Phoebe Crisman in the News
Friday, October 9, 2009
Learning Barge Project Featured in Dominion Power Electricity Bills
The Learning Barge Project, directed by associate professor Phoebe Crisman, is featured in this month's electricity bills for Dominion Power customers, as well as on Dominion's website. The company's charitable giving arm, Dominion Foundation, is a major supporter of the project. To learn more about The Learning Barge, visit www.arch.virginia.edu/learningbargeWednesday, September 16, 2009
Learning Barge Christened in Portsmouth
[by Jane Ford, UVa News Services]
The water of the Elizabeth River sparkled like a jewel in the sunlight Monday as a crowd gathered at Portsmouth's High Street Ferry Landing.
Dignitaries, supporters and friends had their eyes focused on a brighter jewel, though: the Learning Barge, a floating environmental wetlands classroom.
All were gathered to celebrate the christening of the 120-foot vessel, designed and built by University of Virginia faculty and students in collaboration with the nonprofit Elizabeth River Project and support from more than 50 sponsors.
The goal of the floating classroom is to teach students of all ages how to steward the river and its resources, with the goal of making it swimmable and fishable by 2020. The Elizabeth River is one of the most polluted rivers on the Chesapeake Bay.
Architecture School associate professor Phoebe Crisman conceived of the project in 2005 while working on an environmental cleanup project on the river.
"It has a series of learning environments," she said. "It's built on a barge, which travels from place to place along the Elizabeth, and also potentially other rivers, teaching children and the public about wetlands, about restoration and about green energy systems. The barge is completely off the grid, so we generate our own power, collect rainwater and treat that water onboard."
Marjorie Mayfield Jackson, executive director of the Elizabeth River Project, hailed the University's involvement.
"The partnership between The Elizabeth River Project as a local nonprofit and the University of Virginia, which is some distance away in the mountains – not even on this river – is a powerful statement that the University is looking beyond the ivory tower, so to speak, and seeing the needs of the state, the needs of the region and making the commitment – quite a considerable commitment – to travel to the need and invent the solution that will make a difference," she said.
From the steps for children – up to 60 at a time – to sit on and hear stories about the river, to pumping water into planters of grass wetlands to learn about ways to remove pollutants, to compost toilets and sun-powered lights, every aspect of the design was conceived with education in mind.
[for complete article, follow link in headline]
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Learning Barge Set for Sept. 14th Christening
[UVa News Services, by Jane Ford]
The Learning Barge, the world's first floating wetland classroom, will be christened Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. at the High Street Ferry Landing in downtown Portsmouth.
The 120-foot barge – a joint project of the University of Virginia, which designed and built it, and the non-profit Elizabeth River Project, which will operate it – will traverse the Elizabeth River to teach all ages how to make the Elizabeth River "swimmable and fishable" by 2020, the new goal of the Elizabeth River Project.
The design by U.Va.'s School of Architecture has won a series of national awards. A live wetland on a steel barge symbolizes this community's commitment to reclaim the Elizabeth River as not only a major port, but also a healthy ecosystem. Currently the river is one of the most polluted on the Chesapeake Bay.
Speakers at the christening will include U.Va. President John T. Casteen III; retired U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Col. Joseph J. Thomas, president of the Elizabeth River Project's Board of Directors; and Paul D. Koonce, chief executive officer of Dominion Virginia Power.
Dominion Virginia Power will announce a lead gift of $375,000 toward the $1.3 million total cost of the custom-designed barge and two years of educational programming. The Lowe's store in Charlottesville worked closely with The Elizabeth River Project to secure materials, and the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation funded an enclosed, on-board classroom laboratory with a gift of $125,000, while the Virginia Environmental Endowment funded initial project research. With these gifts, initial budget needs are met for The Elizabeth River Project to begin student field trips to the barge later in September, although fundraising continues to help schools pay for transportation and other ongoing needs.
"The Learning Barge is our most powerful education tool yet for enlisting students and citizens to restore our home river," Marjorie Mayfield Jackson, executive director of the Elizabeth River Project, said.
Often described as an initiative "by students for students," the Learning Barge not only was designed by U.Va., but the classroom and "green" power systems were also constructed by U.Va. students over the last three years – winning them a $75,000 cash award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in a 2007 sustainability competition.
Phoebe Crisman, the U.Va. associate professor of architecture who led the interdisciplinary team of students and community partners to design and fabricate the Learning Barge, was awarded the Education Honor Award of the American Institute of Architects in 2008. The U.Va. School of Architecture collaborated with the University's School of Engineering and Applied Science to power the Learning Barge solely by sun and wind, just one of its design elements geared to foster environmental responsibility.
[for complete article, follow link in headline]
Monday, July 27, 2009
Learning Barge Construction Featured on Charlottesville Newsplex - video
From Charlottesville Newsplex (CBS, ABC, Fox)July 24th, 2009
"A group of UVa students, alumni, and faculty are working on a project in Southeastern Virginia that is sure to create a few ripples in the water.
"It's the summer time and a lot of UVa students are making there way towards to the beaches. A small group of UVa students are making their way to Chesapeake, Virginia, to build the UVa learning barge.
"Project Director Phoebe Crisman says, 'It will be a floating environmental education center. A kind of working platform and field station, that will travel to many different sites along the Elizabeth River.'
"The barge project is a partnership between the UVa School of Architecture and The Elizabeth River Project, a non-profit group aimed at cleaning up the river through government, business and community partnership...."
[for complete article and video, follow link in headline]
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
U.Va. Students Build a Floating Environmental Classroom
About 10 University of Virginia students, along with a handful of alumni, two faculty members and consultants, put in another 16-hour workday Thursday at a Chesapeake shipyard. Their mission: to prepare a floating classroom, dubbed the "Learning Barge," for its September launch date.
Thanks in part to a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the students are spending six weeks living in two Virginia Beach townhouses while constructing the classroom, bathrooms, demonstration wetland habitat and breezeway on the solar-powered barge.
Since the project's 2006 inception, more than 100 students have been involved through a variety of means: design studios, environmental seminars, engineering courses, competitions, fundraising efforts and construction.
[follow link in headline for complete article and photos]
Monday, June 29, 2009
View Latest Videos of Learning Barge Under Construction
About The Learning Barge:
The Learning Barge: teaching about environmental and cultural ecologies on the Elizabeth River. An interdisciplinary team of University of Virginia students and faculty are collaborating with diverse community partners on an innovative service-learning project to design and fabricate a floating, self-sustaining field station. The Learning Barge, located on the most polluted tributary of the Chesapeake Bay, will provide interactive K-12 and adult education about how the river and human activities are inextricably linked. Unlike environmental education centers located in pristine nature, the Learning Barge traverses an important urban river linking Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. Moving to a different river restoration site every few months, the Learning Barge will teach participants about the tidal estuary ecosystem, restoration efforts and the Elizabeths economic and transportation significance as a major port. The non-profit Elizabeth River Project will own and operate the field station, which will support environmental research, education and public outreach primarily to economically and socially disadvantaged children. The design harnesses energy from sun and wind, filters rainwater and gray water in a contained bed wetland, and utilizes recycled materials and green technologies.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Learning Barge Named a Top Project in First UVa Sustainability Project Competition
From a floating learning center designed to teach K-12 students sustainable practices to sophisticated energy monitoring systems for Charlottesville-area homes, the first-ever Student Sustainability Project Competition held last week in the Dome Room of the Rotunda showcased 24 projects aimed at creating a more sustainable future.
The competition, organized by the President's Committee on Sustainability, featured projects from students in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, McIntire School of Commerce, School of Architecture, College of Arts & Sciences and the Darden School of Business, among others.
"Our goal for the U.Va. Sustainability Project Competition was three-fold," said Andrew Greene, sustainability planner in the University Architect's office and an organizer of the competition. "One, to help further these great projects; two, to foster collaboration among students from across the University, and three, to set up a successful event model that can be replicated and expanded in the future.
"The quality of entries at our first competition bodes well for the future of this event."
The top three projects identified by a panel of U.Va. faculty judges were "UVA Bikes" by students from the Commerce School, "Learning Barge" by students from the Architecture and Engineering schools and "Management and Reuse of Salt-Contaminated Stormwater Runoff" from the Engineering School.
Each winning project team will be awarded $750.
The "Learning Barge" details the creation and benefits of a 32- by 120-foot floating classroom and environmental field station that will educate K-12 students about sustainability with interactive, hands-on lessons. Beginning as soon as this summer, the barge will move every few months to different locations on the Elizabeth River to teach visitors about the tidal estuary ecosystem, wetland and oyster restoration, sediment remediation efforts and the Elizabeth River's economic and transportation significance. Other lessons will include how to adapt the rainwater collection and renewable energy systems found on the barge into homes.
The project team, which consists of engineering students Whitney Newton and Farhad Omar and architecture graduate assistant Danielle Willkens, is working to help make the Elizabeth River fishable and swimmable by 2020, and the group estimates that more than 19,000 students and adults will visit the barge annually.
[for complete article, follow link]
Monday, February 23, 2009
Elizabeth River Project Receives NEA Innovation Grant for The Learning Barge Project
The National Endowment for the Arts announced that the Elizabeth River Project will receive a $20,000 Innovation Grant in Design (2009) to support the Learning Barge Project, founded and directed by Associate Professor Phoebe Crisman. In partnership with the School of Architecture Foundation, the project will use the grant funds toward publications, a website, and residency for a designer/art outreach educator.Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Phoebe Crisman Wins VSAIA Prize for Design Research and Scholarship
RICHMOND, VA -It is difficult to imagine that a contaminated and neglected peninsula along the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake, Virginia, was a source of inspiration for award-wining research in architecture and design. Phoebe Crisman's work on three associated projects in this fragile, contaminated ecosystem is the winner of the 2008 Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects Prize for Design Research and Scholarship. In 1967, a catastrophic fire released huge quantities of creosote, resulting in high levels of toxins in the soil, ground water and river sediment in an area called Money Point located along the Elizabeth River. Crisman and her collaborators developed urban planning and building strategies designed to help regenerate the ecology of the area and a set of guidelines for sustainable development of the river uplands. Complementing the research and guidelines was the development of the Learning Barge - a floating classroom that provides interactive education for all ages about the area's ecosystem and the restoration efforts. Referred to as "spectacular collaborations" by lead juror, Cesar Pelli, FAIA, the jury felt that the submission was a good reflection of the integration of architectural design, practice and education. Crisman is an Associate Professor at the University of Virginia and partner in Crisman + Petrus Architects.Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Four A-School Students Win Kenan Fellowships for Summer 2008
The William R. Kenan Endowment Fund of the Academical Village summer fellowships support educational opportunities for students to conduct research projects that increase public understanding of the Academical Village. Each student receives a $4,000 stipend and his/her faculty advisor receives $1,000. The resulting project is intended for public dissemination at the end of the summer and may include an exhibition, publication, or public event. Kenan Fellowships have been awarded to the following School of Architecture students for summer 2008: Lydia Mattice Brandt (faculty advisors: Elizabeth Meyer and Richard Guy Wilson); Benjamin Trudel (faculty advisor: Peter Waldman); Danielle Willkens (faculty advisor: Peter Waldman); and Edwin Wright (faculty advisor: Phoebe Crisman.Thursday, March 6, 2008
Learning Barge Project Wins 2008 AIA Education Honor Award
The Learning Barge Project, directed by Associate Professor of Architecture Phoebe Crisman, has been named one of six projects around the nation to be awarded the 2008 Education Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects, as announced by the organization yesterday. According to a statement issued by the AIA, "The jury looked for evidence of exceptional and innovative courses that dealt with broad issues, particularly in cross-disciplinary collaboration and/or within the broader community, contributed to the advancement of architecture education, had the potential to benefit and/or change practice, and promoted models of excellence that could be appropriated by other educators." The awards will be presented in May during the AIA National Convention in Boston.Monday, December 3, 2007
Assoc. Professor Phoebe Crisman to Receive ASCA Collaborative Practice Award
Assoc. Professor of Architecture Phoebe Crisman will receive one of four 2007-08 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ASCA) Collaborative Practice Awards for her directorship of the Learning Barge Project at the ASCA's annual conference in March, 2008. Each year, the ACSA honors the best practices in school-based community outreach programs. Crisman will have the opportunity to present the project at a special focus meeting during the national conference.Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Learning Barge Project Receives $125K Grant
Representatives of the Lowe's Charitable and Educational Foundation were present at the Learning Barge Project's reception at the School of Architecture Friday to make an award of $125,000 for construction of the barge's onboard educational classroom. The Learning Barge Project, directed by Associate Professor of Architecture Phoebe Crisman, is a partnership between the UVa School of Architecture and the Elizabeth River Project. The barge will provide a floating classroom space from which elementary through high school students will have the opportunity to experience urban river restoration as well as learn about the ecology, culture, and possibilities of sustainable practices along Virginia's Elizabeth River. Students from the architecture school and from UVa's School of Engineering and Applied Science are active designers and builders, and the construction is scheduled for completion by Fall 2008. This award is the largest single monetary grant received to date for the project, which received a start-up grant from the Virginia Environmental Endowment, an EPA P3 Grant, and other awards.Tuesday, October 2, 2007
"Help for a Degraded River"
From Virginia Magazine, Fall 2007:
"Late next year, the University will launch a floating environmental classroom on the Elizabeth River, one of the nation?s most polluted waterways. Dubbed the Learning Barge, it will be anchored at various points along the river and will teach schoolchildren how the river was polluted and what needs to be done to clean it up...." [For the complete article, see the Virginia Magazine, Fall 2007]
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Students Win Top ASLA Honors in Design and Communications
School of Architecture students are recipients of awards in two categories in the American Society of Landscape Architects 2007 Student Awards program. Graduate student in the Architecture and Landscape Architecture programs, Toshihiko Karato, received the highest honor in the General Design Category, The Award of Excellence, for his project Plugging In: Bringing the Stream Back to Watts. Associate Professors Elizabeth Meyer and Elissa Rosenberg served as faculty advisers for the project. The awards jury commented: "Lyrical. Visitors would be transformed by this place. A great concept that could convert this park into a safe, valuable, much needed resource for this neighborhood. Well presented with great sections and a beautiful palette; organized in a very successful manner." The graduate student editors of the second volume of lunch: dialect, Shanti Levy, David Malda, and Ryan Moody, won an Honor Award in the Communications Category. Faculty advisers for lunch:dialect were Associate Professors Phoebe Crisman and Elizabeth Meyer. The jury commented,"This is a very strong online journal. It's beautifully presented with strong graphics and good design framing important content. This would be a great model for other universities." Images of both projects are available for viewing on the ASLA website.Monday, June 18, 2007
Four Faculty Members Receive Promotions from U.Va. Board of Visitors
At the University of Virginia Board of Visitor's meeting last week it was announced that the following four School of Architecture faculty members are receiving promotions: Michael Bednar is promoted to Professor of Architecture; Phoebe Crisman is promoted to Associate Professor of Architecture; Sanda Iliescu is promoted to Associate Professor of Art and Architecture; and Louis Nelson is promoted to Associate Professor of Architectural History. Congratulations to our talented and dedicated faculty!Monday, June 11, 2007
University Launches Sustainability Website Featuring SARC Initiatives
The University of Virginia has launched a website to collect information about sustainability measures, research, and design/build projects underway by faculty and students. Several School of Architecture initiatives are featured on the site.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Learning Barge Project Wins $75,000 EPA P3 Award for Sustainable Design
A team of University of Virginia architecture and engineering students won the EPA's prestigious Third Annual P3 (People, Prosperity and the Planet) Award in the National Sustainable Design Expo, a student design contest for sustainability, held on the Washington, D.C. Mall on April 24 and 25. U.Va.'s entry, "The Learning Barge: Environmental + Cultural Ecologies on the Elizabeth River," was one of six projects to be recognized with Sustainability Design Awards of $75,000.Friday, April 27, 2007
Learning Barge Project Cleans Up at EPA P3 Awards
The Learning Barge Project, directed by Assistant Professor Phoebe Crisman, was awarded one of six Environmental Protection Agency People Prosperity and the Planet (EPA P3) Sustainability Awards of $75,000 at this week's National Sustainable Design Expo held on the National Mall. The Learning Barge was one of 42 teams competing for the award. In addition, the project is winner of the 2007 Youth Council for Sustainable Science and Technology P3 Design Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
At the Expo, several media outlets noted the Barge and coverage of the awards has or will be carried by MSNBC and WTOP radio (D.C.), among others.
The team for the Learning Barge project includes 12 architecture students and 6 engineering students (electrical, mechanical and civil) working under the guidance of Prof. Paxton Marshall from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
ecoMOD and Learning Barge Win Awards in JRGBC's "Go Green" Awards Program
At the Go Green Awards ceremony sponsored by the James River Green Building Council (JRGBC) on April 20, the ecoMOD Project, directed by Assistant Professor John Quale, won both the JRGBC High Performance Building Award Grant of $10,000 and the Honor Award in the Built Work category. Quale announced that the grant funds will support the modular green roof and evacuated tube solar hot water panel at the third ecoMOD house to be sited in the Castle Hill / Fifeville neighborhood of Charlottesville. The Learning Barge Project, directed by Assistant Professor Phoebe Crisman, won the Honor Award in the Unbuilt Work category. Also, several projects designed by alumni practitioners won merit awards.Friday, April 20, 2007
Learning Barge Featured at National Sustainable Design Expo on National Mall
On April 24 and 25, a full-scale mock-up of the The Learning Barge will be on display at the annual National Sustainable Design Expo which brings together students, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies that are working to create a sustainable future. The Learning Barge Project is also participating in the second phase of the People, Prosperity and the Planet Sustainability Competition at the Expo, having won a $10,000 grant in the first phase of competition. The Expo and competition are organized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and sponsored by more than 40 government departments and nonprofit associations.The Learning Barge Project is directed by Assistant Professor of Architecture Phoebe Crisman. The team includes 12 architecture students and 6 engineering students (electrical, mechanical and civil) working under the guidance of Prof. Paxton Marshall from the School of Engineering and Applied Science.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
ecoMOD Project and Learning Barge Project Win National Prizes
Two projects based at the UVa School of Architecture won 2007 NCARB Awards, it was announced March 10th. The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) sponsors an annual awards program to honor a total of six projects across the nation that reflect ?creative integration of practice and education in the academy.? The jury consists of six architecture school deans.The ecoMOD Project , directed by Assistant Professor John Quale, received the $25,000 Grand Prize, its third major award this year to date, following the AIA National Education Honor Award and the 2007 ACSA Collaborative Practice Award.
The Learning Barge Project, directed by Assistant Professor Phoebe Crisman, received one of five $7,500 awards. The project has won other important accolades, including the American Society of Landscape Architects Student Collaboration Award of Honor in 2006.
Prize-winning submissions will be exhibited at the NCARB Annual Meeting, featured in NCARB's Direct Connection, and highlighted in the NCARB Prize Book.
This is the first time that two projects from the same university have been selected for NCARB awards, a significant achievement.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Plan for Money Point Wins Prestigious Planning Award
The Plan for Money Point, spear-headed by the Elizabeth River Project and facilitated by UVa Institute for Environmental Negotiation (IEN) Director Frank Dukes and IEN Associate Christine Gyovai, has won a prestigious 2007 Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) Places, Planning Award. Asst. Professor of Architecture Phoebe Crisman and Michael Petrus's design firm Crisman+Petrus Architects provided the urban design for the project as well as prepared the final report. Others who contributed include: graduate student of urban and environmental planning, Clark Larson; the students in PLAC 524 during the 2004-05 academic year who developed a community history and did other work; and Margaret Kirby and Casey Williams who worked on the project as IEN interns. The plan calls for a host of environmental improvements in Money Point, an industrial area just west of I-464 in South Norfolk, Virginia. To be implemented over the next ten years, the work is timed to coincide with a $5.5 million cleanup of contaminated sediment at the bottom of the Elizabeth River. Other features of the plan include the creation of a 100-foot-wide buffer of vegetation designed to filter chemicals out of storm water running off Money Point into the river and the construction of a playground, sidewalks, and other civic improvements in the small Money Point residential community.Also in the plan is the creation of a Learning Barge, a floating classroom, where school-aged children will learn about the revitalization process taking place on and along the Elizabeth River. The jury complimented "the design of a 'learning barge' that will allow schoolchildren to experience the life of the river." The team of students and faculty who are researching / designing / building / preparing curriculum for the barge form the Learning Barge Project, directed by Asst. Professor of Architecture Phoebe Crisman.
According to EDRA: ?EDRA/Places Awards recognize projects whose significance extends beyond any one profession or field. The awards emphasize a link between research and practice. They demonstrate how a careful understanding of people and their interactions with places can inspire design.?
The Plan for Money Point will be published in the journal Places, volume 19, issue 3.
Jury members included:
- Buzz Yudell
Principal, Moore Ruble Yudell
- Roberta Feldman
Professor of Architecture, University of Illinois-Chicago
- Michael Pyatok
Pyatok Associates, and Arizona State University
- Ann Forsyth
Director, Metropolitan Design Center, University of Minnesota
- Anne Whiston Spirn
Professor of Landscape Architecture, MIT
Friday, September 29, 2006
Faculty Members Collaborate on Public Art Project High Above the Elizabeth River
Assistant Professor of Architecture Phoebe Crisman and Assistant Professor of Art and Architecture, Sanda Iliescu have collaborated to create three enormous yellow banners made from plastics that will hang from the silos beginning on October 19. For the past two years Crisman, whose professional work combines architecture and urban planning, has collaborated with a task force to develop a sweeping revitalization plan for the heavily polluted Money Point area.Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Graduate Students Win Honors in 2006 ASLA Student Awards Program
A graduate studio at the School of Architecture, Associate Professor Phoebe Crisman's ?Learning Barge? in Spring 2006, and a MLA student from Professor Robin Dripps' "New Orleans Studio" in Spring 2006, Bridget Belkacemi won awards in the 2006 American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Student Awards Program
.
The students in the ?Learning Barge? studio won the Student Collaboration Award of Honor for their research and design work during the spring semester with Phoebe Crisman?s multi-year project to design and build a floating classroom for children on the Elizabeth River that will educate about a wide variety of environmental issues. The awards jury commented, ?What an imaginative idea to get kids outdoors to learn about the environment and sustainability. Fun, refreshing, creative, and cost-effective."
Belkacemi won the Communications Award of Honor for her project, "Bayou as Infrastructure," a video narrative and representational interactive model of New Orleans. The awards jury commented, "Amazing in its use of simple materials and the tactile nature of the message delivery. Using a puzzle and storytelling as a way to inform and engage the general public is an effective and responsible example of how landscape architects should communicate about possible solutions."
