Inspire Volume 12 Issue 1 by College of Design Iowa State University

VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 1 SPRING 2022

College of Design

146 College of Design 715 Bissell Road Ames, IA 50011-1066

VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2022

New project will design 3D-printed housing for rural Iowa The housing market has not kept up with demand for affordable housing in Iowa, leading to a new Iowa State University project that will work to find faster, cheaper solutions through 3D-printed homes. In December, the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) awarded a $1.4 million Strategic Infrastructure Program (SIP) grant to the College of Design’s 3D Affordable Innovative Technologies (3D AIT) Housing Project. Pete Evans (BArch 1995 Architecture / Certificate 2014 Human Computer Interaction / MID 2017 Industrial Design), assistant professor of industrial design; Julie Robison, program manager

for the Institute for Design Research and Outreach and community and economic development specialist for ISU Extension and Outreach; and Kevin Kane (BS 1982 Landscape Architecture / BA 1982 Leisure Studies / MLA 1986 Landscape Architecture / PhD 2007 Educational Leadership & Policy Studies), associate dean for research and outreach in the College of Design, have been working with IEDA toward funding the project over the past two years. The project will involve multidisciplinary collaborations across Iowa State; within the College of Design, this includes Evans, Robison and Kane; architecture associate professor and Stan G. Thurston Professor in Design Build Shelby Doyle,

3D Construction Printer for prototyping and testing materials digitally imaged in the Computation and Construction Lab at ISU.

associate professor Chengde Wu and assistant professor Nick Senske (BArch 2003 Architecture); landscape architecture associate professor and department chair Carl Rogers; and community and regional planning assistant professor Daniel Kuhlmann.

INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN CHARRETTE Colleges collaborate on innovative proposals for Student Innovation Center spaces

Top: First-place team, left to right, Laura Maschino, interior design; Norah Larson, interior design; Jenna Errthum, horticulture; Marwa Elkashif, graphic design; and Maeve Cleary, agricultural studies, with their presentation board and model. Photo courtesy of Amber Friedrichsen. Above: The team proposed a wall mural comprising images that symbolize CALS’ role in advancing research and innovation across a variety of fields. Left: The design for the flexible meeting space features wallpaper with icons representing CALS students’ “roots” — where they’re from, what they’re studying — and the deep roots agriculture and life sciences have at Iowa State and in the Midwest. The light fixture is meant to mimic roots in soil.

VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 1 SPRING 2022

College of Design

146 College of Design 715 Bissell Road Ames, IA 50011-1066

VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2022

3D Construction Printer for prototyping and testing materials digitally imaged in the Computation and Construction Lab at ISU.

INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN CHARRETTE Colleges collaborate on innovative proposals for Student Innovation Center spaces

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to the judges, which included deans from both colleges, a representative from Farm Credit Services and two CALS faculty members.

design of the Maucker Union at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. AIA Iowa later named this building one of Iowa’s top 50 buildings of the 20th century.

Telling CALS’ story

Local buildings authored by Mark include Northcrest Retirement Community in Ames; The Barbican in Des Moines; and West Bank in West Des Moines. Each of these buildings has a timeless quality, a hallmark of Mark’s designs.

Sunday afternoon, excitement was palpable as the teams presented their proposals, describing the intent, look and messages embodied in each design.

Opposite: Interior design assistant professor Yongyeon Cho provides input to students creating design concepts for the CALS collaborative learning labs. Photo courtesy of Amber Friedrichsen. Above: Jennifer Schieltz, assistant teaching professor in natural resource ecology and management, announces the top three projects at the end of the charrette. Photos above and inset courtesy of Michael Ford.

By Amber Friedrichsen & Whitney Baxter

COLL ABOR ATION + I N N OVAT I O N Colleges team up for interdisciplinary design charrette What do you get when you bring together students from two colleges to work on a project? Innovative and creative results.

there is technology, but there is nothing in the rooms to tell the story of CALS, what we represent or what innovation looks like in the college.”

Students from Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Design joined forces one weekend last November in an intensive, interdisciplinary design charrette — a short, collaborative session during which a group of people draft a solution to a design problem. The students were tasked with creating design concepts for two CALS-owned collaborative learning labs on the fourth floor of the new Student Innovation Center.

The two rooms, funded by Farm Credit Services of America, are the first thing people see when they exit the elevator on the fourth floor, so designing them in a way that communicates what CALS is all about is essential, Bain said.

“The idea for the design charrette came from appreciating that we have these two beautiful collaborative learning spaces, but they don’t really have any design elements,” said Carmen Bain, CALS associate dean of academic innovation. “There is furniture and

Daniel J. Robison, holder of the Dean’s Endowed Chair in CALS, proposed a charrette, and Bain approached colleagues in the College of Design for support. Faculty from the graphic design and interior design departments helped organize the event, which both colleges saw as a natural fit and an opportunity to demonstrate the value of interdisciplinary collaboration on campus. “This a huge opportunity for those two rooms to communicate something

about the nature of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and our touchpoints with other colleges through our many interdisciplinary programs,” Robison told students at the event’s opening ceremony.

Tackling the challenge Following Robison’s introduction, Yongyeon Cho (MFA 2016 Interior Design), assistant professor of interior design, outlined the goals of the charrette, which included the desire to have designs represent the diversity of CALS departments and programs. The 34 participants were split into eight teams of students from a range of majors within both colleges. “From an educator’s standpoint, we wanted students to realize each discipline has a different perspective,” Cho said. “Even though the charrette took place over a short period of time, it was a good opportunity for students

to learn about the skills each of them had to offer.” The teams first surveyed the two rooms, taking measurements and pictures to gain a better feel of the space. They spent the rest of that Saturday, and Sunday morning, working together on design ideas to transform the spaces into exciting environments that could convey a sense of CALS’ presence on campus. For Stefany Naranjo (BS 2021 Global Resource Systems / Agricultural & Life Sciences Education – Communications Option), the opportunity to think outside the box and learn about design concepts from College of Design students was a new experience. “It was definitely a learning curve and such a collaborative effort because we were learning from our peers and getting to apply our knowledge right away. You just got lost in the creativity,” Naranjo said.

Trusting their instincts In addition to working with one another, teams also had access to mentors from various CALS and Design departments during the charrette. Hailey McDermott, a graduate student in graphic design from Neenah, Wisconsin, served as a mentor to answer students’ questions and help them stay on track with the event’s tight schedule.

McDermott drew on prior experience working as a designer for Wild Blue Technologies, where one of her projects was a wall mural for Hershey’s Global Customer Insight Center. She used infographics to communicate the brand’s story to consumers and immerse them in an environmental experience — much as the student teams were asked to convey the story of CALS through their designs in the charrette. “My biggest role was encouraging students to trust their instincts,” McDermott (masked, inset) said. “Designing a room in a couple of days would be overwhelming even for industry professionals. I was there to empower the students’ decisions so they could keep pushing forward.” In total, students had 28.5 hours to complete their proposals. Each team was asked to create a digital presentation explaining their design concepts, a large visual presentation board and a physical 3D model to scale. To conclude the event, they would give a 20-minute presentation

The winning design, “Deep Roots,” represents life, nourishment and providing for others. It features ceiling décor that replicates plant roots and a casual lounging area in the middle of the space, in shades of brown, green, gold and red.

Members of the first-place team included Maeve Cleary, senior in agricultural studies from Des Moines; Marwa Elkashif, graduate student in graphic design from Cairo, Egypt; Jenna Errthum, senior in horticulture from Guttenberg; Norah Larson, sophomore in interior design from Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota; and Laura Maschino, senior in interior design from Atkins. One of the defining features of their design is the mural on one of the classrooms’ walls. It comprises many images that depict various aspects of the agricultural industry (inset, right). “All the symbols represent the CALS story, starting with the landscape, soil and roots and extending to labs, research, science and innovation across many fields,” Elkashif said. While showing the diversity of CALS programs was the team’s major focus, Errthum said she and her teammates also tried to incorporate design elements to make the room accessible for all audiences.

From 1979–2000 Mark was a principal of Engelbrecht & Griffin, PC, a firm known for its expertise in designing environments for seniors, with projects in over 26 states. I joined this firm following graduation from Iowa State. In practice Mark remained much as he was as a design studio critic — disciplined, thoughtful, with high expectations for design excellence. His understanding of and love for geometry created challenges for those of us developing his ideas, but with great rewards. Each of his building designs would first be communicated with one of his beautiful, fluid sketches, combined with the most rational of gridded plans and sections. His wit and warmth won over many clients. I cannot quantify or express how much I learned from Mark during this time.

Visionary leader My own career shift from practice to academia was again intertwined with and supported by Mark. He was teaching in Rome when I was drafted by other faculty colleagues to call and encourage him to apply for the position of dean of the College of Design, a post that he held for 15 years (1994–2009). For nine of those years, I was the college’s associate dean for academic programs, and was front and center to witness the results of Mark’s leadership. It was Mark’s vision and dedication as a three-term dean that created and solidified some of the most defining

and outstanding features of the College of Design, including the Core Design Program; the Rome Program; the Design Café; the Kocimski Auditorium; the King Pavilion; the successful move to a new university budget model; the growth and increasing excellence of all of the college’s programs; and the broader engagement of ISU’s design programs with communities across Iowa. Mark’s belief in design, his commitment to the land-grant mission and his love of Iowa State University transformed design education in Iowa, and thus has also transformed design practice in Iowa. I left Iowa almost a dozen years ago for new professional opportunities, built on the foundation that Mark helped me build. Since then, the high quality of architectural design that is prevalent in Iowa as compared to other places has become increasingly apparent to me. This quality is due to many things, including educated clients and proud communities, but there is no doubt that the high quality of design and designers in Iowa is real. Mark Engelbrecht, FAIA, contributed significantly to this remarkable design standard in Iowa through his example, his practice, his teaching, his academic leadership, and his unwavering belief in the power of design and in the people and communities of Iowa.

Kate Schwennsen (BArch with distinction 1978 / MArch 1980 Architecture), FAIA, is a professor of architecture at Clemson University in South Carolina. She served as director of the Clemson School of Architecture from 2010–2020. She was a member of the ISU architecture faculty from 1990–2010, serving as College of Design associate dean for academic programs from 2001–2010. She was president of the national AIA in 2006, only the second woman to serve as the elected leader of the organization.

inspire Inspire is published twice per year by the Iowa State University College of Design and is mailed to more than 18,500 alumni and friends. Newsletter Staff Editor Heather Sauer Writers Whitney Baxter, Amber Friedrichsen, Michelle Johnson, Heather Sauer, Kate Schwennsen, Steve Sullivan Photographers Johnny DiBlasi, Bob Elbert, Michael Ford, Amber Friedrichsen, Alison Weidemann Graphic Designer Alison Weidemann Contact Us 146 College of Design 715 Bissell Road Iowa State University Ames, IA 50011-1066 inspire@iastate.edu design.iastate.edu Connect With Us facebook.com/CollegeofDesign Instagram: @isucollegeofdesign LinkedIn: Iowa State University – College of Design Alumni Updates Have you married, moved, changed jobs, published or exhibited your work or earned an award? Let us know at http://www.design.iastate.edu/ alumni/share-your-news/. On the Cover Interior design senior Laura Maschino and graphic design graduate student Marwa Elkashif describe their team’s “Deep Roots” project for interior design assistant professor Yongyeon Cho (MFA 2016 Interior Design), one of the charrette organizers and mentors. Photo by Alison Weidemann. Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, ethnicity, religion, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. Veteran. Inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies may be directed to Office of Equal Opportunity, 3410 Beardshear Hall, 515 Morrill Road, Ames, Iowa 50011, Tel. 515 294-7612, Hotline 515-294-1222, email eooffice@iastate.edu

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to the judges, which included deans from both colleges, a representative from Farm Credit Services and two CALS faculty members.

design of the Maucker Union at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. AIA Iowa later named this building one of Iowa’s top 50 buildings of the 20th century.

Telling CALS’ story

Sunday afternoon, excitement was palpable as the teams presented their proposals, describing the intent, look and messages embodied in each design.

By Amber Friedrichsen & Whitney Baxter

there is technology, but there is nothing in the rooms to tell the story of CALS, what we represent or what innovation looks like in the college.”

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“We thought of making a space where people would just feel at home,” Errthum said. She appreciated the chance to push herself to thrive in a situation that was out of her comfort zone. “Learning about design was so interesting. I would have never been able to do these concepts without those interior designers and graphic designers,” she added. “It was so interdisciplinary, and I think the actual journey of the entire thing and the pride I feel because of it is what I’m going to take away.” Valuing collaboration The top three teams were each awarded dinner with a group of professionals. Members of the first-place team chose to have “Dinner with the Deans” and shared a meal with Bain, Robison and Luis Rico-Gutierrez, dean of the College of Design. The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is in the early planning stages to implement the “Deep Roots” design in its Student Innovation Center spaces. The charrette’s less tangible outcomes are perhaps even more valuable. “I think this event is very much in the spirit of the Student Innovation Center, and our hope is that it will encourage students to appreciate the importance of collaborating across disciplines — both within our college and across colleges,” Bain said. “We had 12 majors from both colleges represented on these teams, so I think they will take away the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, and the importance of thinking in creative ways and in innovative ways to take on a problem.”

REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE Charrette success helps student secure her dream job To interior design senior Laura Maschino, the most prominent aspects of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and College of Design charrette were the interactions she had with her peers that paralleled professional relationships in the design industry. After the charrette, this real-life experience helped her stand out to employers and land her dream job. Maschino brought a variety of skills to the charrette. She helped create renderings and mood boards for her team’s proposal for the Student Innovation Center classrooms, and her knowledge of design software was a real asset. Working in an interdisciplinary environment on a project with the potential to be realized, however, was something she had not done before. “Two students on our team were representing CALS, and we design students tried to interpret what they wanted to represent in the space,” Maschino said. “It was as if they were the clients, and we were the designers who had to figure out how to make something unique and beautiful that fit what they were looking for.” Expanding on success After her team won the event, Maschino noted the success on her résumé, and her participation in the charrette became a popular talking point in many of her job interviews this spring. To Maschino’s delight, she was offered the position she most wished for. When she graduates with her BFA in May, she’ll move to Bozeman, Montana, to work for Locati Architects and Interiors as an interior designer for luxury residential homes. Through her charrette experience, Maschino said she gained a better understanding of interior design as a service and the importance of listening to clients’ needs and expectations. “At the end of the day, the client’s voice is what really matters, but interior designers can take those ideas and make them better than they ever imagined,” Maschino said. 3

I N T ER N AT I O N A LASLU TU MDNI IOP R O F I L E

By Heather Sauer

By Steve Sullivan

TRANSFORMING COMMUNITIES Brian Hurd is on a mission to make cities safer, more stable In 2014, a young Black man named Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. The tragedy, which echoed similar events in other American cities, set off days of protest in that Greater St. Louis area community. Brown’s death and its aftermath saddened Brian Hurd, but he was not surprised such an event happened. He knows the racial histories of many communities and how the past has shaped the present. He also knows what needs to be done to ensure safer, more stable futures for places like Ferguson. “There is racial division in the St. Louis region that began historically in the formation of the area,” said Hurd (MCRP 1997 Community & Regional Planning). “A lot of municipalities, many of them small, experienced white flight. As the 4

tax base decreased, many municipalities began raising substantial revenue through traffic violations, and they looked at Black communities, pulling people over for almost anything,” he said. “Michael Brown’s situation was somewhat different, but it was a matter of time before something unfortunate like this happened.” Since receiving his master’s degree from Iowa State University, Hurd — who holds a BA in organizational communications from St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh, Virginia — has evolved into a national leader in racial equity planning and development and trauma-informed community building. As the director of community planning and implementation for Rise Community Development in St. Louis, he helps bring together nonprofits, banks,

foundations, community groups and government agencies to make successful neighborhood revitalization possible. “There are very few planners and developers who look like me,” he said. “When you have credibility, experience and community capital, people follow and are more willing to engage with you.” In situations like Ferguson, establishing a spirit of collaboration can be daunting, but Hurd views himself “as a community quarterback, building networks, building relationships across sectors. We’re not all wired the same, but a lot of people are trying to do great work. To do that you have to lean into discomfort, embrace chaos and build meaningful relationships over time.”

Racial equity planning Following the Ferguson unrest, Rise was brought in to develop a long-term plan

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to help the city heal and grow. This work was shaped by an earlier effort in the Gravois-Jefferson Historic Neighborhoods Planning Area, a densely and diversely populated collection of neighborhoods in St. Louis.

plan for Ferguson details actions in several specific areas: housing and neighborhoods; transportation and mobility; jobs and economy; place and character; environment and well-being; and land use and development.

Opposite: Hurd facilitated community meetings to gain input for development of the Gravois-Jefferson Historic Neighborhoods Plan, which integrates racial equity principles. Above: Hurd with wife Rhonda and daughters Olivia, far left, and Gabrielle. Photos courtesy of Brian H. Hurd.

That plan addressed issues related to safety, employment and educational opportunities, housing and sustainable improvements to the built and natural environment. It also focused on racial equity, helping to ensure that the racially and economically diverse residents of the district would see benefit. The Gravois-Jefferson Historic Neighborhoods Plan earned Rise awards in 2018 and 2020 from the St. Louis chapter of the American Planning Association. Hurd was honored in 2020 with the chapter’s Outstanding Planning Advocate Award. “This plan may have been the first in the country that really utilized racial equity,” Hurd said. “It integrated principles of racial equity and community-informed trauma, which results when a community is marginalized or has experienced events that have a negative impact on social, physical and mental well-being.” The impact of Michael Brown’s death was the very definition of “communityinformed trauma.” The 20-year

“Racial equity is getting attention and we are beginning to see the change that we intended to see. For example, we’re getting more Black entrepreneurs opening businesses in the area because of the attention, resources and technical support that is now available,” Hurd said. “Because of that local business infrastructure, we have positive role models that people can look to. They are providing goods and services and hiring people that look like them. It is making the area more attractive, making the region more competitive and facilitating social and economic equity.”

Empowering others Hurd’s commitment to the planning profession and racial equity extends to teaching, mentoring and publishing. He supervises social work students at Washington University in St. Louis on social and economic development. He also teaches a class on planning sustainable and racially equitable urban communities for WUSTL’s University College.

Hurd notes that most of his students — professionals and graduate students — are white. “They don’t necessarily know what to do,” he said. “They want to learn more about racial structures, about the history of how certain neighborhoods developed and how Blacks have been affected by policies and practices at the federal and local government levels. They want to know what they can do to address these issues and make things better.” His students’ interest inspired Hurd to do more writing and research. He is the author of Dream It! Plan It! Be It! A Playbook for Today’s Youth, which the father of two teenage girls wrote to motivate young people to become confident, bold leaders. His next book blends his professional focus with his love of history; it will focus on historical Black neighborhoods and business districts. An active member of the Epsilon Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Hurd served as chapter president from 2014–2017 and remains engaged in the chapter’s Alpha Mentoring Program for young Black males ages 6–18, which he created in 2011. Hurd also remains connected with Iowa State, serving as a member of the Department of Community and Regional Planning’s Planning Advisory Council from 2007–2010 and currently participating in the CRP professional mentoring program. And he has worked with interior design faculty and students in an inclusive environments course on a housing project for people with HIV or AIDS. He received a 2021 Design Achievement Award from the College of Design. From helping the marginalized to achieve a better future to opening eyes to racial equity, from teaching to writing and developing young leaders, Hurd’s passions seem vast. But he describes what drives him in four succinct words: “I transform urban communities.” 5

I N T ER NH A LS T SU TU O UNTAT R EI O AC DD I OI O

By Michelle Johnson

DESIGNING FOR HEALING Iowa State partners with YSS on new addiction recovery campus More than 2 million youth reported using drugs in the past month, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, and over 500,000 youth experience homelessness each year, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Early and effective interventions such as residential treatment can help young people find a new path forward, but treatment facilities are often worn out, unwelcoming and unable to meet their needs. Julie Stevens, an Iowa State University associate professor of landscape architecture, and her students are working to change that. They’re collaborating with local nonprofit YSS (formerly Youth and Shelter Services) and design firm RDG Planning and Design to transform 54 peaceful acres near Cambridge into the YSS Recovery Campus. And they’re using the emerging practice of trauma-informed environmental design as their guide. 6

Trauma-informed environmental design requires an understanding of how those affected by trauma and toxic stress experience an environment — in this case, adolescents from ages 13-17 in need of addictions treatment, and children and youth residing in emergency shelter. A deeper understanding of the impacts of trauma on human development and behavior results in spaces that support healing and buffer the negative impacts of trauma, Stevens said. It's a powerful practice and one she believes is more than just a buzz word in the field. “Design should be a participatory practice,” Stevens said. “There’s value in digging deeper and forming relationships with the people your design serves. In this case, working with kids who have experienced so much pain was a humbling process — both heart-warming and heart-wrenching.”

Participatory design Fifth-year landscape architecture students in the advanced landscape architectural design studio taught by Stevens and lecturer Chad Hunter (MLA 2014 Landscape Architecture) last fall engaged YSS clients and staff in participatory research to inform design concepts for healing and recovery. At the center of their research were YSS youth in residential treatment and shelter care. The Iowa State students met with YSS youth in their houses, at ISU and at local parks. Interviews, planned activities, impromptu conversations and games led to a wealth of information on a typical day for the youth and how they interacted with peers, family, staff and each other. YSS staff weighed in through focus groups and design reviews. Olivia Fletcher, from Spencer, said activities like making photo collages and taking walks with YSS participants enabled her to observe how they responded to nature and what seemed to give them peace.

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One afternoon, the youth lost interest in a group discussion Fletcher was leading and headed for a nearby basketball court. “We ended up having a great time laughing and playing a game of knockout in the rain,” she said. “I learned so much about them. The kids just need a safe place to let go and be themselves, so

opportunities to make positive, healthy choices that lead to feelings of belonging. Focused on home, hobbies, nature, connections, recreation and destination, their proposal was designed to give YSS youth a sense of ownership through opportunities to grow and prepare food, experience therapeutic encounters

in architecture, interdisciplinary design, interior design and landscape architecture — are continuing the collaboration with YSS and with RDG, the professional firm selected last October to design the recovery campus. The class is employing Stevens’ working framework for trauma-informed environmental design. This semester the studio is focusing on “lived details of the designed environments,” Stevens said. Recently, the Iowa State students worked with YSS youth to model their ideal bedrooms — a challenging process, given the varied levels of engagement and ages of the kids. One older boy said he’d like a ping pong table, while one young girl went into extensive detail, including preferred colors, a hammock, shelves for books and a quiet space to read.

Opposite: Landscape architecture associate professor Julie Stevens and her students developed site masterplan proposals for the YSS Recovery Campus. Photo courtesy of the Iowa State University Office of the Vice President for Research. Above: Iowa State students helped YSS youth model their ideal bedrooms at the new facility.

they can heal. I think we can all relate to feeling that way.” Fletcher made sure a basketball court was incorporated in her team’s design concept. “The YSS campus project offers a unique opportunity for students to delve into design, but also understand human behavior and relationshipbuilding,” Stevens said. “These are critical areas of growth that will serve them well in the future.”

Strategic approach Fueled by what they learned through research and their interactions with YSS youth and staff, students developed site masterplan proposals including a pond, wellness areas, nature trails, therapy spaces, challenge courses and recreational fields. Fletcher and her teammates — Riley Fountain, from Forest Lake, Minnesota; Jordyn Kloss, from Badger; and Abby Schlotfeldt, from Des Moines — identified six strategies in their project to provide recovery campus residents with

with nature, engage in individual and group activities and exercise personal decision-making. The team presented their YSS Recovery Campus project in the landscape architecture department’s Confluence, Inc. Landscape Architecture Studio Prize competition in February and won the top prize of $4,000. Jurors Vaughn Rinner, FASLA (BS 1974 Landscape Architecture), principal of Vaughn Rinner Landscape Architect in Seattle, and Ken Smith, FASLA (BS 1976 Landscape Architecture), principal of Ken Smith Workshop in New York City, noted that framing the project in terms of ownership and empowerment was a very sensitive and strategic approach that demonstrated students’ understanding of their clients. YSS also recognized Stevens, Hunter and the fall studio class with their Youth to Youth Award in December.

Applied research Students in Stevens’ spring-semester option studio — which includes majors

“Seeing the way they’re adapting to the experiences they’ve had and how we can facilitate that with our design is really exciting,” said interior design senior Eli Williams, from Melcher-Dallas. “What we’re learning to apply through our research is what they’re seeking in real life, and it’s gratifying to confirm we really know how to design a space for them.” “As this semester comes to a close, I hope students understand that design is for all people, not just those who can typically afford design services,” Stevens said. “I hope they also know it’s within their power to share the value of design with others and be a positive light of hope in their community.”

Impact of user input Kloss has taken this lesson to heart. Inspired by her experience last fall, she chose to keep working with YSS in the studio this spring. “I think design sometimes becomes too much about personal opinion and aesthetics. But this is different. I’m learning the value of researching the end user behind a design and how heavily they can impact the outcome of a space,” Kloss said. “I am going to have a hard time letting go of this project. It’s opened my eyes to all the potential in the field." 7

C O L L A B O R AT I V E R E S E A R C H

By Heather Sauer

DATA AS ART MEDIA

Johnny DiBlasi's work combines art, science and technology Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the past two years have been productive for Johnny DiBlasi. DiBlasi, an Iowa State University assistant professor of art and visual culture, is an interdisciplinary artist who specializes in computational media and data visualization. He translates data collected from the natural environment into experiential artwork with audio and visual components. “[During my graduate study] in Baltimore, I became interested in the information that’s always around us, the swirl of electronic signals and currents,” said DiBlasi, who holds a BFA in photography and digital media from the University of Houston and MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. “Later I really got interested in environmental data and working with natural ecosystems — thinking about what information we take for granted from the environment, the connection between living organisms in the

environment and how those things affect our experience with them.”

learning to produce artwork and explore landscape aesthetics.

Combining his interests in technology, data and art, DiBlasi has since created several unique art installations that use audio, light and data-gathering sensors within site-specific environments.

The first involves DiBlasi and two collaborators he met during his time in South Korea. Upon returning to the United States, DiBlasi joined forces with fellow interdisciplinary artists Carlos Castellanos and Bello Bello to form an experimental arts and research collective called [phylum], and they began developing project ideas.

Artist residency DiBlasi joined the ISU College of Design in August 2018. The following summer, he was selected to participate in the ISEA 2019 Residency Program and exhibited the work he produced at the International Symposium on Electronic Art, both in Gwangju, South Korea. His “Hidden Layer” interactive installation featured artwork that allowed visitors to experience an aesthetic expression of a landscape, as derived from physical data collected via biosensors set up throughout urban spaces, gardens and parks. This residency generated two research initiatives, both of which integrate biology, technology and machine

In the second initiative, the hardware DiBlasi developed for “Hidden Layer” became the basis for a successful application for a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program in Creative and Performing Arts – Visual Arts Award to Austria for the 2020–2021 academic year. Fulbright awards for that period were then put on hold due to the pandemic.

Modeling ‘Beauty’ DiBlasi used the unexpected freedom of the Fulbright hiatus to embark on the inaugural project with his [phylum] collaborators: They were awarded a

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one-month residency at the University of Buffalo’s Coalesce Center for Biological Art to pursue research for “Beauty” — a

organisms and intelligent machines as vehicles for creative expression, exploration and discovery.”

the artwork possible. “With this work, I wanted to explore the aesthetic possibilities of applying data gathered by sensors dispersed throughout the landscape and how the experiences of the resulting art can connect audiences to a deeper awareness of the landscapes they inhabit,” DiBlasi said. Vienna’s abundant parks and gardens were a key reason DiBlasi chose this location for his Fulbright residency. He also collected data in a large forest north of the city. He hooked up sensors to memory cards he carried in a backpack so he could visit a variety of sites and gather biodata in different microclimates.

Opposite: DiBlasi performs "432Hz," a project created during his Fulbright residency and presented at a virtual festival in 2021, and inset, preps petri dishes at the Coalesce lab to grow bacteria for "Beauty." Above: Dark field photography of the bacterial cultures highlights patterns and prevents shadows. Photos courtesy of Johnny DiBlasi.

hybrid machine-microbial artwork that features a bio-driven artificial intelligence. The trio traveled to Buffalo and, after observing a two-week quarantine, worked in the Coalesce lab from mid-October to mid-November 2020. They have continued to work virtually since then. In this project, the team grew cultures of bacterial species that produce intricate branching growth patterns in response to harsh environmental conditions. They photographed the growth patterns and used time-lapse images to train an AI “agent” — first to develop an internal model of “beauty” based on the cooperative pattern-forming and swarming behaviors of these bacteria, and then to spatially modify their growth by introducing chemical attractants and repellents to achieve patterns that conformed to its internal model of beauty. The work involved “the challenging task of developing computational aesthetic evaluation methods and wrestling with the implications of machinemade judgments about what is or isn’t beautiful,” DiBlasi said. “‘Beauty’ represents the first steps of a creative research agenda that explores the viability of interactions between biological

DiBlasi co-authored and presented a paper about “Beauty” at the Association for Computing Machinery Conference on Tangible Embedded and Embodied Interaction (TEI 2022), hosted virtually by the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon, South Korea, in February. The [phylum] team is now exploring the use of fractal dimensions and datasets of artworks that are considered attractive in particular cultures to enhance the agent’s model of beauty.

‘Transcoded Ecologies’ When the disbursement of Fulbright awards resumed in January 2021, selected fellows were required to participate in person at their respective international venues. Iowa State’s pandemic policy at the time prohibited international travel with very few exceptions, but because of the prestige of the Fulbright and its potential impact on DiBlasi’s academic career, the university granted a waiver. From February to May last year, DiBlasi lived in Vienna, where he used the resources of the Q21/MuseumsQuartier creative space to research, test and produce an interactive artwork titled “Transcoded Ecologies” — and, in the process, developed technology that made

DiBlasi also grew an array of fava bean plants in his studio space and tested sensors and electrodes attached to those plants to gather biodata within a controlled indoor environment. For both indoor and outdoor datasets, he experimented with new forms of output, creating custom software that uses data (e.g., soil nutrients, light emission, air chemistry, humidity, temperature, electrical activity) to alter the rhythm and color of LED light and produce various frequencies of computer-generated sound waves. “Before the Fulbright, I was using data to build kinetic sculptures, but I wanted to go in a different direction,” DiBlasi said. “This award was a crucial step forward by giving me the time and resources to build and test new hardware and write the code for new software.” DiBlasi has been invited to summarize his research as a chapter in the forthcoming book The Language of Creative AI. Back in Ames, he is working on the next iteration of the project — connecting sensors to plants and trees, collecting site-specific data wherever the artwork is installed and mapping the data points to different frequencies of sound and light to display in an immersive space. Pandemic challenges notwithstanding — from obtaining his visa the day before he was due to leave for Vienna to navigating lockdown in Austria during the entire month of April last year — DiBlasi is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with other artists and scientists and keep advancing his work. 9

I N M EM O R I A M

By Kate Schwennsen

Mark Charles Engelbrecht

MARK ENGELBRECHT

Dec. 28, 1938 – Dec. 30, 2021 Photo by Bob Elbert

Celebrating the life and legacy of a legendary leader Mark C. Engelbrecht, FAIA, professor emeritus of architecture and dean emeritus of the Iowa State University College of Design, was one of Iowa’s most important and influential architects advancing design practice and education. He received significant peer recognition for his many contributions to the profession, most notably, elevation to the national American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 1998. He received the inaugural AIA Iowa Educator Award in 1996, AIA Iowa Medal of Honor in 2006, Order of the Knoll Faculty-Staff Award from the Iowa State University Foundation in 2009 and Christian Petersen Design Award from the College of Design in 2010. The list of public honors does not speak to the impact Mark made on countless students, colleagues and friends. I had the rare privilege of working with him and learning from him in various ways, over many years, and this remembrance is offered through those experiences.

Influential educator Mark began teaching architecture at Iowa State in 1969, retiring in 2014. He was my studio instructor as I started the MArch program in 1978, the year the College of Design opened. He was a disciplined and thoughtful design instructor, often a man of few words in his desk crits, but enough words to clearly communicate his high expectations for design excellence. He asked questions rather than providing answers. He challenged his students. His teaching goal was to support critical design thinking in every student with whom he interacted. That teaching has influenced generations of architecture and design students to be their own best critics. One of the first assignments he gave to the class was not a design project, but a reading assignment, The Stranger by Camus. Over 40 years later, I clearly recall the discussions with Mark and my classmates which followed

this assignment. Did it have a direct connection to the housing project we were designing? No, but it required us to think more deeply and broadly about the world to which we are responsible. Mark was an intellectual and a humanist, and he knew that to be a capable designer it is imperative to have a deeper understanding and curiosity about the world and the human condition. He was sincerely interested in the growth of his students as not only designers, but as educated people able to make a difference in the world.

Pioneering designer While he was influencing students, he was also influencing design in Iowa and beyond, as a firm principal and lead designer. Mark was a young principal in February 1967 when he and his partners of the Des Moines architectural firm Hunter, Rice and Engelbrecht received a highly coveted national Progressive Architecture Award for their

C OV ER S TO RY

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to the judges, which included deans from both colleges, a representative from Farm Credit Services and two CALS faculty members.

design of the Maucker Union at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. AIA Iowa later named this building one of Iowa’s top 50 buildings of the 20th century.

Telling CALS’ story

Sunday afternoon, excitement was palpable as the teams presented their proposals, describing the intent, look and messages embodied in each design.

By Amber Friedrichsen & Whitney Baxter

there is technology, but there is nothing in the rooms to tell the story of CALS, what we represent or what innovation looks like in the college.”

VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 1 SPRING 2022

College of Design

146 College of Design 715 Bissell Road Ames, IA 50011-1066

VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2022

3D Construction Printer for prototyping and testing materials digitally imaged in the Computation and Construction Lab at ISU.

INTERDISCIPLINARY DESIGN CHARRETTE Colleges collaborate on innovative proposals for Student Innovation Center spaces