The Architectural Foundation of Oregon ("afo") has chosen two Portland State University School of Architecture students as the Senator Mark O. Hatfield Architectural Award Scholars for 2016. Master of Architecture students Genevieve Wasser and Matthew Rusnac are the honored recipients of this annual award, which includes a $2,000 scholarship for each.
The scholarship honors architectural design and community service, “two fields of elemental importance to our esteemed former Senator and Governor of Oregon,” as stated in the afo’s announcement of the awards.
“The dilemma before our selection committee – of choosing between two talented and dedicated applicants – was solved through a long-ago bequest which provided funds to award two $2,000 scholarships this year,” the announcement continues.
Both Genevieve and Matthew have integrated the ideals of public interest design into their architectural studies and community work at Portland State University.
Genevieve (“Jenna”) Wasser, in her second year in PSU’s Three-year Master of Architecture track, brings an international and environmental perspective to her architectural studies. The daughter of a developmental psychologist and a prominent conservation biologist, she grew up with significant international exposure and lived abroad in Europe, Africa, and South America.
Jenna’s commitment to community service has been a powerful driver in both her field work and her education. After graduating from high school in Seattle, she went on to earn an undergraduate degree in International Studies with a focus on Community Development from University of Oregon, followed by a scholarship from UO to travel to Uganda to work with a nonprofit focusing on micro-development.
She met Sergio Palleroni, PSU Professor of Architecture and Director of PSU’s Center for Public Interest Design (CPID), while completing a master’s degree in International Cooperation and Sustainable Emergency Architecture, and that meeting led her to PSU’s Three-year Master of Architecture program, where she is now also a CPID Senior Student Fellow.
At PSU, Jenna has engaged her commitment to public interest design by contributing to many significant projects, including design-build fieldwork projects in Haiti and the Crow Reservation in Montana; the design of a material recovery facility in the Cully community of Portland; the Pickathon 2015 Treeline Stage design-build project; a current design-build collaboration with the Portland Opera; and the co-management of the CPID’s Plural City Ideas Competition (accepting submissions through May 22 on the problem of economic displacement in the urban setting).
The award comes at a perfect time for Jenna. “Heading into my thesis year (the final year of the Master of Architecture program), I am thrilled to have the financial and moral support of the afo as I am starting to shape my thesis proposition – which will very likely focus on material reuse, waste stream diversion, and engaging architectural tools in vulnerable communities.”
Matthew Rusnac came to the discipline of architecture through a more traditional path. Raised in Tualatin, Oregon, he has “always been interested in building and drawing. As a kid, I drew a lot of castles and airplanes.”
Following the example of his father, who runs a construction firm, he spent his free time working in the family business, learning the practical aspects of the building industry. After graduation from Wilsonville High School, he headed straight for PSU, where he began his architectural studies and was inspired by the School of Architecture’s emphasis on the human experience – and the idea that architecture can have a powerful impact, either positive or negative, on the lives of the individuals who inhabit it.
Matt has put this interest into action through a number of service projects, contributing to the design and construction of a community structure on Montana’s Crow Reservation, with the CPID, where he is also a Student Fellow. Matt has been deeply involved in creating a conceptual framework for how a group of communities in the Sacramento, Calif., area can use transit stops as micro-community centers and provide basic necessities to underserved neighborhoods. Closer to home, he is currently contributing to the PSU School of Architecture’s “pop-up porch” design-build project to be installed in Holladay Park later this spring. Finally, Matt has volunteered as a mentor with Benson High School’s architecture program.
Currently in his final year in PSU’s Master of Architecture, Matt is set to present and defend his thesis this month. “My thesis examines current housing trends through the lens of human behavior patterns and archetypes, looking at how we can design architecture more thoughtfully to support people’s growth at various points in their lives. I am intrigued by the question of how architecture can play an active, dynamic role, and how it can influence psychological and developmental growth within a life span,” he says.
After graduation, he plans to continue his work at Holst Architecture, where he has been employed as a design staff member for a few years, and work toward earning his architect’s license.
In 1998 Senator Mark O. Hatfield received the Architecture Foundation of Oregon’s Honored Citizen Award. Having dedicated his life to public service and to the citizens of Oregon, Mark Hatfield, who passed away in 2011, remains one of Oregon’s most respected and admired statesmen from his years in the Oregon House of Representatives and Senate, as Secretary of State and Governor of Oregon, and in five terms as United States Senator. His contributions to Oregon and to the country are many, including funding for dozens of important public buildings throughout Oregon. Information on past Hatfield Scholarship recipients and the history of the award is available at the Architecture Foundation of Oregon website.