Archinect - News

Get Lectured: The Catholic University of America, Fall '23

2023-08-28T13:06:00-04:00

We are continuing our Get Lectured series with a look at what’s going on in the fall at the Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning in Washington, D.C.

The semester begins on Monday, September 11, with the first Fall 2023 Walton Lecture Series event, titled ‘The Mythic Modern with Travis Price’ featuring the D.C.-based Travis Price Architects founder. It will be followed on October 2 with a special film screening and discussion featuring North Carolina State University Professor Thomas Barrie and current Sage and Coombe Architects Associate Architect Caitlin Watson.

The series continues on October 16 with Professor Adnan Zillur Morshed’s examination ‘Designing the BRAC,’ which considers the potential of architecture as an enabler of human freedom. The lecture precedes the opening of the exhibition on the same topic on October 18. October 30 will see a visit from documentary filmmaker and photographer Chris Rainier. Grace Farms founder/CEO and lauded envir...

Architecture students will reconstruct an original Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome at the National Museum of American History this summer

2023-04-14T14:00:00-04:00

A new collaborative project between the Catholic University of America and the National Museum of American History will offer architecture students the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to repair and reconstruct one of Buckminster Fuller’s famed geodesic domes in the hopes of presenting such structures as a viable resilience tool to be used by designers in the ongoing fight against climate change.

Beginning in early July, a group of students from the school’s undergrad and graduate programs will work together on the reconstruction of the more than 70-year-old The Weatherbreak design created by Fuller protégé Jeffrey Lindsay in the museum’s Flag Hall.

Under the guidance of assistant professor Tonya Ohnstad, lead fabricator Lorenzo Cardim DeAlmeida, and museum curator Abeer Saha, the group will explore its potential usage as affordable, resilient housing. This is the first time the structure will be displayed to the public since entering the museum’s collection and represents the first ...

The Catholic University of America and Yale School of Architecture have established a scholarship fund to honor late Ugandan architect Doreen Adengo

2023-01-24T12:11:00-05:00

A new endowment fund will provide four-year scholarship opportunities to undergraduate and graduate students pursuing an architecture education in honor of the late architect Doreen Adengo who passed away in 2022 after battling cancer. The scholarship fund has been jointly established by Yale School of Architecture and the Catholic University of America.

Born in Uganda in 1976, Adengo received her B.Arch from Catholic University in 2000 before entering Yale and graduating with an M.Arch in 2005. From there, she went on to found her own eponymous practice (Adengo Architecture) after ten years of working in offices in New York, Washington, D.C., and London.

Adengo left behind a legacy of achievement in both urbanism and architecture that helped greatly influence the development of contemporary architecture and urban design strategies while earning her the reputation and status of a role model for young practitioners.

Related on Archinect: Rethinking the global urbanism studio

She was d...

The Catholic University of America is constructing a replica of a Notre Dame roof truss using medieval techniques

2021-07-26T18:48:00-04:00

Starting today, the Catholic University of America’s School of Architecture and Planning in collaboration with Massachusetts-based nonprofit Handhouse Studio are building a full-scale replica of a truss that belonged to the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

As part of a teaching project by Handhouse Studio, which is setting up education workshops in Washington D.C., the approximately 45-foot by 35-foot structure, labeled as Truss #6, will be built outdoors at The Catholic University’s campus in a 10-day workshop. The construction process will be available for public viewing.

Roof truss demonstration for the Gwozdziec Synagogue in Sanok, Poland. Photo: Handshouse Studio

A team of traditional timber framers, carpenters, faculty, and students from across the United States will use the methods and materials of the original medieval builders. The reconstruction is intended to be a gift to France and the collective effort to rebuild Notre Dame following the 2019 fire that destroyed the cath...

Jason Young has been named the next dean of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's College of Architecture and Design

2021-05-13T19:46:00-04:00

Jason Young, professor and director of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville’s School of Architecture, has been named the next dean of the College of Architecture and Design effective July 1. [...] Young will succeed Dean Scott Poole, who announced in 2020 that he would step down and return to the faculty, continuing a successful 35-year career of teaching, professional practice, service, and leadership, with many accomplishments and accolades along the way.

"Young will succeed Dean Scott Poole, who announced in 2020 that he would step down and return to the faculty, continuing a successful 35-year career of teaching, professional practice, service, and leadership, with many accomplishments and accolades along the way." — The University of Tennessee Knoxville

Young will oversee the college’s four schools: architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, and design. Before the University of Tennessee, Young taught architecture at the University of Michigan, the University of California, Berkeley as the 2013 Howard Friedman Visiting Associate Professor of Practice, the Summer Institute for Architecture at the Catholic University of America, and served as a visiting professor at the Schwerpunkt Holz in Murau, Austria.

Jason Young’s academic research explores contemporary conditions of American urbanism in a post-city, digitally organized culture. He has lectured on his research at institutions including, the Rhode Island Schoo...

Mark Ferguson appointed Dean at The Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning

2020-05-21T16:45:00-04:00

“As a practitioner, I have had the privilege of coaching many young architects, helping them grow into mature professionals, key members of our business organization, and valued contributors to the communities we serve,” Ferguson said. “At CatholicU, I look forward to expanding the opportunities to create knowledge and to inspire lifetime learners who acquire the awareness, skills, and judgment to be trusted stewards of the places in which we live."

After 17 years, Randal Ott steps down at The Catholic University of America School of Architecture and Planning and will be succeeded by Mark Ferguson, partner of Ferguson & Shamamian Architects, L.L.P. The New York city firm is widely known for its classical and traditional style of architecture, with Ferguson heavily involved in the Institute of Classical Architecture having an award named after him in 2017. Ferguson will be taking over responsibilities as Dean on July 1st, 2020.