KENT STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE & ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
PLEDGE
and
RICHARD L. BOWEN & ASSOCIATES
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS
D E S I G N O F PLACE
I N T R O D U C TION
WEISS/MANFREDI
I N T R O D U C TION
02
I N T R O D U C TION
03
Architecture is about bridging the gap between theory and the everyday experience. I N T R O D U C TION
provides a symbolic connection between these design requirements. 04
I N T R O D U C TION
This building embodies scholarly thought with practical use and because of its strategic location between the campus and downtown Kent,
05
It is a physical manifestation of Architectural purpose. Dean Steidl
I N T R O D U C TION 06
e would hope that someone W would arrive at this building fascinated, terrified, excited, and hungry
I N T R O D U C TION
and by the time they leave know that it has been their building. And that it’s been their home. The whole origin of who they are as creative people. Marion weiss
07
I N T R O D U C TION
12 14
36 40
86 88 94
08
102 106
INTRODUCTION I N T R O D U C TION
Dean’s Statement Timeline
DESIGN OF PLACE
Vision for a New CAED An Architecture of Affects
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Selection Jury Team Profiles Visionaries
PLEDGE
Become A Visionary Credits
09
Dean’s Statement
I N T R O D U C TION - DEAN’S STATEMENT 12
It is with great pride and excitement that I am sending you this book. The recent accomplishments of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) are numerous but none match the scale of our new home. As I write to you, we will soon be breaking ground on the construction. Inside this mailing you will begin to see the significance of this undertaking. More than just an educational building, this is a reflection of you and your accomplishments. Over the years you have imparted a reputation for excellence, practice intelligence, and an unparalleled work ethic. This building and the university’s choice to invest in the CAED is a reflection of your successes. Thank you for being who you are and representing our college well across the country and around the world. Because of you the future of CAED is on a solid foundation and the future holds great promise. As you read through this book, please take the time to remember the program and the forged
I N T R O D U C TION - DEAN’S STATEMENT
friendships that represent the nascency of you as a designer. This book and the groundbreaking will be an opportunity for you to remember and connect with your history in the Architecture and Interior Design programs. Please consider joining us for the groundbreaking this fall. I hope you have a stake in not only the history of this program but its future. Join us and continue to engage with members of the Kent State design professions. In the meantime, please enjoy the story of our new home! Sincerely,
Douglas L Steidl, FAIA Dean, College of Architecture and Environmental Design
13
Timeline
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
1910
34 GRADUATES Gov. James M. Cox delivers the address at the first commencement where 34 students graduate.
1917
TAKING FLIGHT Kent State airport opens to the public under the name Stow Aviation Field.
14
1947
State Rep. John Lowry’s bill establishes funding for two teaching schools in northern Ohio. Kent Normal School is named after William Kent, who donates his farm land to build the new training school.
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
LOWRY’S BILL
1914
MCGILVREY’S PLAN President McGilvrey drafts his “Fifty Year Master Plan” transforming Kent Normal School into a university with colleges beyond education.
1920
ARCHITECTURE IS BORN University President George Bowman asks Joseph Morbito to come to Kent State to oversee a new industrial arts building and teach architectural drawing. TWO-YEAR DEGREE Student interest allows for the development of a two-year Architecture degree.
15
Timeline
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
STUDENT UNION OPENS The Student Union opens its doors to students, offering pool tables, a bowling alley, cafeterias, lounges, a book store and a faculty dining room. The building is later renamed in Dr. Ritchie’s honor.
1950
FIRST BSA First Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree is awarded.
1955
16
DEPARTMENT STATUS Becomes the Department of Architecture within the College of Arts and Sciences.
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
1949
FOUR-YEAR PROGRAM The four-year Architecture program is formed because of regional demand. Northeast Ohio is key to the manufacturing of steel, rubber, plastics, and automobiles. The resulting migration creates significant demand for architects.
1952
AIA GRANTS STUDENT CHARTER AIA grants a student charter to Kent State Architecture program.
17
1956
Timeline
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
1957
MAKING MOVES Department is transferred to the newly formed College of Fine and Professional Arts.
1961
ACCREDITATION Receives full accreditation for Bachelor of Architecture program from the National Architecture Accreditation Board.
18
1965
Initiates a five-year Bachelor of Architecture professional program. JOE MORBITO DEPARTMENT HEAD Joe Morbito is appointed department head and holds the position for 21 years.
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
FIVE-YEAR BA
1959
BLACK SQUIRRELS ON CAMPUS The superintendent of grounds and a former Davey Tree Expert Co. executive imports 10 black squirrels from Canada.
1964
19
LIQUID CRYSTAL INSTITUTE FOUNDED Chemistry professor Glenn H. Brown establishes the Liquid Crystal Institute. Two years later, an institute scientist invents the nematic liquid crystal twist cell, which paves the way for liquid crystal display technologies.
Timeline
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
Interior Design ESTABLISHED Interior Design program is established under the name Home Interiors and Mary Kapenekas is named program director. new building Department of Architecture moves to newly completed Taylor Hall. Students make national TV NBC features architecture students in a miniseries called “Building A Town.� The ten-part series was broadcast in several media markets nationally.
1968
INTERIOR DESIGN Home Interiors officially changes to Interior Design with a new focus on commercial design. SAED School of Architecture and Environmental Design is created.
20
1972
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
1967
MASTERS Six-year Master of Architecture is established.
1969
21
FIRENZE Study abroad in Florence, Italy becomes a feature of the curriculum.
Timeline
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
FIRST BA IN ID First Bachelor of Arts in Interior Design is awarded.
1984
PROGRESS Dr. Carol A. Cartwright becomes the first woman to serve as president of a state university in Ohio.
1998
22
STUDENT CENTER OPENS The Student Recreation and Wellness Center opens.
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
1973
NEW I.D. DIRECTOR APPOINTED Dr. Pamela Evans is appointed Director of Interior Design program.
1991
CUDC Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative is created in the Pointe at Gateway building in downtown Cleveland.
23
1999
Timeline
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
ID JOINS SAED Interior Design program joins the School of Architecture and Environmental Design. SAED in MACC School of Architecture begins using space in the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (MACC Annex).
2002
BRITISH OPEN Kent State alumnus Ben Curtis wins the British Open.
2004
24
DESIGN MEETS LIBERAL ARTS Bachelor of Arts in Architecture Studies is created as a liberal arts degree for students with an interest in design but focused on pursuing other career paths.
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
2000
NCAA The men’s basketball team reaches the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament.
2003
PALAZZO DEI CERCHI University moves into the 13th century Palazzo dei Cerchi in Florence, Italy. CAED College of Architecture and Environmental Design is formed.
25
2007
Timeline
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
2008
ARCHITECTURAL REGISTRATION EXAM The CAED is the only program in the nation whose graduates score in the top 20 schools on seven of the nine Architectural Registration Examination sections, demonstrating consistent performance by Kent graduates in all aspects of professional requirements.
2010
26
CENTENNIAL Kent State celebrates its centennial year with a range of events and the most successful fundraising campaign in university history. TOP 200 IN THE WORLD The Times of London ranks Kent State as one of the top 200 universities in the world.
CAED expands to the second floor of the Tri-Towers Rotunda to house the fourth-year design studio.
2009
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
Tri-Towers Expansion
CUDC RELOCATES CUDC relocates and expands the Master of Urban Design program in the new “Design District” at Playhouse Square DEAN STEIDL APPOINTED With the appointment of Douglas Steidl as Dean the CAED reassess its programs and curriculum to remain professionally oriented, consistent with its founding vision in the 1950’s, but to also become more relevant to a diverse global culture. KENT GRADS Kent State graduates are principals in 23 of the 25 largest architectural firms in Northeast Ohio.
27
2010
Timeline
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
28
2013
CAED commits to a new building that will house all programs of the college that are currently located at three different locations on the Kent Campus. MASTER DEGREE OFFERINGS EXPANDED Three new masters’ degrees are approved: Master of Healthcare Design, Master of Landscape Architecture, Master of Science in Architecture & Environmental Design.
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
NEW BUILDING
29
Ode to Taylor Hall
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE 30
Taylor Hall has been the home of our design students for decades; the building has served us well and enabled generations of students to become designers while creating life-long friendships. With CAED moving to a new building, the halls of Taylor will be used by the College of Communication and Information.
I N T R O D U C TION - TIMELINE
The building recently was renovated with the second floor observation deck being converted to a green roof with a pedestrian walkway around the entire building. The windows were upgraded to be operable with improved energy efficiency. The faรงade was cleaned and restored. With these investments, Taylor Hall will continue to serve the Kent community for many years in the future.
31
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE & ENVIRONMENT
D E S I G N O F PLACE
WEISS/MANFREDI and
RICHARD L. BOWEN & ASSOCIATES
Vision for a New CAED
D E S I G N O F PLACE - VISION FOR A NEW CAED 36
The College of Architecture and Environmental Design is committed to producing exceptional graduates, knowledgeable in the design process, technically proficient, and ethically motivated who possess a passion for creating a better built environment while respecting the natural world around them. Our new facility will enhance the college’s ability to complete this mission. The new home of the CAED will: ·C onsolidate students in one location; enhancing peer-to-peer learning that is vital in the design fields. ·S timulate scholarship by providing numerous spaces for casual interactions between students, faculty, and staff.
This facility will serve the students by reflecting in a physical form, the future of design, and the progressive commitment of Kent State University.
D E S I G N O F PLACE - VISION FOR A NEW CAED
·C reate an environment that fosters collaborative efforts. ·P rovide state of the art fabrication spaces for students and faculty to explore construction methods and systems. ·E nhance the level of research capabilities for faculty and graduate students. ·C reate an environment that serves as a teaching tool for understanding systems and construction methods. ·D emonstrate the university’s commitment to sustainable design and operations.
37
Vision for a New CAED
D E S I G N O F PLACE - VISION FOR A NEW CAED
The following enumeration, though not exhaustive, reflects the approach to the concepts behind this structure:
Vision for a New CAED Building
Envisions the future of design where aesthetics and performance are indistinguishable Presents Kent State as an economic and design force in Northeast Ohio Flexibility on all levels: spaces, systems, offices
38
Provides numerous opportunities for the displaying and sharing of student and faculty work
Offers spaces for construction research
Facilitates collaboration by the creation of non-traditional gathering and encounter spaces throughout the building
D E S I G N O F PLACE - VISION FOR A NEW CAED
Technology that allows evolution Serves as a teaching tool Reflects the cultural and educational traditions that nurture the student to become passionate about service to society Functions as a research project for materials and systems
Integrates the campus & community
Commitment to sustainability and design in society
Maximizes the interaction of faculty/students/ administration
39
An Architecture of Affects
D E S I G N O F PLACE - AN ARCHITECTURE OF AFFECTS 40
n Architecture of Affects: Appreciating Weiss/Manfredi and A Richard L. Bowen + Associates’ College of Architecture and Environmental Design Building for Kent State University William T Willoughby, AIA Associate Professor and Associate Dean, CAED Kent State University
Are these notes of appreciation an irresponsible act of serving wine before its time? Or proving before the pudding has been fully prepared? Can a building be experienced through its representations? Some might find it questionable to write about a building before it is built and occupied, but every designer must anticipate the qualities in their design before it is built. It has always been that the real is imagined through design. The role of the critical theorist is not to flatter, but to pose meaningful questions about design and architecture and to speculate on their answers. Even if a building exists only as a representation, I believe it is possible to extract some universal lessons from that particular architecture. So, the new College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) building is the subject of this essay. The original layout of the Weiss/ Manfredi and Richard L. Bowen + Associates Inc. (RLB+A) competition-winning design from 2013 is a thing of record 18 months later. I have seen the design develop beyond the deletion of an entire floor, a reduction in square footage, L ouis Kahn variations on an increasingly The Room, The Street, and Human detailed program, the Agreement, 1971 AIA National Gold Medal acceptance speech integration of environmental
“ R ooms must suggest their use without name. To an architect, a school of architecture would be the most honored commission.”
D E S I G N O F PLACE - AN ARCHITECTURE OF AFFECTS
systems, changes to the structure, and resolution of materials. The design has evolved into a more mature and accommodating layout. But through it all, the final version of the design has retained the essence of the original competition proposal. The building represented here is grand, and I feel compelled to explain why I think so. There is something Weiss/Manfredi and RLB+A are driving at in this design. If you consider Weiss/Manfredi’s oeuvre to date, you’ll find similarities between this design and their past works. But this is not an idle ‘copy and paste’ from past successes. Instead, I believe that similarities exist because Weiss/Manfredi tethers their work to a set of essential relationships that all great works of architecture aspire to exemplify and amplify. Reconciling program to landscape is basic to Weiss/ Manfredi’s approach to architecture—including, in the case of the new CAED building, minimizing their building’s environmental impact by seeking LEED Platinum status. When completed, this will be one of the largest LEED Platinum buildings in Ohio. Their method winnows the many circumstances that can influence a design down to a set of essential relationships. Some of those essential relationships include: articulating the connection between inside and outside, allowing the admission of light into a building to also offer significant views outside, developing a conversation between competing spaces, understanding the necessity of articulating the space-between, choreographing connections between people within and around the building, centering the building within a community and forming a “heart,” unifying form and use in a performative relationship, finding a satisfying reciprocity between spatial figures and social activity, anchoring the building’s internal activities to its landscape, braiding new circulatory flows to preexisting paths, mediating the gap between ground and roof gracefully, and applying new materials to existing contexts sensitively.
41
Affective Architecture
D E S I G N O F PLACE 42
Architectural design does not end in an inert object. Architecture takes shape through the thoughtful interplay of social, spatial, and material affects. The new CAED building is not a rational reduction divided into separately functioning parts. Instead, the design by Weiss/Manfredi and RLB+A is a relational reduction. The designers have created an overall relational configuration shaped through space, movement, light, and materials. The building aspires to become a universe of affections. Anyone entering the new College of Architecture and Environmental Design should be prepared to be affected in myriad ways. About 60 years ago, a group of vocal and ardent architects advocated that fellow practitioners should “articulate the in between.” Practitioners such as Herman Hertzberger, his mentor Aldo van Eyck, and other Team 10 members like Alison and Peter Smithson pointed toward a relational architecture of the “doorstep.” Human interaction and innate patterns of association, if taken altogether and interacting through design, can multiply the qualities of a particular place. In other words, architecture should be approached with the same sensitivity and grace found in human culture. Just like societies, buildings are about qualities and affects, not quantities and facts. The new CAED building cannot be understood clearly except as an affective relationship between its material context and the particulars of its social program. But the design goes beyond any kind of simplified structural anthropology. I believe that Weiss/Manfredi’s work demonstrates that a building is a framework of affects operating within a larger complex of human, material, and environmental associations. In the case of the new CAED building, the design uses the program to bridge between the Kent State University campus and the community of Kent. The building’s internal activities connect two adjacent contexts, engaging not only our CAED students but also binding the campus and
city together. The design reconciles social, environmental, and material conditions together at various scales. The floor levels interact by lofting the space between and connecting those levels through multiple stairways. Each W illiam James element interacts Ess ays in Radical Empiricism and borrows (Chestnut Hill , MA: Elibron Classics, 2006) 20. energy from the other in a cunningly coordinated jumble. Overall, the scheme comes across as a simple free-plan, reminiscent of Le Corbusier’s century old proposal Maison Dom-ino, where structure defined space as something distinct from where partitions would later define the program. Openness and flexibility were achieved by distinguishing structure from use and enclosure. But achieving an open flexibility between structure and program is not that simple. As Louis Kahn said in his 1971 AIA National Gold Medal acceptance speech, “A plan is a society of rooms. The rooms relate to each other to strengthen their own unique nature.” In the new CAED building, the designers adjusted each discrete space to accommodate its neighbor without compromising the overall integrity of the entire space. The space between, where that adjustment occurs, becomes charged with affective energies felt by the people occupying those places.
D E S I G N O F PLACE
“ [ R]elations that connect experiences must themselves be experienced relations, and any kind of relation experienced must be accounted as ‘real’ as anything else in the system.”
43
D E S I G N O F PLACE - NORTHWEST VIEW 44
Seeking Proper Fit The mullions of the building envelope run vertically and alternate between stack bonded brick panels and glazed openings. Intentional or not, I am reminded of the fourth floor of Taylor Hall with its projecting concrete mullions. But this material reminiscence follows Weiss/Manfredi’s general approach of extracting and abstracting elements from existing contexts for inventive use in new situations. Their closest building to the new CAED building is the Barnard College Diana Center, completed in 2010. The red enameled glass panels suggest the brick masonry of adjacent buildings. The Diana Center’s variable facade, its urban alignments, its contribution to adjacent urban spaces, and its command of views both inside and outside
D E S I G N O F PLACE - NORTHWEST VIEW
are a manifold combination of strategic responses to cues taken from the campus and surrounding city. With a similar deference to context, Weiss/Manfredi’s Women’s Memorial and Education Center from 1997 retains the monumental semicircular exedra of the existing entry to Arlington National Cemetery. Their simple strategy preserves the original sculpted retaining wall, carves out program spaces behind, and creates a transparent building that mediates respectfully between the old and new. Their Seattle Art Museum & Olympic Sculpture Park completed in 2007 links the city to the shore of Elliot Bay while bridging above the existing road infrastructure. By yearning to span the gap, the building reshapes the two places it connects.
45
D E S I G N O F PLACE - SOUTHWEST VIEW
46
D E S I G N O F PLACE - SOUTHWEST VIEW
In these three examples, we see strategies that accommodate new programs between, behind, and above their settings. In just about all instances, their buildings ally themselves to contextual cues, fulfill a lack with new programmatic uses, or configure some social or material potential in a given context. By bridging between city and campus, the new CAED building becomes a third thing—a center in itself. The lesson here is that designers should never assert a building upon the land arbitrarily. Instead, a designer inserts a building, being sensitive to what surrounds, and creates a new place between.
47
D E S I G N O F PLACE - THE SITE
48
D E S I G N O F PLACE - THE SITE
The site: Gateway between city and the Lester A. Lefton Esplanade looking toward downtown Kent.
49
8 1 7 D E S I G N O F PLACE - THE SITE
6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Rockwell Hall Gym Annex Taylor Hall Student Center Library Franklin Hall KSU Hotel & Conference Center K ent Central Gateway Multimodal Transit Center 9 Tri-Towers Complex
50
Opens to the sky and northern light
Connections between program spaces to engage the public
D E S I G N O F PLACE - THE SITE
3
9 2
4
5
The new CAED building approaches that very elusive condition in architecture: proper fit. ‘Propriety’ and ‘proportion’ share a common etymology derived from the act of determining one’s share in some larger whole. That proper fit between a given context and the thing intervening into that context is discovered through culture, program, climate, and the aesthetics of place. A building that connects to context in a way that supports multiple associations is a building that we judge to be appropriate to its program, fitting to its site, expressive of its culture, responsive to its climate, and careful with its resources. These traits are what make Weiss/Manfredi’s work, including the new CAED building, significant and worthy of discussion.
51
SOUTH WILLOW
D E S I G N O F PLACE - SITE PLAN EAST COLLEGE
52
The Landscape and the Lobby The northern length of the building’s ground level is public and parallels the shallow slope of the Lefton Esplanade. The east entry opens onto the main stair seen across from, and smartly cattycorner to, the main flow of the lobby. The stair ascends to the administrative offices and studio lofts above. Classrooms, a cafe with openly distributed seating, a gallery with adequate space beyond it to host receptions, an ample main lecture hall, and the Joseph F. Morbito Architecture Library with
SOTUH LINCOLN
D E S I G N O F PLACE - SITE PLAN
ROCKWELL HALL
Kent State CAED SK.14.05.01
FRANKLIN HALL
SITE PLAN SCALE: 1/16" = 1'-0"
various open study areas span the entire ground level like beads patterned along a necklace. The south lawn folds down to allow pedestrians and vehicles to access a generous sunken work yard right off the college’s new shop/fabrication space. Research spaces, laboratories, shops for working metals and wood, areas for large digital fabrication equipment, spaces dedicated to construction management, and an area overlooking the building’s mechanical equipment comprise the lower level of the facility.
53
D E S I G N O F PLACE - LOWER LEVEL
54
D E S I G N O F PLACE - LOWER LEVEL
55
D E S I G N O F PLACE - FIRST FLOOR
56
D E S I G N O F PLACE - FIRST FLOOR
Like a pendant, the rotund lecture hall centers the entire ensemble inside and out. The large capacity lecture room’s curving wall cradles the speaker and audience on one side, and curves outward to deflect space on the other. Curving the space on both sides provides a lesson in reciprocity, showing how the shape of a wall can reverse the countenance between places.
57
D E S I G N O F PLACE - EAST ENTRANCE 58
The lobby increases in volume generously enough to insert a mezzanine. Like a ribbon, the masonry panels ascend along the north facade, following the run of stairs, and connecting the studio lofts together. At the west end, the facade cuts back and rakes a little higher, allowing daylight to enter the library, mezzanine, and faculty offices on the second floor. The profile of this
D E S I G N O F PLACE - EAST ENTRANCE
angular cut reminds me of the elevated auditorium from Stirling and Gowan’s Leicester Engineering Building finished in 1963. The zigzagging glazed stair that flows down the south façade of the new CAED building alludes to the final of Stirling’s “Red Trilogy” buildings, Queen’s College Florey Building, with its glazed egress stairs jutting jauntily from the stacked tile facade.
59
D E S I G N O F PLACE - MEZZANINE 60
The Joseph F. Morbito Architecture Library The layout of the Joseph F. Morbito Architecture Library exemplifies Aldo van Eyck’s advice after completing his Municipal Orphanage near Amsterdam, published in Progressive Architecture in September 1962: make each space in-between into a place, and transform each place into a bunch of places. The library space acts as both terminus and hinge, allowing views outward to the city but also connecting the spaces above and around the book shelves. Adjacent study areas allow for solitary, small, or large group study.
D E S I G N O F PLACE - MEZZANINE
Situated above the book stacks, open to the lobby below, and accessible from the faculty offices on the second floor, the mezzanine doubles as a materials library and study space that will likely become a favorite spot for students and faculty to meet and exchange thoughts. By being both intimately separate but outwardly connected, the open mezzanine transgresses boundaries in ways that will enrich social interactions.
61
D E S I G N O F PLACE - studio view
62
D E S I G N O F PLACE - studio view
Similarly, the new CAED building will display its social interior outward to the esplanade. Like a tableaux depicting a larger narrative through silent gestural exchanges, the library, lecture hall, gallery, cafe, and lobby blend together and merge these smaller intermezzos into a larger center of action. The students traversing the esplanade each night will be able look into and see the building’s inner activity unfold. Like Hertzberger’s “realm of the threshold,” this relay of relations throughout the lobby presents a dance of agency and affect, with exchanges between its occupants choreographed through space.
63
D E S I G N O F PLACE - NORTHEAST VIEW
64
D E S I G N O F PLACE - NORTHEAST VIEW
Lateral Learning In their presentation during the design competition, Michael Manfredi spoke about “peripheral vision.” I take this to suggest that we see and learn out of the corners of our eyes. As a seasoned architect and studio professor myself, I understand Manfredi’s consideration of “peripheral vision” to be a central feature of studio-based education. But this aspect of learning is not peripheral or recognizable only at the edges of sight. Instead, the bulk of studio learning happens when students turn their attention away from their professor and look directly at the work of a colleague or a classmate a year level above or perhaps a year level below.
65
D E S I G N O F PLACE - SECOND FLOOR 66
The “design loft’s” performance as a spatial configuration goes beyond stimulating the occupant’s peripheral vision; it shifts a student’s attention in a lateral and nonhierarchical manner. The lofted design offers multiple views simultaneously—creating a visual and ideated feast for any design student seeking inspiration at any given moment just by looking around. Once in conversation with art critic Christian Zervos, Picasso defined his fellow artists like this, “Artists are receptacles for emotions that come from all over the
D E S I G N O F PLACE - SECOND FLOOR
place: the sky, a bit of earth, a piece of paper, a passing figure, a spider’s web. That’s why they can’t discriminate between things. Because for true artists, there are no places of exclusion.” Weiss/Manfredi’s three-level design loft, coupled with the public openness and flexibility of the ground floor, exemplifies places of inclusion without boundaries—expansive places where a student can enter hungry to know, look, learn, make, contribute their creativity to the mix, and leave inspired.
67
D E S I G N O F PLACE - THIRD FLOOR 68
Studio Lofts Does this building flow despite being lofted and layered? In general, can floors be connected despite being pancaked? This has been a conundrum in architectural design; mid-20th century architects recognized that structural and functional efficiencies were not enough to accommodate humans socially. I am thinking here of John Andrews’ 1972 work, the GSD’s Gund Hall at Harvard, famous for its studio trays overlooking its ground level critique area, all set beneath a sloping illuminated roof notorious for leaking.
D E S I G N O F PLACE - THIRD FLOOR
However, as I consider the new CAED building, another light-filled masterpiece comes to mind, Sir Evan Owens Williams’ Beeston Boots D10 Building from 1931. Williams’ wet pharmaceutical factory uses daylight and openness to facilitate flexibility and action. Boots D10 Building flows nicely between floors and glows gloriously at night. Similarly, the new CAED building’s structured openness and infiltration of daylight from multiple sides will enliven the interior during the day and provide visual delight to the esplanade at night.
69
D E S I G N O F PLACE - FOURTH FLOOR 70
With studios making up roughly half of its useable space, the building’s overall shape is determined by the sectional strategy of the “design loft.” The spatial concept connects the three studio levels into one vertically layered space. The studio lofts and intervening critique spaces showcase research and design by affording visual and physical connections between the lofted floors. The open stair that skirts between the columns and the building’s exterior envelope, the stacked fire stair which borrows light from outside,
D E S I G N O F PLACE - FOURTH FLOOR
and the long cascading stair that dodges down the building’s south facade form circuits that connect the levels together in a manner reminiscent of the intertwining stairs in Hannes Meyer’s 1926 Functionalist proposal for the Petersschule in Basel. Like a river cascading over rocky shelves, the space opens upward or downward depending on your movements. The studio lofts are a powerful spatial concept whose performance derives from the potentiality, variability, relativity, and simultaneity of the experiences derived between floors.
71
D E S I G N O F PLACE - SECTION 72
The Roofscape and the Sky Beneath the roof, the studio lofts will be suffused with light. The canted clearstories act like monitors, gathering daylight from the north and east, and illuminating the interior as they angle along the lofted levels. By tilting in both plan and section, the monitors tie the campus to the city by opening the interior space outward. The space lifts instead of confines, stitching spaces together diagonally, encouraging occupants to move in one direction with eyes glancing in another. The person sitting down or passing through these spaces can look around variously—up or down, inside or out, always finding something new to look at.
D E S I G N O F PLACE - SECTION
Some Conclusive Gleanings Space habituates society; so to change a society you should redefine its spaces. It is the nature of space to flow between and afford new connections over time. But when it comes to architecture, the elements from which we construct a building are many times static and stultifying. How to afford redistributive flow through a static container? If our buildings shape us, then how do we reshape ourselves if our building restricts us?
73
D E S I G N O F PLACE - NORTHWEST VIEW
74
D E S I G N O F PLACE - NORTHWEST VIEW
Weiss/Manfredi challenge this problem through their work. Their architecture is no simple container of space. Instead, their works operate like kaleidoscopes, adjusting between interior and exterior with open potential. This simple definition, that space constitutes an affective bridge, is their means of manifesting variable and articulate in-between spaces. Their best works link an interior of open interconnected activities to a contiguous landscape of buildings, paths, open lawns, and treescapes. For Kent State University, Weiss/Manfredi and RLB+A designed a building whose structure compels those hierarchies to split open, allowing spaces to be redefined by choice.
75
D E S I G N O F PLACE 76
This building enmeshes multiple places into each space. The variability of the day’s light, the flow of students in and out of the building, the setting up for special events, the display of work, and the taking down of exhibits, the conversations in the hallways and on the stairs, the small talk while eating at the cafe, the lectures by celebrity designers and scholars, the visits by alumni, tours by prospective students, the frenetic design work at night, the silence of studying, the thrum of shop equipment, and all sorts of passersby walking along the esplanade and peering in—if taken altogether and arranged so that each activity correlates though various kinds of affective bridges, then the building will perform as a setting full of vast possibilities, where personal meanings may be discovered but never fully defined. The new CAED building demonstrates how a thing can be simultaneously simple and vast. Weiss/Manfredi are not regurgitating a previous design for Kent State University. Certainly, this building draws lessons from their previous works. Weiss/Manfredi is a practice that seeks continuity. The refinement of their process is always in pursuit of something greater in the next go around. Their past work should be seen as prolog to this newest building. Weiss/Manfredi’s work aspires to relate the emerging conditions of the 21st century to the timeless art of building. It is within the historic context of other architectures that their work should be understood—and not in the realm of private fancy or fetishized form.
D E S I G N O F PLACE
The “design loft” concept is both obvious and cunning. The daylit drafting loft was an ancillary part of historic shipbuilding; its inspiration was to bring the act of drafting closer to the daylight and away from the dust and distraction of the workshop floor. But by allowing overlooks between levels, Weiss/Manfredi connects students of varying year levels and majors into a single unified act of design, going from foundation design to the senior and masters level. The space does more than demonstrate the upward lift of the loft spaces; it compels the occupant to look up and ascend the open stairs. These levels embody the very definition of ‘aspirant’ in the studio model of education—a word that points back to the beginnings of architectural education in the Ecole des Beaux Arts. This building is for students first. It is a building that when inhabited by a first year student, may inspire the desire to “make it to the top.” I predict that the lofted spaces will generate loyalty between students at each year level and inspire solidarity between corresponding levels. This spatial configuration puts into play a social framework and esprit de corps that will enhance the college’s educational mission of affecting a studied balance between ascending aesthetic, cultural, technical, economic, and ecological complexities through design.
77
D E S I G N O F PLACE 78
Bridging Between Designer and the World Design combines the social and material dimensions of reality in a comprehensible and meaningful manner. The designer coordinates the energies that interact between people, things, climate, and dwindling resources in a way where the dynamics of the composition equals something more than the sum of all parts. This building acts as an agent to architectural education and will assist the people entering it to appreciate each other, to appreciate building, to recognize their environmental context, and to affect the world. I believe that this building, once it is settled into, will serve as a catalyst for doing, thinking, designing, making, and sustaining the world both inside and out. Students and faculty in architectural studies, interior design, architecture, construction management, and our various graduate programs, including urban design and landscape architecture, will interact by exchanging aptitudes in a affective dance—because the spaces and activities perform together in that dance. All great buildings help humanity to meet the world halfway. And the dance of environmental design, with the tempo and melody set through architectural expression, will affect all who appreciate this place to better meet the world halfway.
William T Willoughby, AIA Associate Professor and Associate Dean, CAED Kent State University July 2014
D E S I G N O F PLACE
79
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE & ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS
WEISS/MANFREDI and
RICHARD L. BOWEN & ASSOCIATES
Selection Jury
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - SELECTION JURY 86
These individuals came together in 2012 to make up the jury for the new CAED building. Working together, they sifted through 37 submissions from around the world narrowing the field to just eight submissions. Their work led to the selection of Weiss/Manfredi and their design for the new CAED home.
Douglas L Steidl
Vivian Loftness
Joan Soranno
Dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at Kent State. Douglas L Steidl, a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, has practiced architecture for 36 years and was a Founding Principal for 25 years of Braun & Steidl Architects. A 50-person firm, BSA focused on providing architecture, planning and interior design services to educational, institutional, corporate, and hospitality clients, completing work in 31 states and Canada. Mr. Steidl has served in leadership positions within the profession of architecture for more than two decades, including: —P resident of the 77,000 member American Institute of Architects in 2005 —P resident of the National Architectural Accrediting Board in 2009 —C o-Director and Secretary of the Professional Practice Commission of the International Union of Architects from 2008-2011 Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea and Australia have recognized him as either an Honorary Member or Honorary Fellow by their professional societies. In 1971, Doug received his professional architecture degree from Carnegie-Mellon University. Following graduation he served for three and a half years as an officer in the U.S. Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps, overseeing construction projects in Florida. He has held architectural registrations in 23 jurisdictions and is a holder of a National Council of Architectural Registration Boards Certificate.
Vivian Loftness, FAIA, LEED AP, is an internationally renowned researcher, author and educator focused on environmental design and sustainability, climate and regionalism in architecture, and the integration of advanced building systems for health and productivity. In addition to eight book chapters and over 35 journal articles, she edited the reference encyclopedia Sustainable Built Environments, released by Springer Publishing in 2013. Professor Loftness is one of 35 university professors at Carnegie Mellon University and served a decade as Head of the School of Architecture. With over 30 years of industry and government research funding, she is a key member of Carnegie Mellon’s leadership in sustainability research and education, and contributor to the ongoing development of the Intelligent Workplace - a living laboratory of commercial building innovations for performance. In 2013, Vivian was recognized as a LEED Fellow, Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, and one of 13 Stars of Building Science by the Building Research Establishment in the UK. Vivian Loftness has a Bachelors of Science and a Masters of Architecture from MIT.
Joan Soranno, FAIA, is an award-winning architect specializing in cultural and religious architecture at HGA, Inc. in Minneapolis. With colleague John Cook, FAIA, she has created a small design studio within the large-firm structure. The studio approach serves as an incubator for innovative design, in which her projects are aesthetically driven and technically challenging. Among her highly regarded work is Lakewood Garden Mausoleum in Minneapolis, which has won 22 national and international design awards and was featured on the cover of Architect magazine in October 2012. Also noteworthy are Bigelow Chapel for the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in New Brighton, Minnesota, which won the AIA Honor Award for Architecture; B’nai Israel Synagogue in Rochester, Minnesota; the Laird Norton Addition at the Winona County History Museum in Winona, Minnesota; and the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks.
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - SELECTION JURY
Bradley Lynch
Michael Bruder
Brad Lynch’s vast design experience has covered a wide range of project types. His career began as a construction and project manager restoring Frank Lloyd Wright buildings in the Midwest, after attending the University of Wisconsin. This work included the restoration of the first Herbert Jacobs House, Wright’s first Usonian house and now a National Landmark and recently nominated to be a UNESCO World Heritage Building. After completing his internship at architecture firms in Chicago, he founded Brininstool + Lynch in 1989 with David Brininstool, where he has designed over 50 awardwinning and recognized projects including the Racine Art Museum which received an unprecedented four Design Excellence Awards from the American Institute of Architects - Chicago. Beyond commercial and private projects, Brad has been actively involved in civic and community initiatives related to design. This includes creating a sustainable planning initiative for the Atlantic rainforest city of Paranapiacaba in Brazil; designs for a sustainable community development with Global Green in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina; the planning of a new transportation hub and master plan for Chinatown in Chicago; as well as a master plan for the West Loop in Chicago. Brad’s current projects range from office buildings to vacation houses, and a 54-story mixed-use tower in Toronto.
Michael Bruder has been with Kent State University in the Office of the University Architect since 1999. In his current role as Executive Director and University Architect of Facilities, Planning and Design, Michael is responsible for all construction activities on the Kent Campus. With a staff of over 25 full time employees, the office manages over 200 projects per year with an annual construction budget of $38 million. He strives to provide well-designed buildings in a cohesive campus plan to provide a positive environment for learning, researching, living and working for students, faculty and staff. Michael graduated from Kent State in 1993 with a Master of Architecture degree.
87
Team Profiles
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - TEAM PROFILES 88
WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism is at the forefront of architectural design practices that are redefining the relationships between landscape, architecture, infrastructure, and art. The firm’s projects are noted for clarity of vision, bold and iconic forms, and material innovation. Named one of North America’s “Emerging Voices” by the Architectural League of New York, WEISS/MANFREDI’s distinct vision was recognized with the Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Additional honors include the Tau Sigma Delta Gold Medal and the New York AIA Gold Medal. The firm’s design for the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park integrates art, architecture, and ecology in a new model for waterfront development. Exhibited in the “Groundswell” show at The Museum of Modern Art, the project has won a World Architecture Festival Award, I.D. Magazine Environments Award, Progressive Architecture Award, AIA Awards, ASLA Honor Award, EDRA Places Award, and was the first North American project to Marion Weiss & Michael Manfredi win Harvard University’s International V.R. Green Prize in Urban Design. The award-winning Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park, located on the East River in Queens, New York, recently opened to the public. Surrounded by water on three sides, the integrated park design weaves together infrastructure, landscape, and architecture into a model of urban ecology and a resilient, multilayered cultural destination. WEISS/MANFREDI recently won a national competition with OLIN to redesign the Sylvan Theater, an integrated outdoor amphitheater at the Washington Monument grounds in Washington, D.C. The firm’s new Visitor Center at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, winner of a National ASLA Honor Award, is conceived as a seamless extension of the garden’s path system, offering a new sequence of views into and through the historic garden. Their Krishna P. Singh Center for
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - TEAM PROFILES
Nanotechnology recently opened to the public at the University of Pennsylvania. This state-of-the-art lab facility brings together researchers across disciplines in a welcoming new gateway to campus. Other built works include the Barnard College Diana Center, Museum of the Earth, and the Women’s Memorial and Education Center at Arlington National Cemetery. The firm has won numerous awards and competitions and has been featured in exhibitions at The Museum of Modern Art, the Venice Architectural Biennale, the São Paulo Biennale of International Architecture and Design, the Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the National Building Museum, The International Landscape Architecture Biennale in Barcelona, and the Design Center in Essen, Germany. Princeton Architectural Press has published two monographs on their work entitled WEISS/MANFREDI: Surface/Subsurface and Site Specific: The Work of WEISS/MANFREDI Architects. A new monograph was recently published in Korean and English by Pro Architect and Evolutionary Infrastructures, a Harvard GSD publication, is forthcoming. Marion Weiss received her Master of Architecture at Yale University, where she won the American Institute of Architects Scholastic Award and the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Traveling Fellowship. She has taught design studios at Yale University, Cornell University, and since 1991 has been a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania’s Penn School of Design where she is currently the Graham Professor of Architecture. Michael Manfredi received his Master of Architecture at Cornell University where he studied with Colin Rowe. There he won the Paris Prize and the Eidlitz Fellowship. In addition to teaching at Cornell, where he is the Gensler Visiting Professor, he has taught design studios at Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University. He was the founding chairman of the Van Alen Institute and is currently a board member of the Storefront for Art Weiss/Manfredi OFFICE and Architecture.
89
Team Profiles
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - TEAM PROFILES
Richard L. Bowen + Associates Inc. brings architecture, engineering, and construction services together to provide a comprehensive range of services. Architects and engineers are experienced in a wide range of project types, with a reputation for quality work. They maintain the technical capabilities to explore all methods of design, from the innovative to the traditional. The team of designers uses the most current design programs and tools available. An in-house 3D modeling and animation staff utilizes state-of-the-art multimedia technology to study everything from massing and programming concepts to strategies for the building’s orientation to its surroundings.
Richard L. Bowen + Associates
90
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - TEAM PROFILES
Richard L. Bowen, president and owner, is a registered architect in the 48 contiguous states, Hawaii, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Canada, Great Britain and Australia. The firm has structural, electrical and mechanical engineers who are licensed in multiple states across the U.S. Principals and staff are committed to the community and are active in several foundations which support education, social services, and the arts. Members of the firm regularly assume key leadership positions in professional organizations including the American Institute of Architects. Richard L. Bowen + Associates (RLB+A) is the namesake of Richard L. Bowen, who founded the firm in 1959 after his graduation from the Western Reserve University School of Architecture in Cleveland, Ohio. Now, more than 50 years later, the firm has built an impeccable reputation on a strong foundation of client service. This foundation is showcased through imaginative design, technical excellence, and proactive project management.
91
Team Profiles
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - TEAM PROFILES
Gilbane Construction is a leading building firm, providing a full slate of construction and facilities-related services – from sustainable building to the latest in construction technology and management – for clients across various markets. Above all else, they are advocates for their clients – delivering projects on time, on budget, safely and efficiently. Founded in 1873 and still a privately held, family-run company, they are focused on loyalty, stability and trust. At the heart of their success is the team of employees across the country whose passion, commitment, experience and integrity are a central part of every project delivered.
Gilbane Inc.
92
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - TEAM PROFILES
93
Visionaries
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - VISIONARIES 94
A cross section of CAED community members who see the bright future of the College and have engaged with it. These people represent just a fraction of those who are helping to promote and support the efforts of CAED to provide a world-class design education.
Bob Cene ‘80
Elizabeth Roberts ‘07
John & Fonda Elliot ‘70
“ I always dreamed of ways in which I had a passion to repay from both my talents and my substance - my church which ultimately shaped who I am, and the architecture program at Kent State which directed my pursuits throughout my life. The architecture program taught me problem solving techniques infused with the creative energy that manifested my passion to experience work through the eyes of the people that create the structures in which we experience our lives. It also brought me lasting friendships that have been part of my life for almost 40 years. God blessed me with the sale of our family business. This opened the door for me to financially participate, yet, it is not about the money. It’s about being PART of our college. Contributing our time to honor the energy of our mentors like Joseph Schidlowski, the energy of the students, and the energy of our structure! It’s through this energy that demonstrates the passion to give back and pay it forward for many years to come. So when I drive by and see our new building, I will FEEL my heart beating with energy, giving students the passion to manifest their dreams.”
“ Kent State’s Interior Design program equipped me with the skills and knowledge to not only be a successful professional but also helped to cultivate a lifelong passion for design. I recognize it was the late nights in the studio and the cultural experiences during the Florence Program that played an important role in my personal and professional development. In the years since graduation, it has been my pleasure to meet with current students to learn about their work and encourage them to explore all the possibilities in front of them. Those are just a few of the reasons why I continue to support the College of Architecture and Environmental Design and why I am proud to promote the high quality education that KSU offers.”
“ Looking back on my student experience, I realize that I was very lucky to have the entrepreneurial spirit fostered in me. The program instilled pride of ownership in abstract ideas. Design was a process of survival, defending your concept in a sea of constructive criticism. I remember my professors contributing to a strong work ethic, and they set a great example. They represented the epitome of volunteerism and “giving back” with their presence in the design studio. It took many decades for our entrepreneurial spirit to finally bear the financial stability so that Fonda and I could add philanthropy to our volunteerism. This has culminated in our present gift to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design which contributes to the realization of the new showcase architecture building, will develop a program for healthcare design with a professorship, and 10 new graduate scholarships. I firmly believe success is not just a reward, it is a responsibility. Leadership is all about service. Fonda and I feel we are all responsible for giving back to Kent State. I would encourage you to follow your passion and donate so that you too can ‘give till it feels good.’ After all, it’s not the university that defines the people; it’s the people that define the university.”
A C K N O W L E DGEMENTS - VISIONARIES
Sandy & Lawrence Armstrong ‘79 - ‘80
Bill Willoughby ‘88
“ We grew up and grew together here. KSU and the CAED have had a profound influence on our lives, professionally and personally. We are grateful for the education, guidance and growth we received here. However much we are able to contribute back, we can never adequately equal what we have gained from Kent State.”
“ I ’m not the kind of person to rely on my past accomplishments to define me. I believe my current activity, be it an administrative improvement, a scholarly paper, a new design, or a course I’ve never taught before supersedes anything I accomplished in the past. I retired from my previous post at another architecture and interior design program in order to return to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design. Being an alumnus from the late 80’s, and coming back again as one of its newer academics, I am looking forward to today’s challenges and the exciting opportunities the future holds here at Kent State University. The program has been yearning for many years to transcend itself; and the new CAED building will transform the program in unimagined ways. I came back to Northeast Ohio to make a difference here; to work each day to retain the traditions that make this place special and to forge forward in directions where the professions will move tomorrow. I want to help create an impressive legacy for the college. I give because my giving uplifts a solid, stable, and good program—that with our help can truly achieve something great.”
95
KENT STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE & ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN
PLEDGE
WEISS/MANFREDI and
RICHARD L. BOWEN & ASSOCIATES
Become a Visionary
P L E D G E - BECOME A VISIONARY
102
During the design process, as you are aware, not all design features make the final plans. The building is already exceptional, but we have created a fund to implement enhancements that will take it to an entirely new level of efficiency, performance, and quality. As we begin building this future home of CAED, I hope that you will consider supporting your alma mater. With your help this project will truly be a memorable step in the procession of design facilities constructed in this century. Our Design Fund will help us create an exceptional environment for our students in a building that casts a vision of their place as the world’s future designers. As a consequence, it will reveal the reasons for outstanding architecture and design. Enhancements through this fund will enable us to share this vision with a broader society and solidify CAED’s place as an exceptional design school.
P L E D G E - BECOME A VISIONARY
Give to Our New Home
103
Become a Visionary
P L E D G E - BECOME A VISIONARY
104
Some of you may identify more strongly with students than bricks and mortar. Thus we have created a second fund for scholarships. We may have the greatest building imaginable, and we will, but without scholars it becomes a shell. As economic times have created financial burdens on families, attaining the full educational experience has become more difficult. This has resulted in restrictions on travelling abroad, and even at times has precluded degree completion. We wish to assist and ask you to do so as well. Your gift to this fund will bridge the gap between a student’s personal resources and their aspirations. I am sincerely asking for your help and am enthusiastic about your participation because this is our chance to show ownership of this project and support our future designers. No matter what you decide to contribute, never think your contribution will be overlooked or deemed insignificant. It will make a difference. Your dollars are valuable and we will treat them with the same intentional care that we give to our students. For more information contact Marti Ring, Director of Advancement at 330-672-0932 mkring1@kent.edu or Wiley Runnestrand, Associate Director of Advancement at 330-672-0922 wrunnest@kent.edu.
P L E D G E - BECOME A VISIONARY
Give to Students
Will you participate? We trust you will! Thank you in advance, Douglas L Steidl, FAIA Dean, The College of Architecture and Environmental Design
To Pledge Today Visit: www2.kent.edu/CAED/about/new-building.cfm College of Architecture and Environmental Design PO Box 5190 201 Taylor Hall Kent, OH 44242
105
Credits
CREDITS
Design WSDIA | WeShouldDoItAll editors Douglas L Steidl, FAIA, Dean Martha Ring Barbara Davis Writers Martha Ring William T. Willoughby, AIA, NCARB Wiley Runnestrand Project Management Wiley Runnestrand Photography P84 Weiss/Manfredi Portrait — Shuli Sadé/ Sadé Studio P24 Taylor Hall — Lisa Wilding | Karpinski Engineering Visionary / donor A very special thank you to Doug McNeill ‘68 whose generous donation made this publication possible. Printing Printed in Iceland by Oddi Printing
106
CREDITS
107