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California State Polytechnic University at Pomona awarded $25,000 NCARB Prize Grand Prize

Washington, DC—The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) recently selected California State Polytechnic University at Pomona, Department of Architecture, as the recipient of the $25,000 grand prize of the 2008 NCARB Prize for Creative Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy.

Jury chair and former NCARB President, H. Carleton Godsey, FAIA, made the formal announcement at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Annual Meeting last week in Houston, TX. Godsey also announced five additional NCARB Prize recipients that will each receive $7,500. In his recognition speech at the ACSA Annual Meeting awards ceremony, Mr. Godsey noted that the NCARB Prize jury reviewed 31 submissions for the NCARB Prize from 22 architecture programs before making its selections.

In California State Polytechnic University at Pomona’s grand prize winning submission, “Low Cost Sustainable Housing for Tijuana, Mexico,” students, practitioners, and a U.S. non-profit organization created prototype housing for the people of Tijuana, Mexico using a variety of waste materials. The jury commented, “the effects of this project are potentially far-reaching in terms of the benefits to the potential dwellers whose lives could be improved through a greener, more affordable housing solution.”

Members of the 2008 NCARB Prize jury noted that the project recognized local traditions in Tijuana and also addressed global issues of low-cost sustainable housing. “The integration of practitioners into the process added to the quality of the solution allowing the practitioners to learn more about sustainability and add value to their continuing practices…The project is a model for bringing practice and education to bear on a global problem that will demand continuing attention, commitment, and creativity.”

The 2008 NCARB Prize jury honored five additional programs, each of which received a $7,500 monetary award

Arizona State University, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture - “Applied Research Collaborative”
ASU’s “Applied Research Collaborative” studio tested and demonstrated new collaborative models that challenged conventional modes of pedagogical and professional practice. Architecture students teamed with students from other disciplines and local design professionals, as well as city and state organizations, on actual projects. The team developed a design solution that better articulated the needs and demands of the client. The project recognized the benefits of involving practicing architects and actual clients utilizing professional design tools to realize an outcome that otherwise would not be possible. According the jury, the project “recognized that the designers of the 21st century do not work alone. The best outcomes stem from collaboration.”

Clemson University, Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston - “Localizing Global Climate Change”
Clemson University’s “Localizing Global Climate Change” project sought to provide a direct, tangible awareness of global climate change through a study of the impact of urban design on Charleston, SC, a historic, coastal, peninsular city. Students worked with design professionals, scientists, city officials, and environmentalists on the study. The students’ findings were exhibited and distributed to increase local awareness of global climate change issues. The jury thought the project was “dynamic and out-of-the-box” and a good example of the benefits of providing students with an opportunity to work with other professionals—in this case the scientific community—on a project of critical importance and local relevance.

Clemson University, School of Architecture - “Architecture + Health Program”
According to the jury, Clemson University’s “Architecture + Health Program” “demonstrated a long-term sustained relationship between the profession and the academy” and created “an educational model that could be transferred to other disciplines.” The project combined three programs that were designed to bring students and design professionals together to share information on the design and operation of healthcare facilities. This information was especially critical for students to gain an understanding of the rapidly increasing demand for and complexity of healthcare facilities. The jury recognized that, “Architecture often has an uneasy life in the academic setting because it lacks credibility. This project restores that credibility.”

Savannah College of Art and Design, Department of Architecture - “BSI+P Studio: Opening New Windows for Architecture and the Allied Professionals”
The mission of SCAD’s “BSI+P Studio” was to educate and prepare architecture students for professional practice in an environmentally conscious society. Architecture students and engineering professionals worked together to create and test means to implement new, cutting-edge renewable energy resources such as solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, and geothermal energy. According to the jury, the “integrated studio, fourteen years in development, brings together architecture and engineering students and professionals looking at the formal and performance aspects of renewable energy.” Students from the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) collaborated on the project. Reviews by practicing architects and engineers throughout the project provided opportunities for students to advance their knowledge of emerging sustainable technology.

University of Arkansas, School of Architecture and Washington University in St. Louis, School of Architecture - “Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas”
Students participating in this joint studio—a collaborative project between the University of Arkansas and Washington University in St. Louis—sought to mobilize public and political support for development of a regional transit system in Northwest Arkansas, the nation’s sixth fastest growing region. Students worked with local architects, who also served as adjunct professors and professionals from a number of disciplines to focus on ways to optimize underutilized downtowns and provide smart growth alternatives to suburban development. One of the results of the project was a book, Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas. According to the jury, “It is an ambitious project that interlinks small communities. The project brought students into direct contact with practicing professionals and provided a model that is transferable.”

The 2008 NCARB Prize jury was made up of members of NCARB’s Practice Education Committee and six academic representatives (department heads or chairs) of architecture programs accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB). Academic members of the jury included the dean from the institution that was awarded the NCARB Grand Prize in 2007, the University of Virginia, School of Architecture, and one representative from each of the five other NCARB Regions, nominated by NCARB’s Regional Directors.

Committee members:

• H. Carleton Godsey, FAIA, Committee Chair, (Kentucky), NCARB President, 2006
• Arnold J. Aho, AIA (Vermont)
• Joseph L. Bynum, AIA (Alabama)
• Paul D. Edmeades, AIA (Maryland)
• Robert E. Luke, AIA (Mississippi), NCARB President, 2007
• Richard Pawelko, AIA (Arizona)
• Melinda Pearson, AIA (Nebraska)
• Greg G. Hall, AIA, Ph.D., staff liaison
• Tanya A. Tamarkin, staff support

Academic representatives:

• Michael J. Crosbie, Ph.D., AIA, Chair and Associate Professor, Department of Architecture, University of Hartford (New England Conference, NCARB Region 1)
• Karen Van Lengen, AIA, Dean and Edward E. Elson Professor of Architecture, School of Architecture, University of Virginia, (Middle-Atlantic Conference, NCARB Region 2)
• Karl Puljak, AIA, Director, School of Architecture, Louisiana Tech University (Southern Conference, NCARB Region 3)
• Thomas Fisher, Associate AIA, Dean, College of Design, University of Minnesota (Mid-Central Conference, NCARB Region 4)
• R. Wayne Drummond, FAIA, Dean, College of Architecture, University of Nebraska (Central States Conference, NCARB Region 5)
• Roger Schluntz, FAIA, Dean, School of Architecture and Planning, University of New Mexico (Western Conference, NCARB Region 6)

The entries and jurors were divided into two groups. Each team evaluated a set of anonymous submissions and selected finalists, which were then reviewed by the entire jury. The jury’s decision was announced during the ACSA Annual Meeting awards ceremony, on March 28, 2008 in Houston, TX.

Since initiation of the NCARB Prize in fall 2001, NCARB has awarded more than $400,000 to further the Council’s goal of strengthening the integration of practice with education. As envisioned by Peter Steffian, FAIA, who served as Council president in 2001, the NCARB in the Academy recognizes excellence and innovation in curricular programs that bring together architectural education and practice. Architecture schools with NAAB-accredited degree programs were invited to submit established projects, completed or in progress by the end of the fall 2007 term, that demonstrated creative initiatives to integrate practice and education in the academy.

To learn more about the NCARB Prize and each of the recognized projects, visit NCARB’s web site at http://www.ncarb.org/prize/2008/index.html.

Information about the NCARB Grant is also available on NCARB’s web site at http://www.ncarb.org/prize/grant.html.

List of Entries for the 2008 NCARB Prize for Creative Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy

Arizona State University, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
“Applied Research Collaborative”

Boston Architectural College, Department of Architecture
“Integrated Practice Independent Study”

California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, Department of Architecture
“Low Cost Sustainable Housing for Tijuana, Mexico”

California Polytechnic State University, Pomona, Department of Architecture
“The Green Kit: A Modular, Variable Application System for Sustainable Cooling”

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Architecture Department
“Collaborative Integrative-Interdisciplinary Digital-Design Studies”

Clemson University, School of Architecture
“Architecture + Health Program”

Clemson University, Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston
“Force of Nature”

Clemson University, Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston
“Localizing Global Climate Change”

Clemson University, Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston
“Media-Land: An Urban Redevelopment”

Clemson University, Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston
“Museum Installation”

Clemson University, Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston
“Town Plan for a Rural Community”

Cornell University, Department of Architecture
“F*UN Tower”

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture
“A Home for Ms. Betty: Sustainable Housing in the Bayous –
The Lift House Initiative”

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture
“Float Your Boat: Bringing a Community Back to its Waterfront”

Miami University, Department of Architecture and Interior Design
“High Rise / Development Studio”

Montana State University, School of Architecture
“Assembling + Visualizing Networked Teams”

New Jersey Institute of Technology, New Jersey School of Architecture
“Newark Rapid Bus Transit”

Ohio State University, Knowlton School of Architecture
“Downtown Housing in Columbus”

Parsons The New School for Design, Department of Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting
“The Design Workshop”

Pratt Institute, School of Architecture
“Comprehensive Architectural Project Studio/Integrated Building Systems Code”

Roger Williams University, School of Architecture, Art and Historic Preservation
“South Coast Rail TOD Study”

Savannah College of Art and Design, Department of Architecture
“BSI+P Studio: Opening New Windows for Architecture and the Allied Professionals”

University of Arkansas, School of Architecture & Washington University in St. Louis, School of Architecture
“Visioning Rail Transit in Northwest Arkansas: Lifestyles & Ecologies”

University of Cincinnati, School of Architecture and Interior Design
“Informative, Productive, Integrative, Reflective”

University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Architecture
“Studio 515: BIM + Modular Manufacture = (Affordable + Sustainable) Housing

University of Kentucky, School of Architecture
“Renaissance on Main: An Integrated Approach to Reviving the Town Square”

University of Kentucky, School of Architecture
“South Farm Design/Build Studio”

University of Louisiana at Lafayette, School of Architecture and Design
“Challenging the Strip: Developing Hybrid Architecture”

University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, School of Architecture
“Natural & Cultural Reweaving: The Centenary Park & the Education Cultural Center”

University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras, Graduate School of Architecture
“IMDICE Studio (Emerging Margins: Marginal Markets)”

Washington State University, School of Architecture and Construction
Management – “The Third Curriculum: A + CM: Moving From First Person Singular to First Person Plural”

About NCARB
NCARB comprises the architectural registration boards of all 50 states as well as those of the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Virgin Islands. NCARB assists its member state registration boards in carrying out their duties and provides a certification program for individual architects.

The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards is committed to exemplary service and effective regulation to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public. In order to achieve these goals, the Council develops and recommends standards to be required of an applicant for architectural registration; develops and recommends standards regulating the practice of architecture; provides to member boards a process for certifying the qualifications of an architect for registration; and represents the interests of member boards before public and private agencies. NCARB has also established guidelines for the reciprocal registration of architects in the United States and Canada and is engaged in similar discussions with several other countries under trade agreements negotiated by the United States government.