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Three LSU Architecture Alumni Named Fellows of the American Institute of Architects

Art & Design, Alumni, Architecture, Donors, , , , ,

LSU School of Architecture alumni Mark Ripple (BArch 1979), Percy “Rebel” Roberts III (BArch 1976), and Jeff Stouffer (BArch 1984) have been elevated to the prestigious American Institute of Architects Class of 2016 College of Fellows.

The AIA fellowship program elevates architects who have made a significant contribution to architecture and society and who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession, recognizing not only their individual achievements but their significant contributions to architecture and society on a national level.

mark ripple

Mark Ripple, FAIA

“It is an honor to join the ranks of such a prestigious group of renowned professionals; I’m truly humbled by this experience and thankful to my peers for their recommendations and kind words,” said Ripple, principal/director of operations of Eskew+Dumez+Ripple (EDR), an award winning architecture, interiors, and urban design firm in New Orleans. “Although AIA fellowship is focused on personal recognition, it is most certainly a testament to the amazing talents and achievements of the entire team here at Eskew+Dumez+Ripple, and those with whom I have had the privilege of working for the last 26 years.”

Ripple has more than 30 years of experience in the management of large institutional projects. His analytical approach to project delivery and commitment to client satisfaction has helped EDR maintain strong, long-term relationships with several repeat clients. His project focus has been in technically sophisticated facilities such as high-performance research laboratories and inpatient and outpatient healthcare facilities. In addition to his role as a hands-on project director Ripple also serves as the studio-wide operations director, responsible for balancing staff workload, collective project delivery schedules, and emerging assignments. Ripple cofounded EDR in 1989 along with two other LSU alumni, Steve Dumez, FAIA (BArch 1982), and Allen Eskew, FAIA (BArch 1971), who passed away in 2013 just before EDR was honored as AIA Firm of the Year.

rebel roberts

Percy “Rebel” Roberts III, FAIA

Percy “Rebel” Roberts III is president, COO, and design partner at VOA Associates Incorporated. VOA is an international architecture, planning, and interior design firm based in Chicago with more than 300 employees serving international markets in the education, healthcare, hospitality, commercial, government, cultural, workplace, and residential sectors. Roberts’ architectural projects have been recognized with more than 20 international, national, and local awards for design excellence. He has worked on worldwide projects totaling more than $5 billion. Roberts believes that great design must “energize spaces and buildings with a spirit that grows from the deep roots of our culture and our dreams.” Over the course of his career, Roberts has gravitated to healthcare architecture, where he considers it a privilege to contribute his expertise to improve the lives of patients, their families, and caregivers.

“I am honored to be recognized by my peers with election to the College of Fellows,” shared Roberts. “It is a remarkable group, and I am delighted to join fellow LSU alumni in this distinction.”

jeff stouffer

Jeff Stouffer, FAIA

As executive vice president and health group director at the Dallas location of HKS, a worldwide architectural design firm, Jeff Stouffer’s responsibilities include directing the group’s administrative, financial, management, and strategic planning. Stouffer has dedicated his entire 30-year career to designing cutting-edge healthcare facilities in the U.S. and abroad. He believes the fusion of evidence-influenced design and flexible planning principles result in facilities that support the hospital’s mission and the staff’s operational goals. He has incorporated lean/process improvement tenets into many of the firm’s projects, setting industry standards. Stouffer believes lean design creates better outcomes, standardizes workflow, eliminates waste, and reduces errors. He feels it’s safer for patients and the people who care for them. Stouffer shares his knowledge with the design and healthcare communities by speaking at various conferences. He has also lectured throughout the U.S. and published numerous articles on topical design-related issues.

Ripple, Roberts, and Stouffer also serve on the LSU School of Architecture Professional Advisory Board, whose mission is to advise the director and foster an ever-increasing level of excellence within the school.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to have three alumni, particularly three members of the School of Architecture Professional Advisory Board, achieve this national distinction,” commented LSU School of Architecture Director Jori Erdman. “They have each contributed significantly to the profession through the strength of their design and their leadership skills. We are proud of them as graduates of our program and as ongoing contributors to our educational efforts.”

“I have appreciated the opportunity to work with Director Jori Erdman and the Professional Advisory Board,” added Roberts. “A key criterion for election is involvement in professional and academic communities and to have this involvement recognized is especially satisfying.”

The 2016 AIA Jury of Fellows elevated 149 AIA members to its prestigious College of Fellows. Out of a total AIA membership of more than 88,000, there are over 3,200 members distinguished with this honor. The 2016 fellows will be honored at an investiture ceremony at the 2016 AIA National Convention in Philadelphia, May 19–21. To view a complete list of the 2016 AIA College of Fellows, visit aia.org/practicing/awards/2016/fellows.

About LSU School of Architecture 

LSU School of Architecture students develop a solid foundation of traditional design, hand building, and drawing skills and learn to use computer and technological resources. The architecture program at LSU provides a balance between broadening educational experiences and discipline-focused coursework. In addition to learning how to make buildings, students develop a sense of professionalism and leadership in shaping the world by learning how to see, think, and act creatively. For more information, visit architecture.lsu.edu.

quad winter 2016Read more about LSU School of Architecture alumnus Percy “Rebel” Roberts III in the winter 2016 issue of Quad: The LSU College of Art & Design Magazine (pp. 16-17).

New Book by Professor Bruce Sharky Provides Complete Overview of the Landscape Architecture Profession

Art & Design, Publications, Landscape Architecture, Alumni, Faculty, ,

thinking about landscape architecture In February 2016, Routledge published a new book by LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture (RRSLA) Professor Bruce Sharky.

What is landscape architecture? Is it gardening, or science, or art? Sharky argues that it is all of these and more in Thinking about Landscape Architecture: Principles of a Design Profession for the 21st Century. 

Thinking about Landscape Architecture provides a complete overview of the discipline, providing professionals and those that are new to the profession with the foundations for study and practice. Sharky, a leading scholar and practitioner, discusses the varieties of the profession, emphasizing contributions that landscape architects have made across the world in daily practice.

With more than 400 color images, Thinking about Landscape Architecture outlines the subject and explores how, from a basis in garden design, the profession has “leapt over the garden wall” to encapsulate areas such as urban and park design, community and regional planning, habitat restoration, green infrastructure and sustainable design, and site engineering and implementation.

Topics covered in Thinking about Landscape Architecture include:

  • the effects that natural and human factors have upon design and how the discipline is uniquely placed to address these challenges;
  • examples of contemporary landscape architecture work—from storm water management and walkable cities to well-known projects like the New York High Line and London Olympic Park; and
  • the exploration of how art and design, science, horticulture, and construction come together in one profession.

Thinking about Landscape Architecture is perfect for professionals as well as those wanting a better understanding of this fascinating profession. Books are available to purchase online at Routledge and Amazon. Alumni and friends may contact Bruce Sharky by email to request a code for a 20 percent discount from Routledge on Thinking about Landscape Architecture.

green varnish cam

Green Varnish installation at CAM (photo by David Johnson)

The works and projects of several RRSLA alumni are featured in Sharky’s book, including alumnus William Roberts, BLA 2004, whose CAM installation, Green Varnish, is featured on the cover. View more RRSLA alumni profiles at design.lsu.edu/alumni/landscape-architecture.

Thinking about Landscape Architecture is the second book by Sharky to be published recently. In November 2014, Wiley published Landscape Site Grading Principles: Grading with Design in Mind, a comprehensive guide to grading written from the design perspective.

About Bruce Sharky

Bruce SharkyBruce Sharky is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, a registered professional landscape architect, and a professor at the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture. His interests in landscape architecture are varied and have evolved over the years and through his work in various locations and countries. He has worked professionally in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Winnipeg, as well as in state government, and he had a private landscape practice in Anchorage, Alaska, for 15 years prior to joining the faculty at LSU. He has lectured and taught design courses in a number of countries, including China, Chile, Japan, and Israel, and he was a Fulbright Scholar in Mexico and Portugal. Read more about Sharky at design.lsu.edu/faculty/sharky-bruce.

LSU Architecture Student Dasjon Jordan Awarded 2015-16 Simpson-Strong Tie Scholarship

Art & Design, Students, Community Outreach, Architecture,

dasjon jordanDasjon Jordan, a fifth-year undergraduate student in the LSU School of Architecture, was awarded the Simpson Strong-Tie Scholarship for the 2015–16 academic year.

The scholarship was established by the Simpson Strong-Tie Company to assist architecture, structural engineering, and construction management students at participating colleges and universities in the United States. Scholarship recipients are selected on the basis of academic record, demonstrated leadership, and participation in school and community activities.

Jordan will graduate from the LSU School of Architecture in May 2016 with a Bachelor of Architecture. A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Jordan was motivated to help rebuild communities across the Southeast, including his own, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. He has demonstrated leadership as an officer and member of LSU’s National Organization of Minority Architecture Students, a student organization that strives to create diversity within the design professions by promoting excellence, community involvement, and professional development of its members.

Jordan is also a student ambassador for the LSU School of Architecture and Success Coaches Chair for LSU’s Black Male Leaderships Initiative. While attending college full-time, Jordan is also a student intern at GraceHebert Architects and a volunteer for the LSU Museum of Art’s Neighborhood Arts project, a mobile community arts studio program that brings art-making to children. In fall 2015, he furthered his efforts to assist the Baton Rouge community by pursuing an independent studio project in partnership with the Scotlandville High Alumni Association to repurpose Scotlandville’s first fire station as an arts and culture center.

“I believe diversity and cultural inclusion in academic and professional environments are keys to creating inclusive and intellectually challenging communities,” Jordan shared.

Currently, Jordan is in the process of applying to graduate programs, including the Master of Urban Planning program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the Master of Urban Studies and Planning program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“I want to experience the culture of the Northeast,” said Jordan, “but ultimately, I plan to use these experiences to improve the marginalized communities in Louisiana through design.”

For more information about the Simpson Strong-Tie Scholarship, visit strongtie.com/scholarships.

LSU Press Publishes New Book in the Reading the American Landscape Series, Edited by Lake Douglas

Art & Design, Publications, Landscape Architecture, Faculty, Faculty Emeritus, , , ,

afton villaAfton Villa: The Birth and Rebirth of a Nineteenth-Century Louisiana Garden by LSU journalism alumna Genevieve Munson Trimble was released by LSU Press in February 2016. Afton Villa is the third in the Reading the American Landscape series edited by Lake Douglas, associate professor at the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture and associate dean of the LSU College of Art & Design.

“This series is about America’s cultural landscapes and those who have been their stewards,” said series editor Lake Douglas. “There is no better example than the garden at Afton Villa and how it evolved over time through the remarkable partnership of the Trimbles with our college’s own Professor Emeritus Dr. Neil Odenwald. We are proud to have this book in our series.”

Genevieve Trimble’s remarkable story of Afton Villa began with tragedy. In 1963, fire ravaged the 40-room Victorian Gothic plantation home on the historic estate, bringing to ashes over 170 years of history. Over the next decade, its once-regal serpentine entryway and carefully laid out gardens gradually deteriorated as vines strangled the rows of azaleas that once welcomed guests. A place of enchantment crumbled toward extinction.

The irreversible loss of Afton Villa’s nineteenth-century gardens and stately home inspired the Trimbles to seize the opportunity to protect the derelict property from oblivion; she and her husband purchased the estate in 1972. Afton Villa documents her decades-long restoration project while providing a history of the original owners and paying tribute to the other people who contributed to its rebirth. Focusing on preservation, Trimble reveals how the garden’s original footprint survived as well as how she thoughtfully introduced new flora into the terraced landscape, including the foundation ruins of the house, under the guidance of landscape architect Dr. Neil G. Odenwald, professor emeritus and former director of the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture.

Today, hundreds of visitors journey to St. Francisville every year to enjoy the result of Trimble’s arduous and rewarding efforts. Each spring, the moss-draped oaks welcome visitors to a rolling vista of daffodils, cherry trees, and a boxwood parterre as well as hundreds of other features in this 35-acre garden. With a vivid narrative and beautiful color and archival images, Afton Villa captures the story of this remarkable restoration.

In addition to Afton Villa, Genevieve Munson Trimble oversaw the restoration of the New Orleans Botanic Garden, where she served as president of their foundation for 25 years. Among many other accolades for her horticultural achievements, Trimble received the Place Keeper Award from the Foundation of Landscape Studies, the Garden Club of America’s National Achievement Medal, the inaugural Edith Stern Legacy Award from Longue Vue Gardens, and the Preservation Award from the Foundation for Historical Louisiana.

Afton Villa is available for purchase at lsupress.org/books/detail/afton-villa. Visit lsupress.org/books/by-series/reading-the-american-landscape for more information about the Reading the American Landscape series edited by Douglas and aftonvilla.com for more information about the gardens.

Sustainable Development Pioneer Emmanuel Stefanakis Named Special Advisor to the Dean for International Initiatives

Art & Design, Research, Resources,

emmanuel stefanakisEmmanuel Stefanakis, principal of Sustainable Strategies International, is serving as special advisor to the dean for international initiatives at the LSU College of Art & Design through June 2016.

Stefanakis is working with LSU College of Art & Design Dean Alkis Tsolakis and Associate Dean of Research & Development Lake Douglas to engage students, faculty, and administrators across the university to form partnerships with all the colleges at LSU and with institutions in the Caribbean Basin towards this applied research initiative. The research initiative is intended to take a multidisciplinary approach towards the resolution of issues pertaining to climate change, social justice, security (including food and energy security) poverty, and economic development in the Caribbean Basin. He is currently coordinating efforts with the LSU College of Art & Design, AgCenter, International Studies, and Office of Research & Development.

Stefanakis has been a pioneer in applying sustainable development principles in development projects and programs and has significant leadership experience in the use of market-based forces to promote sustainable development. He has advised government, nonprofit, academic, and international development sectors on policy, strategy, and strategy implementation in 40 countries. He has been personally involved in projects within the Caribbean Basin for the past 18 years.

In the academic sector, Emmanuel has served as president of a 100-year-old American college focused on sustainable agriculture in Greece and was charged with its modernization and financial reforms. He has served as visiting associate professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and as faculty in the MBA program at the Arthur D. Little Management Education Institute (now Hult). He has lectured at numerous universities and designed executive education seminars in the United States, Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Southeast Europe, and the Middle East on behalf of the United Nations, World Bank, EBRD, and USAID. He serves as an entrepreneurial mentor to students and faculty at MIT through the Venture Mentoring Service and serves on the External Advisory Board of the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University. Stefanakis received a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University.

His projects have ranged from financial mechanisms, urban revitalization plans, new towns, corporate privatization, public policy, and design/construction. As an entrepreneur, he has formed companies that implement sustainable development strategies for profit, including affordable “green” housing and recycling of industrial by-products for organic food production. He also designed and built the first LEED Platinum homes in Massachusetts in 2007. As principal of Sustainable Strategies International, an advisory firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, Stefanakis helps private, nonprofit, and government organizations become more economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable.

Stefanakis became involved with LSU through his work with the Haiti-New Orleans Heritage Task Force. He has worked on projects in Haiti with Austin Allen, associate professor at the LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, and, most recently, he worked with Assistant Professor Robert Holton and LSU School of Architecture students on a master plan for the sustainable development of the community of Gressier in Haiti.

2016 Design Week with Kinder Baumgardner, President of SWA

Art & Design, Students, Landscape Architecture, Alumni, ,

kinder baumgardnerKinder Baumgardner is leading LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture’s 2016 Design Week (January 25–29).

Baumgardner, an LSU alumnus (BLA ’87), is president of SWA, a leading international landscape architecture, planning, and urban design firm with offices in Dallas, Houston, Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sausalito, Shanghai, and the United Arab Emirates. Assisting Baumgardner this week are two other LSU alumni working as designers at SWA’s Houston studio: Darren Sharkey (BLA ’13) and Evan Peterson (BLA ’15).

Design Week is an annual LSU Robert Reich School tradition. Each January, landscape architecture students of all levels participate in the weeklong seminars and workshops. Students are divided into teams to address a topic/problem introduced by the visiting professional and are judged on their presentations at the end of the week.

2016 Design Week

2016 Design Week

The site – downtown Baton Rouge

The topic of 2016 Design Week is “Speculations on a Post Industrial City.” In his project brief, Baumgardner discusses the increasing national migration to large cities, such as New York, Houston, Los Angeles, and knowledge centers (Austin, Seattle, Cambridge) and asks, “Where does this leave cities like Baton Rouge?” He also discusses disruptive changes in transportation systems, such as Uber and autonomously driven vehicles and the explosion of virtual retailers like Amazon Prime Now that dramatically change how we view access to goods.

Landscape architects are uniquely qualified to speculate on the future of cities and how technology might change the fabric of urban districts in unexpected ways. Paired with these technological innovations are transformations in the way nations produce and consume energy. As nations rethink their appetite for carbon producing energy sources, it will have a dramatic effect on the form of our cities. “What will be the future of cities like Baton Rouge that cling to heavy industries that are slowly falling out of favor,” Baumgardner asks in his project brief.

Design Week looks at the future of the Exxon refinery, which dominates the city’s skyline, and its future effect on the city of Baton Rouge:

The year is 2020 and due to an accelerating rise in global temperatures and tidal inundation of coastal U.S. cities, governments are acting fast to reduce the use of carbon emitting energy sources. The Exxon refinery has been given 25 years to wrap up operations, and the City of Baton Rouge is developing a planning vision for the year 2050. Future scenarios might include: a green energy facility, a contemporary extension of downtown, a cultural park created from industrial artifacts, and the gentrification of North Baton Rouge neighborhoods. Teams are encouraged to consider the problem at a variety of scales, considering regional planning level strategies, urban design models, and site planning concepts. Teams will look at the Exxon site as well as at downtown, adjacent neighborhoods, the Mississippi River, and agrarian lands west of the river. Thinking should not be limited by the requirements of the existing industrial presence, budget, or even limitations to current technology.

Kinder Baumgardner critiques one of the student teams participating in Design Week

Kinder Baumgardner critiques one of the student teams participating in Design Week

The entire week will be spent developing these ideas and ultimately presenting the resultant materials to the jury. Each team will be ranked and recognized for exemplary work and creative speculative thinking. The students will post their work in the LSU Design Building Commons (room 104) by noon on Friday, January 29, and each team will give a 15-minute presentation from 1–3:30 p.m. Anyone and everyone is invited to attend!

Team winners will be announced at 4 p.m. in the Commons and at landscape.lsu.edu early next week.

Design Week Lecture

Kinder Baumgardner will also present a lecture on autonomous vehicles and their impact on urban design tonight (January 27) at 5:30 p.m. in the LSU Design Building Auditorium (room 103). The lecture is based on an article he wrote last fall for Cite magazine, “Beyond Google’s Cute Car: Thinking through the Impact of Self-Driving Vehicles on Architecture.” The lecture is free and open to the public. Professionals who attend this lecture qualify for one hour of continuing education credit, thanks to the support of the Louisiana Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects, lcasla.org.

More about Kinder Baumgardner

Kinder Baumgardner is president of SWA and managing principal of SWA’s Houston studio. Over the span of 20 years, he has actively traveled the country seeking out regional flavors to create landscapes that are culturally and ecologically resonant. His collaborative mindset and awareness of the effect of historical and contemporary culture in creating experiential places is rooted in the design work he has performed in all corners of North America. His current work often finds him in the Middle East and Africa, where he is called upon to synthesize complex systems in order to create open spaces for new cities or urban precincts. While much of his work is internationally focused, he cherishes his projects in the U.S. and Texas, where inimitable regional American cultures and landscapes define who we are and how we live. Read more about Kinder Baumgardner and SWA at swagroup.com.

Architecture Student Christopher James Receives LSU Discover Scholar Award

Art & Design, Students, Research, Honors & Awards, Coastal Sustainability Studio, Architecture, Communication across the Curriculum, , , ,
lsu discover

2016 LSU Discover Research Scholars with LSU President F. King Alexander

lsu_discover171 Christopher James, a third-year LSU School of Architecture student from Clearwater, Florida, has been named a 2016 LSU Discover Scholar award winner.

The LSU Discover Scholar award recognizes students who exemplify the potential for undergraduate research and creative endeavors at LSU. Each year outstanding research students are nominated by faculty members and selected by a panel of judges. James was nominated for the award by Professor Jori Erdman, director of the LSU School of Architecture.

“Christopher is an inquisitive and mature research student who has demonstrated ability to identify important sources of information and tenacity for finding new resources,” commented Erdman. “He has such passion for the

lsu discover

Christopher James with faculty advisor Jori Erdman

work that he is able to convince colleagues from different disciplines of the possibilities inherent in design research.”

James is pursuing a Bachelor of Architecture with a minor in business administration and is expected to graduate in 2018. In addition to being named an LSU Discover Scholar, James is a member of the LSU Ogden Honors College, a President’s Future Leaders in Research program scholar, and a Communications across the Curriculum Distinguished Communicator candidate. He is an ambassador for the LSU School of Architecture, a worship leader in Antioch Community Church’s College Ministry, and a member of Beta Upsilon Chi Christian Fraternity.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a LSU Discover Scholar for 2016,” said James. “I am so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had to conduct meaningful architectural research under the guidance of knowledgeable faculty and the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio. This research has opened my eyes to a larger scope of architecture—one that embraces global challenges as opportunities for design, requiring a holistic understanding of the many different forces at work.”

James’s research investigates the role architecture plays in dynamic coastal environments, specifically the Louisiana coast. His work advocates for positive ecological, social, and economic relationships between the natural and built environments.

In spring 2015, James presented his research project, CRMS Reimagined, at the annual Ogden Honors Research Colloquium. James’s project proposed a reimagined architecture for the Coastwide Reference Monitoring System, a network of 390 data collection points that provide vital information about the current state of the highly dynamic Louisiana coastal environment. Professor Erdman served as his faculty advisor for this research project undertaken with support from the LSU Coastal Sustainability Studio.

lsu discover scholar

Rendering of Oystower: Monitoring Coastal Resilience

Building on his CRMS research, in fall 2015 James, along with Erdman and LSU architecture undergraduate Giovanni Coakley, won Honorable Mention in the Laka Competition ’15 for their team’s entry, Oystower: Monitoring Coastal Resilience. (View the project board here.) Laka is an international design competition organized by Laka Architektura, a public arts initiative that gathers architects, artists, designers, engineers, and scientists to start an international dialog for sharing innovative ideas about the future of society. Almost 200 individuals from five continents and 30 countries submitted 100 entries to the competition. The objective of the 2015 competition, Architecture that Reacts, was to investigate socially engaged architecture that is able to respond and dynamically adjust to current needs and circumstances. The LSU team’s entry proposed a network of self-sustaining structures for monitoring the coastal zone for indicators of change and threat.

After graduation James hopes to work for an architecture firm with an interdisciplinary approach to design focused on addressing the challenges of environmental stewardship, health, economic sustainability, social equity, and poverty in various parts of the world. He is also considering attending graduate school to study urban design and gain greater expertise in using architecture to revitalize areas that suffer from urban blight and other challenges.

“Whichever path I choose, I plan to use architecture as an agent to meet needs and make a positive difference in the world,” James commented.

lsu discover

The 2016 LSU Discover Scholar award recipients will be honored at a breakfast with LSU President F. King Alexander on February 3, 2016. For more information about LSU Discover, visit discover.lsu.edu.

Professor Darius Spieth Publishes on the Art of Brian M. Viveros

Publications, Art History, Art, Faculty,
the dirtyland

Director Tim Burton reading Brian Viveros’ book, The Dirtyland

Art history professor Darius A. Spieth has contributed an essay to The Dirtyland, a book featuring the work of contemporary Californian painter Brian M. Viveros, who is best known for his imagery of self-assertive female fighters and smokers.

Spieth’s essay couches Viveros’ works in the cultural history of women smoking from the late 19th century to the present day. Smoking was considered originally a symbol of emancipation and female rebelliousness or non-conformity to social standards. In the early 20th century, these connotations came to be exploited by the advertising industry, which created imagery designed to encourage tobacco consumption among women. With the increasing awareness of the health risks associated with smoking, images of female smokers became first outdated, then turned into pieces of nostalgia.

Spieth’s essay shows how Brian M. Viveros’ art plays with these and related cultural codes. Commenting on the essay, Viveros said in a press release that he was honored by Spieth’s contextualizing his paintings within an art historical framework. Lavishly illustrated, the book is published by Thinkspace Gallery in Culver City, California.

Alumni Spotlight: Logan Ledford, BID 2009

Art & Design, Interior Design, Alumni, Alumni Profiles, ,
Logan Ledford, Bachelor of Interior Design 2009 (Photo by John Bihm)

Logan Ledford, Bachelor of Interior Design 2009 (Photo by John Bihm)

Logan Ledford’s entire family went to LSU. Logan graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor of Interior Design. Her father, Paul, majored in animal science; her mother, Lindsay, in sociology. The two met in the 1980s after they’d graduated and were working at the School of Veterinary Medicine and discovered they lived across the street from each other on July Street. Logan’s brother, Stephen, received a bachelor’s degree in electric engineering in 2014, and her sister, Jane, is currently a sophomore pursuing a double major in French and liberal arts.

However, her father ended up working as a sound mixer in film, becoming good friends with Steven Soderbergh. Her brother is working in film now, as well. Logan has tried film and graphic design and is currently more focused on painting and illustration.

“So far, everyone in my family has picked a major and then figured out a way to use it and apply it in other fields,” remarked Logan.

She became interested in graphic design while she was pursuing her interior design degree. She thought about changing majors, but her professor, TL Ritchie, encouraged her to stick it out, which has worked out well. After graduation, Logan landed a job at the prestigious Zehnder Communications in New Orleans, where she worked as a graphic designer. “It was actually my senior capstone project that helped me get the job at Zehnder,” Logan shared.

She left Zhender last summer to spend more time pursuing her talents as an artist. Logan is now working as an abstract artist—several of her clients are interior designers. She is currently represented by Katie Koch, a high-end drapery designer and interiors curator. Logan’s work is featured in Katie Koch Home alongside Gretchen Everett’s and Billy Baldwin’s. Her Color Spot series is extremely popular. She applies them to stationery, wall hangings, ornaments, and more. Over the holidays she sold more than 100 white porcelain ornaments featuring her color spots!

 

Lately, Logan is experimenting with different surface mediums such as colored acrylic panels and thick layered vinyl installations. She plans to order and paint on the backs of clear acrylic ghost chairs, envisioning the way her artwork will be visible on both sides of the chair.

“Acrylic is a hot item in interior design right now,” explained Logan. “I love pushing my artwork into home items. I think my background in interior design makes me think differently about these outlets as a platform for my work. Art can be a part of these items and make them that much more unique; it doesn’t just have to be on the walls.”

Logan Ledford, BID '09 (Photo by John Bihm)

Logan Ledford, BID ’09 (Photo by John Bihm)

Logan also gets commission work as a freelance illustrator—another skillset she picked up studying interior design at LSU. She illustrated a book cover for a poet in Chicago and is currently working on a children’s book. She completed some illustration and water-color work for a series of Mardi Gras–related prints and acrylic trays for Hazelnut New Orleans, owned by actor Bryan Batt.

Her goals for 2016 include expanding her reach beyond New Orleans into Houston and Dallas. She also entertains the idea of pursuing an MFA one day, when the time is right. Her ultimate goal is to focus solely on her painting and illustration work.

“I am incredibly thankful that I chose interior design,” said Logan. “I’ve used it in all aspects of my career to date.”

View more of Logan Ledford’s work at loganledford.com.

Spring 2016 Nadine Carter Russell Chair to Lecture and Lead Seminars on Louisiana Landscape Lexicon

Art & Design, Research, Landscape Architecture, Faculty, ,

catherine seavitt nordensonCatherine Seavitt Nordenson, ASLA, AIA, has been named the spring 2016 Nadine Carter Russell Chair, a rotating residency shared among the four disciplines in the LSU College of Art & Design—this year’s residency is with the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture. Seavitt is one of two 2015–16 Nadine Carter Russell Endowed Chairs; Owen Lang, FASLA, served as the Nadine Carter Russell Chair in fall 2015.

Seavitt is an associate professor at the City College of New York and principal of Catherine Seavitt Studio. Her research focuses on design adaptation to sea level rise in urban coastal environments and explores novel landscape restoration practices given the dynamics of climate change. Seavitt co-authored the book On the Water: Palisade Bay, a climate adaptation proposal for New York’s Upper Harbor; this study was the foundation of the 2010 exhibition, Rising Currents, at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Seavitt is currently leading research at Jamaica Bay as part of Structures of Coastal Resilience (SCR), a project supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

During her residency at the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, Nordenson will visit studios, present a lecture (open to the public) at the LSU College of Art & Design, and lead four research seminars at Hill Memorial Library.

The purpose of the research seminars is to develop a series of reference pamphlets on the Louisiana Landscape Lexicon, consisting of an expanded visual glossary of geomorphologic features particular to coastal, riverine, and upland Louisiana. The vernacular lexicon of creole language terms describing the topographic and geographic landscapes of the Louisiana territories consists of a unique vocabulary. Developed in the 18th century, these words and place names were developed and adapted to fit this newly discovered environment, different from anything known in Europe or other parts of the Americas.

 

Given the four monthly visits of the Nadine Carter Russell Chair residency, the Louisiana Landscape Lexicon has been divided into four topical pamphlet volumes, each addressing a specific theme and lexical items.

  • Volume 1: Cadastral Survey (arpent, batture, concession, sansfaçon, terre commune)—view January schedule
  • Volume 2: Riverine Bayou (barre, batture, bayou, côte, crevasse, fourche, levée, platin)—view February schedule
  • Volume 3: Coastal Wetlands (chênière, coulée, flottant, terre salée, traînaisse, tremblante)—view March schedule
  • Volume 4: Forests and Plants (anse, bois-franc, ciprière, étang, platin, pré, savane)—view April schedule

The Louisiana Landscape Lexicon will also consider a projective view of these glossary terms, addressing recent novel transformations of regional landforms into future resiliency strategies. How might a crevasse be reinvented as a controlled opening for sediment diversion? How might the marsh terrace be transformed into a tool for wetland restoration, particularly the development of new wetland glyphs such as the chevron currently deployed as pilot projects along the western Louisiana coast? Might the chênière be reinvented as a terraced coastal floodwater attenuation and retention system? These new geomorphologic techniques and inventions, deployed as Anthropocene landscape strategies for an uncertain future impacted by climate change, will also be defined and illustrated in the lexicon.

“The new terms and techniques will draw from the same inventive minds of the 18th-century explorers who created the vernacular creole language that described their brave new world,” Seavitt revealed. “We must now address ours.”

More about the Nadine Carter Russell Chair

In 1998, Paula G. Manship bestowed a fund for the LSU College of Art & Design to establish the Nadine Carter Russell Chair, named for her niece, a 1967 graduate of the College of Art & Design with a degree in art history. The Nadine Carter Russell Chair enables the LSU College of Art & Design to annually bring a prominent artist, designer, or scholar to campus. The rotating chair provides outstanding opportunities for all disciplines within the college and allows the college to meet a variety of curriculum needs. The duties of the chair primarily focus on teaching and public lectures but vary depending on the recipient’s field of expertise.