As a school in one of the most wired educational institutions in the nation, the School of Architecture is working to make technological improvements to its programs and facilities and expand its influence throughout the world.
The architecture school is "very interesting and misunderstood at the same time. People don’t really realize what goes on here," said Demetrios Comodromos ’01. "It pushes its architecture students to be architects. Most schools don’t combine the older methods of model building and drawing with the newer methods of three-dimensional analysis."
Focused on design studio teaching, the school is "one of the most substantial professional schools in the nation," said Alan Balfour, dean of the School of Architecture.
Balfour noted that in a recent design competition for a structure on the Toronto waterfront, the school’s 16 entries—out of the 90 submitted by architecture firms and architecture schools—took three of the top six positions. The School also achieved similar successful results in the Charles Street State competition a couple of years ago.
Recently, the architecture school has enhanced its department through renovations made to the Greene Building, technological upgrades to its programs, and international
expansion.
During the past year, the entire attic floor of the Greene Building was refurbished and several rooms in the building were repainted, equipped with intricate drop-down projector screens, wired for Ethernet access, and fitted with upgraded computer systems.
"The elevator is a plus for fourth-floor students. All the projectors on the screens are really helpful for working in groups," said Mitchell McAllister ’03.
"Everything’s going forward. We’ve upgraded some computer systems and added an elevator. We would like to be where the EMAC people are," said Justin Moench ’03.
The School plans several six-month international programs in Rome, China, and India, among others. Design studios, which can take short international excursions to study design ideas discussed, also visited sites in Madrid, Spain, and New York City this year.
Students who take part in the programs are able to gain a clearer picture of the landmark features in areas for which they are designing and enhance their knowledge about the design process.
"Out of the top schools, Rensselaer is the best because they have a lot of foreign studies," said Rebecca Zollin ’03.
Additionally, the programs help to portray the architecture school’s notable image and reputation internationally. "For our size, we have the best architecture school international programs. These programs are tremendous," noted Associate Dean Mark Mistur.
For this reason, many prospective students select Rensselaer’s architecture school as their primary choice simply for a chance to enjoy having the experience of one of these international programs.
"One of the great things is the vertical studio. Having the opportunity to travel gives the School higher status," said Katalina Arboleda ’03.
However, according to Professor David Bell, RPI’s newly implemented central budgeting policy is having "a serious effect on the international programs.
The central budget policy makes it very difficult to run some of the international architecture programs that are one of the School’s attractions. It’s an unintended consequence."
Working with the School of Engineering and the School of Humanities and Social Sciences this past year, the architecture school integrated one of its studio programs into Product Design and Innovation program.
The principal goals behind the project are promoting effective cooperative skills between undergraduate architects and engineers and assisting the exchange of ideas between the related fields.
Some architecture students believe that this type of interdisciplinary assimilation should be expanded in the future to include other related fields. "We need to work more closely with the EMAC students," said Suzanne Weber ’01.
Another staple feature of studio coursework this year has been groups of students preparing ideas for use in the new Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies and Electronic Media and Performing Arts Center.
In addition to having to the opportunity to make creative contributions to the design process of campus facilities, students noted that they enjoyed having a chance to meet international architecture firms who will be working on the project.
Adjunct Assistant Professor Daniel Lopez-Perez, an instructor for several architectural design studios, believes that the combination of technological and traditional techniques in teaching is helping students to complete their work with a better feel for the overall architectural process.
"We’re working parallel in terms of process, as much by hand as on the computer. Integration has been critical," Lopez-Perez said.
Essentially, the School feels that it is worthwhile to use the technology as a complement rather than a replacement for traditional ways.
Because of this, technology is not seen as "the answer to all things" said Mistur. Those in the architecture school "very much value how much they do with their hands. Digital complements traditional." He added that Rensselaer’s architecture school is unique among national architecture schools in its embracing of a "very effective digital/non-digital workspace."
Discussing the new technological improvements of the studios, Bell said, "We have improved many parts of the School over the past few years—including the building itself."
He noted that there has been a substantial effort to integrate computing work into the design studios—an effort, which is far ahead of other architecture schools.
In recent years, the School of Architecture has also considerably increased the number of computer workstations and servers that it uses.
"We may very well be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the Intel Hardware Grant," said Greene building systems administrator Jeff Bianchine.
Just a few years previous, the School had a noticeable deficit in its number of workstations and servers.
Luckily, as a result of the concurrence of the increase in applications that support Windows NT workstations and the increase in computers bought with assistance from the grant, the School has "hit the ground running," Bianchine said.
According to Bianchine, the School has "an enterprise-grade Windows NT server, a modest render farm with three NT servers, and total deployment of Windows NT workstations to more than 12 supported student studio workspaces."
Since the recent introduction of the laptop computer program, however, the use of some of these workstations has been decreasing, and with 100 percent laptop use approaching, the School’s administrators are currently engaged in a search for the best way to make use of the workstations.
Bianchine said the process is "soul searching" for the proper applications of those workstations. "It’s forcing us to rethink how we’re going to do what we do. Unlike other schools, laptops aren’t necessarily the ideal platform for all of our software," said Bianchine.
Another focus for upcoming technological improvements is the School’s website. Not only does the site currently contain an abundance of dated information, it also does not exhibit many student projects that would be potentially of interest to those visiting it.
According to Bell, the School of Architecture is currently looking to obtain more content for a new site, which could possibly be up and running by next summer. However, according to Bell, finding the personnel who would be able to maintain the new site might prove to be difficult.
The architecture school has also expanded the breadth of its graduate programs in order to offer a stronger devotion to research and enable its graduate students to enjoy working in a diverse selection of studies.
The five newest programs are: the informatics discipline, devoted to information technology study; architectural acoustics, for research on the physics and design strategies for shaping environments to achieve predictable sound quality and acoustic performance; the Lighting Research Center, for studying the effective use of light in society and the environment; workplace design, which studies how technology can be employed to make business environments more cost-effective, attractive, and environmentally responsible; and building conservation, involved in the care, restoration, and adaptation of buildings, urban environments, and rural landscapes.
The School is hoping that work conducted and information attained in those programs enhances corresponding undergraduate studies.
"Resources and expertise will trickle down to undergraduate programs," said Mistur.
The woodshop on the fourth floor of the Greene Building enables students from many disciplines to build their own art installations.
Woodshop Manager Sid Fleisher said the shop allows students "the chance to explore materials in a very physical way ... Students can work with creations, see how they respond to the saw, chisel, etc."
He added that conducting work in the woodshop gives many students a rare opportunity to leave the computer lab for the experience of producing their own creative handiwork.
