Major Projects & Research

Initiative reCOVER

Initiative reCOVER, directed by Asst. Professor Anselmo Canfora, focuses on creating disaster relief shelters in critical emergency situations that will provide safe, healthy and sustainable lifesaving support for those in need throughout the world. It began as a speculative project that has evolved into a series of case studies that examine real–life disaster situations in North and South America, Africa, and eastern Europe. Students and faculty perform in–depth evaluation and assessment of each area and integrate principals of design in creating temporary shelter options that are accurately appropriately scaled to the abilities and resources of local communities to implement these structures. Canfora and his students address potential and real–life disaster situations by collaborating on the research, design and fabrication of transitional disaster relief shelters through the use of advanced digital technology and proven methods of construction. The results of their efforts will be shared with an emerging global network for humanitarian design.

Learning Barge Project

Learning Barge, directed by Asst. Professor Phoebe Crisman, is a collaboration between the Elizabeth River Project

and the University of Virginia to research and design an innovative and self-sustaining floating environmental education field station on the most polluted estuary in the Chesapeake Bay, the Elizabeth River. Powered entirely by solar and wind energy systems, the 30’x120’ barge will provide a high-profile, memorable hands-on demonstration of the river’s ecosystem challenges and conservation needs for students in grades K-16 as it moves between ongoing restoration sites. School of Architecture students are involved in every step of the creation process.

RE: Design, RE: Search, RE: Build

Gulf Coast Initiatives in the School of Architecture: In the wake of disaster and as the country re-builds, faculty and students get involved in the Gulf Coast region to provide their support, labor, and expertise.

ecoMOD

ecoMOD is a research, design, build and evaluate project within the UVA School of Architecture led by Assistant Professor John Quale. The goal of this project is to create a series of ecological, modular and affodable house prototypes. Working in partnership with the School of Engineering and Applied Science, an interdisciplinary group of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, business, environmental science, planning and economic students are participating in the design, construction and evaluation phases of the project. Over the next several years, UVA students and faculty will provide a minimum of four prefabricated houses, through partnerships with Piedmont Housing Alliance of Charlottesville and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville.

Public Health and Community Institutions

Nisha Botchwey, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, recently collaborated with School of Medicine Associate Professor Viktor Bovbjerg, Ph.D., M.P.H., to establish a multidisciplinary study on community interventions impacting type 2 diabetes management. This four-year study assesses the impact of non-clinical community-based programs on improving a variety of clinical markers and health care utilization costs in Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia.

UVa Solar Decathlon Team — the Trojan Goat

Over the course of two years, more than 100 students from the School of Architecture led by Assistant Professor John Quale and the School of Engineering and Applied Science designed and built a self-sustaining, solar-powered house for the Department of Energy's first Solar Decathlon. The event brought fourteen university teams and their houses to Washington, D.C. to compete for three weeks in the fall of 2002.

The UVa team won First Place in the Design and Livability Contest, tied for First Place in the Energy Balance category and took Second Place overall. The team also received the “BP Solar Progressive Award” for the most forward thinking house and a special citation from the American Institute of Architects.

	Home > The School > Major Projects & Research Initiative reCOVER Initiative reCOVER, directed by Asst. Professor Anselmo Canfora, focuses on creating disaster relief shelters in critical emergency situations that will provide safe, healthy and sustainable lifesaving support for those in need throughout the world. It began as a speculative project that has evolved into a series of case studies that examine real–life disaster situations in North and South America, Africa, and eastern Europe. Students and faculty perform in–depth evaluation and assessment of each area and integrate principals of design in creating temporary shelter options that are accurately appropriately scaled to the abilities and resources of local communities to implement these structures. Canfora and his students address potential and real–life disaster situations by collaborating on the research, design and fabrication of transitional disaster relief shelters through the use of advanced digital technology and proven methods of construction. The results of their efforts will be shared with an emerging global network for humanitarian design. Learning Barge Project Learning Barge, directed by Asst. Professor Phoebe Crisman, is a collaboration between the Elizabeth River Project and the University of Virginia to research and design an innovative and self-sustaining floating environmental education field station on the most polluted estuary in the Chesapeake Bay, the Elizabeth River. Powered entirely by solar and wind energy systems, the 30’x120’ barge will provide a high-profile, memorable hands-on demonstration of the river’s ecosystem challenges and conservation needs for students in grades K-16 as it moves between ongoing restoration sites. School of Architecture students are involved in every step of the creation process. RE: Design, RE: Search, RE: Build Gulf Coast Initiatives in the School of Architecture: In the wake of disaster and as the country re-builds, faculty and students get involved in the Gulf Coast region to provide their support, labor, and expertise. ecoMOD ecoMOD is a research, design, build and evaluate project within the UVA School of Architecture led by Assistant Professor John Quale. The goal of this project is to create a series of ecological, modular and affodable house prototypes. Working in partnership with the School of Engineering and Applied Science, an interdisciplinary group of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, business, environmental science, planning and economic students are participating in the design, construction and evaluation phases of the project. Over the next several years, UVA students and faculty will provide a minimum of four prefabricated houses, through partnerships with Piedmont Housing Alliance of Charlottesville and Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville. Public Health and Community Institutions Nisha Botchwey, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning, recently collaborated with School of Medicine Associate Professor Viktor Bovbjerg, Ph.D., M.P.H., to establish a multidisciplinary study on community interventions impacting type 2 diabetes management. This four-year study assesses the impact of non-clinical community-based programs on improving a variety of clinical markers and health care utilization costs in Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia. UVa Solar Decathlon Team — the Trojan Goat Over the course of two years, more than 100 students from the School of Architecture led by Assistant Professor John Quale and the School of Engineering and Applied Science designed and built a self-sustaining, solar-powered house for the Department of Energy's first Solar Decathlon. The event brought fourteen university teams and their houses to Washington, D.C. to compete for three weeks in the fall of 2002. The UVa team won First Place in the Design and Livability Contest, tied for First Place in the Energy Balance category and took Second Place overall. The team also received the “BP Solar Progressive Award” for the most forward thinking house and a special citation from the American Institute of Architects.	History of the School Campbell Hall Campbell Hall Building Additions Giving Opportunities Administration & Staff Diversity Publications Major Projects & Research Institutes Computing & Information Technology Fiske Kimball Fine Arts Library Charlottesville Maps & Directions Web Search School of Architecture University of Virginia Campbell Hall P.O. Box 400122 Charlottesville VA 22904-4122 Tel: (434) 924-3715 Fax: (434) 982-2678 arch-web@virginia.edu www.arch.virginia.edu University of Virginia www.virginia.edu
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