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Get Lectured: Clemson University, Spring '24

2024-01-02T11:44:00-05:00

Today, we’re kicking off our 2024 Get Lectured rundown of public programming at schools of architecture for the Spring with a highlight of events and lectures taking place at Clemson University this semester.

Clemson is continuing the series theme of ‘The Third Place’ from the Fall term with a slate of five important names who will deliver lectures both on campus and from the Clemson Design Center in Charleston.

The school shares: “This series will examine how the disruption of social, political and economic structure is reframing our society’s relationships with traditional third places. From theoretical proposals and critical practices to historical analysis, The Third Place series will also discuss the intersection of identity, cultural expression and social interaction and the impact gentrification, displacement and creative production have on our communities.”

Javier Arpa Fernández, a researcher at Winy Maas’ think-tank The Why Factory at the TU Delft and current lecturer at U...

Shima Clarke appointed interim associate dean of Clemson’s College of Architecture, Art, and Construction

2023-12-20T11:39:00-05:00

Clemson University has announced the appointment of Professor Shima Clarke as the interim associate dean of undergraduate and graduate studies for the university’s newly formed College of Architecture, Art, and Construction (CAAC). Since August, Clarke has served as the acting associate dean of the college, which was itself formed on July 1st.

Clarke describes her top priority in the new role as being to oversee and coordinate all programs and activities in CAAC that support student experience, recruitment, education, retention, graduation, and placement.

Having joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 1998, Clarke achieved full professorship in 2013. Within the college, her research has focused on construction education, integrated project delivery, sustainability, structures, and construction safety.

Prior to serving as acting associate dean, Clarke was the director of con...

Clemson University names George J. Petersen as interim dean for new College of Architecture, Art and Construction

2023-04-25T12:59:00-04:00

Clemson University has appointed George J. Petersen, the Provost Distinguished Professor of Educational Innovation, as the interim dean of the newly formed College of Architecture, Art and Construction (CAAC). Petersen served as the founding dean of Clemson’s College of Education from 2014 to 2022 where he oversaw notable growth, increasing enrollment at the undergraduate and graduate programs by 37% and 105% respectively.

Prior to his work at Clemson, Petersen was dean of the Graduate School of Education at California Lutheran University. He also served as a faculty member at California Polytechnic State University, University of Missouri – Columbia, Bowling Green State University, and University of Evansville. His honors at Clemson include the Ralph D. Elliott Award for Exemplary Facilitation and Implementation of Innovative Programs for Continuing, Off-Campus and Distance Education and the Distinguished Research Award from the College of Education. He was also inducted into the H...

Joseph Choma explores foldable shelters with his students at Clemson University

2021-12-20T14:24:00-05:00

Taking as the focus the possibility of his patented, foldable fiberglass technique for use in resiliency design efforts, Design Topology Lab founder Joseph Choma is once again breaking the mold on a typology that has become increasingly relevant in the era of intensifying natural disasters born out of climate change.

Choma is currently teaching a studio at Clemson that explores the potential of fully deployable shelters for disaster relief with foldable composites.

The Cone crease pattern. Image courtesy of Joseph Choma, Clemson University.

The studio was split into four parts. The first segment included analyzing the current state of deployable shelters for disaster relief, uncovering what he calls a significant gap between lightweight tents and more permanent dwellings made from prefabricated components. This gap resulted in people usually living in tents a great deal longer than originally anticipated. The challenge for his students then became to answer the question of how flat-p...

Joseph Choma explains why folding is important to the field of architecture

2019-05-08T16:27:00-04:00

Joseph Choma, founder of Design Topology Lab and an architecture professor at Clemson University, is pioneering work into the field of foldable structures and materials. For the past few years, Choma has been focused on developing a fabrication technique that allows fiberglass to be folded by hand.

While some might compare the technique to origami, Choma's work differs by embracing material and structural constraints. "Traditionally, origami is dominantly composed of hidden under tucked folds, which is not an efficient use of material or ideal for resisting structural loads," he explains. For Choma, the difference is that once a folded plane has a specific orientation to gravity and is considered to have material thickness with the intent of carrying loads, it is no longer 'just origami', but a folded structure.

Photo by Joseph Choma.

One would think folded structures have a long historical lineage within the field of architecture. However, most structures which we casually label a...

See how Joseph Choma built the “Chakrasana” arch using his fiberglass folding technique

2017-09-05T14:23:00-04:00

Design Topology Lab founder Joseph Choma continues to put his fiberglass hand-folding technique to the test in a new larger scale structure called “Chakrasana”, which is currently on display at Clemson University, where Choma is an architecture professor.

Weighing in at only 400 pounds, the accordion arch pavilion was designed, fabricated by hand, and installed by Choma and a team of four people within 30 days. Design Topology Lab further explains their fabrication process below:

Photo: Joseph Choma.

“Similar to paper folding, the process begins with a crease pattern composed of mountain and valley folds. Two 54 yard long rolls of 33.3" fiberglass cloth were stitched together using a full flat felled seam to create one continuous 32' 10" x 21' 9" sheet, with zero material waste. All the edges were precisely sewn to prevent sharp, rough or frayed edges. Using a painter's masking tape, a crease pattern was drawn on the fabric surface. The intricate pattern was composed of a total of 87...

Joseph Choma demonstrates his nifty paperfolding technique for fiberglass

2017-07-11T20:20:00-04:00

In his latest design investigation, Joseph Choma, the founder of Design Topology Lab and an architecture professor at Clemson University, is helping shape up a future for fiberglass being used as a primary building material. Choma has been developing a fabrication technique that allows him to create structures by hand-folding fiberglass — a technique that he describes is as simple as folding paper.

Photo credit: Ken Scar, Clemson University

By selectively coating resin on fiberglass cloth, parts can fold easily along the fabric hinges, Choma describes. The process doesn't require any molds or fasteners, which could mean less production cost and less material waste. In developing the technique, Choma is driven by the belief that fiberglass will become a primary building material in the next decade, possibly replacing steel. Typically used as a secondary component, fiberglass is noted for its resistance to corrosion and to harsh elements like fire. Choma's technique indicates that it's...

Clemson University students develop an easy-to-use, low-tech construction method

2017-02-13T12:20:00-05:00

“With a click of the button, someone could order a custom-cut, flat-packed home online, and construct it by hand with the help of their friends and neighbors in a matter of days,” states Kate Schwennsen, professor and director of the School of Architecture at Clemson University. Students at the school have created a construction method that could significantly ease the building of low-tech sustainable housing.

Comprising an interlocking tab-and-slot connection system, the sim[PLY] Framing System is “intuitive and easy”, according to the press release. The buildings “come together much like a 3D puzzle” without nails. Instead, connections are fastened using steel zip ties and screws. That means disassembly is just as easy.

The system uses locally-sourced plywood that has been CNC fabricated. All construction plans are digital and can be used by any CNC router.

Architecture students at 17 schools will get licensed quicker with help from NCARB's new licensure program, IPAL

2016-12-13T19:36:00-05:00

The recently introduced IPAL, or Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure, promises to streamline the architectural licensure process for students at 17 universities and colleges by incorporating the Architectural Experience Program into the curriculum. Licensure, which is required by a majority of the fifty states and governing agencies in Canada, usually takes a few years of intense study and rigorous examinations after one's initial formal education is complete to attain. Initiated by NCARB, the in-school program will enable students to also take the ARE. Here's a full transcript of the press release:

Friends,The road to licensure for architects is getting shorter and shorter, thanks to a recent initiative spearheaded by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).

The Integrated Path to Architectural Licensure (IPAL) provides students the opportunity to complete requirements for licensure while they are still earning their degree. Through the initiative, sc...

With modern Charleston building off the table, Clemson looking to lease space for its architecture center

2015-07-20T13:15:00-04:00

Clemson University plans to lease space in downtown Charleston to house all of its locally based architecture and historic preservation programs until it decides on a permanent location. The decision comes about eight months after the university scrubbed plans for a contemporary architecture center at George and Meeting streets. The proposed building’s sleek design sparked a lawsuit by neighborhoods and preservation groups.

Previously: Clemson scraps its modern building plan

Quo vadis, Charleston architecture?

2015-01-23T14:15:00-05:00

Long accustomed to basing its reputation on the grandeur of its old buildings, the city now finds it almost impossible to agree on how to build new ones. In recent months, traditionalists have blocked efforts to introduce contemporary architecture in the historic core [...]. Modernists are rolling their eyes at new buildings that copy traditional styles, arguing that they pervert a record of architectural progress long documented in mortar and stone.

Don't miss these heated discussions on the subject matter:

Michael Rotondi in-studio for Episode 8 of Archinect Sessions, "A Sense of Place"

2014-11-26T14:49:00-05:00

Michael Rotondi joins us in-studio this week, for a special conversation with Orhan Ayyüce about architecture education and Rotondi's Los Angeles roots. Paul, Amelia, Donna and Ken also discuss ol' fashioned southern contextualism in Charleston, South Carolina, in response to Clemson University's scrapped modern building plans.

Listen to episode eight of the Archinect Sessions podcast, "A Sense of Place":

iTunes: Click here to subscribe, and click the "Subscribe" button below the logo to automatically download new episodes.
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Download: this episode

Shownotes:

Gigaom Roadmap conference

Clemson scraps its modern building plan

“Modern Oakwood” lawsuit

Olson Kundig case

Renzo Piano will design the new Kum & Go corporate HQ in Iowa

Yaohua Wang wins 2014 Harvard GSD thesis prize...

Clemson scraps its modern building plan

2014-11-20T14:07:00-05:00

Clemson University has backed off its plans to build a modern architecture center at Meeting and George streets - a project applauded at first but later bitterly fought by two neighborhoods and preservation groups. Clemson announced its decision to change course on its $10 million Spaulding Paolozzi Center in the wake of a recent lawsuit filed challenging how the city's Board of Architectural Review handled its approval.

Previously: Charleston groups sue over approval of Clemson architecture center's proposed design

NCARB awards $50K to Parsons and Clemson University for development of new integrative curricula

2014-11-07T19:57:00-05:00

The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards have announced that the architecture programs of Parsons The New School for Design and Clemson University are the 2014 recipients of the NCARB Award. NCARB will award the schools a total of over US$50,000 to support the development of each school's proposed program, which explore new paradigms of integrating architectural practice and education.

The award is timelier than ever, in relation to NCARB's major announcements to expedite the architectural licensure and examination process in the U.S.

Program: Clemson University, School of Architecture - Clemson, SC
Proposal: “Graduate Program in Architecture + Health”
The project's mission is to advance healthcare facility design through the collaboration of architects, academia and members of the health care industry.

Program: Parsons The New School for Design, School of Constructed Environments - New York, NY
Proposal: “Student-Practitioner Partnerships in Building Performance Evaluation"
Although there is stronger emphasis on sustainability, instruction on performance measurement is lacking. Clemson's proposal addresses a new and critical opportunity for architecture students to improve the environmental performance of buildings through measurement.

Head over to Bustler for further details.

Charleston groups sue over approval of Clemson architecture center's proposed design

2014-07-25T14:32:00-04:00

Last month, the Board of Architectural Review voted 4-2 to give preliminary approval to the Spaulding Paolozzi Center design by Portland, Ore., architect Brad Cloepfil. The vote marked the second level of approval in the city's three-step review. [...] This week, the Historic Charleston Foundation, the Preservation Society and the Charlestowne and Historic Ansonborough neighborhood associations took their fight to another venue: Charleston County's Court of Common Pleas.

Previously: Clemson architecture center gets city approval; residents pan design

Clemson architecture center gets city approval; residents pan design

2014-06-26T15:07:00-04:00

Charleston's Board of Architectural Review voted 4-2 Wednesday to allow what may be the most strikingly contemporary building ever placed before it. Architect Brad Cloepfil of Allied Works Architecture said the board's approval of the proposed Clemson Architecture Center design may reverberate beyond its site at George and Meeting streets. "What's exciting to me is it's a moment in this city. It's a pivot point," he said. "It just elevates the discussion of architecture [...]."

Previously:

Get Lectured: Clemson School of Architecture Fall '13

2013-09-26T10:22:00-04:00

Archinect's Architecture School Lecture Guide for Fall 2013

Here on Archinect we recently launched "Get Lectured", where we'll feature a school's lecture series--along with their snazzy posters--for the current season. Check back regularly to stay up-to-date and mark your calendars for any upcoming lectures you don't want to miss.

Our list for today is the Centennial Lecture Series from the Clemson School of Architecture, who is celebrating its 100-year anniversary.

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

All lectures will be at 1:30 pm at Lee 111 Auditorium, unless noted otherwise.

AUGUST

August 22
7 pm
Michael Murphy / MASS Design Boston
Special A+H at 45! Lecture. Fall Convocation.

SEPTEMBER

September 20
Betsy Beaman, AIA, IIDA, SEGD
Kimberly Stanley, AIA / Stanley Beaman & Sears, Atlanta

OCTOBER

October 4
Mark Carroll
Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Genoa/NYC

October 18
The Arch...

New Clemson University architecture building set to test Charleston's limits on context

2012-10-10T17:14:00-04:00

“We were hired to do the most important piece of contemporary architecture — or architecture of our time — that we can do in this city,” Cloepfil says. The design for the 30,000-square-foot center at the northeast corner of George and Meeting streets includes three rectangular masses, not unlike grand three-story single houses in their approximate size.

Project Zero - Runner Up at Design to Zero Competition

2012-02-16T13:25:00-05:00

We are happy to also present the second prize winner of the 2012 Design to Zero competition: Project Zero, a collaborative effort by graduate students Daniel Kim and Caitlin Ranson from Clemson University School of Architecture [...]. Project Zero seeks to redefine the "unit," focusing on the tight relationship between material unit, family unit, and living unit. The site chosen for the proposal is in a historic residential district not far from downtown Grennville, South Carolina.

Clemson University Students Take First Prize at Design to Zero Competition

2012-02-09T13:51:00-05:00

A team of two graduate students from Clemson University School of Architecture, Eric Laine and Suzanne Steelman, has won the international Dow Solar Design to Zero competition. The team's proposal LiveWork was awarded the first place award, along with a $20,000 prize sponsored by Dow Solar.