Archinect - News

NC State University Associate Professor Derek Ham Appointed Department Head of Art + Design

2020-06-25T13:42:00-04:00

Associate Professor Derek Ham, Ph.D. has been appointed as the department head of Art + Design at the North Carolina State University College of Design. Ham has taught at the College of Design since June 2015 and was recently promoted from assistant professor.

"I am thrilled to announce that Derek Ham has been chosen as our next Art + Design Department Head," said Mark Hoversten, dean of the college in a statement. "Derek’s background and approach to multi- and inter-disciplinary work makes him a strong candidate in an already competitive candidate pool. I am excited to see the direction he brings to the Art + Design program moving forward."

Ham also serves as the principal investigator for MC Reality Lab, a multidisciplinary practice that works in the virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technology space. Ham holds a Ph.D. in design computation from MIT, an M.Arch from Harvard GSD, and a B.Arch from Hampton University. He will begin his new position on July 1, 2020.

University of Minnesota Launches New Degree: High School to Licensed Architect in Seven Years

2013-01-19T17:55:00-05:00

"Anything we can do to expedite the speed with which people can get licensed is a good thing," says David Cronrath, AIA, Dean of the University of Maryland's School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. "What Renee [Cheng, Professor and Head of the University of Minnesota's School of Architecture,] has done is establish a roadmap which a lot of people can follow. And, I think, of course they will."

Starting this spring, the School of Architecture, at the University of Minnesota's College of Design, will offer a new concentration in research practices within their master of science in architecture degree (MS-RP) for students starting the fall of 2013. The program aims at halving the amount of time from high school to licensure for architects--from an average of 14.5 years to 7.

By offering this model, the School of Architecture nudges the profession toward true culture change, one that expects all students to be licensed upon graduation, regardless of their final career choices. It also takes advantage of recent changes to the National Council of Architectural Registration Board's Intern Development Program and Architect Registration Examination, and leverages the historically strong connection between practice and academy in the Minneapolis/St Paul community.

Architect Magazine is out this January with a piece featuring the MS-RP degree. The article details the wo...

A Minneapolis Warehouse Reborn as Artist-style Chiropractic Office

2012-05-24T16:04:00-04:00

"Beauty is not an additive act but rather a coherent aesthetic. Anything else would be irrelevant. We have been advocating a total and integral environment for both physical and mental wellbeing, in other words, a healthy environment must work on all levels." - Ali Heshmati, '92 graduate from the School of Architecture at College of Design

Darin Duch, Associate Intern Architect at Laboratory for Environments, Architecture, and Design (LEAD, Inc.), and Ali Heshmati, owner of LEAD Inc., recently completed work on Ambiente Gallerie, a new artist-style chiropractic office located in Northeast Minneapolis. Duch and Heshmati both graduated from the School of Architecture in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota.

The project was designed for Dr. Kari Boudreau, who wanted to integrate art and design into a healing space for her business, formerly Art of Chiropractic. The 1910 warehouse has an open space flanked with exposed brick walls decked with original paintings, floating cloud lighting, and sheer fabric convertible rooms that resemble ultra modern pods. The massage and exam rooms utilize curved, boomerang pivot doors, "Duchamp doors" covered with a translucent skin of fiberglass that offer privacy without feeling confined.

"Beauty is not an additive act but rather a coherent aesthetic. Anything else...

Coalition for Sustainable Rail Plans to Create World's First Carbon-Neutral High-Speed Train

2012-05-22T12:35:00-04:00

“This project presents a novel approach to U.S. locomotive development, looking to technologies of the past to inspire solutions for today’s sustainability challenges." - Sustainable Rail International President Davidson Ward, 2010 School of Architecture graduate from the College of Design at the University of Minnesota

The Coalition for Sustainable Rail (CSR), a collaboration of the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment (IonE) and the nonprofit Sustainable Rail International (SRI), announced plans to create the world's first carbon-neutral higher-speed locomotive. SRI President Davidson Ward, a 2010 School of Architecture graduate from the College of Design at the University of Minnesota says that he's confident the researchers at the University of Minnesota and his team of engineers, "will be able to bring this technology to the forefront of America's energy and transportation conversations." According to Ward, "This project presents a novel approach to U.S. locomotive development, looking to technologies of the past to inspire solutions for today's sustainability challenges."

Bike Pasture Funded!

2011-11-15T13:30:00-05:00

Emily Lowery enrolled in an architecture course last May hoping to learn about different architecture and landscape design solutions. She walked out as part of a team of students who would design the University of Minnesota’s first ever ecologically friendly bike pasture –– a combination of bike parking, social space and a garden.

Making higher-ed more sustainable (and social) one project at time, the Bike Pasture Project was conceived and planned entirely by students in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota as a real life design-build project. Now it's one step closer to being built, thanks to $15k in funding.