2007-2008 Achievements

2007-2008 Achievements

2008 Commencement/End-of-Year Scholarships/Awards/Prizes

Department of Architecture - The Heintzelman Prize is given for excellence in design during the final semester of study: Whang Jin Suh, Kansas City, MO. Honorable Mention: Jeffrey Rice, Jefferson City, MO. Nominees: David Hildebrandt, Kansas City, KS; Benjamin Strain, Omaha, NE; Joseph Vessell, Jefferson City, MO; and the “Greensburg Cubed” project team of Jonathan Anderson, St. Louis, MO; Andrew Becker, Nixa, MO; Skyler Bonser, Wichita, KS; Collin Curry, Overland Park, KS; Jacob Henley, Kansas City, KS; Melody Meek Jacobson, Priest River, ID; Clemente Jaquez-Herrera, Garden City, KS; Sally Maddock, Lakewood, CO; Adrienne Stolwyk, Liberty, MO; Aaron Vanderpool, Blue Springs, MO; Erin Wages, Olathe, KS; Malcolm Watkins, Gower, MO; Laura Wilke, Columbus, NE; and Jessica Williams, Manhattan, KS. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Henry Adams Medal goes to the student with the highest grade point average: Janelle Thon, Overland Park, KS. The AIA Henry Adams Certificate of Excellence goes to the student with the second highest grade point average: Joseph Vessell. The Alpha Rho Chi Medal is awarded to a student who has shown ability in leadership, performed willing service, and shows promise of professional merit through attitude and personality: Laura Wilke. The AIA Kansas Student Honor Award goes to the student who possesses an outstanding academic record and has been an active participant in the local student chapter of the AIA: Laura Wilke. The Tau Sigma Delta International Honor Society Bronze Medal goes to the student, as judged by his/her peers, whose work and attitude best exemplify the honor society’s motto, “craftsman, skilled and trained:” Clemente Jaquez-Herrera.

Department of Interior Architecture and Product Design - The Eugene McGraw Scholastic Award is presented to the student with the highest grade point average: Colleen Wittman, Olathe, KS. The James Dubois Outstanding Graduating Student Award is given in recognition of academic performance and contributions to the department, program and peers: Maggie Cocke, Augusta, KS. The Student Leadership Award is presented for outstanding contributions performed for the betterment of the department: Daniel Mease, Leavenworth, KS. The Outstanding Furniture Design Award is presented for the outstanding project and overall performance in furniture design: Meagan Vaeth, Overland Park, KS. The Outstanding Product Design Award is presented for the outstanding project and overall performance in product design: Rebecca Bayouth, Lawrence, KS. The Jack C. Durgan Interior Architecture Award is presented to the outstanding overall designer who best demonstrates understanding of the synthesis of specializations within the design curriculum by his/her standard of excellence and innovation in design solutions: Carly Hillman Pumphrey, Overland Park, KS.

Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning - The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) competition award is given to students demonstrating the highest level of academic scholarship and accomplishments in skills related to the art and technology of landscape architecture: Honor Awards, Lynda Armstrong, Manhattan, KS, and Ethan Primm, Manhattan, KS; Merit Awards, Timothy Merklein, Prairie View, KS; Hilary Noonan, Lawrence, KS; Joseph Schneider, Greeley, CO; Brett Tagtmeyer, Manhattan, KS. The Bachelor of Landscape Architecture Outstanding Graduating Student Award is given in recognition of academic performance and contributions to the college, department, landscape architecture program and peers: Gemma Gough, Derby, KS, and Ethan Primm. The Master of Landscape Architecture Outstanding Graduating Student Award is given in recognition of academic performance and contributions to the landscape architecture program and his peers: Joseph Schneider. The Dr. Robert P. Ealy award is given in recognition of academic performance, scholarsly endeavors and cumulative grade point average: Lynda Armstrong and Brett Tagtmeyer. The L. R. Quinlan Award recognizes students judged to have made the most advancement in the program throughout his course of study: Riley Anderson, Leavenworth, KS; Desmond Poirier, Westwood, KS.

Student Accomplishments

Their classmates selected Joseph Stock, St. Joseph, MO, Colleen Wittman, Olathe, KS, and Gemma Gough, Derby, KS, as student speakers at the May 2008 commencement ceremony.

Clemente Jaquez-Herrera, Garden City, KS, was a finalist in the 2007 Rhodes Scholarship competition. We believe this is the first time a CAPD student has achieved this recognition. Clemente also received a 2008 Commerce Bank Award for Distinguished Service to Minority Education, a 2008 Anderson Award for Service from the K-State Alumni Association, the 2008 K-State HERO award, a 2008 Multicultural Senior Leadership Award, the 2007 John E. Holstrom Alpha Tau Omega Architecture Scholarship and the 2007 Community Cultural Harmony Week Scholarship.

May 2008 Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Graduates - Rebecca Bayouth, Lawrence, KS; Clemente Jaquez-Herrera, Garden City, KS; Adrienne Stolwyk, Liberty, MO; Janelle Thon, Overland Park, KS; and Megan Warner, Lansing, KS. 2007-2008 Phi Kappa Phi Initiates - Kirby Barrett, Winona, KS; Paul Folger, Derby, KS; Christie Murman, Hastings, NE; Nicholas Turner, Jefferson City, MO; and Kevin Wade, Independence, MO. Previous Phi Kappa Phi Initiates - Samantha Lang, Manchester, MO; Dylan Powell, Ashland, MO; and Rebekah Udall, Colorado Springs, CO. Phi Kappa Phi is an honor society dedicated to the unity and democracy of education; membership is open to students from all disciplines who are in the top 10 percent of their class.

May 2008 Tau Sigma Delta Honor Society in Architecture and the Allied Arts Graduates - Jeremy Clagett, Colorado Springs, CO; Daniel Epperson, Blue Springs, MO; Jacob Henley, Kansas City, KS; Philip Korthanke, St. Joseph, MO; Sally Maddock, Lakewood, CO; Heather Manning, Plattsmouth, NE; Timothy Merklein, Prairie View, KS; Lindsey Miller, Eden Prairie, MN; David Rubash, Manhattan, KS; Stacey Schmitt, Fairview Heights, IL; Jennifer Scruggs, Overland Park, KS; Adrienne Stolwyk, Liberty, MO; Janelle Thon, Overland Park, KS; Megan Warner, Lansing, KS; and Laura Wilke, Columbus, NE. 2007-2008 Tau Sigma Delta Initiates - Mary Burgess, Arcadia, MO; Alice Christner, Rochester, MN; Maria Deters, Topeka, KS; Rachel Duncan, O’Fallon, MO; Sara Ege, Kingwood, TX; Stacy Griffin, Stilwell, KS; Eric Heany, Shawnee, KS; Laura Herron, Hesston, KS; Stephen Lachky, Leawood, KS; Samantha Lang, Manchester, MO; Christie Murman, Hastings, NE; Stephanie Pile, Centennial, CO; Shannon Williams, Olathe, KS; and Meghan Wilson, Swansea, IL. Previous Tau Sigma Delta Initiates - Jeremy Anterola, Liberty, MO; Margaret Blair, Lenexa, KS; Trent Gareis, Sterling, CO; Peter Hystead, Duluth, MN; Jerald Kohrs, Kansas City, KS; Abby Mann, Ellisville, MO; Molly Page, Wichita, KS; Julianne Rader, Leawood, KS; Christie Samples, Kansas City, MO; Joseph Schlag, Bridgeton, MO; Kyle Sherwood, Tulsa, OK; Kathryn Steib, St. Louis, MO; Nicholas Turner, Jefferson City, MO; Rebekah Udall, Colorado Springs, CO; Kevin Wade, Independence, MO; Ashley Williams, Manhattan, KS; Heather Wise, Bucyrus, KS; Mariann Wright, Kennett, MO; and Philip Zevenberger, Manhattan, KS.

May 2008 Sigma Lambda Alpha International Landscape Architecture Honor Society Graduates - Kyle Grist, Andover, KS; Jay Knopf, Gypsum, KS; Timothy Merklein, Prairie View, KS; Nolan Miller, Topeka, KS; Desmond Poirier, Westwood, KS; Ethan Primm, Manhattan, KS; Sean Ray, Hutchinson, KS; Nicholas Rogles, Washington, MO; Peter Simpson, Warrenton, MO; and Brett Tagtmeyer, Manhattan, KS.

May 2008 graduates who received a Minor in Community Planning - Nolan Miller, Topeka, KS; Clarence Oxendine, Springfield, MO; Russell Palmer, Centralia, MO; Sean Ray, Hutchinson, KS; Mark Reasoner,Papillion, NE; and Caleb Strickland, Oswego, KS.

May 2008 graduates who received a Graduate Certificate in Community Planning - Sally Maddock, Lakewood, CO; and Subhojit Sinha, India.

2008 Kansas City Architects, Designers, Dealers and Representatives (KCADDR) Regional Student Competition - Large Furniture, First Place, Maggie Cocke, Augusta, KS; Second Place, Ashley Cook, Edson, KS; Third Place, Carly Pumphrey, Overland Park, KS; Fourth Place, Jordan Dozier, Spring Hill, KS. Small Furniture, First Place, Caleb Roam, Grain Valley, MO; Second Place, Janelle Heideman, Topeka, KS; Third Place, Staci Reed, Buckner, MO.

Kala Raglin, Kansas City, MO, received a 2008 K-State Extraordinary Student Award.

May 2007 graduates Celine Andersen (now of Kansas City) and Mark Ruzicka (now of Philadelphia, PA) received an Award of Excellence in the Residential Design Category of the 2007 annual American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) National Student Design Competition for “Prairie Roots,” their site design for K-State’s entry in the 2007 Solar Decathlon. Their design also received awards in student design competitions sponsored by the Prairie Gateway ASLA chapter and the Central States ASLA.

May 2007 gradate Monica Miller (now of Dallas) receive an Honor Award in the April 2008 student design competition sponsored by the Prairie Gateway Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

2008 Annual Cooper Lighting/Source National Student Lighting Competition - First Place, Ross McCoy, Hutchinson, KS; Honorable Mention, Megan Stephenson, Jefferson City, MO; Award of Recognition, David Rubash, Manhattan, KS.

2008 Exhibit Designers and Producers Association Foundation Student Design Competition - Second Place, Erica Lester, Raytown, MO.

LeCretia Morrison, Kansas City, MO, received Honorable Mention in the 2008 mayor’s annual “Portrait of Castiglion Fiorentino” competition. She was a participant in the CAPD study abroad program in Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy.

Amy Shaffer, Lincoln, NE, will receive the $5,000 Courtland Paul Scholarship for 2008-2009 from the Landscape Architecture Foundation.

2007-2008 Bayer Stone Competition - First Place, Jill Maurer, Topeka, Kansas; Second Place, Jesse Husmann, Plainville, KS; Third Place, Jason Rivera, Vero Beach, FL; Honorable Mention, LaQuita Jackson, Grandview, MO.

2007-2008 Bowman Design Forum Awards - Honor Award,Amanda Garbach, Overland Park, KS; Merit Awards, Aaron Dyck, North Newton, KS; Eric Salmon, Kimberling City, MO; Finalists, Sam Bowling, Cockeysville, MD; Rachel Duncan, O’Fallon, MO; Andrew Faires, Wichita, KS; Laura Herron, Hesston, KS; and Joshua Perez, Franklin Grove, IL.

2007-2008 CAPD Photography Competition - Black and White, Best of Show and First Place, Kristin Stang, Wichita, KS; Second Place, Ashley Johnson, Lawrence, KS; Honorable Mention, Jamie Hayes, Colorado Springs, CO. Exterior Architecture, First Place, Lauren Sanderson, Leavenworth, KS; Second Place, Andrew Barnes, Overland Park, KS; Honorable Mention, Emily Hagy, St. Louis, MO. Interiors and Architectural Details, First Place, Alexandr Usherenko, Overland Park, KS; Second Place, Ashley Johnson; Honorable Mention, Andrea Nelson, Smithville, MO. Landscape, First Place, Andrew Heimburger, St. Louis, MO; Second Place, Betsy Pribula, Wyndmere, ND; Honorable Mention, Forrest Smith IV, Houston, TX. Creative and Other Subject Matter: First Place, Andrew Heimburger; Second Place, Forrest Smith IV; Honorable Mention, Forrest Smith IV.

2007-2008 CAPD Rendering Competition - Freehand, Black and White, First Place, Joshua Winter, Westbrook, MN; Second Place, Lindsay Whitehead, Houston, TX; Third Place, Tony McGrail, Jefferson City, MO. Freehand, Color, First Place, John Perry, Sioux Falls, SD; Second Place, Brad Price, Kansas City, MO; Third Place, Lucie Pracnova, Czech Republic; Honorable Mention, Sarah Schwartz, St. Louis, MO; Mamdouh Medhat Altashkandi, Saudi Arabia. Mixed Media, First Place, Adrienne Stolwyk, Liberty, MO; Joshua Perez, Manhattan, KS. Computer, First Place, the team of Brittany Trupka, Shawnee, KS, and Kevin Veerhusen, Herington, KS; Second Place, Stephanie Pile, Centennial, CO; Third Place, Carrie Bly, Waconia, MN; Honorable Mention, Jacob Strobl, Woodland Park, CO; Honorable Mention, Jeffrey Rice, Jefferson City, MO.

Ashley Johnson, Lawrence, KS, received Honorable Mention for “Kansas Landscape” in the 2008 K-State Union Program Council Student Photography Competition.

Anthon Ellis, Green Bay, WI, was chosen to participate in Ghost Lab 9 with MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects of Nova Scotia, Canada.

Editors of the 2007-2008 edition of OZ are Sarah Schwartz, St. Louis, MO, and Whang Jin Suh, Kansas City, MO. Faculty advisors are Professors Todd Gabbard and Ray Streeter.

Adam Wagoner, McPherson, Kansas, received an Honor Award for Student Architecture from the American Institute of Architects Kansas for his scheme for the “Seattle Martial Arts Center.” Professor Larry Bowne was studio instructor.

Scott Capps, Liberty, MO, Julianne Rader, Leawood, KS, and Ian Scherling, Goodland, KS, received an Honor Award in the 2007 American Institute of Architects Topeka 150th Anniversary Design Competition. Their project, “Moving Forward: New Space for the Future of Topeka,” was a design solution centered on urban design. It connected different parts of Topeka through environmentally-friendly design practices to a visitor and residential destination that expressed the importance of the history and future of Topeka, KS. Professor Melanie Klein was studio instructor.

Jeremy Anterola, Kansas City, MO, and Scott Capps, Liberty, MO, received a Merit Award from the Central States American Society of Landscape Architects for “The Sustainable Icon,” a phased redevelopment proposal for the sustained redevelopment of tornado-devastated Greensburg, KS. Professor Melanie Klein was studio instructor.

Brett Tagtmeyer, Manhattan, KS, received an Honor Award in the student category for “Confluence,” a design study of Sullivan’s Cove in southern Tasmania’s River Derwent Estuary. His design solution centered on urban plazas, returning a water drainage channel to its original path and creating wetlands that filter urban runoff. Professor Melanie Klein was studio instructor.

Kevin Kroen, High Ridge, MO, received a Merit Award in the Central States American Society of Landscape Architects Design Competition, for his project, “Greensburg Big Well Tourism Plaza.” Professor Melanie Klein was studio instructor.

Jennifer McDaniel, Kansas City, KS, received the 2007-2008 Leland R. Edmonds Outstanding Research Award.

Emily Hagy, Kansas City, MO, is a LEED accredited professional.

Tomoya Suzuki, Japan, is a talented musician, having been a member of the K-State symphony band, the concert band, the marching band, and the tuba and euphonium ensemble.

Receiving scholarships for the 2007-2008 academic year from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) were Meghan Bogener, St. Charles, MO, AIA St. Louis Scholarship; Kelly Egdorf, Chaska, MN, Kansas Architectural Foundation Scholarship; Christina Fronick, St. Louis, MO, AIA St. Louis Scholarship; Daniel Gensch, Wichita, KS, AIA Wichita Scholarship; Emily Hagy, St. Louis, MO, AIA St. Louis Scholarship; Colette Hamilton, Kansas City, MO, AIA Kansas City Scholarship; Mark Long, El Dorado, KS, Kansas Architectural Foundation Scholarship; Rebekah Udall, Colorado Springs, CO, Kansas Architectural Foundation Scholarship; Malcolm Watkins, Gower, MO, Kansas City Architectural Foundation Scholarship, The Kratz Scholarship and The Bruce McKenzie Scholarship.

Heather Wise, Bucyrus, KS, claimed First Place in the 2007 Institute of Store Planners’ annual student design competition for “In Motion,” a children’s retail space that promoted activity and movement. Professor Carolyn Thompson was studio instructor.

Our National Organization of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) chapter was recognized for its outstanding creative and financial contributions to the Coretta Scott King Gardens of Engagement. Student members designed the gardens, to be located adjacent to Ahearn Fieldhouse on the K-State campus. Faculty advisor is Professor La Barbara Wigfall.

Furniture designed and built by fifth-year interior architecture and product design students was displayed at a First Friday celebration in Kansas City, compliments of 360 Architecture.

Destinations for student field trips during the 2007-2008 academic year included Wichita, Kansas City, Portland, Chicago, New York, Dallas, San Francisco and Orlando.

Faculty Achievements and Awards

Newly appointed tenure-track faculty beginning with the 2008-2009 academic year are Professors Nathan Howe and Ulf Meyer, architecture; Sung-Soo Shin, interior architecture and product design; and Jason Brody, Howard Hahn, and Katie Kingery-Page, landscape architecture/regional and community planning.

Professor Robert Condia received the 2008 Commerce Bank Undergraduate Outstanding Teaching Award.

Associate Dean Wendy Ornelas earned promotion to the rank of professor. Professors Larry Bowne and Sheri Smith earned tenure and promotion to the rank of associate professor.

Professor Chip Winslow was named Jarvis Chair of Landscape Architecture.

Professor Ray Weisenburger completed his second three-year term on the Board of Directors of the Kansas Preservation Alliance. As part of that organization, he developed a program recognizing communities that have preserved their brick streets and sidewalks. He was also appointed by Manhattan’s mayor to the City of Manhattan Core District Redevelopment Committee to develop a strategy for improving the Manhattan downtown historic business district. Weisenburger is serving a second term on the Manhattan Kansas Historic Resources Board which is responsible for identifying and preserving historic buildings and spaces in Manhattan.

Faculty presenting at the 96th annual meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture were Mick Charney, “The End of Architectural History and Reports of Its Demise;” David Seamon, “A Phenomenology of Inhabitation: The Lived Reciprocity Between Houses and Inhabitants as Portrayed by American Writer Louis Bromfield;” John Eck, “Surviving Success: Neighborhood Identity and Gentrification;” Wendy Ornelas, panelist, “Architectural Education Through Diversity: President’s Discussion;” and Vladimir Krstic, “Topographical Constructs.”

Professor Eric Bernard was appointed as chair of the K-State GIScience Commons Steering Committee. He presented “Uniting Disciplines for Water Resource Management” at the Mid-American GIS Consortium MAGIC 2008 Conference, and was among presenters of “Research Update: Ogallala Initiative, Hydrology/Climatology Data Integration, Organization, Integrity and Web Serving for Modeling” at the USDA ARS Ogallala Initiative Conference. In addition, Bernard received a funded grant, “Bluemont Elementary Playground: Waste Tire Derived Products,” from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, as well as funded research (with others), “Understanding and Forecasting Ecological Change: Causes, Trajectories and Consequences of Environmental Change in the Central Plains,” by the National Science Foundation EPSCor, and “Ogallala Initiative, Hydrology/Climatology Data Integration, Organization, Integrity and Web Serving,” by USDA ARS.

Professor David Seamon’s article, “A Phenomenological Ecology of Natural and Built Worlds,” was published as a chapter in the edited volume Phenomenology and Ecology. With former K-State student Enku Mulgeta, Seamon published “Inside and Outside in Wright’s Fallingwater and Aalto’s Villa Mairea,” an article for a special issue of the German architectural journal Wolkenkuckucksheim honoring philosopher Karsten Harries’ writings on architecture. Seamon presented papers at the annual meetings of the International Association of Environmental Philosophy and the Environmental Design Research Association. At the 6th International Space Syntax Symposium in Istanbul, he presented an invited keynote address, “Phenomenology and Space Syntax,” also published in the conference proceedings. He also presented lectures on “The Science of Space, the Art of Place,” at Middle East Technical University’s School of Architecture in Ankara, Turkey.

Professor Vicky Borchers’ new residence in Kansas City was featured on the Heartland Sustainable Homes Tour, part of the American Solar Energy Society’s National Solar Tour, as well as in the May 25, 2008, issue of the Kansas City Star.

Professor Wendy Ornelas, associate dean, received the Exemplary Teaching Award given by Sigma Lambda Beta international honor society. She was also elected to represent the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture on the board of the National Architectural Accrediting Board.

Professor David Brown wrote an article entitled “Advanced Considerations for Furniture Designers” published in a recent issue of Fresh Wood magazine.

Professor Gary Coates published The Architecture of Carl Nyren, the first book documenting the achievements of this exemplar of Scandinavian design excellence. Coates was invited to present “Structures of Wholeness: A Study of Carl Nyren’s Brahe School Library, Visingso, Sweden” at EDRA’s 38th Annual Conference on Building Sustainable Communities. Coates was invited to lecture on “Principles of Organic Functionalism in the Architecture of Erik Asmussen” at the Alvar Aalto Forum in Helsinki, Finland. He also finished the first of his three-year appointment as the Regnier Faculty Chair in the Department of Architecture.

Professor Lee Skabelund received a 2008 Award of Excellence from the Prairie Gateway Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) for project planning, design and implementation work related to K-State’s International Student Center rain garden. ASLA’s Central States Conference also recognized Skabelund for the rain garden project with a 2008 Award of Merit in the built-design category. Skabelund, who chairs K-State’s green building committee, led the group of students, faculty and staff who created the International Student Center’s rain garden in 2007, and work continues on sculpture and rain bowl features. Skabelund presented “Kansas State University Rain Garden Design-Build Demonstration: Integrating Education, Scholarship and Practice” at the EPA Regional Wetlands and Watersheds Conference. He also presented “Alternative Urban Stormwater Management Research and Education Programs in Landscape Architecture at KSU” at the 25th annual Water and the Future of Kansas Conference.

Professors Tony Barnes, Dennis Day and Carolyn Thompson retired at the end of the 2007-2008 academic year. Collectively, they have taught for almost 100 years.

Professor Melanie Klein authored “Sustainable Design Concepts for Rebuilding A Scarce-Water City” to be published in Volume 8 of Projections: MIT Journal of Planning. The article will also be featured in the proceedings of the International Federation of Landscape Architects “2008 World Congress: Transforming with Water.”

Professor Peter Magyar was selected 2007 Man of the Year by the American Biographical Institute, chosen as the 2007 professional representing the architectural instruction industry by the Cambridge Who’s Who and included in the 2007 professional and executive edition of the Continental Who’s Who registry of national business leaders. During summer 2008, he will lecture on “Geometry of Desire” at The Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany, and his work, also entitled “Geometry of Desire,” will be exhibited at the N and N Gallery in Budapest, Hungary.

Professor Stephanie Rolley was selected by students as the 2007-2008 K-State Landscape Architecture Teacher of the Year.

Professor Larry Bowne is a summer 2008 participant in the prestigious MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH.

Professor Miriam Neet received a K-State Tilford Incentive Grant for course development for her “Sustainable Precedents in Vernacular Architecture” seminar course.

Faculty who participated in the 2008 annual CAPD faculty show were Professors Mick Charney, John Eck, Rick Forsyth, Donna Fullmer, Allan Hastings, Nathan Howe, Fayez Husseini, Peter Magyar, Michael McGlynn, and Miriam Neet, and emeritus faculty Gene Ernst, Gwen Owens-Wilson and Eugene Wendt.

Internationally renowned Argentian architect Miguel Angel Roca was the Victor L. Regnier Visiting Chair in the
Department of Architecture during the 2007-2008 academic year. The 2008-2009 Chair will be Alfred Jacoby. Past Chairs include Hiroshi Hara, Alberto Campo Baeza and Mikko Heikkinen.

K-State’s regional and community program received the 2007 Ad Astra Award from the Kansas Chapter of the American Planning Association. The award recognized “significant long-term contributions to the field of community planning, taking the profession to higher levels and making great communities happen.” The award also recognized the 50th anniversary of K-State’s planning program.

Under the direction of Professor Lee Skabelund, groups of multi-disciplinary students researched and designed proposals to create “green roofs” on Seaton Hall.

Greensburg

During the past year, K-State architecture and landscape architecture students have lent many helping hands to the residents of Greensburg, a small Kansas town devastated by a tornado in May of 2007, to rebuild and to achieve its goal of becoming the first “green” city in the nation.

In “Greensburg Revisited,” collaborating architecture and landscape architecture students addressed needs that residents had identified in a long-term community recovery plan. The students conceived projects ranging in scale from the restoration of the U.S. Highway 54 business corridor to a tourism center for the town’s “big well.” Students were encouraged to pursue efficient and sustainable methods and designs to reduce construction costs and minimize environmental damage of any completed structures. The designs also promoted alternative transportation and conservation of energy, water and natural resources. Designs also took into account aesthetics and community priorities. Professors Melanie Klein and Todd Gabbard led the project.

“Greensburg Cubed,” a project undertaken by architecture students, educated community members on ways to create sustainable and environmentally friendly homes, offices and facilities as they rebuild. The students designed and built four 10-by-10-by-10 foot mobile cubes, with each cube or pavilion providing information on a different aspect of sustainable living including what green building materials are available, how to use them and where to purchase them. The cubes were named Green Haus (a checklist cube designed to educate contractors and community members about LEED certification), Recycling Bin (a recycling collection center made of recycled materials), Ice Cube (a portable station where people can get fresh water and cool off using filtered rainwater) and Watering Can (a restroom featuring a waterless composting toilet, solar-created hot water and power, and greywater reuse to promote water conservation). Leading the project was Professor Larry Bowne.

A group of landscape architecture students spent a long day in early May of 2008 installing 400 plants and 3,500 square feet of sod to enhance a playground that served as the broadcast site for the CBS Early Show during the one-year commemoration of the tornado. Other than the high school’s football field, this is the only green space in Greensburg and the first outdoor public space for the community’s rebuilding. Alumni Tim Duggan and Mark O’Hara of BNIM, Kansas City, MO, headed the playground project.

Afghanistan

K-State, on behalf of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design (CAPD) and the College of Engineering, has entered into a three-year, $3.2 million contract with the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education to strengthen the education of the faculty of engineering at Kabul University, Kabul, Afghanistan. K-State is participating in a variety of ways, including summer teaching at Kabul as well as on-line mentoring of Afghan faculty members. Professor Donald Watts, the architecture coordinator for the project, and Professors Carol Watts and Katrina Lewis spent part of summer 2008 in Kabul.

At the end of the 2007-2008 and 2006-2007 school years, CAPD faculty and students contributed more than 100 boxes of books, equipment and supplies for use by architecture students at Kabul University. The US Army provided transportation.

Students enrolled in the spring 2008 fifth-year architecture design studio taught by Professor Don Watts collaborated with Afghan students and faculty in the design of a new building at Kabul University. In 1964 during the Cold War, a Los Angeles based architectural and engineering firm designed and supervised construction of Kabul University. In 2007, the French government completed construction of the first new building at Kabul University since the 1960s. The predominant planning concept and image of Kabul University therefore remains a 1964 Southern California aesthetic. While they have adopted this aging American imported campus, Afghan professors and students throughout the university seek the beginnings of a new Kabul University with a contemporary Afghan identity.

Landscape architecture students completed design proposals for a gateway and plaza at Kabul University. Professors Katie Kingery-Page and Melanie Klein co-taught the site planning and design studio. Professor Don Watts collaborated as a guest lecturer on Islamic architecture and as a design critic. Several K-State international students offered feedback from the Afghan perspective. After completing the design proposals, the students developed design details in a concurrent materials and methods course, led by Professor Chip Winslow.

Employment

Nearly 120 students got the chance to hone their interviewing skills with the help of prospective employers. Representatives of 12 national architectural and industrial design firms took part in the most recent Mock Interview activity. The interviews allow upper-level students in the college the chance to practice their interviewing skills in a professional setting, interact with professionals in their field and receive early job offers.

Students seeking careers in the design disciplines also got the chance to meet with prospective employers at the college’s career fair. A record-setting 142 employers registered to participate in two sessions of DesignExpo during the spring 2008 semester. Employers attending this event offer full-time employment as well as summer and other internship opportunities. They also visit with students who wish to learn more about the design disciplines.

An impressive 96 percent of 2006-2007 bachelor’s degree recipients were employed in their field of study within a few months of graduation. “Not only do these statistics prove that our graduates are in high demand, but this fact is reinforced as I visit professional offices around the country,” said Dennis L. Law, FASLA, dean of the college. “Firms are very excited about hiring our graduates because they possess the work ethic and design skills the firms are seeking,” Law said.

Solar Decathlon

A solar house, designed and built by an interdisciplinary, collaborative team of students and faculty from K-State, was one of 20 chosen to compete in the 2007 Solar Decathlon. The biennial competition challenges selected teams to design and construct a small demonstration house that runs entirely on solar energy. The homes, which must be less than 800 square feet, were taken to Washington, DC, in October 2007, displayed on the national mall and judged on 10 criteria including the sufficiency of the house’s solar panels to power its systems, the house’s ability to maintain comfortable interior conditions, and the appropriateness of the home’s design. Work on the highly technical project started during the 2005-2006 academic year. The K-State entry finished 18th in the overall competition.

More News

Some of our May 2008 graduates were the first to receive two of our new degrees-the non-baccalaureate master of architecture and the non-baccalaureate master of interior architecture and product design.

Our bachelor of landscape architecture program ranked first, bachelor of interior architecture/design ranked eighth, and bachelor of architecture ranked eighth in the 2008 version of an annual survey of leading firms in the US. The survey is conducted by Design Intelligence and the Design Futures Council, in conjunction with the Almanac of Architecture and Design, and asks firms to name the accredited schools that have produced graduates most prepared for professional practice.

Students in our four degree-granting programs can participate for course credit in paid internships with professional offices across the United States and around the world, as well as in study abroad opportunities. An academic internship exhibit and a study abroad exhibit that showcase projects done by participating students during their time away from campus are held in Seaton Hall every fall semester.

The College of Architecture, Planning and Design maintains membership in the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The nation’s foremost coalition of leaders from the building industry, the USGBC works to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work.

The college purchased memberships to the K-State Alumni Association for our 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 graduates.

Joan Koehler was selected as our college’s Classified Employee of the Year.