Architecture Design Plans

The Department of Architecture is hosting INFEWS, an event that will bring distinguished researchers and design professionals from across the U.S. together with faculty and students from many KU departments, starting Thurs. evening, Jan. 21, ending at 2:00 p.m. Sat., Jan. 23. The third annual Water Charrette for students is part of the Symposium, as is a three- workshop on green roofs sponsored by Tremco. It is the third year in a row the Department has put on an event related to these topics.

Innovation at the Nexus of Food + Energy + Water Symposium
INFEWS, which has been underwritten by a grant from the National Science Foundation, will address issues related to the health of our interrelated food, energy and water systems, which have been subjected to increasing pressure from climate change, population growth, and resource depletion. The symposium will help galvanize research collaboration among faculty across multiple disciplines and facilitate applied research with design professionals. This interdisciplinary network of scholars and designers will interact in panel discussions and small group break-out sessions.

Associate Professor of Architecture Steve Padget, and INFEWS organizer, said the symposium will support integrated experimental research toward what he calls a "food-energy-water socio-technical systems model" that fosters safer and more efficient management of these resources. "Besides awareness, one outcome we hope for is that we can create an integrated approach to building up the next generation of professionals who can work with INFEWS-related issues."

Third annual Water Charrette Student Design workshop
Students attending the event will also have an opportunity to participate in the Water Charette. This third annual 24-hour design exercise will give them the opportunity to seek solutions to an assigned design problem related to food, water, and energy. Students begin to design at 9:30 a.m. on Friday and will begin presentations of their final designs on Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

Tremco Green Roofing Seminar for Professionals
On Friday, Tremco, a roofing manufacturer, is offering a seminar for professionals that focuses on the importance of controlling storm water runoff, and proactively addressing water conservation. Green roofs will be reviewed in depth as a viable means to address these concerns. This seminar is eligible for AIA Continuing Education Credits.

Architecture Department sponsoring BIM Pulse 2104: Big Data, September 24

The School of Architecture, Design & Planning and KU Professional & Continuing Education are sponsoring the BIM Pulse 2015: Big Data Symposium. The event will be Thursday, September 24, at the BEST Conference Center, KU Edwards Campus, Overland Park, 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

Today’s digital models are so data-intensive that BIM technologies in contemporary processes for architecture, engineering and construction demand the manipulation of “big data” to address issues of data quality, collaboration, and interoperability. The BIM Pulse Symposium will focus on big data and its impact on current architecture and engineering practices. The event begins by identifying the challenges of big data and project integration, followed by a series of discussions on what regional and national organizations are doing to address those challenges.

Professor of Architecture Charles Eastman, director of the Georgia Institute of Technology will present the symposium’s keynote address. He is one of the architecture profession’s premier experts in solids, parametric modeling, engineering databases and product models and interoperability. He is also an active researcher in the areas of design cognition and cognitive science.

Students enrolled in the Department of Architecture's Studio 804 design-build class are hosting tours of their recently completed passive solar house 10 am-2 pm Saturday June 13. The house is at 1301 New York Street, Lawrence. The house is designed to be net-zero, meaning that all of the energy that it needs can be met by the 4-kilowatt solar array that has been installed on the site. This is possible because of the many energy-saving features of the house, including super-insulated walls, a sheet metal "cool roof" and highly efficient windows and doors.

The students began designing the home last fall and construction began in January. These students are in their final year of the Masters of Architecture program, and work on their projects full time for full academic year.

The KU School of Architecture, Design & Planning is hosting the 2015 Design Futures Public Interest Design Student Leadership Forum from May 29-June 2 in Lawrence. This international conference will bring student leaders from across the country together with practitioners and university faculty. These individuals represent some of the most important thought leadership in this emerging interdisciplinary sub-discipline. Activities will include workshops and lectures by leaders from across the U.S., and visits to public interest design projects by KU Department of Architecture students and faculty in Lawrence and Kansas City. The opportunity to meet and network with peers from ten universities that are leading the PID movement will inform and inspire.