2015, former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal signed a law legalizing the use of medical marijuana in the state. In May 2016, a bill was established to allow one grow site and 10 legal dispensaries in the state, offering LSU and Southern University the first right of refusal to be licensed as the production facility for medical marijuana. The LSU AgCenter is now tasked with developing a plan of operation that addresses the financing, facilities, equipment, personnel, and security of the medical marijuana initiative. Visit lsuagcenter.com for more information about the AgCenter’s medical marijuana production initiative.

 

The bill offering LSU and Southern University the first right of refusal was passed just as One to One began their initial research for the Cannabis Bank competition. Architects were asked to define a contemporary architecture of cannabis. As stated in the competition brief, “In much of the world, Cannabis is controversial, challenging, considered in many places taboo, yet is relevant as a concern of legality, medicine, health, ethics, and economy.”

One to One’s project, titled CROP (Cannabis Research Opportunity Program), took the competition requirements one step further, proposing the full package: a state grow site and distribution center to be operated by the LSU AgCenter and a narrative focused on local resources, the economic crisis and its effect on TOPS, policy, and education. Their project envisioned a vertical farming, hydroponic tower, a dispensary for the public, and research and classroom spaces, imagining the grow tower as a research facility for the AgCenter that would offer hands-on experience in hydroponic growing systems. Jones said they positioned the grow tower at a site on the Mississippi River downtown, directly opposite of the State Capitol Building, “taking an aggressive position by commenting on existing policy.”

One to One’s proposal placed in the competition, earning honorable mention. “Once LSU said yes, we felt our narrative had a lot of potential,” Jones commented. “Hey, we were a little bit ahead of the curve in figuring out how this could work. It would be amazing if our project went from honorable mention to real-life commission.”

As Jones approaches his tenth college reunion, he said he often reflects on his education at LSU. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for my education. Choosing to major in architecture was definitely a leap of faith, and the great faculty and mentors at LSU showed me that you don’t find architecture; it finds you. It is more a way of life than an occupation.”

Visit 1to1-design.com for more information about Jones and One to One Design.

Ellen Mathis Named Director of Development at LSU College of Art & Design

Art & Design, Donors,

ellen mathisEllen Mathis has been named the director of development for the LSU College of Art & Design. In her role, she will secure philanthropic financial support for key initiatives at the college and will interact with the various stakeholder groups on strategic and long-term development plans.

“I look forward to connecting our alumni and friends of the College of Art & Design with the college’s exciting ongoing work and plans for a robust future,” said Ellen. “It is a privilege to support the cultivation of creativity that enriches our world.”

Ellen began working in philanthropy with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation, where she helped donors realize their philanthropic goals and saw the impact that committed individuals can have on their community. Previously, Ellen served as the Director of Development for the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden, where she worked with donors and volunteers to implement elements of a master plan for the gardens.

Ellen grew up in Mandeville, Louisiana, and earned a Bachelor of Arts from the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU. She volunteers her time with Art Melt for Forum 35, the young professionals’ civic group in Baton Rouge. Ellen enjoys a good book, getting outside, and spending time with her husband Tim and new daughter Laura.

Alumna Leslie Charleville Leads Gyotaku Workshop at LSU

Art & Design, Art, Painting & Drawing, Alumni, Exhibitions, , , , , ,
leslie charleville

Charleville demonstrates the art of Gyotaku to advanced drawing students.

LSU School of Art alumna Leslie Charleville led a Gyotaku demonstration as a guest artist in Professor Kelli Scott Kelley’s advanced drawing workshop.

Kelley’s students are working on a project titled “Nature/Science” in conjunction with the LSU Museum of Art exhibition, Painting Enlightenment, and the Louisiana Art & Science Museum (LASM) exhibition, Lovely as a Tree. Painting Enlightenment runs through November 27, 2016, and features works by Japanese scientist and artist Iwasaki Tsuneo (1972–2002). Lovely as a Tree is on display now through November 27, 2016, and presents an international selection of artists who investigate the familiar form of a tree from a variety of new and sometimes surprising perspectives. Kelley’s advance drawing class toured the exhibits, and LSU Museum of Art curator Courtney Taylor and LASM Executive Director and Curator Elizabeth Weinstein introduced and discussed the exhibits with the studio.

Continuing the nature/science theme, Kelley invited Charleville to provide a demonstration of the art of Gyotaku. As a master of the traditional Japanese print process, Charleville keeps an active artistic practice, Gyo Collection (gyocollection.com), in which she offers her fish-printing services to the public—a unique and clever way for people to preserve their catch and prove their fish tales aren’t exaggerations! She travels the Gulf Coast region for commission work, making prints and connecting with the people and culture of southern Louisiana.

 

 

The process of Gyotaku (gyo meaning fish and taku meaning rubbing in Japanese), dates back to the mid-1800s, when the process was likely used by fishermen to record their catches. The practice has now become an art form for printing nature. Charleville, an avid angler herself, sees the process as a creative alternative to taxidermy. The process is hands-on. After evenly spreading the dry water creature with a non-toxic pigment, Charleville covers the specimen with rice paper to pull the impression. Using her eye for color and design, she begins with the predominant color of the fish then enhances the rubbing with chalks that turn the monochromatic print into a life-like, one-of-a-kind piece of art that serves as a record of the day’s catch.

Charleville has worked for LASM since she graduated from LSU with a Bachelor of Fine Art in 2008, first as preparatory, the registrar, and currently as the events coordinator. During her tenure at LSU, she started the LSU School of Art’s Painters’ League, an independent student-run organization that provides an opportunity for LSU students to conduct group critiques among their peers, attend gallery and museum exhibitions, and sponsor artist presentations.

Read more about Charleville in this 2014 article in The Advocate. Visit art.lsu.edu to learn more about the BFA program at the LSU School of Art.