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News and Noteworthy Announcements

 

A day in the life of a student in the PSU Department of Architecture

Ever wondered what it's like to be an architecture student at Portland State University? Watch the video at left and you'll see!

Shot and edited by a PSU Department of Architecture student, this short film is a lovingly crafted ode to the trials, tribulations, joys, and long nights that go along with architecture school.

A shorter version is available here.
 

PSU Department of Architecture student Caty Skogland featured in video "A Better World"

Caty Skogland's work on sustainable portable school classrooms was featured in this beautiful video, which shows the many ways in which PSU students are not waiting until graduation to improve the world. 

This film premiered at the 2011 Simon Benson Awards in October.
 

Short Film features Department of Architecture professor Rudy  Barton

In this short film, PSU Architecture professor Rudy Barton talks about the Willamette River as the defining heart of our city - both literally and metaphorically.  Produced by Red Door Films (2008).
 
Portland State University Architecture students return from educational adventure in Spain
Led by Architecture professors L.
Rudolph Barton and Jeff Schnabel, 10 undergraduate and 5 graduate students in Architecture embarked on September 1, 2011, on a two-and-a-half-week study trip that took them from Madrid to Barcelona to Girona. The group visited and studied major architectural sites, both historical and contemporary, and enjoyed not a small amount of the Spanish food, music and lifestyle along the way.
Visit the trip blog and follow the group's adventures from the start of the trip to their return home, illustrated with photos and notes on their journey.
And don't miss the trip's videologue, shot by students during their travels.
The first class Master of Architecture graduates  
Congratulations to the first class of Master of Architecture students!
This fine group of students received their graduate degrees on June 12, 2011 (shown at left just after the School of Fine and Performing Arts Hooding Ceremony). Graduation represents a significant accomplishment in their lives and indicates a new era in the growth of professional architectural education in Portland.

Our collective sense of accomplishment, as faculty and staff, is matched only by the sheer joy with which we release these thirteen talented, pioneering students to the practice community. In making this happen the Department recognizes, with much gratitude, the sustained support of our Dean, Barbara Sestak, the university administration, and the tireless contributions of many, many contributors from the local design community. All have been invaluable in enabling us to realize our ambition to build graduate study and research capacity upon the firm footing of our already well-established undergraduate program. Thank you all.

Our heartfelt congratulations also go to the undergraduate seniors who received their Bachelor of Science or Arts in Architecture on June 12. We are pleased to be welcoming several of these students into our Master of Architecture program this Fall.
June 13, 2011
  Portland State University's Department of Architecture Awarded Major Grant by Partner University Fund

The Partner University Fund (PUF) has selected the Department of Architecture, Portland State University, as one of 12 laureates out of 89 applicants to receive a major program development grant, which will fund a three-year partnership between Portland State University and Ecole Speciale d’Architecture de Paris. The $485,000 grant will be split between the two institutions, with the majority going to Portland State University’s Department of Architecture, and the remainder going to the Ecole Speciale d’Architecture.  

The partnership, led by Portland State University Department of Architecture professor Sergio Palleroni and Ecole Speciale d’Architecture de Paris professor Marie Aquilino, will focus on architecture and human dignity, allowing students from Paris and from Portland to collaboratively design and build two orphanages in Haiti during the first two years of the partnership. The third year of the partnership will feature a cultural and educational exchange in which Portland State University architecture students will study at the Ecole in Paris and the Parisian students will come to Portland to learn. Engineering students from Portland State University will also participate in the project. Together, approximately 140 students from both institutions over three years will benefit from the cross-cultural partnership.

May 9, 2011
 

Sergio Palleroni and Margarette Leite are featured on the Cover of Residential Architecture magazine's January/February 2011 issue.

In an article entitled "Picking Up the Pieces," Palleroni and Leite's BaSic Initiative rebuilding and recovery work in disaster zones is highlighted. The entire publication is available for viewing here; turn to page 37 to read this illuminating article on Palleroni and Leite's inspiring work.

In addition, Portland State University Architecture professor Sergio Palleroni has been awarded the prestigious AIA Latrobe Prize.

Click here for the press release.
Whelton Design Competition Entry  

Adjunct Professor Aaron Whelton of Portland State University's Department of Architecture wins Portland Firefighters Memorial Competition . Click here to learn more.

BaSic Initiative Wins International Award

PSU and University of Texas's collaboration, directed by Sergio Palleroni, has been named the 2010 winner for Non-Profit Architectural Organizations for the Global Impact Award in Architecture.

Click here to see a time-lapse video of the process of building a visitors' center at the Druk White Lotus School in Ladakh, India, as a part of the the BaSic Initiative.  To view a documentary on this exciting program, click here.
 

PSU Architecture Students Present "Fresh, Local, Sustainable Designs" to Burgerville Executives

The Burgerville of the future could have a gym, an open-air produce market or a food education center, if company executives adopt the design ideas of architecture graduate students at Portland State University.  Read more.
December 9, 2010
 

SRG Partnership & Shattuck Hall Win IIDA Oregon Design Award

On Friday, October 22, Shattuck Hall and SRG Partnership, the architecture firm that led the Shattuck renovation, won the Education Honor Award at the 2010 IIDA Oregon Design Awards. This award is the fifth that the Shattuck Hall renovation has received. For more information, visit http://www.iida-or.org/.
 

Shattuck Hall Wins 2010 Honor Award

Shattuck Hall and architecture firm SRG Partnership received a 2010 Honor Award at the AIA NW & Pacific Region Design Awards in Eugene, Oregon, on October 16. For more information, visit http://www.aianwpr.org/RDA2010mainpage.html. 

 
 

White Druk Lotus School Damaged by Mudslides

The White Druk Lotus School in Ladakh, the focus of our students' work under the direction of Prof. Sergio Palleroni, has suffered severe damage from recent flash flooding and mudslides. Please visit http://www.dwls.org to see recent conditions, and to find out about ways to help.

Haiti House Construction

  

Students pair with professionals to construct Haiti House

On Monday, June 7, 2010, a group of Portland State University's architecture and engineering students constructed a home for Haiti. Headed by Architecture Assistant Professor Margarette Leite, these students teamed up with Portland-based Pacific Green Innovations to construct and dispay one of the 1000 Homes for Haiti that the company plans to build for the earthquake-ravaged country. Aside from its humanitarian prupose, this home is special because of its revolutionary new construction material, Swisscell. Swisscell is a recycled paper honeycomb panel that is completely fire- and water-proof, and is rigit enough to make the home earthquake- and hurricane-proof. The home, which purportedly can be built by four individuals in four hours, was assembld in the entry courtyard of Shattuck Hall on the PSU campus, and was on display until July 19. It then was disassembled and moved to its new home in Beaverton, Oregon.* In addition, an exhibit of Haitian house designs by Architects Without Borders - Oregon, The Basic Initiative and KPFF Consulting Engineers was on display inside the house. These designs are part of the earthquake-resistent Confined Masonry Toolkit being assembled by Haiti ReWired for distribution through Haitian masonry training programs. The purpose of this house construction and the exhibit was to serve as a reminder of the tragendy in Haiti as well as to give students hands-on experience with modular construction and this promising new material.

For more information, please contact mleite@pdx.edu.

* The new location for the model Haiti House is on Cedar Hills Blvd between SW Westgate Drive and SW Millikan Way, next to the MAX Lightrail Stop in Beaverton, Oregon.