Spitzer School of Architecture’s Post

Meet the finalists of the 37th Student Architecture Awards! LETLHOGONOLO SESANA Tshwane University of Technology 📚 THESIS: Investigating architecture's role in preserving South African birth rituals. Letlhogonolo's project delves into the intersection of selfhood, spirituality, and space in African contexts, enriching architectural discourse by exploring the role of architecture in preserving birth rituals amid cultural erosion in South Africa. The study proposes architectural interventions rooted in communalism and metaphysical continuity, advocating for the integration of cultural values into design to foster identity preservation. Additionally, it recognizes architecture as a medium through which rituals, representing metaphysical journeys across time, materialize. This understanding underscores architecture's capacity to articulate, preserve, and empower individual and communal identities. Through this holistic lens, architecture emerges as a transformative force, bridging past, present, and future narratives while embodying the essence of cultural expression and continuity. To find our more, click the link below and don't forget to sign up to watch the live stream of the awards on the 10th of May🎉 https://lnkd.in/d5vqD8gg #CorobrikStudentArchitectAwards #StudentArchitectureExcellence #InnovationInDesign #TalentRecognition #ProudAchievements #ShapingTheFuture #DesignInspiration #NextGenArchitects 🌐

#PolyUDesign_KnowledgeTransfer Researchers from the PolyU School of Design (SD), the Department of Applied Social Sciences (APSS) and the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) will present findings from a GRF-supported research project in digital cultural heritage and housing ethnography, focused on social and spatial patterns in stilt housing districts in Tai O Village, Hong Kong. The research presented will illustrate how housing, understood as a culturally specific practice, relates to houses in settlements with distinct, long-standing vernacular architecture. The study will demonstrate and recommend tools for digital conservation of vernacular architecture and demonstrate methods designers, architects, and scholars can use to describe and conserve threatened cultural resources through digital surveying and ethnography. Professionals, scholars, and students working in design, architecture, housing, social sciences, and cultural heritage fields are welcome to join to hear research findings and discuss cultural heritage in Hong Kong. 🔗Register before 26 Nov 12 pm| https://lnkd.in/gjktEpmf 🔗More about the lecture and the speakers| https://polyu.hk/tdzLC Kun-pyo Lee Rennie Kan Daniel K Elkin Dr. Norah Wang Markus Wernli #PolyUDesign #PolyU #design #polyuEID #lectureseries #taio #stilthousing #Environmentaldesign #interiordesign #digitalconservation #vernacular #architecture #socialpattern #spatialpattern #questionquestionquestion

New Article Announcement: (Re)Construction of Community - Exploring the Possibilities of Community Participation in Architectural Education Excited to share the latest contribution to the discourse on community-based architecture! The article, recently published in Springer's book chapter, explores the transformative potential of design studios in shaping a regenerative and redistributive approach to architecture within micro-social forms of community. The Design Studio Course Community Architecture focuses on the (Re)construction of community, by critically addressing spatial action in the contemporary political, ideological, and social contexts of architecture and urbanism at the level of a micro-social form - community. Students engaged with the Centre of Local Communities in Sarajevo's socialist settlements – neighborhoods built during Yugoslavia's socialist era to reflect collective identity and social equality through architecture. In between the tensions of the contemporary context, how can architects advance designing towards a regenerative and redistributive economy based on common goods? The concept of common goods occupies a position between private and public. In this sense, concepts and practices related to common goods represent an alternative, redirecting power from the macro-management of the state and the market to the community level. In strengthening the micro-social forms of community, continuing the previous forms of cooperation in their regeneration, reconstruction, and adaptation is crucial for sustainability. By researching the possibilities of reconstruction and adaptation of existing forms of citizen participation in spatial and organizational form - local communities, the possibilities of using social heritage with the most efficient improvement forms are considered. This project reaffirms the importance of critical engagement in architecture education and the transformative power of design in reshaping our social spaces. The emphasis on collective action is intended to inspire students to recognize their potential impact and motivate them to participate in the necessary changes in the production of space. Read more about the work here: https://lnkd.in/dGf4JjcD Let’s continue the conversation on how architecture can transform into more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable communities. #Architecture #Urbanism #CommunityDesign #Sustainability #Education #DesignStudio #Sarajevo #CommonGoods

North Dakota State University architecture student Sydney Seamands completed her master’s degree thesis recently on understanding how to save declining rural communities in the state of North Dakota. The thesis focused on five core areas: child care availability, community and cultural amenities, developing of thriving downtowns, access to single and multi-family homes and access to quality educational opportunities. Seamands looked at five communities across the state before zeroing in on Velva as having the most potential for implementing a simple rural revitalization strategy. Ganapathy Mahalingam, NDSU architecture professor and the thesis advisor for Seamands, said the aim was to develop a revitalization strategy not for just one community like Velva but one that can be utilized in several North Dakota communities seeking development templates. https://lnkd.in/gi5ReGez #architecture #revitalization #thesis #strategy

#PolyUDesign_KnowledgeTransfer Researchers from the PolyU School of Design (SD), the Department of Applied Social Sciences (APSS) and the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) will present findings from a GRF-supported research project in digital cultural heritage and housing ethnography, focused on social and spatial patterns in stilt housing districts in Tai O Village, Hong Kong. The research presented will illustrate how housing, understood as a culturally specific practice, relates to houses in settlements with distinct, long-standing vernacular architecture. The study will demonstrate and recommend tools for digital conservation of vernacular architecture and demonstrate methods designers, architects, and scholars can use to describe and conserve threatened cultural resources through digital surveying and ethnography. Professionals, scholars, and students working in design, architecture, housing, social sciences, and cultural heritage fields are welcome to join to hear research findings and discuss cultural heritage in Hong Kong. 🔗Register before 26 Nov 12 pm| https://lnkd.in/gzf67Z4G 🔗More about the lecture and the speakers| https://polyu.hk/tdzLC Kun-pyo Lee Rennie Kan Daniel K Elkin Dr. Norah Wang Markus Wernli #PolyUDesign #PolyU #design #polyuEID #lectureseries #taio #stilthousing #Environmentaldesign #interiordesign #digitalconservation #vernacular #architecture #socialpattern #spatialpattern #questionquestionquestion

From Clay to Creativity: ODMians Explores Global Architecture with 'Types of Houses' Activity! 🏡 ODMians of grade V had a fantastic time exploring the fascinating world of architecture through a "Types of Houses" activity. They learned about various types of houses from around the globe and how culture, geography, and climate influence architectural styles. ODMians showcased their creativity by building models using materials like clay, cardboard, and popsicle sticks. Through interactive presentations and discussions, they shared interesting facts and gained a deeper appreciation for cultural diversity and sustainable architecture. This hands-on activity sparked curiosity and creativity, making science both fun and educational for our young learners. 🌍🏘️🎨 #CreativeLearning #GlobalArchitecture #HandsOnLearning #CulturalDiversity #SustainableArchitecture #YoungLearners #EducationalActivities #InteractiveLearning #STEMEducation #InspiringCuriosity [creativity, architecture, cultural diversity, sustainable architecture, hands-on learning, grade V, types of houses, global education, interactive presentations, STEM]

Antje Steinmuller, Chair and Professor of Architecture at Taubman College, is featured in a November 20 interview with Metropolis Magazine, a top architecture and design publication. The interview, titled “Antje Steinmuller Wants to Get the Housing Question Right,” focuses on her transition to Ann Arbor from California, how the housing crisis affects different parts of the country, and how Steinmuller’s research addresses innovative housing typologies. Steinmuller started at Taubman College in July 2024, previously serving as chair of undergraduate architecture at California College of the Arts in San Francisco. Steinmuller is quoted saying,"It is our responsibility to promote things that are beneficial to the climate, to create housing that caters to people's needs, and to look at how AI technologies can really serve us. I’m really hoping to intensify the collaborations that we have, and should have, right in Ann Arbor and Detroit and other areas. Detroit especially is a place where we can learn a lot, from the struggles that have happened and the strategies that have worked." Read the full story: https://myumi.ch/Rm4dy

"One of the themes of Pittsburgh Architecture Week this year is that design can have a substantial impact on our health. Architects know this as designers of buildings and spaces, but it is not widely discussed by others. In the last 10-15 years there has been a growing scientific evidence base from fields like neuroscience, behavioral psychology and sociology that reveals why and how the human brain is affected by natural light, spatial dimensions, colors, how a space flows or how stairs ask you to move." Read about Pittsburgh Architecture Week in Inspiring Lives Magazine! https://lnkd.in/eBq7RzvG #PittsburghArchitectureWeek #pittsburgharchitecture #designforwellbeing

A few weeks ago, we completed History and Theory in Architecture IX: 1990s Theories that Inspired Architects, a redesigned core theory course attended by 300 master’s students. The course was taught by Dr. Cathelijne Nuijsink explored the intersection of architecture and interdisciplinary thought, using the magazine ANY: Architecture New York (1993-2000) as a starting point for discussion. Throughout the semester we explored four themes that were (re)introduced into 1990s architectural discourse by ANY, but are still relevant today: 'lightness', 'whiteness', 'diagram' and 'public fear'. We asked ourselves how architecture can benefit from engaging with perspectives from outside the discipline, and what insights theorists, sociologists, political scientists, gender critics or even lawyers have brought to architectural discourse. In each of the sessions, we warmed up with a seminal music video clip to get us into a 1990s mindset and left the lecture hall with some classic 1990s disco tunes. Image: Retrieved from Realspace in Quicktimes: Architecture and Digitalization by Ole Bouman (1996). #newtheorycourse #architecture #ethz #darch #1990stheoriesthatinspiredarchitecture #avermaete #urbandesign #endofsemester

Hello connections, I am thrilled to share with you that my very first working paper titled "Effects of Micro-Gentrification" was successfully presented at an Online national Research Conference - New trends in Architecture and Planning and published in the book "New Trends in Architecture". This research explores the often-unforeseen consequences of seemingly minor resident-driven changes in a neighborhood and their long term impacts on the residents. Along with the architectural implications of micro gentrification, focusing on resident-initiated alterations aimed at expanding living spaces. Micro gentrification, is an urban phenomenon, often leads to architectural modifications in existing residential structures and examines the architectural, structural, esthetic, and psychological impacts of these alterations within individual residences. I would like to thank MBS SPA, Prof. V.K.Bugga, Prof. Bandana Jain, Ar. Mahima Sharma and Ar.AKSHITA JAIN and the entire jury panel for their hard work in organizing this conference and giving me the opportunity to present my work. I'm incredibly grateful to my esteemed professors, Ar. DEEPAK KUMAR and Ar. Toshi Sharma, for their invaluable guidance and support throughout the process of this research paper. The attached conference proceedings booklet has all the research papers published with ISBN Number: 978-93-340-0368-0.  My research paper is from page 62-69. Thank You All. #research #architecture #microgentrification #urbantrajectories #communitydevelopment #humanpsychology #spacepsychology