The architecture programs at Parsons The New School for Design and Clemson University have been selected as 2014 NCARB Award recipients for developing innovative curricula that merge practice and education.
The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) announced the recipients at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Administrators Conference.
The NCARB Award supports initiatives at architectural schools that will have a long-term impact on students, faculty, and curriculum. It is designed to help schools implement new programs that bridge the gap between practice and education in a classroom, seminar, or studio setting.
“The award honors innovative ways for weaving practice and academy together to address real-world architecture challenges,” said NCARB CEO Michael J. Armstrong. “The winning proposals for 2014 explore new paradigms of practice and move students from the theoretical to applied practices working with licensed practitioners.”
2014 NCARB Award Recipients
Program: Clemson University, School of Architecture—Clemson, S.C.
Proposal: “Graduate Program in Architecture + Health”
Total Award: $30,000
The mission of the project is to advance health care facility design through collaboration among architects, academia and members of the healthcare industry. The primary outcome will be to expose a cohort of architecture and health (A+H) Master of Architecture students—through three integrated courses within the A+H Curriculum—to the challenges of designing health care settings that support the delivery of high quality, cost effective, culturally relevant health care for medically under-served populations.
“This project’s social capacity is far-reaching,” said Wendy Ornelas, FAIA, associate dean and professor at Kansas State University’s College of Architecture, Planning & Design, and the chair of the 2014 NCARB Award Jury. “It creates a road map for healthcare but is also a framework that is portable across all project types."
Program: Parsons The New School for Design, School of Constructed Environments—New York
Proposal: “Student-Practitioner Partnerships in Building Performance Evaluation”
Total Award: $20,232
While there is increased emphasis on sustainability, instruction on performance measurement is lacking. The proposal addresses a new and critical opportunity for architecture students to improve the environmental performance of buildings through measurement. The project involves purchasing new tools to enable students, during seven-week assignments, to work with practitioners to evaluate the real-world energy performance of buildings. Equipment purchased with the Award includes environmental meters for the measurement of temperature, humidity, air velocity, light level, sound pressure, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other performance factors.
“Many of the buildings are LEED or net-zero buildings, and this program will provide us with a cadre of information and data on whether or not these buildings are doing what they are supposed to be doing,” Ornelas said.
The 2014 NCARB Award Jury rigorously and impartially evaluated proposals against a published set of criteria. The jury comprised architects and emerging professionals who volunteered extensive time and expertise to fulfill their charge. Led by Wendy Ornelas, FAIA, Manhattan, KS, chair of the 2013 NCARB Award Jury, members included: Michael Archer, Assoc. AIA, Brooklyn, NY; Leticia Canon, AIA, MBA, NCARB, LEED AP BD+C, Dallas, TX; John Ehrig, FAIA, LEED AP, Orlando, FL; Linaea Floden, LEED AP BD+C, Tampa, FL; Emily Forquer, NCARB, Afton, IA; and Stephen Schreiber, FAIA, Amherst, MA. (Award Jury members with any connection or potential conflict of interest abstained from voting on that school’s proposal.)
Since 2001, the Council has supported the integration of practice and education by awarding more than $900,000 to schools through the NCARB Prize (2001-2011) and the NCARB Award (2006-present; known as the NCARB Grant until 2012). These funds have reached 60 schools—representing more than a third of all NAAB-accredited degree programs.
Related Stories
| Nov 2, 2010
Energy Analysis No Longer a Luxury
Back in the halcyon days of 2006, energy analysis of building design and performance was a luxury. Sure, many forward-thinking AEC firms ran their designs through services such as Autodesk’s Green Building Studio and IES’s Virtual Environment, and some facility managers used Honeywell’s Energy Manager and other monitoring software. Today, however, knowing exactly how much energy your building will produce and use is survival of the fittest as energy costs and green design requirements demand precision.
| Nov 2, 2010
Yudelson: ‘If It Doesn’t Perform, It Can’t Be Green’
Jerry Yudelson, prolific author and veteran green building expert, challenges Building Teams to think big when it comes to controlling energy use and reducing carbon emissions in buildings.
| Nov 2, 2010
Historic changes to commercial building energy codes drive energy efficiency, emissions reductions
Revisions to the commercial section of the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) represent the largest single-step efficiency increase in the history of the national, model energy. The changes mean that new and renovated buildings constructed in jurisdictions that follow the 2012 IECC will use 30% less energy than those built to current standards.
| Nov 1, 2010
Sustainable, mixed-income housing to revitalize community
The $41 million Arlington Grove mixed-use development in St. Louis is viewed as a major step in revitalizing the community. Developed by McCormack Baron Salazar with KAI Design & Build (architect, MEP, GC), the project will add 112 new and renovated mixed-income rental units (market rate, low-income, and public housing) totaling 162,000 sf, plus 5,000 sf of commercial/retail space.
| Nov 1, 2010
John Pearce: First thing I tell designers: Do your homework!
John Pearce, FAIA, University Architect at Duke University, Durham, N.C., tells BD+C’s Robert Cassidy about the school’s construction plans and sustainability efforts, how to land work at Duke, and why he’s proceeding with caution when it comes to BIM.
| Nov 1, 2010
Vancouver’s former Olympic Village shoots for Gold
The first tenants of the Millennium Water development in Vancouver, B.C., were Olympic athletes competing in the 2010 Winter Games. Now the former Olympic Village, located on a 17-acre brownfield site, is being transformed into a residential neighborhood targeting LEED ND Gold. The buildings are expected to consume 30-70% less energy than comparable structures.
| Oct 27, 2010
Grid-neutral education complex to serve students, community
MVE Institutional designed the Downtown Educational Complex in Oakland, Calif., to serve as an educational facility, community center, and grid-neutral green building. The 123,000-sf complex, now under construction on a 5.5-acre site in the city’s Lake Merritt neighborhood, will be built in two phases, the first expected to be completed in spring 2012 and the second in fall 2014.
| Oct 21, 2010
GSA confirms new LEED Gold requirement
The General Services Administration has increased its sustainability requirements and now mandates LEED Gold for its projects.
| Oct 18, 2010
World’s first zero-carbon city on track in Abu Dhabi
Masdar City, the world’s only zero-carbon city, is on track to be built in Abu Dhabi, with completion expected as early as 2020. Foster + Partners developed the $22 billion city’s master plan, with Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, Aedas, and Lava Architects designing buildings for the project’s first phase, which is on track to be ready for occupancy by 2015.
