A New Semester, A New AGSA Board!

By this time, everyone is settled in to their new studio spaces, getting the rhythm of new schedules, feeling out their lecture classes (and exactly how much reading they will require), and starting the downhill slide to Spring (ignoring for a moment tonight's snowy forecast).  The new semester also marks a transition for the Architecture Graduate Student Association, as we welcome two new members to our ranks and say goodbye to those moving on.

We're excited to have Patricia Chenery taking over as AGSA Secretary (look forward to her witty and substantive emails in your inbox) and Kevin Diamond taking on the freshly minted position of Communications Chair!  As part of his new role, Kevin will now be responsible for maintaining and populating this blog, something I am both excited to move on from and sad to let go!

Thanks for continuing to check in here to learn about the inner-workings of NC State's architecture program.  This month will see posts about the ULI competition, discussions with recently-returned Prague-ites, the continuation of the student and professor interviews, and of course details on all the fun events we have up our sleeves.  If you have any ideas for content, things you want us to highlight, or glowing reviews of our posts so far (there is no place for criticism; let's quarantine that to reviews), don't hesitate to email us at ncsu (dot) agsa (at) gmail (dot) com.

It's been fun!
Holland Ward

Professor Interviews: Pat Rand!

Welcome back!  Today's convocation marks the start of another rousing and raucous semester for the College of Design and our beloved School of Architecture!  We hope you spent your holiday in various states of relaxation, managed to see some cool buildings, and are returning ready to dive in to the icy studio waters, polar bear club style!

Back in December we were lucky enough to interview Pat Rand, FAIA, professor of many sought-after classes and the author of numerous books, with another currently underway.   We saved his interview to kick off the spring semester of the blog - hope you enjoy it!

Q: Where did you grow up? 

     Well, I was born in Kentucky, then I lived in New Jersey for 6 years during grade school, and I spent high school in Richmond, Virginia.  A variety of places. 

Q: What’s one thing you would tell your college self?

     I don’t know... I wouldn’t change anything necessarily.  I think I seized opportunities pretty well, I think I was optimally serious, but not too serious.  Maybe I'd tell myself to be prepared for the unexpected.  I think I expected to follow a certain path toward practice, and now I’m not practicing primarily.  So maybe be alert for certain opportunities, and be prepared for adjustments.

Q: Your book “Materials for Design” features case studies that exemplify different materials.  Which of the buildings you selected would you go see tomorrow if you had the chance?

     The one that’s on the cover, which is a glass house, is a ridiculous proposition; that one would build an entire house out of glass!  So I guess I might like to see it simply because of its unusualness, not because it’s exemplary.  I would never suggest that anyone do that ever again.  It’s called Laminata. 

     I was talking about the German Foreign Ministry in class just yesterday, describing some of the things that Jamie Carpenter did in the glass wall that I cannot see in even the really high quality photographs that we’ve got.  That’s one where I think he was doing some unusual things, putting in some partially reflective glass and some spectrally reflective glass that you can’t really photograph.  That’s one that would like to see in real life because I don’t think you can capture the glass qualities even with really good photographs.

Q: What’s something that surprised you while researching your most recent book?

How many really amazing projects are out there!  We picked the projects because they were engaging architecturally in general and they also used some material in some interesting way.  When you have a photograph that you keep zooming in on and it keeps revealing to you more stuff, that's inspiring.  How they invent a way to connect materials in a way that doesn’t interfere with the appreciation of the quality of the material.  Invention, by a good designer, occurs at every scale. 

Q: How do you take your coffee?

Black.  Strong and black.

Q: You have a free morning; no meetings, no student interviews, no classes to prepare for – what do you do?

     I don’t have too many of those.  When you’re working on a book it basically fills every free moment you might have.  If I have time I would take care of myself a little better, exercise a little, take the dog for a walk. 

Q: If you had to recommend a few books from your shelves to an aspiring architect, what would they be?

     Ching's "Form, Space and Order".  "The Visual Dictionary of Architecture" by Ching. They both explain concepts in a clear way.  Those aren’t terribly new books, but they do get across significant ideas and celebrate hand drawing as a way to communicate something about architecture.

Those are what I would recommend for the novice.  Start really simple and try not to scare them.  That will come later.

Q: Who is a contemporary architect whose work you look at and think “they’re doing it right”?

     These questions are so reductive, it makes it hard, because there are so many really powerful people that are doing really wonderful things.  Let’s see, the firms in the first book that impressed me a lot are a European, Despang Architekten comes to mind.  They do small, socially responsible, high quality designs that I admire.  Not over the top cost-wise, very environmentally respoinsible.  I look at their work and admire it greatly.  I really appreciate architects who tempt me with a big idea, with a big move but are worthy also at the close scale due to their rigorous refinements. 

From the new book we're writing there is an affordable housing project from South Africa that brings together a wood frame, packed sand bags as masonry, and an applied stucco surface.  The design boasts good proportions, small footprints with space to store bicycles, hang laundry, have space for a dog.  They way they built the walls, the occupants participated in packing the sand bags for their own home. It's not a textbook solution for how to make a cheap house, and it's very inventive.

Thanks so much, Pat!  See everyone at convocation this afternoon!

Kamphoefner Award

The recent blog silence can only mean one thing - the semester is drawing to an end and studio work is closing in.  We do have another professor interview coming your way later this week and review documentation will kick in soon as well, but today we're looking back a month at the Kamphoefner Award.

Granted to a Masters of Architecture student in his or her final year of graduate studies, the Kamphoefner Award was established by the late Dean of the School and his wife to recognize and support the outstanding M Arch student of each class.  This year's Fellowship Jury consisted of Pat Rand, Roger Clark, and Georgia Bizios, who had the right to select the recipient and also recognize at least one alternate.  Extended to students graduating in the top one-third of their cohort, this year's nominees boasted a 3.82 GPA or better - the highest cutoff since the inception of the award!
This year's nominees were:

Ana Maria Drughi
Alexander Ellenbogen
Adam Flynn
Shawna Hammon
Joshua Stephens
Holland Ward

After a morning of deliberation, the Jury selected Shawna Hammon as the first place recipient and Ana Maria Drughi and Alexander Ellenbogen as second place recipients!

Congratulations Shawna, Ana and Xander!

AGSA Elections!

It's election season here in America, and we at AGSA aren't letting the politicians have all the fun.  It's time to vote in a new AGSA board! Below is our field of qualified candidates - it seems that the tightest (ie. only) race this year is for the coveted role of Communications/Media.  Check out the blurbs and be sure to cast your vote this afternoon during studio!

Communications/Media

Kevin Diamond

I am a first year looking to get more involved and have some leadership experience from my undergraduate years. I am interested in getting to know the rest of the design community at NC State outside of my studio. 

Nick Purdy

In life before graduate school, Nick was an event manager.  This is the really short way of saying he helped sometimes clueless people understand how to plan events, frequently translated communications between artists and the rest of the world, and occasionally herded cats.  While running the sound board for a concert.  In theory, this background may make him a suitable candidate for the Communications/Media position for AGSA.

Treasurer

Adam Ward

As your current treasurer, I have worked tirelessly to ensure that AGSA continues to thrive in these challenging economic times.  In recent weeks, European leaders have expressed optimism in the recovery of their markets and banks.  I strongly believe this newfound confidence is a direct response to my diligent work as your representative.  Now is not a time for change. (No se puede!) We need more of the same.  Reelect me as the AGSA Treasurer. 

Secretary

Patricia Chenery 

As a newcomer to the AGSA political arena I will seek to fill the large and hallowed shoes of our departing wizard of words, Holland Ward. I'm well organized, have fairly good grammar, and can type fast. Over my Christmas Break I intend to transcribe all of the episodes of Mad Men in order to further prepare myself for the demands of this position.

Vice President

Katy Liang

I am running for re-election as AGSA Vice President. I want to be able to continue to help keep all the studios connected and help bring you more events to get everyone a break from studio!

President

Julie Barghout

After completing a year of being the president of AGSA, I can honestly say that I loved it! Yes, there were times where things were bouncing off the walls, stuff was spilling off my plate, and studio took the back seat (shhhhh), but it was enjoyable and full of excitement nonetheless.  I would love and be honored to run again and be the President for last year of my graduate school career.  Vote for me! I want to continue to strengthen the student/faculty relationship and truly create a sense of community within our studios, department, and school.  I would love to continue to come up with new event ideas to give students a break from the stress of our projects and professors.  I can keep listing the many good things I would love to continue that comes with position, but most importantly, I would love to continue to represent the architectural graduate students here in the College of Design. So let's have another good year! 

Architecture + Landscape Mixer

A few weeks ago AGSA joined forces with our Landscape Architecture counterpart to organize a mixer between the two disciplines to foster feelings of camaraderie and fondness, and to also scout potential partnerships for the upcoming ULI design competition taking place at the beginning of 2013.   It was fun to meet over drinks at The Player's Retreat, the site of so much bonding/decompressing/wallowing for us architecture students.  Thanks, Landscape!  You guys are pretty awesome. 

Student Interview: Chelsea Sacks!

This week's interview is with Chelsea Sacks, an avid Penn State alum, proponent of pink and 3rd year in the Track III program.  Chelsea sat down with me during a break from grading ARC 432's cabin projects - hope you enjoy her interview!

QUESTION: What were you doing before you started grad school?

CHELSEA: I did 5 years at Penn State, took a year off and essentially regrouped.  During that time I was coaching and playing ice hockey.  When I started contemplating graduate school, I initially was looking at interior design programs, but my parents were big advocates for architecture - I'm glad I listened to their advice.  I also took a couple art classes to get my portfolio together.  

Q: If you could visit one piece of architecture, what would it be?

CHELSEA: I think that the opera house in Oslo, Norway that Snøhetta did is incredible;  I would love to see that one. 

What's a project you really enjoyed doing?

 In one of my international business classes in undergrad we did a semester-long case study of a company that’s only located in the US and designed a business model to take it abroad.  I studied the Cheesecake Factory and adapted the menu, the spaces, the restaurant layout to expand to the Asian market.  I conducted a lot of research on the customs and identity of my proposed international location and how one would mold the business so that it would be suited to that.

What's your favorite tool in the shop?

Probably the band saw; I use that thing all the time for everything, probably for things I shouldn't really use a band saw for.  

You were a varsity athlete at Penn State, what was the hardest thing about that?  The best?

I was in a leadership position on the team for 3 years, which actually was more of a babysitting job more than anything.  It was a challenge, especially as an underclassman.  Time management was also really difficult, but probably prepared me really well for architecture school.

The best thing was that I got to play hockey every day!  I miss that part.  

If you could work for any architect living or dead, who would it be?

There's an architect based in Westchester, Pennsylvania named Richard Buchanon,  he specializes in historic preservation, does a lot of work with barns, which I've always loved, and grew up around.  I’ve known him for a long time, he was actually really influential in my decision to come to grad school.  

If you could travel to any 3 places right now, where would they be?

1. Nashville
2. St. John, which is like my 2^nd home, but I haven’t been there in a while and I'm dying to go back.

3. Asia, my best friend just got back from Shanghai and her pictures and stories are amazing - I'd like to travel there at some point.

What's your favorite architectural book?
10x10 and the Green Studio Handbook.

If you could take any class outside of Architecture, what would it be? 

I would like to take a landscape architecture class.  I feel like it’s a component that we’re asked to think about but not given much direction with it, and it can really improve the design of a building.

How many pairs of cowboy boots do you own?

Oh man.  Currently I own 17.  And there’s a couple that could probably count as cowboy boots that I’m not including...When I design my house, I’m designing some kind of shoe rack for all my boots. 

Thanks so much, Chelsea!

Have a suggestion for a student or professor interview?  Email me at ncsu.agsa (at) gmail (dot) com.

Section Models

Askew Taylor has been out of 1/8" cardboard since last Monday, and there is not a stick of basswood left in the entire state of North Carolina...if you're a graduate of NC State's Architecture Program, you know this can only mean one thing - SECTION MODELS.  Below is a peak into the process of building the behemoth models- 2am on Thursday night, a cardboard massacre in the box, and various reviews.  Luckily I didn't capture any panic attacks or existential crises, but I did catch a verrrry tired AGSA president...

(photo courtesy of Nick Purdy)