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Design Agendas: Modern Architecture in St. Louis, 1930s–1970s

2024-08-16T16:13:00-04:00

The story of modern architecture in St. Louis is complex and often contradictory.

Beginning in the 1930s, internationally known architects such as Eric Mendelsohn, Eero Saarinen and Minoru Yamasaki — alongside important regional and national figures like Harris Armstrong, Charles Fleming, Joseph Murphy and Gyo Obata — created iconic structures that embodied new ideas about form and, in many cases, democratic social organization. Yet the period also was marked by racial segregation and by large-scale demolitions throughout the urban core.

This fall, the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University in St. Louis will present “Design Agendas: Modern Architecture in St. Louis, 1930s–1970s.” With nearly 300 architectural drawings, models, photographs, films, digital maps and artworks, “Design Agendas” is the first major exhibition to examine how interlocking civic, cultural and racial histories, as well as conflicting ideological aims, reshaped the city.

“I lived in Pruitt-Ig...

Aki Ishida appointed director of the Sam Fox School College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design

2024-04-15T13:16:00-04:00

Washington University in St. Louis has announced the appointment of Aki Ishida as the next director of the Sam Fox School College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design. The current associate professor and interim associate director of Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture will take over duties effective July 1st. Her appointment follows the departure of Heather Woofter, who left St. Louis to become the new Dean at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture last summer.

"Aki is an accomplished architect and designer, a respected scholar and a dedicated teacher and mentor. She is fascinated by the ways social conditions can shape the built environment, and she has a long history of collaborating with artists, engineers and health-care professionals, among others. I am confident Aki will be an inspiring leader who will connect deeply with our community and advance the strategic goals of the school and university. We are proud to welcome her t...

Get Lectured: Washington University in St. Louis, Spring '24

2024-01-14T11:00:00-05:00

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis has shared its Spring ‘24 public lecture schedule as part of our Get Lectured rundown of speaking events on campus this semester.

The lectures begin on Friday, January 26, with the Fitzgibbon Charrette Kickoff Lecture from FreelandBuck co-founders Brennan Buck and David Freeland. Artist Josh Kline Bunny and the Charles Burson Visiting Lecture comes next on February 6, followed by the Fumihiko Maki Lecture on February 8 from landscape architect Gina Ford.

February continues with a visit from Swiss architects Louie and Nicole McIntosh on February 16, followed by the Coral Courts Lecture from distinguished Mexican practitioner and academic Fernanda Canales on February 19. The month ends on February 26 with the Historic Preservation Lecture from David Dowell. Cory Henry will deliver his Ruth & Norman Moore Visiting Professor of Architecture Lecture on March 18, followed by D.I.R.T. studio founder Julie Bar...

Get Lectured: Washington University in St. Louis, Fall '23

2023-10-09T11:53:00-04:00

This week, we are continuing our Get Lectured series with a look at the big names coming to The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis in the Fall 2023 semester.

The semester has already seen appearances from Adam Pendleton, Marie Lorenz, and Crystal Z. Campbell. Events continue on October 19 when Javier García-Germán delivers the Ruth & Norman Moore Visiting Professor of Architecture Lecture. He is followed by Weiss/Manfredi founders Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, who will deliver the Abend Family Visiting Critic Endowed Lecture on October 23. Finally, the month closes with a lecture from Artist William Villalongo and data scientist Shraddha Ramani on October 24.

November begins with a lecture from Whitney Museum of American Art Curator Adrienne Edwards on November 2. She is followed by a special event featuring dancer Kyle Abraham and performance theorist Joshua Chambers-Letson on November 8. Both events are co-sponsored by the Kemper Art ...

Get Lectured: Washington University in St. Louis, Spring '23

2023-02-03T12:25:00-05:00

This week, we are continuing our Get Lectured series with a look at the big names coming to The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis in the Spring 2023 semester for what promises to be a packed slate of public lectures and events.

The month kicks off with Mario Gooden’s February 6 lecture on his practice and recent high-profile designs, followed by a visit from photographer and digital artist Al-An deSouza on February 8. Installation artist Alison Hilmer will follow on February 22, and Artemas Quibble founder Jason Ross will conclude things with a visit to campus on February 23 to discuss his career as an apparel and accessories designer.

March’s events begin with a visit from Mark Lee and Sharon Johnston on March 1 to discuss the work of their firm’s recent projects in Asia and the United States. Hanno founder Sarita Sundar will follow on March 2, preceding visits from Cory Henry on March 3 and Catalan duo Anna and Eugeni Bach on March 6. Tam...

Get Lectured: Washington University in St. Louis, Fall '22

2022-10-04T09:00:00-04:00

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis has announced its Fall 2022 public events and lecture programming for its College of Architecture, College of Art, and Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum.

The school explains, "each semester, the school brings nationally and internationally recognized architects, artists, designers, landscape architects, urban designers, historians, and critics to campus, promoting new ideas in practice, theory, and technology. Invited speakers often interact with students during workshops and informal gatherings, in addition to participating in studio visits, where they conduct one-on-one reviews of work."

During the month of September, the College of Architecture welcomed lectures and presentations from architect Hilary Sample, co-founder of MOS, Daniel Jacobs, and Brittany Utting of HOME-OFFICE. The Henrey L. And Nathalie E. Freund Teaching Fellow Lecture was presented by artist Meleko Mokgosi on September 30. The schoo...

Linda C. Samuels on the forces reshaping 21st-century; A discussion on ‘Infrastructural Optimism’

2022-01-26T12:00:00-05:00

In cynical times, optimism gets a bad rap.

In her new book “Infrastructural Optimism” (Routledge 2021), Linda C. Samuels, associate professor of urban design at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, argues that optimism is not simply a reflexive emotional state, but a critical driver of public investment, societal progress and — perhaps — democracy itself.

In this Q&A, Samuels discusses “Infrastructural Optimism,” the current political moment and the resurgence of the common good.

Linda C. Samuels (Photo: Van Vo Photography)

You coined the phrase ‘infrastructural optimism’ in a 2009 article for Places Journal. What was the focus of that piece?

In the wake of catastrophe, infrastructure reconstruction can be a powerful morale builder and a signal for collective optimism — as scholars like Kevin Rozario have pointed out. After the Sept. 11th attacks, the quick resumption of public transit in Lower Manhattan, and ultimately the promise of t...

The nature of place: Petra Kempf on architecture, virtual media our shifting urban terrains

2021-12-01T12:13:00-05:00

Pink umbrellas tumble on hidden winds. IP addresses cross like city streets. Bright islands of community float like balloons tethered to gray infrastructural networks.

In her wall-sized drawing “Confronting Urbanization: The Interactive Tissue of Urban Life Pro[log]ue,” Petra Kempf, assistant professor of architecture and urban design in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, combines copious data and mischievous symbolism to explore how smartphones, online commerce, and global connectivity are reshaping the urban terrain.

Hires scan of Petra Kempf’s “Confronting Urbanization: The Interactive Tissue of Urban Life Pro[log]ue.” The full drawing, which measures roughly four meters in length, is featured in the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale. (Photo: Courtesy Petra Kempf)

Some two years in the making, “Confronting Urbanization” is featured in the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, one of the world’s premier architectural showcases, as part o...

$75,000 Steedman Fellowship in Architecture launches 2021 call for proposals on the theme of 'Disruption'

2021-10-18T14:50:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis

Climate change, COVID-19, the fight for social justice. In disruptive times, how can architecture help to chart new paths and implement far-reaching solutions?

That’s the question posed by “Disruption,” the 2021 James Harrison Steedman Fellowship in Architecture. The biennial research competition invites early-career architects from around the world to explore how architecture can help to address today’s most pressing global challenges.

The fellowship is organized by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, in concert with AIA St. Louis, a chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The winning proposal will receive $75,000 to support up to a year of international travel and research.

A Black Lives Matter mural in Brooklyn, New York. Installed in June 2020, the mural is 375 feet wide, with letters 28 feet tall. (Photo: Shutter...

Get Lectured: Washington University in St. Louis, Fall '21

2021-09-27T19:38:00-04:00

Fall is upon us and as the school term is well underway architecture schools continue to roll out their Fall 2021 lecture series. Continuing with Archinect's coverage of lecture programs we feature presentations from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Archinect's ongoing Get Lectured series features each school's lectured series and their graphic design prowess with eye-catching lecture posters.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

The school will present 17 virtual and in-person events as part of its fall public lecture series. On September 20, Marcelo Spina and Constance Vale spoke with Robert McCarter, the Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture, about the book Mute Icons & Other Dichotomies of the Real in Architecture (2021), authored by Spina and Georgia Huljich and edited by Vale.

On September 27 the school hosted a panel discussion...

Constance Vale named chair of undergraduate architecture at Washington University’s Sam Fox School

2021-08-04T10:00:00-04:00

Constance Vale has been named chair of undergraduate architecture at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Vale, who joined the Sam Fox School as an assistant professor in 2017, previously taught at SCI-Arc and the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a licensed architect and director of the architectural practice Constance Vale Studio as well as the experimental research office The Factory of Smoke & Mirrors.

“In research, practice, and teaching, Constance investigates how our aesthetic and conceptual approaches shape and reshape the ways we see the world,” said Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School. “An exemplary collaborator, her work inhabits the space between architecture, art, theater and emerging technology. We are extremely proud to welcome her to this leadership role.” Vale succeeds Igor Marjanović, who recently was appointed the William Ward Watkin Dean of Rice Architecture at Rice University.

A...

Watershed moments: Derek Hoeferlin on managing 21st-century waterways

2021-06-14T14:38:00-04:00

From headwaters near Salem, Missouri, the Meramec River snakes 218 free-flowing miles, through 14 counties and scores of towns, skirting St. Louis before emptying into the mighty Mississippi.

Derek Hoeferlin grew up outside St. Louis, on a wooded hill close to the Meramec. As he commuted to school along Interstate 44, he’d cross the river and its sprawling floodplain twice or more each day.

“It’s always mesmerized me,” Hoeferlin recalls. “Something about its meandering made me daydream. Rivers don’t give a damn about north or south, east or west — or interstates for that matter. Water flows where water wants to flow.”

Today Hoeferlin is a licensed architect and chair of both landscape architecture and urban design programs in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. In many ways, rivers have become his life’s work. But the daydreams are tempered by a growing sense of urgency.

“Too often, architects are responding to emergencies,” he adds. “It’s triage work. But we need to be m...

Get Lectured: Washington University in St. Louis, Fall '20

2020-09-22T18:54:00-04:00

As schools are ramping up for the Fall term, it's time for Archinect's latest edition of Get Lectured. This ongoing series features each school's lectured series and their graphic design prowess with eye-catching lecture posters.

With many schools holding virtual events, distance is no longer an issue when it comes to hearing from design professionals and academics within the industry. Check back regularly to keep track of upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

In preparation for their fall 2020 public events, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis is gearing up for an amazing line-up of 20 speakers addressing topics in urban planning, architecture, and social injustices within architecture, as well as in art and design. The School’s Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum will present lectures by several notable speakers ...

Rethinking the global urbanism studio

2020-07-28T20:15:00-04:00

The city has changed. The city is always changing, but COVID-19 has accelerated the process. From New York and Hong Kong to Brisbane, Manaus and Copenhagen, the pandemic is reshaping the ways we think about urban space.

“In a matter of just two or three months, people have completely transformed how they negotiate the city,” said Jonathan Stitelman, visiting assistant professor of urban design in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. “COVID-19 has impacted everything from restaurants and storefronts to expectations around homes, offices and entrepreneurship.”

This summer, Stitelman is leading the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design’s annual Global Urbanism Studio, a 13-week program that allows Master of Urban Design students to study and work in major cities around the world. Stitelman, who has taught the studio with John Hoal and other faculty since 2016, had spent months organizing a partnership with Uganda Martyrs University...

Pritzker Prize winners Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara to speak at Sam Fox School graduation

2020-05-11T18:31:00-04:00

The virtual ceremony — which will be broadcast at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 14 — will celebrate graduating students from the Sam Fox School’s undergraduate College of Art and College of Architecture, and from the Graduate School of Art and Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Design at Washington University in St. Louis.

Susan Barrett (BA and BFA ’89; MArch ’94), president and founder of St. Louis’ Barrett Barrera Projects, will deliver the alumni address.

“In these extraordinary times of uncertainty, it’s important that we continue finding ways to come together as a school,” says Carmon Colangelo, Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School and the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Collaboration in the Arts.

“I am incredibly excited about our speakers and cannot imagine a more inspiring lineup,” Colangelo continued. “Susan Barrett’s cutting-edge galleries and project spaces have had a major impact on the St. Louis art scene, while Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara have long considered...

Washington University publishes “Approach,” a compendium of student work from the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design

2020-04-22T11:57:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis an Archinect School Partner

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis is pleased to announce the publication of the latest graduate and undergraduate editions of Approach, which celebrate student work produced by architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design students.

"The work featured in both Approach publications reflects how, through critical thinking, research, and unique collaborative structures, our school gives students the means and motivation to improve our world," says Heather Woofter, director of the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design. "The publications also evoke the life of the school—a place of experimentation, where our full range of programs combine to create forums for new modes of thinking. Every day, students interact with architects, landscape and urban designers, art...

The architecture of virus transmission: Researchers propose new method for treating airborne pathogens

2020-03-27T15:59:00-04:00

The built environment often shapes the spread of disease. Many early cases of COVID-19, the 2019 novel coronavirus, centered on a seafood market in Wuhan City, China. Airports, hospitals and other gathering points can easily become sites of virus transmission.

But as the medical community grapples with the COVID-19 outbreak — which has ballooned from a few dozen cases in December to more than 120,000 worldwide — a group of researchers led by Hongxi Yin at Washington University in St. Louis is exploring whether using portable furnaces to sterilize contaminated building exhaust might help to stem the contagion.

Paramedics working to isolate patients infected with COVID-19. (Photo: Shutterstock)

“Since ancient times, humans have used fire to fight infectious disease,” said Yin, the InCEES associate professor in advanced building systems and architectural design in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. Indeed, he pointed out, temporary treatment centers in Wuhan (which formally clo...

Get Lectured: Washington University in St. Louis, Spring '20

2020-02-25T09:12:00-05:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Winter/Spring 2020

A new school term means it's time for Archinect's latest edition of Get Lectured, an ongoing series where we feature a school's lecture series—and their snazzy posters—for the current term. Check back regularly to keep track of any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Want to share your school's lecture series? Send us your school's lecture series poster and details to connect@archinect.com.

The Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis has a stellar line-up of spring 2020 public events highlighting topics in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. Some of the speakers at the College of Architecture and the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design include Mabel O. Wilson, Lola Sheppard, Tom Leader, Kenneth Frampton, Fuensanta Nieto, Thomas Phifer, José Zabala, Charles A. Birnbaum, and Wiel Arets, to name a few.

Other events this semester include a film s...

Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts announces new full-tuition scholarships

2019-12-10T18:15:00-05:00

Since its founding in 2006, the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis has established a national reputation for addressing critical social and environmental challenges. Innovative programs, curricula, and collaborative initiatives have driven substantial growth in graduate enrollment and in the school’s campus footprint — both of which have roughly doubled in size.

Now, the Sam Fox School is launching a new scholarship program designed to enhance recruitment and interdisciplinary exchange across its graduate degree programs.

The Sam Fox Ambassadors Graduate Fellowship Program, which will welcome its inaugural class in fall 2020, will provide full-tuition waivers and accompanying travel stipends, as well as unique academic and professional opportunities, for 10 applicants each year, across the following graduate degree programs:

Master of Architecture
Master of Fine Arts in Illustration & Visual Culture
Master of Fine Arts in Visual Art
Master of L...

Sam Fox School names Hoeferlin chair of landscape architecture & urban design

2019-11-06T13:32:00-05:00

Associate professor Derek Hoeferlin has been named chair of the landscape architecture and urban design programs in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Hoeferlin, who joined the Sam Fox School’s College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design in 2005, is principal of the [dhd] derek hoeferlin design. His work spans architecture, infrastructure, landscape, and urban design, with a particular focus on water-based design strategies.

“From climate change and sustainability to urban density and the creation of public space, landscape architecture and urban design provide critical means for addressing many of today’s most pressing issues,” said Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School.

“Derek’s unique background as an architect with expertise in water management systems and adaptive land strategies, along with his ability to work collaboratively across disciplines and his dedication to teaching...

Decoys & Depictions: Images of the Digital Symposium at Washington University in St. Louis

2019-10-18T13:58:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis an Archinect School Partner

In architecture today, nothing is what it seems. Familiar outputs in the form of drawings, models, and photographs are now produced through sophisticated digital tools and techniques. And though these products of electronic imaging may seem like replicas of their predecessors, they are in fact something entirely new.

So argues Constance Vale, assistant professor of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. From October 24-26, Vale will convene Decoys & Depictions: Images of the Digital, a symposium exploring how digital images are constructed; the implications for how architects and artists operate; and the potential effects within social and political realms.

Current Interests (Matthew Au & Mira Henry), “Hedge” (2018). Featured in the Des Lee Gallery exhibition.

“Decoys are objects ...

KieranTimberlake's transformative addition to Washington University of St. Louis Sam Fox School to debut this fall

2019-09-09T19:04:00-04:00

Transformative additions to the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts campus designed by architects KieranTimberlake are set to make their public debut this fall.

Located on the Washington University in St. Louis Danforth Campus, the project includes the addition of a new academic building, Weil Hall, as well as extensive expansions and renovations to the existing Fumihiko Maki-designed Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. These projects represent part of a much larger $280 million effort to rework the university's East End, and include replacing a series of disjointed surface parking lots and lawns with a grassy expanse dotted with trees. Master planning for the East End was led by landscape architect Michael Vergason.

Work on the remaining structures included in the larger East End plan is set to continue into 2021.

The new architecture building is marked a central commons containing seating areas and a multi-story grow wall. Image courtesy of ©KieranTimberlake/studioAMD

The newly c...

Lily Zhang wins Steedman Fellowship; $50K travel grant among largest U.S. architecture awards

2019-04-03T15:47:00-04:00

If architecture is in a relationship, posits Lily Zhang, then storage is its selfless soul mate: essential and supportive but typically overlooked.

“Storage allows architecture to maintain order,” said Zhang, an architectural designer based in New York and winner of the 2018-19 James Harrison Steedman Memorial Fellowship in Architecture.

“We keep our active inhabitable areas free of clutter and the appearance of overindulgence,” Zhang added, “while banishing unused and unwanted items to the basement, the warehouse, the broom cupboard or the mechanical room.

“Yet rather than dismissing these spaces as passive and inert, what we stash away and where we hide them are as revealing as what we display, if not more.”

Planometric and sectional views of shared storage spaces, from “Collective Clutter,” which proposes new spatial and socially engaged models of storage. (Image: Courtesy of Lily Zhang)

Granted since 1925, the biennial Steedman Fellowship is organized by the College of Architect...

Rivera named chair of graduate architecture at Washington University in St. Louis

2018-10-25T19:46:00-04:00

Barcelona-based architect Mónica Rivera has been named chair of graduate architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Rivera, who also serves as professor of practice, joined the Sam Fox School’s College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design as a visiting professor in 2015. She later served as co-coordinator of the school’s international housing studio, and remains a partner with Emiliano López Mónica Rivera Arquitectos, the office she co-founded in 2001.

“Architecture is layered, both as an aesthetic and social endeavor,” said Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School. “Mónica has earned an international reputation for carefully crafted projects that combine environmental responsibility with rigorous attention to site, context and communal experience. We are very excited and proud that she is leading our graduate program in architecture.”

Social Housing Apartments, Gavà, Barcelon...

The Lotus House Explores the Potential of 3D Printing for Sustainable Construction

2018-08-15T12:21:00-04:00

From consumer goods to medical devices, 3D printing is reshaping the manufacturing world. But what about construction? Could this technology change the way buildings are made?

That’s the question posed by a team from Washington University in St. Louis. Over the past eight months, students from the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the School of Engineering & Applied Science — with support from the International Center for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (InCEES)— have used 3D printing to design and fabricate elements of Lotus House, an energy-efficient prototype residence unveiled this month as part of Solar Decathlon China 2018.

In this Q&A, project manager Kinga Pabjan, a master’s candidate in architecture and construction management, discusses Lotus House, 3D printing and the future of sustainable construction.

Project manager Kinga Pabjan. (Courtesy Team WashU)

Describe Lotus House. What inspired the design?

Lotus House is a 650-square-foot, single-story home. The...

Rebuilding the American City: Patty Heyda on "the politics behind the design"

2018-02-07T12:42:00-05:00

How do you restore community? Do you honor local context? Or do you bulldoze everything and try to start again?

Few places embody that choice more starkly than Botanical Heights, the St. Louis neighborhood formerly known as McRee Town. Looking east from Thurman Avenue, one sees gated blocks of large, suburban-style new construction. To the west, homeowners are rehabbing existing properties and redeveloping vacant parcels. The old commercial district bustles with shops, restaurants and a Montessori school.

“As architects and urban designers, we tend to focus on form,” said Patty Heyda, associate professor in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. “But there are so many forces, especially in our increasingly privatized economy, that underlie those formal decisions. What are the politics behind the designs?”

In "Rebuilding the America City" (2016), Heyda and co-author David Gamble, of Harvard University, offer Botanical Heights as a case study...

Derek Hoeferlin wins inaugural Designing Resilience in Asia International Competition

2017-08-31T15:19:00-04:00

Derek Hoeferlin, associate professor of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, along with research assistants Jess Vanecek and Rob Birch, both master’s degree candidates in the Sam Fox School, has won first prize in the inaugural Designing Resilience in Asia International Open Competition.

Sponsored by the School of Design and Environment of the National University of Singapore, the competition asked participants to propose innovative water solutions to the challenges of climate change at the urban planning, urban design, architecture, building technology and industrial design scales.

Hoeferlin’s submission, titled “From the Third Pole to the Nine Dragons,” outlines a simple, two-part toolkit that would enable communities within the Mekong River Basin to holistically understand how local threats and adaptations relate to broader river basin-scaled issues — a concept that Hoeferlin defines as “watershed architecture.”

The ju...

Sam Fox Architecture students install 'Spectroplexus' at St. Louis Lambert International Airport

2017-08-10T19:30:00-04:00

The wing of an airplane is a mechanized form. But it’s also a shape, like the wing of a bird, that we understand from the living world.

Last spring, eight students from the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design — part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis — designed and began building prototype sections for “Spectroplexus,” a large public sculpture commissioned by the Art and Culture Program at St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

"Spectroplexus" installed at St. Louis Lambert International Airport. (Photo: James Byard/Washington University)

This summer, students — joined by more than a dozen volunteers — spent weeks fabricating and installing the final piece in the airport’s Terminal 2. The finished artwork, which runs nearly 100 feet long, demonstrates how simple organic processes can inspire built systems of great intricacy and complexity.

“This studio is very different from anything else I have experienced academically,” ...

Heather Woofter to lead architecture programs at Washington University in St. Louis

2017-06-20T17:15:00-04:00

Heather Woofter, co-director of the St. Louis-based firm Axi:Ome llc, has been promoted to director of the College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, both part of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis.

Woofter joined the Sam Fox School as an assistant professor in 2005; has chaired the graduate architecture program since 2010; and became a full professor in 2015. Her appointment begins July 1.

She will succeed Bruce Lindsey, the E. Desmond Lee Professor for Community Collaboration and current president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). Lindsey has led architecture for the past 10 years, and will join the faculty after a yearlong sabbatical.

“Bruce leaves a significant legacy,” said Carmon Colangelo, the Ralph J. Nagel Dean of the Sam Fox School. “His vision and energetic leadership have helped to shape the Sam Fox School, promoting interdisciplinary connections across campus a...

St. Louis, segregation and how history shapes the urban landscape

2017-03-24T20:32:00-04:00

Segregation is no accident.

Nearly five decades after the Fair Housing Act of 1968, American cities remain racially, culturally, spatially and economically divided. Entrenched conditions and persistent biases undermine the policies and priorities that would heal lingering wounds.

So argues Catalina Freixas, assistant professor of architecture in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts. Last semester, Freixas and Mark Abbott, professor of history and director of the Center for Neighborhood Development at Harris-Stowe State University, launched “Segregation by Design.” Developed as part of The Divided City initiative, their class — which will be offered again next fall — explores both the historic roots and present-day reality of urban separation.

In this Q&A, Freixas discusses St. Louis, segregation and the hidden histories that shape our urban landscape.

You’re from Argentina but joined the Sam Fox School faculty in 2004. What drew you to the topic of American segregation?

My researc...