Karen Van Lengen in the News
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Remembering Joe Howe
Our faculty, staff, students and alumni fondly remember Joseph Howe, an adjunct construction materials and civil engineering professor of several decades who passed away on November 1st. To submit your remembrance, please email it to sarc-news@virginia.edu Remembrances are included in the order received. __ "Six Words: Remembering Joe Howe" Kirk Martini The passing of Joe Howe has special meaning for me, because Joe and I shared an office for thirteen years. Since Joe was an adjunct, he didn’t spend much time at the office, so we had less contact than most office mates, but when he was there, he did his best to make up for lost time. Joe loved to talk, and anything we talked about would remind him of a story. That story could be about one of the dozens of big construction projects he worked on, his college days at the Citadel, or his time as a soldier in World War II. Whatever the story, something in it would remind him of another, and the stories would link together, end-to-end, until his or my schedule intervened. A few years ago, I remember hearing from Patty DeCourcy about Joe’s knee surgery. She reported that Joe had a local anesthetic and talked with the doctor during the entire operation. My first thought was Joe probably would have talked to the doctor even with a general anesthetic. There was no stopping Joe once the stories started to roll. Of the thousands of words I heard from Joe, there were six that I will never forget. It was during my first year in the office in 1993, my second year teaching in the School. We were talking about teaching, and Joe said “anybody can teach a good student.” He didn’t elaborate much on those six words, but in the decade and a half since, I’ve come to understand exactly what he meant. As teachers, it’s tempting to look at the masterful work of our best students and give ourselves a pat on the back for instilling such skill. The truth is, there are so many talented students at U.Va. that anybody could show them a few slides or ask them to read a few books, and those students would produce skillful work. A teacher taking credit for that work is like a rooster taking credit for the sunrise. The real measure of a teacher is the growth and progress of the struggling students, the students with less preparation, and more distractions. If you’re not helping those students, then you’re not a very good teacher. Simple as that. Anybody can teach a good student. Joe Howe taught them all. ___ Karen Van Lengen: I came to know Joe when when he often stopped by the dean's office to say hello after class. He always had a memorable story about his students and that would begin a wonderful chat on lots of subjects. He delighted in sharing his daschund stories with me, knowing that I too am a devoted fan of this species. We shall all miss Joe’s generous and kind spirit, his devotion to teaching, his lively and genuine character. ___ Patty DeCourcy: I have been honored to serve as Joe Howe's office assistant since I came to the school in 1998. We developed a great working relationship and I felt honored to be part of his teaching career as well as part of his family. Mr. Howe always introduced me on the first day of class as part of the teaching team, never just a secretary. During my years with Mr. Howe he took such pleasure in his teaching. There never was a student left behind in any of his classes and he had been teaching since 1977. He made it known to each student that he taught he was available to them whenever they needed help. Mr. Howe taught well known football players like Matt Schaub of the Houston Texans, Heath Miller of the Pittsburg Steelers, and Elton Brown of the Arizona Cardinals just to mention a few. I remember him telling me that he came in on a Sunday afternoon to help students so he could help keep them off academic suspension. His love of teaching showed each day when he came to class. He was always the last to leave the classroom because he would wait to make sure none of his students needed his help. I will always remember Mr. Howe telling his wonderful stories from his past while sipping on a regular Coke through a straw and eating peanut butter crackers in my office while we prepared for the next class meeting. His two famous quotes that he wrote on the board each semester and pasted at the bottom of the final exams were these: Robert Doyle was a man that Mr. Howe came to know through working construction and Mr. Doyle told this to Mr. Howe one day on the job site to always: “Give your boss more than he paid for.” This other quote was from a Colonel he met while in service: “Be able to say I need help!” Col. Louis Letellier I guess you can say that Mr. Howe lived by these two quotes not only in his teaching here at the School of Architecture and the School of Engineering but in life in general. If you knew Mr. Howe like I did you would know that he never met a stranger. He made friends with everyone he came in contact with and he would always have a story to tell them. We sat in the nursing home one day and tried to calculate just how many students' lives he touched and we figured around 8,000, if not more. God Bless you Mr. Howe. I know you will be greatly missed, but I also know that you are in a place now with no aches and pain and are telling your stories to a whole set of new people we call "our angels." Love you forever. ____ Derry Wade: I didn't know Joe Howe well, but I vividly remember the first time I met him, which must have been sometime in 2002. I was sitting in my office, frantically trying to meet an important deadline. Mr. Howe said, "You must be new, here!" and promptly came in and sat down. Though taken aback at first, I soon realized what a charming and interesting man he was. Before long I had completely forgotten all about my deadline as I listened to his amazing stories of the Citadel and construction jobs he had done. He told me about his early years at the University and we marveled over how much had changed. After a very long, and fascinating, conversation - I asked him for his name. He seemed surprised I didn't know it, which now makes sense to me. As many people have said, he never knew a stranger, which was a wonderful gift he shared with all whom he encountered. ____ Michael Bednar: Joe Howe and I go back to 1977 when he started teaching at the ARCH School. He was one of the most generous and dedicated teachers I have ever known. Last spring I was asked to complete his construction class when he became ill. I asked him why he was still teaching at age 85. His answer was that the students "energized him." He had an indomitable spirit for life. His positive outlook, good humor and wonderful stories will be greatly missed. _____Monday, October 5, 2009
Karen Van Lengen Receives VSAIA Award for Distinguished Achievement
Karen Van Lengen, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Architecture and former dean, has won the 2009 Award for Distinguished Achievement given by the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects (VSAIA). An announcement from the VSAIA notes some of Van Lengen’s accomplishments as dean: “At the University of Virginia Van Lengen encouraged the development of research among her faculty and students, by supporting both traditional and non-traditional activities. Her most notable collective research achievement, dubbed ‘Campbell Constructions’, was a ten-year initiative to reinvigorate the physical environment of the school. She selected faculty, students and alumni to rebuild and add to the school in a series of twelve design projects that exemplify the regional design community’s diversity of talent and serve as a physical embodiment of the School’s mission, while also offering exemplary solutions that complement the University’s World Heritage Site - Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village.” The award will be presented at the Visions for Architecture Gala hosted by the Virginia Center for Architecture Foundation in Richmond on November 6th, 2009.Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Additions to Campbell Hall Win 2009 VSAIA Award for Excellence in Design
The Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects announced that the additions to Campbell Hall are the recipient of the highest honor in the Society's annual Excellence in Design program. The two faculty members who served as architects for the additions to Campbell Hall, W.G. Clark and William Sherman, as well as the alumni at SMBW Architects (including Will Scribner, and others), the firm who served as the architect of record for the project, will all be recognized as key contributors to the superior design. As was noted by a jury member, "Among the 9 other projects in the architecture category, Campbell Hall was recognized with distinction." The additions to Campbell Hall are part of a larger decade-long project, Campbell Constructions, which was directed by (former dean) Prof. Karen Van Lengen. Recipients of the Award for Excellence in Design will be honored at a special session during Architecture Exchange East in Richmond on Nov. 6, and at the Visions for Architecture gala, also on Nov. 6; in a special exhibition at the Virginia Center for Architecture (opening reception January 7, 2010); and in Inform magazine’s annual directory (July/August, 2010). To see a list of all award winners, visit: http://www.virginiaarchitecture.org/vsaia_honors_design.htmlFriday, July 31, 2009
Karen Van Lengen Authors New Book on Campbell Constructions
"Urgent Matters: Designing the School of Architecture at Jefferson's University" was published in July, 2009 and is distributed by the University of Virginia Press. About the book: The dilemma of building contemporary architecture in the context of one of America’s World Heritage landmarks, Thomas Jefferson’s Academical Village at the University of Virginia, is the central theme of this book. Former Dean Karen Van Lengen writes about her vision of building the School of Architecture: a highly orchestrated collaborative design strategy to exemplify the potential of architecture, landscape architecture, preservation and planning in the public realm. Using Campbell Hall as a working laboratory, Van Lengen demonstrates how various spatial, material and iconographic designs can influence and support the mission of an institution in a period in which branding and image making is the norm. The book includes both written and visual descriptions by the designers of over ten built projects of the past decade (1999-2009) designed by faculty, students and alumni.Saturday, May 16, 2009
Dean Van Lengen Honored by Faculty Resolution
The General Faculty passed a unanimous resolution on Friday, May 15th to recognize Karen Van Lengen's service to the University as Dean of the School of Architecture. The resolution was proposed by faculty members W.G. Clark, Robin Dripps, and Bill Sherman, as well as Karin Wittenborg (University Librarian). Resolution for Dean Karen Van Lengen WHEREAS, on June 30, 2009, Karen Van Lengen completes her tenure as Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia, where she has served with dedication and distinction since her appointment in 1999; WHEREAS, she demonstrated effective, creative, and inspiring leadership within the School of Architecture, the University, and the larger intellectual world, being a passionate advocate for ideas that are visionary, grounded, and doable, while positioning these initiatives to engage and support the larger purposes of the University, community, and the world beyond; WHEREAS, she made the vision of the school manifest in the inventive building and landscape additions to Campbell Hall that she raised funding for, instigated the hiring of her own faculty as designers, and oversaw with a watchful eye the aesthetic realization of such an important physical embodiment of the school’s curricular intentions; WHEREAS, she worked effectively to bring rigor and equity to the distribution of resources among the multiple disciplines within the School of Architecture, among faculty at all levels, and between the school and the University, established a Foundation Board and tripled the size of the School’s endowment, ensuring its continued excellence; WHEREAS, she opened an important intellectual discussion in the university with her Woman’s Work Forum, providing a venue for scholarly development, cross-disciplinary conversation and mentorship to her colleagues; WHEREAS, she brought to the school, the university, and the design disciplines an unswerving commitment to develop an intellectual foundation for ethical thought and practice, convened an international symposium to discuss and debate the profound relationships between ethics and aesthetics, demonstrated the school’s commitment with the series of publications under the title Urgent Matters, which included the results of the school wide initiatives to intervene in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, as well as her support for the research, design, and production of affordable and sustainable housing in Charlottesville and New Orleans; WHEREAS, she, her husband Jim Welty, and their daughter Kiri, opened their residence in Pavilion IX to bring together faculty from all disciplines with members of the Charlottesville community and guests from afar for vibrant discussions, allowing others to see how well the aesthetic of a modern interior could engage the architecture of Thomas Jefferson; WHEREAS, she demonstrated through persuasion and example, how the most important matters must also be understood within an aesthetic context. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the General Faculty of the University of Virginia conveys its sincere gratitude to Karen Van Lengen for her inspired leadership that has advanced the stature of architecture at the University, within the community of Charlottesville, and in the world at large.Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Reflections on Visions and Accomplishment: Dean Van Lengen to Step Down in June (Video)
UVa News Services, April 27, 2009 — School of Architecture Dean Karen Van Lengen came to the University of Virginia in 1999. During her tenure, the school has undergone dramatic transformations. The changes in curriculum and the physical environment have greatly contributed to the continued high regard of the school.
As she prepares to step down this summer, Van Lengen reflected on the state of architecture education and her accomplishments. Below are excerpts from that interview.
[follow link to read article]
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Robert Irwin is Named 2009 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Architecture
Dean Karen Van Lengen announced that Robert Irwin, American artist of light and space, is the 2009 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Architecture. Irwin will visit the School of Architecture in mid-April for two days, and will give a public lecture on April 14 at 3pm in Old Cabell Hall. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture has been given annually since 1966 when the first medal was bestowed upon Mies van der Rohe. Along with a medal in law and a medal in leadership, it is the highest outside honor given by the University. Robert Irwin (b. 1928) was born in Long Beach, California, and studied at the Otis Art Institute (1948-50), Jepson Art Institute (1951), and Chinouard Art Institute (1952-54). He began as a painter and held his first solo exhibition in 1957. In the 1970s Irwin left studio work to pursue installation art that dealt directly with light and space: the basis of visual perception, in both outdoor and modified interior sites. Irwin's work, both paintings and installations are exhibited widely in galleries and museums in the U.S. and internationally including MOMA, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, to name a few. In 1984 Irwin received a MacArthur Fellowship. In 1993 the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles initiated a major retrospective of his work, which subsequently traveled to Paris, Madrid, and Cologne. Among his numerous celebrated public projects is "Two Running Violet V Forms" (1983) installed in a eucalyptus grove on the campus of UC San Diego. His largest scale project to date is the 134,000 sq. ft. "Central Garden" at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, which opened in 1997. Also in 1997, Irwin consulted on the master plan for Dia:Beacon, designing the landscaping of the outdoor spaces, the entrance building and the window design. In 2004, the Guggenheim in New York gave over the entirety of one its long rectangular off-ramp side galleries to a reprise of Irwin's 1974 Soft Wall Pace Gallery installation. He lives and works in San Diego.Monday, January 26, 2009
Cville Weekly Names Additions a "Favorite Thing"
The local Charlottesville alternative newspaper C-ville Weekly, notes that the additions to Campbell Hall "prove that construction at UVA can be worthy of neighboring a World Heritage Site without merely imitating it." [Follow link to C-ville Weekly]
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
"Old School, New School: University of Virginia" - Architect Magazine
Source: ARCHITECT Magazine
Publication date: November 1, 2008
By Vernon Mays
When Karen Van Lengen arrived at the University of Virginia (U.Va.) in 1999, the School of Architecture she joined as dean was full of talented people and fresh ideas. But the building it occupied, Campbell Hall, was sorely lacking in space for reviews, classes, and staff. The four-story concrete-and-brick facility, which was designed by Pietro Belluschi and opened in 1970, had been criticized by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. "There was a huge accreditation issue," Van Lengen says. "I had to do something about it immediately."
Even perceptually, the physical environment was lifeless. So, launching an initiative called "Campbell Constructions," Van Lengen seized the opportunity to upgrade the building. Instead of hiring a name-brand outsider, her stratagem was to provide design opportunities for the U.Va. faculty. Starting with a rather modest gallery renovation, Van Lengen quickly moved on to bigger projects. A feasibility study by Bushman Dreyfus Architects, of Charlottesville, set the stage for three larger-scale projects?two additions and a new landscape plan.
[for complete article, follow link to Architect Magazine]
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Karen Van Lengen Completes Deanship in 2009
Karen Van Lengen will complete a decade of leadership as Dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia in July, 2009. During her tenure, Van Lengen has significantly raised the School?s profile, founded innovative academic programs and publications, built a substantial research culture among her faculty and directed a successful capital campaign as well as remaking the school?s home at Campbell Hall. ?It has been a privilege to lead the School of Architecture to a position of prominence and to have shaped its physical setting to reflect its overall mission,? Van Lengen said. ?I look forward to the next period in my professional life with enthusiasm and a profound sense of achievement.? Van Lengen is an award-wining architect who began her career as a Design Associate for I. M. Pei & Partners, New York City. After completing a Fulbright Fellowship in Rome, she established her own practice and gained international recognition with several award winning competitions and projects. From 1995-99 she chaired the Department of Architecture at Parsons School of Design in New York, where she founded the renowned Design Build Workshop before being appointed Dean of the University of Virginia School of Architecture in 1999. As an academic leader, Van Lengen championed cross-disciplinary opportunities both within her school and across the University to address the complex environmental and cultural challenges that she dubbed The Architecture of Urgent Matters. She championed the school?s influence in the post-Katrina reconstruction initiatives, supported the development of emergency and sustainable housing programs and encouraged a constructive dialogue between ethics and aesthetics. In support of this overall agenda, Van Lengen created the new Department of Architecture and Landscape Architecture and oversaw the establishment of the new doctoral program in the Art History and the Architectural History Departments. Van Lengen also developed a strong relationship between the School and the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities, which has deeply influenced the growth of innovative technology in the School?s curriculum. Perhaps Van Lengen?s most visible contribution to the School and the University has been her vision to transform Campbell Hall and its surrounding landscape by tapping the talents of her own faculty, students and alumni. ?I speak for the architects of all these projects when expressing my profound gratitude and honor in working with Dean Van Lengen to help realize her vision and amazing accomplishment,? said W.G. Clark, Edmund Schureman Campbell Professor of Architecture and the architect of the Victor and Sono Elmaleh Wing at Campbell Hall. Under Van Lengen?s leadership, the School of Architecture has significantly increased its endowment and as of November 2008, has raised more than 70-percent of the $25 million campaign goal, placing the School of Architecture?s performance above the University average. In 2004, Van Lengen worked with her Advisory Board to establish the School of Architecture Foundation Board, and together these organizations have built successful outreach and development programs. Stuart Siegel, Chair of the Architecture School Foundation Board, said, ?Karen?s leadership, strong vision and active participation in all Board activities have directly insured that the historically unmatched professional, financial and alumni support for the School will remain as one of her greatest legacies for years to come.? At the University level, Van Lengen worked with a small faculty group and the former Vice President for Research to found a pan-university initiative to promote integrated programs and projects that focus on environmental issues. Ariel Gomez, the former Vice President for Research said, ?She belongs with a very selective group of leaders that are the very fabric and symbol of what is good at the University. She is without a doubt one the most creative thinkers and effective leaders that I have had the honor to work with.? Gene Block, Chancellor at UCLA and the former Provost at the University added, ?I am deeply indebted to Dean Van Lengen for her outstanding leadership during my tenure as provost. Karen believed deeply in the need for cross-campus interdisciplinary scholarship and gave generously of her time to university-wide initiatives while moving the School of Architecture to new levels of prominence.? In 2005, Van Lengen founded ?Women?s Work,? a University program that sponsors monthly meetings focused on the research work of women faculty. Jeanne Liedtka, former Director of the Darden School?s Batten Institute said, ?[Van Lengen?s] leadership at the Architecture School has brought a whole new dimension and richness to the conversation at the University. Her intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm for collaboration across the professional schools has inspired all of us.? During her tenure as Dean, Van Lengen has developed her own research that explores the relation between sound and space. A recent project, (in collaboration with Joel Sanders and Ben Rubin) MIX HOUSE, (part of the OPEN HOUSE Exhibition sponsored by the Vitra Museum and Art Center College, of Design, Pasadena) has received world wide acclaim through its many international shows. Barry Bergdoll, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, has written, "Karen Van Lengen and Joel Sanders have engaged in a research project that is at once timely and startling original?. As a design project, MIX HOUSE recalls earlier work of both architects with domestic space as visual mediation, but extends it now not only to a different sense but also to a whole new register of cultural interrogations. MIX HOUSE stands alone as a design proposition, but it also provides, in the tradition of many manifesto designs, the starting point for a discussion of great resonance. It is in this sense both a scholarly and a critically engaged design intervention with the potential to be remembered as a seminal statement of a new configuration of cultural issues in a still emerging digital culture with enormous implications for the social and political realms of daily life.? Van Lengen has co-authored several articles related to this theme and is considered one of the pioneers in this emerging area of architecture. She and Joel Sanders plan to utilize these ideas in the upcoming renovation of the Lounge space in Campbell Hall to be completed this year. As Van Lengen looks forward to new opportunities she celebrates her final year with the many constituencies she has influenced. Fitz-Gibbons Professor of Architecture, Robin Dripps, said, ?She brought to the School and the larger University a commanding vision of architecture that engages the large and immediate problems facing the world. Always an advocate for the faculty and the School, Dean Van Lengen?s tenure is marked by her work to provide the resources and inspiration for each one of us to do the best possible work.?Saturday, November 15, 2008
State of the School 2008 - Sustain the Momentum
Dear Alumni, Friends and Parents: This has been an especially exciting time at the UVa School of Architecture with the exuberant Reopening Celebration for Campbell Hall that took place just a few weeks ago, coupled with the 20th Anniversary Dean?s Forum Dinner. I want to thank you for all you have done to enhance the School, both as loyal donors and as individuals who are truly invested in the quality of education we provide. Because of your support, the major additions have been constructed and we can now focus on sustaining the vitality of life in Campbell Hall through unrestricted gifts to the Architecture Annual Fund and an increased endowment to provide for more student fellowships and travel opportunities, as well as significant faculty research. I would like to give you an update on just a few of the many accomplishments of our students, faculty, and staff this past year through four key thematic areas which have importance in the current state of our School and our world. Architecture that champions the stewardship of our natural resources. As a School, we continue to lead by example. Emeritus Professor Warren Byrd?s plan for the new landscape around Campbell Hall serves as a living demonstration of ecological principles applied with aesthetic purpose. Assoc. Professor William Sherman?s design for the South Wing façade, with its computer-controlled glass louvers hovering above locally-hewn slate shingles, allows for optimum use of the sun?s heat in maintaining a comfortable indoor temperature. With Heinz Professor Timothy Beatley and IEN Senior Associate Tanya Denckla-Cobb, our planning faculty and students are spearheading the ?Glocal Food? movement, working to find ways of bringing locally produced food to American consumers to provide energy savings, greater food safety, and many other benefits. The Learning Barge, an award-winning project directed by Assoc. Professor Phoebe Crisman, offers K-12 children an unusual learning facility to directly study and steward their local and regional environment of the Chesapeake Bay. The barge, designed by UVa students, and currently under construction will launch its maiden voyage next summer as a floating classroom on Virginia?s Elizabeth River. Architecture that sponsors dynamic social and cultural relationships in support of a democratic culture. We have an active collective of studios, courses, and projects that promote democratic principles in communities near and far. The ecoMOD Project, directed by Assistant Professor John Quale, is currently designing a fourth modular, affordable, and economically responsible home with its team of architecture and engineering students. Of the three homes already designed, constructed, and evaluated by the ecoMOD team, two are in Charlottesville and one is in Mississippi housing a family whose home was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Initiative ReCOVER, a project directed by Asst. Professor Anselmo Canfora, just celebrated the groundbreaking of a school in Uganda designed by our students (co-sponsored by Building Tomorrow) that will provide a place for 325 underprivileged children in that country to receive an education. The School continues to send a large number of our students to study abroad. Among our summer programs are the Falmouth Preservation Field School, in which students carefully record and restore historically-significant buildings in a Jamaican port town; and the newly expanded China Travel Program, which brings our students to Beijing for six weeks of tours and lectures with an optional internship following in a design firm based in China. In May of this year, several of our students who had recently visited Peru made presentations at a University-wide symposium on managing tourism in Machu Picchu as part of a studio course on architectural preservation and technology led by Asst. Professor Dean Abernathy. Just as we have taken the lessons of the Lawn into the design of Campbell Hall through the juxtaposition of public and private spaces which initiate dialogue and collaboration, we take the lessons of Campbell Hall to the world through our projects that promote awareness and spark international conversation. Architecture that celebrates life and regenerative cycles. We are inspired by the new life in our surroundings, and in no small part by the Woltz Bioretention Garden, designed by Professor Emeritus Warren Byrd and situated on the south side of Campbell Hall, which addresses erosion issues and stormwater drainage through rills and drains that culminate in a series of collection basins behind weir walls. This pedagogical landscape demonstrates the way we might all consider the precious reclamation of our water supply that is at risk in the long term. To the north, we celebrate the life of the late Eric Goodwin, through the memorial project that Professor Peter Waldman and his students designed and built. Regeneration is a common theme in our studios: the Martha Jefferson Hospital Studio, directed by Quesada Professor William Morrish, created a proposal for the sustainable redevelopment of several blocks near downtown Charlottesville which will soon be vacated by a hospital complex and associated buildings. The studio prepared a 65-page document which includes a careful analysis of existing conditions followed by a proposal of design opportunities and strategies for implementation over a period of several years. Architecture that honors aesthetics and beauty. I am particularly proud to note that we continue to uphold superlative aesthetic standards throughout the curriculum, even while we dedicate ourselves to pursuing the highest ecological, sociological, and ethical standards. One needs only to take a passing glance at Professor W.G. Clark?s design for the Victor and Sono Elmaleh East Wing which welcomes passersby to view our unique educational process in action, or Associate Professor Judith Kinnard?s redesign for the Fine Arts Café which features a local and organic menu, or to visit the faculty porches and offices by William Sherman to know that beauty and functionality are equally prized here. These are exciting times at the School of Architecture, so please join us in ensuring that the School continues its preeminence in the fields of architecture and landscape design, planning, history and sustainability. We are on pace to achieve our historic campaign goal of $25 million by the year 2011 thanks to your support. To date, the School has received over $16.5 million in gifts and future commitments in the campaign?s first half and we are moving forward steadily. Together, we can further our commitment to educating leaders who will shape the built environment for the public good, and support the innovative faculty who will be their role models. Help us Sustain the Momentum. Your unrestricted contributions to the Architecture Annual Fund are vital to the School and can be used to support any number of strategic priorities, fill in unexpected funding gaps, and provide us with the financial flexibility to provide resources where they are most needed. As the School confronts diminished state support and all of us are concerned about these tenuous economic times, private support from alumni and friends is more essential than ever. All gifts, of any size, make a significant impact on the School: ? $100 could help send a faculty member to a conference ? $250 could send a student on a studio trip ? $500 could cover application fees and costs of a student design competition ? $1,000 (and up) qualifies you for Dean?s Forum membership (the School?s annual giving society) ? $2,000 could fund an exhibit at the School or an alumni networking event off-grounds ? $3,000 could sponsor a student to participate in one of the School?s foreign travel programs or studios ? $10,000 could sponsor the student-run LUNCH publication for one year I hope you will join us - not only through your philanthropic contributions but also by your active involvement - as we continue to celebrate the building additions and the wave of rejuvenation they have brought to the School. I invite you to return to Charlottesville soon to see it all for yourself and when you do, please let us know. Visit our website, www.arch.virginia.edu for all the latest news from the School and update your contact information so you will receive our new e-newsletter ?Urgent Matters?. I hope you will also keep us updated on your life and accomplishments. I wish you a wonderful holiday season, and a fruitful 2009. Best regards, Karen Van Lengen Dean and Edward E. Elson ProfessorTuesday, October 28, 2008
"Dedication of School of Architecture Additions Celebrates Collaboration, Transparency and the Creative Process"
[From UVa News Services; by Jane Ford, Senior News Officer]
Karen Van Lengen welcomed Saturday's autumn rain, even as it forced the dedication of the two new additions to the University of Virginia's School of Architecture indoors.
In her remarks, the dean told the high-spirited crowd of faculty, students, alumni, administrators and friends, "The rain is beautiful today. It is a quiet rain and a resource for replenishing the earth.
"That is what we are doing here with these additions. They provide a replenishment of the school that will give us a life and new life in the future."
The additions ? photographs of which were projected on the front wall of the auditorium ? were designed by faculty members William Sherman, associate dean for academic affairs, and W.G. Clark, Edmund Schureman Campbell Professor of Architecture and an alumnus of the school, in collaboration with SMBW Architects in Richmond. Alumnus and professor emeritus Warren Byrd created the landscape designs.
The new wings add 12,000 square feet, accommodating the school's growth since Campbell Hall was built in 1970. Each design also makes a statement about what architecture and architecture education mean.
Clark designed the Victor and Sono Elmaleh East Wing, which houses three rooms to hold review sessions of students' designs, as a transparent expression of the dialogue between student and teacher that is the hallmark of the school's education process. Through the use of both clear and thermally efficient white glass on three sides of the addition, he makes visible the process of what goes on inside.
Sherman's addition includes 26 faculty offices that promote interaction among the school's disciplines ? architecture, landscape architecture, architectural history and planning ? and between faculty and students. His design also includes examples of sustainable principles, a focus throughout the school's curriculum.
Byrd's designs for the gardens are also teaching tools, providing examples of materials, design principles and ways to use the landscape to achieve sustainable goals such as curbing erosion while purifying water runoff before it heads downstream.
[for complete article, follow link to UVa News]
Monday, October 27, 2008
"School of Architecture Shines with Campbell Hall Additions"
[from the Daily Progress, Charlottesville, Va.; by Aaron Lee, Staff Writer]
Two additions to Campbell Hall ? home to the University of Virginia?s School of Architecture ? are being dedicated today, more than two years after the project broke ground.
In the close to 40 years since Campbell opened, the number of students enrolled in UVa?s architecture programs has more than doubled. And at the same time the faculty has close to tripled, making space tight, officials said.
At a cost of $15.6 million, the additions have added 12,000 square feet of space, including 26 new faculty offices and three additional review rooms where students can have their work critiqued.
?The building is meant to exhibit what we do in the school,? W.G. Clark, UVa professor of architecture, said of the design of the east wing, which is almost completely encased on three sides by clear and translucent glass.
Two university professors were involved in designing the additions to the east and south ends of Campbell, which
before the additions topped out at 80,000 square feet.
Clark designed the east wing and said the review rooms it houses trump the former review rooms that lacked natural light.
?People don?t feel so trapped in there,? Clark said of the new rooms. In addition, the design sought ?to make that [review] process more visible to the campus community.?
William Sherman, an associate professor of architecture, designed the south-facing facade with computer-controlled louvered windows. Those windows adjust during the day and through each season to help control the temperature of the building.
The windows are also designed so they can be retrofitted with photovoltaic panels that capture sunlight to use as energy for Campbell, Sherman said.
[For complete article, follow the link to the Daily Progress website]
Monday, October 6, 2008
Architecture School Additions Emphasize Collaboration, Transparancy of Creative Process
[from UVa News Services, by Jane Ford]
The University of Virginia School of Architecture opened this fall with two new additions that promise to reorganize the life of the school and dramatize its mission.
"The additions are part of a master plan to remake our home in the spirit and mission of the school, while giving design opportunities to the faculty," Dean Karen Van Lengen said.
Van Lengen has worked over nine years to bring the additions and six faculty design-build projects, which include dedicated exhibition space, a café that offers local, organic food and an outdoor classroom, to reality. All reinforce and demonstrate the curricular values of the school to students and the public.
With the latest endeavor, the school created two additions and a "learning landscape" and also renovated some of the interior spaces in Campbell Hall, the school's home since 1970.
The new wings, which add 12,000 square feet to the building to address the growth of the school, were designed by faculty members W.G. Clark, the Edmund Schureman Campbell Professor of Architecture, and William Sherman, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Architecture, in collaboration with SMBW Architects in Richmond.
A dedication will be held at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 25.
[for complete article, follow link to UVa News]
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Campaign for The School of Architecture Soars into Second Phase with Momentum
The UVa School of Architecture is on pace to achieve its historic campaign goal of $25 million by the year 2011 thanks to the support of many alumni and friends, parents, faculty and students, foundations and corporate sponsors. To date, the School has received $16.5 million in gifts and future commitments in the campaign?s first half. The aim of the campaign is to raise funds and build partnerships for improved facilities, faculty and student research, and curricular innovations in an era of diminished state support. During the first half of the campaign, begun in 2004, there were numerous new professorships, scholarships, and program additions but much of the focus was on the new additions to Campbell Hall and its landscape. Nearly $7 million in private funds has been raised thus far for the building project, scheduled to officially open with a ceremony to be held on October 25. While some naming opportunities for the additions remain available, the second half of the campaign will see a renewed focus on growing the endowment and unrestricted annual gifts to sustain excellence inside the classroom and deepen the impact of the School in the world today. ?A major boost to our endowment is necessary for the School to continue to excel at the highest level with the very best faculty and students while ongoing discretionary funds from annual gifts will allow us to meet urgent needs and support innovative ideas,? said Warren Buford, the executive director of the UVa School of Architecture Foundation, the School?s development and alumni relations arm. Fiscal year 2008 was particularly noteworthy with a record $3.2 million achieved in gifts and future commitments to the School. In addition to representing an increase in major and planned gifts, the total reflects a small increase in unrestricted giving which provides for the areas of greatest need at the School and the Foundation, such as annual scholarships and fellowships, study abroad programs, student publications, public lectures and many other programs critical to the School?s continuing excellence. Unrestricted gifts also support alumni activities, marketing and the general advancement of the School. The UVa School of Architecture Foundation was formed under the leadership of Dean Karen Van Lengen with her Advisory Board in 2004 as an independent non-profit organization. ?We created the Foundation to support the mission of the School of Architecture and to find new and diverse opportunities to expand the influence of the school in the public realm? said Dean Van Lengen. Although still young, the Foundation quickly organized an impressive board of trustees, currently lead by alumnus Stuart Siegel ?78, and including faculty emeriti Reuben Rainey and Mario di Valmarana. The Foundation board works alongside the Dean?s advisory board, currently lead by alumnus Paul Weinschenk ?87 which complements the Foundation board by working to increase the visibility of the School, engage more alumni and connect the School with the architectural and planning profession in key regions across the country. Each board is comprised of alumni, friends, professionals and faculty representatives. The Foundation staff has seen some recent additions with Warren Buford?s arrival in May of this year as successor to Susan Ketron in the role of executive director and Kimberly Wong, assistant director for operations and alumni relations. Donna Rose, office manager, and Angie Fellers, associate director of individual giving, continue in their positions. As the Foundation looks toward fulfilling the totality of the campaign?s goals, the second half holds challenges that they are prepared to meet with the entire School of Architecture community?s participation. ?Together with our alumni and friends we are poised to continue with strong momentum through this next critical phase of the campaign and beyond to ensure the School?s role in designing the future for us all,? said Buford.Thursday, September 11, 2008
Dean Van Lengen Attends 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Dedication
Dean Van Lengen saw the conclusion of six years of planning, designing and evaluating this morning as she attended the dedication ceremony for the Pentagon Memorial to the victims of 9/11, lead by President George Bush. Dean Van Lengen served as a member of the jury which represented three groups: the family members of those who perished in the Pentagon on 9/11/01, members of the U.S. military, and persons in the artistic community. The jury carefully whittled down the 1,200 design submissions to a group of six finalists in October, 2002. Alumnus Jeff Lee, FASLA (BLA'78) served as a consultant to the jury as well as worked closely with the eventual winners to help shape the final design. A short time later, the final selection was made: Keith Kaseman and Julie Beckman of KBAS, Philadelphia, Pa.I was so pleased to be a part of the opening ceremonies of the Pentagon Memorial Opening Celebration. The Project that our Jury selected 5 years ago is a truly powerful memorial that invites individual personal remembrance while also giving hope to a collective future.Please follow the link below for images of the Pentagon Memorial design and statements by the family members and architects.
— Dean Karen Van Lengen
Monday, June 23, 2008
Dean Van Lengen Quoted in Wash Post Article on Green Curriculum
"Higher Learning Adapts to Greening Attitude: Students Lead Drive Reshaping Curricula" [Washington Post, 22 June 2008, by Susan Kinzie]
The environmental fervor sweeping college campuses has reached beyond the push to recycle plastics and offer organic food and is transforming the curriculum, permeating classrooms, academic majors and expensive new research institutes.
The University of Maryland teaches "green" real estate strategies for landscape architects. The University of Virginia's business graduate students recently created a way to generate power in rural Indian villages with discarded rice husks. And in a Catholic University architecture studio last week, students displayed ideas for homes made from discarded shipping containers.
"It should be part of everything we do," said Ligia Johnson, a Catholic student whose plan for the Kenilworth neighborhood in Northeast Washington included roofs that collect rainwater and grow plants and trees.
What was once a fringe interest, perhaps seemingly a fad, has become fully entrenched in academic life, university officials say, affecting not just how students live but what they learn and, as graduates, how they will change workplaces and neighborhoods. ...
At U-Va., where students helped design a barge that will travel the Chesapeake Bay and that they hope will teach children about ecology, architecture dean Karen Van Lengen said environmentalism "is not a course at our school. It's a way of thinking. . . . It's a mind-set."...
[for complete article, follow link to the Washington Post online]
Friday, May 2, 2008
Dean, Faculty, Students Participate in Temporary Shelter Symposium with Shigeru Ban
Dean Karen Van Lengen, Assistant Professor of Architecture Anselmo Canfora, and students from Canfora's Fall 2007 ReCOVER Studio will participate in "Shigeru Ban and The Architecture of Disaster Relief," a symposium sponsored by the Meridian International Center in Washington, D.C.
The symposium events include a series of panel discussions, an open forum, and the construction of three temporary paper shelters of Shigeru Ban's design to be installed on the National Mall and at the National Building Museum.
On Thursday, May 8, Meridian will co-host an Open Forum at the National Building Museum featuring a panel of Shigeru Ban, Dean Karen Van Lengen, and several architecture students each from Keio University's Shigeru Ban Laboratory and the UVa School of Architecture, presenting new design ideas for global disaster relief.
For registration and additional information, follow the provided link.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
"Green Advocate Wins Jefferson Medal" - Architect Magazine
By ARCHITECT Staff
"The winners of the University of Virginia's Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture aren't always architects. In addition to Alvar Aalto, Marcel Breuer, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, past winners include critics Lewis Mumford and Jane Jacobs, artist James Turrell, and politician Daniel Patrick Moynihan. This year's winner, Gro Harlem Brundtland, boasts perhaps the most dynamic résumé of all...."
[for complete article, follow link]
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland To Give 2008 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medalist in Architecture Lecture
[by Jane Ford, UVa News Services]
Gro Harlem Brundtland, special envoy on climate change at the United Nations, former prime minister of Norway and a former director-general of the World Health Organization, will be awarded the 2008 Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture at the University of Virginia Founder?s Day festivities in April.
Brundtland will give a public talk on Friday, April 11, at 3 p.m., in Old Cabell Hall Auditorium.
?In honoring Dr. Brundtland we celebrate her legendary leadership in global sustainability and the stewardship of our environment, values that we have championed and developed in our work at the School of Architecture. We are so pleased to share our school?s accomplishments with such a distinguished figure and we all look forward to her University address on April 11th,? said Architecture School Dean Karen Van Lengen.
A politician, physician, diplomat and activist, Brundtland gained international recognition in the 1980s for supporting and promoting sustainable development as chair of the United Nations' World Commission of Environment and Development, known as the Brundtland Commission. The commission's report, "Our Common Future," outlined the broad political concept of sustainable development that takes into embraces multi-disciplinary considerations, including energy, industry, population and human resources, food security, species and ecosystems, international cooperation, decision-making systems and international economic relations.
The commission's recommendations led to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, at which representatives of 172 governments and 2,400 representatives of nongovernmental organizations concerned about the environment agreed on a Climate Change Convention that developed into the Kyoto Protocol.
Brundtland spent the first 10 years of her professional career as a physician and scientist in the Norwegian public health system, where she championed children's health issues and became increasingly aware that many of those health concerns are related to environmental issues. Her work in this area led to her appointment as Norway's Minister of the Environment in 1971. In 1981, at age 41, she was appointed prime minister, the youngest person and first woman to hold that post.
It was during her 10 years as prime minister that she developed a growing concern for environmental issues of global significance and chaired the U.N.'s World Commission on Environment and Development. In 1998, after stepping down as prime minister, Brundtland became director-general of the World Health Organization, where she combined her skills as doctor, politician and activist to advocate and work for equitable and sustainable health systems in all countries.
Since 2007 Brundtland has served as a U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Change.
Former recipients of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Architecture, which was created in 1966 to recognize outstanding achievement in design or distinguished contributions in the field of architecture, include; Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (the first recipient), Alvar Aalto, Marcel Breuer, Lewis Mumford, Vincent Scully, Dan Kiley, Jane Jacobs, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Glenn Murcutt, James Turrell, Peter Zumthor and Zaha Hadid.
The Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture and its counterparts in law and civic leadership are the highest external honors bestowed by the University, which grants no honorary degrees. The awards recognize achievements of those who embrace endeavors that the author of the Declaration of Independence, third U.S. president and founder of the University of Virginia, himself, excelled in and held in high regard.
Sponsored jointly by the University and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the nonprofit organization that owns and operates Monticello, the annual awards are conferred during the Founder's Day celebrations surrounding Jefferson's birthday, April 13. Awardees each deliver a public lecture at the University and engage in dialogue with students and faculty members. In addition to receiving a medal struck for the occasion, they will attend ceremonies in the Rotunda and a dinner at Monticello.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
April's "Women's Work" To Feature Carolyn Callahan
Women?s Work is a faculty lunch group designed to share and promote the research interests and accomplishments of women faculty at the University of Virginia. Founded by Dean Karen Van Lengen, this group provides an informal framework for women faculty to share their research and intellectual interests with other faculty at the University. April's presentation will be given by Commonwealth Professor Carolyn Callahan, Chair of the Department of Leadership, Foundations, and Policy at the Curry School of Education. Callahan focuses her research on the education of the ?gifted? student. Her talk will focus on recent research that evaluates Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) Programs for gifted secondary learners. These courses serve as the primary means of meeting the needs of gifted students in most high schools. In a qualitative study using a grounded theory approach, Callahan investigated how teachers conceptualize and implement curriculum and instruction in AP and IB courses and how students evaluate their learning experiences in these environments. Those interested in attending "Women's Work" should contact Alice Keys at 924-7019 or eak3n@virginia.edu.Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Dean Van Lengen to Participate in NBM Conversation Featuring Women Leaders in Architecture
Dean Karen Van Lengen will participate as one of three women deans of architecture schools in, "Women of Architecture Challenging the Paradigm," at the National Building Museum. Dean Van Lengen will be joined by Frances Bronet, Dean, School of Architecture & Allied Arts, University of Oregon; and Donna Robertson, an alumna (MArch'78), Dean, College of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology. The Deans will discuss their careers in architecture and their current leadership positions in architectural education as well as their roles in shaping architecture?s future. The conversation will be held on Monday, March 10 from 6:30 to 8:30pm. There is a fee to attend and registration with the National Building Museum is required.Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Dean Van Lengen Participates in Yale University Symposium on University Architecture
Selections from an article published in the Chronicle of Higher Education Online (by Lawrence Biemiller, January 28, 2008)
"At Yale, Architects Consider Universities as Patrons"
New Haven, Conn. ? A Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who is partly responsible for two of the most striking and controversial buildings of the past 10 years ? Steven Holl?s Simmons Hall and Frank Gehry?s Stata Center, both at MIT ? said Saturday that ?mindless commodity architecture? should be no more acceptable on college campuses than ?second-rate physics or banal history.?
?It is a fundamental responsibility of universities to pursue architecture and urbanism at the highest intellectual level and the highest level of cultural ambition,? said the professor, William J. Mitchell, who teaches architecture and served for 10 years as architecture adviser to MIT?s former president, Charles M. Vest. In the latter capacity, Mr. Mitchell said, his job was ?to be a persuasive advocate of architecture in the broader community? and to help foster ?lively, informed discourse about architecture and its role.?
Mr. Mitchell was one of a dozen speakers at an engaging but underpublicized Yale University symposium entitled ?Building the Future: the University as Architectural Patron.? The symposium, half architectural-history lesson and half pep rally for architects who work on campuses, was built around the university?s annual Brendan Gill Lecture, named after the former New Yorker architecture writer. This year?s lecturer was David Brownlee, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania?s art-history department. ....
Karen Van Lengen, dean of the University of Virginia?s architecture school, was one of several speakers who worried that ?branding? had ?hijacked the architectures of actual spaces and actual experiences.?
At her institution, she said, the Rotunda has become the university?s brand. ?It?s our logo. It?s on our letterhead, it?s on napkins. It?s on everything that we do at UVa. And this branding phenomenon has driven much of the decision-making process at UVa, particularly in the recent past.?
?So I guess the question I want to ask today,? she said, ?is, How does a university deploy planning, architecture, and landscape architecture to support and project its mission beyond the imagery level alone, and equally important, how can design support the real experience of teaching, learning, and research? I?d like to make the case that as clients in this arena of architecture and planning we look a little deeper, past the wallpaper solution ? as we refer to it at UVa, the Jefferson wallpaper solution ? that is so prevalent, not only on my campus but all across America.?
Ms. Lengen also asked how universities could be persuaded to offer more design opportunities to promising young architects, just as promising young scholars are offered interesting research projects. Laura Cruickshank, university planner at Yale, said that was a question she struggled with.
?On the one hand, I think it is the university?s responsibility to do that, and on the other hand, I?m not exactly sure how to achieve it,? said Ms. Cruickshank. She said that deadlines tied to the campus calendar ? ?You have to finish the residential college before the students come back and move in? ? tended to ?push us away from using or recommending one of the smaller kinds of firms.?
Monday, December 3, 2007
"Women's Work" Discussion to Feature Prof. Ellen Bass
Women?s Work is a faculty lunch group designed to share and promote the research interests and accomplishments of women faculty at the University of Virginia. Founded by Dean Karen Van Lengen, this group provides an informal framework for women faculty to share their research and intellectual interests with other faculty at the University. Each monthly lunch meeting includes a short research presentation by a selected faculty member followed by a question and discussion period. On December 6th, the speaker will be Ellen Bass, Assistant Professor, Department of Systems and Information Engineering at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Bass will present a methodology for investigating human interaction with information analysis automation. The event will be held at Pavilion IX from 12:30pm-1:45pm. RSVP is required - space is limited. Please reserve a spot with Alice Keys via email: eak3n@virginia.eduTuesday, October 30, 2007
Dean's Project for Mix House will Travel to Poland and Norway
The design for MIX HOUSE, one result of a collaboration between Dean Karen Van Lengen / KVLA, Joel Sanders / JSA, and Ben Rubin / EAR Studio, will be on display at the Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, Poland from November 30, 2007 through February, 2008 and the Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture in Oslo, Norway in summer 2008 as part of a larger exhibition developed by the Vitra Museum in Germany entitled OPEN HOUSE: Intelligent Living By Design. In addition to being mounted at the Vitra Museum in 2006, the exhibit was shown at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California earlier this year. The collaboration between Dean Van Lengen, Sanders and Rubin, Hearways, builds upon shared interests in architecture, technology and the human senses. The output includes the design of MIX HOUSE, with an analogous installation that explores the possibility of closely coordinating sound and vision as a way to shape and to individualize the experience of the domestic environment.Monday, October 29, 2007
"Women's Work" Discussion to Feature Daphne Spain
Women?s Work is a faculty lunch group designed to share and promote the research interests and accomplishments of women faculty at the University of Virginia. Founded by Dean Karen Van Lengen, this group provides an informal framework for women faculty to share their research and intellectual interests with other faculty at the University. Each monthly lunch meeting includes a short research presentation by a selected faculty member followed by a question and discussion period. On November 1st, the speaker will be Daphne Spain, James M. Page Chair and Professor of Urban & Environmental Planning. The event will be held at Pavilion IX beginning from 12:30pm-1:45pm. RSVP is required - space is limited. Please reserve a spot with Alice Keys via email: eak3n@virginia.eduTuesday, October 16, 2007
Dean's Project Highlighted on Turbulence's Networked Music Blog
Ph.D. student in Music at the University of Virginia, Peter Traub, highlighted MIX HOUSE in his blog post for Turbulence's Networked Music feed.
MIX HOUSE, a product of the collaboration between Dean Van Lengen, Joel Sanders (JSA) and Ben Rubin (EAR Studio), Hearways, builds upon shared interests in architecture, technology and the human senses. The output includes an analogous installation that explores the possibility of closely coordinating sound and vision as a way to shape and to individualize the experience of the domestic environment.
MIX HOUSE was installed in 2006 at the Vitra Museum, in Germany and Art Center College in Pasadena.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Dean Appointed to P/A Awards Jury
Dean Karen Van Lengen has been appointed to serve on the 55th annual 2007 Progressive Architecture (P/A) Awards jury for the design competition sponsored by Architect Magazine. The P/A Awards recognize unbuilt projects demonstrating overall design excellence and innovation. The entries must be commissioned by paying clients for execution. Other jurors include Coleman Coker, buildingstudio, New Orleans; Sarah Herda, Graham Foundation, Chicago; Thomas Phifer, Thomas Phifer and Partners, New York; and Julie Snow, Julie Snow Architects, Minneapolis. Judging will begin this week in Washington, D.C.Wednesday, September 12, 2007
U.Va. Group Fostering Communities that Embody Sustainability
News Source: Explorations
Sept. 12, 2007 -- At U.Va., you have only to walk as far as the Lawn to see an example of a sustainable community ? Thomas Jefferson?s Academical Village. As in all sustainable design, the relationship of structures to the environment was an important consideration for Jefferson. He placed his suite of buildings at the end of a long ridge with an uninterrupted view from the Rotunda to the Ragged Mountains in the south. The classrooms and living quarters are in close proximity ? and the Rotunda serves as a natural gathering place. This built environment encourages the exchange of ideas between faculty members and students ? a process that is essential to its long-term viability. The Lawn also incorporates the cultural ideas of the time as well as enduring values of balance and proportion. Almost 200 years after its creation, it still excites our imagination.
As School of Architecture dean Karen Van Lengen points out, ?Sustainability, broadly defined, is not only based in the ecology of an area, but supports equity and embodies important cultural ideas.? As part of U.Va.?s Sustainable Communities Group, Van Lengen and her colleagues seek to create and support communities that extend the characteristics of the Academical Village for our time.
[For the complete article, please visit Explorations online - Fall 2007 issue]
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
School Publishes New Book on Visions for the Gulf Coast
The School of Architecture has published a compendium of recent faculty and student work from design studios during the spring semester of 2006 which examined the challenges of rebuilding the Gulf Coast following the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. This second volume in the Urgent Matters series, Building After Katrina: Visions for the Gulf Coast is edited by Lecturer Betsy Roettger and includes contributions from dozens of students and the following faculty members: Dean and Elson Professor Karen Van Lengen; Quesada Professor William Morrish; Fitz-Gibbon Professor Robin Dripps; Disinguished Lecturer Lucia Phinney; Lecturer Azadeh Rashidi; Lecturer Cecilia Nichols; Kenan Professor Peter Waldman; Assistant Professor Jenny Lovell; Associate Professor Maurice Cox; Associate Professor Judith Kinnard; Assistant Professor John Quale; Associate Professor Sanda Iliescu; and Associate Professor William Sherman. The book aims to present the pedagogical values of the school as well as present strategies for re-building the Gulf Coast in an effort to pose critical questions about the role of design professionals in disaster relief, environmental objectives, and policy shaping. Building After Katrina will be available for purchase from the University of Virginia Press in the next few weeks.Wednesday, August 8, 2007
School Publishes Compendium of TJF Medalists in Architecture
Dean Karen Van Lengen has co-edited, with Jayne Riew and Lydia Brandt (architectural history graduate student), a new book titled, The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal: The First Forty Years (1966-2005). The book, published by the UVa School of Architecture and distributed by UVa Press, includes an introduction by Garry Wills and showcases the best-known work of the medalists with brief biographies and color photographs. Since 1966, this prestigious medal has recognized some of the world's greatest architects, historians, politicians and benefactors of architecture. The Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal: The First Forty Years is available for purchase through the UVa Press website [www.upress.virginia.edu] and popular online book retailers.Thursday, March 22, 2007
"Architecture Dean Designs a Space for Women's Work"
March 21, 2007 -- Despite advancements made in recent decades to improve women's status in the workplace, female faculty members are still in the minority at academic institutions across the country. Karen Van Lengen, dean of the School of Architecture, has established ?Women?s Work??a forum for women?s research to help counteract some of the effects of this disparity at the University of Virginia? [UVa News Services]
Monday, March 19, 2007
Dean Van Lengen's Design for MIX HOUSE Published in Dwell Magazine
The design for MIX HOUSE, one result of a collaboration between Dean Karen Van Lengen / KVLA, Joel Sanders / JSA, and Ben Rubin / EAR Studio, is currently on display at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, Calif. and pictured in the April issue of DWELL magazine as part of a larger exhibition developed by the Vitra Museum in Germany entitled OPEN HOUSE: Intelligent Living By Design.The collaboration between Dean Van Lengen, Sanders and Rubin, Hearways, builds upon shared interests in architecture, technology and the human senses. The output includes the design of MIX HOUSE, with an analogous installation that explores the possibility of closely coordinating sound and vision as a way to shape and to individualize the experience of the domestic environment.
Monday, September 4, 2006
Dean Van Lengen Appears on PBS' "Charlie Rose Show"
Dean Karen Van Lengen appeared on the September 1, 2006 edition of the "Charlie Rose Show" (PBS-TV) where she discussed: Initiatives at the School of Architecture; her professional and academic career; the South Lawn project; Thomas Jefferson's role as an architect; the dialogue about recent architecture on grounds that incorporates Jeffersonian-inspired facades; The Architecture of Democracy; the Trojan Goat and ecoMOD projects; and plans for the World Trade Center, among other topics.The program is available for viewing online via Google Video (free for those who have Google accounts; setting up a Google account is also free).
