An annual listing of faculty achievements under the following rubrics: Cal Poly, Local/Regional, Statewide/National, and International, can be viewed at Faculty News 2008-2009.

2008-2009 Faculty News Archive

The Architecture Department program at Cal Poly is ranked the third best undergraduate program in the nation by DesignIntelligence, 10th Annual Edition.

Robert Arens has been awarded tenure and promoted to the academic rank of Professor, Don Choi has been awarded tenure and promoted to the academic rank of Associate Professor, Tom Di Santo has been awarded tenure and promoted to the academic rank of Associate Professor, and James Doerfler has been awarded tenure and promoted to the academic rank of Professor.

Robert Arens presented the paper "Material Libraries: Promoting Materiality and Interdisciplinary Collaboration" and the poster "Integrating Material Culture into Foundation Design Studios" at the Oxford Conference 2008 held July 22-23 at the University of Oxford, England. The conference theme was "Fifty Years On: Resetting the Agenda for Architectural Education."

Robert Arens and Jim Doerfler, received a $15,000 grant from Cal Poly's Information Technology Services to research the pedagogy of architectural technology in lecture format courses. Research will lead to revisions in the Practice sequence of courses in the second and third-years of the Architecture curriculum.

Robert Arens had a peer-reviewed paper "Teaching Architects and Engineers: Up and Down the Taxonomy," that will be presented at the Annual Conference of the American Society for Engineering Education to be held June 14-17, 2009 in Austin, TX. The paper was co-authored with Prof. Ed Saliklis from the Department of Architectural Engineering and Joseph Hanus from the Civil Engineering Department of the US Military Academy.

Robert Arens had a peer-reviewed abstract "Rapidly Assembled Emergency Shelters Made from Green Materials," accepted by the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures Symposium at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia to be held September 20 - October 2, 2009 in Valencia, Spain. The paper was co-authored with Prof. Ed Saliklis from the Department of Architectural Engineering.

Robert Arens, Mark Cabrinha, Tom di Santo, JIm Doerfler, Doug Jackson, Marc Neveu, and Sandy Stannard will be presenting papers at the 97th ACSA Annual Meeting The Value of Design: Design is at the core of what we teach and practice late March in Portland Oregon, March 26-27, 2009.

Mark Cabrinha joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor this fall.  He received his Master's Degree from the University of Illinois in Chicago and his undergraduate degree from Cal Poly.  Mr. Cabrinha is a registered architect in the state of Illinois, where he practiced as a designer and project architect for OWP/P Architects with focus in educational environments along with experience in mixed-use housing projects and assisted living facilities. He has taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), the University of Oregon, and was a research fellow at Ball State's Institute for Digital Fabrication.  A doctoral candidate at RPI, his research focus is on the impact of digital fabrication on design culture through his dissertation (In)forming: Material Tactics and Digital Strategies in Design Education.

Mark Cabrinha presented a paper titled "Gridshell Tectonics: Material Values and Digital Parameters" at thhe 2008 ACADIA National Conference: Silicon+Skin; Biological Processes and Computation, in Minneapolis, October 16 - 19, 2008.

Don Choi and Marc J Neveu’s Session Topic Proposal, Surveying Architectural History And Theory, has been accepted and they will chair the session at the ACSA 98th Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

Thomas Fowler and Barry Williams were awarded a National AIA Education Honor Award for their collaborative work in integrating  Arch 352 Design Studio & Arch 307 Environmental Controls Systems Activity Courses for over a four year period. Barry and Tom will receive their award at the ACSA’s Annual Meeting in Portland, March 26-29 , and will have (2) 30”x 30” presentations boards displayed at the AIA National Convention in San Francisco, April 30-May 2, 2009.

Bruno Giberti has been asked to join the committee writing the new Cal Poly strategic plan.

De Hahn, and Doug Jackson were elected to serve on Cal Poly's Academic Senate for 2009-2011.

De Hahn was appointed to the California Architectural Foundation, CAF. "The Foundation is the link between the profession and academia. By enhancing the standards of architectural education, training and practice through education and public awareness activities, the Foundation is making a postive difference in people's lives and the built and natural environments that surround them."

De Hahn will be serving on Cal Poly's Branding Strategy Task Force which "involves a review of the University's branding, marketing, and positioning activities, with an eye to developing an integrated marketing strategy across the campus."

Curt Illingworth has been selected as the recipient of the eight annual Oustanding Faculty Advisor Award early June 2009. This award was insituted to recongnize a faculty member who has had a positive influence on students through academic advising.

Doug Jackson's project "The Wormhole House" was published in "GA Houses Project 2009" issue 109, pp. 124-127,released this spring. Additionally, the project will be on exhibit at the Gallery MA in Tokyo during March and April 2009.

Doug Jackson installed in July 2008 The Hyde Device, a user-manipulated permanent installation at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Architecture.

Doug Jackson presented a paper tilted “WIKI-tecture: An Open-Content Strategy for Architecture” at the 2008 ACSA West Central Regional Conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, entitled Architecture in the Age of Digital Reproduction.

Doug Jackson presented a video of “WTF?” at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Architecture, a 45-minute audio and visual survey of work completed during tenure as the Hyde Chair of Excellence

Doug Jackson will be presenting a paper at the conference titled Transilient boundaries in/of architecture sponsored by the Department of Architecture, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in April 2009.

Doug Jackson joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor with a Bachelor of Architecture from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and a Master’s Degree from Princeton University. He has taught graduate and undergraduate studios at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (Sci-Arc), among other institutions. A licensed architect, Mr. Jackson was a design principal with Jones, Partners: Architecture (J,P:A). Both his design work with J,P:A as well as his own independent design work has been widely exhibited and featured in national and international publications. The focus of his research and design is on developing the theories and techniques for an architecture that is able to physically transform through human manipulation.

Chandrika Jaggia participated in the 'Woodworks' workshop on Wood as a sustainable material in San Luis Obispo in October. A thorough workshop where they presented the latest research on the energy consumption comparison between Wood, Steel, and Concrete.

Laura Joines-Novotny, AIA will be one of seven outstanding local furniture designers whose work will be exhibited at Functional Finesse: Fine Furniture 2008. The exhibition will be at ARTS Space Obispo, SLO Creamery, #175, 570 Higuera St., SLO. There will be a reception December 4th from 6-9pm with the exhibition running through December 19, 2008.

Laura Joines-Novotnywon a top award for her double wood shelf at the 2008 Serbian show "redesign your mind." The shelf was featured on their postcard. The design is the result of using odd-shaped left-over pieces of hard wood and sheet steal to create beautiful and practical products that also reduce the impact on US landfills.

For additional information, visit Laura Joines-Novotny or M:OME

Michael Lucas presented a peer-reviewed paper "Forbidden Morro Bay" concerning conflicts between necessary secrecy of location of Chumash and Playano Salinan sacred sites with local planning needs at the 2009 meeting of the International Association for the Study of Environment, Space, and Place in May at Towson University in Maryland.

Michael Lucas's photo essay is published in Moebius: An Annual Publication of the Cal Poly College of Liberal Arts, Volume VII, 2009 on pages 98 and 99.

Michael Lucas had two collaborative papers accepted at the 12th CSU Symposium on University Teaching this year at Cal Poly May 2nd, 2010. This is a system-wide meeting on pedagogy and strategies:  

Michael Lucas will give a paper at the 5th Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Environment, Space and Place, April 23-25 at Towson University in Maryland. The conference theme is 'Forbidden Place' and the paper is entitled "Forbidden Morro Bay' The paper discusses issues involved in necessary confidentiality of Chumash and Playano Salinan cultural practices and record of material culture and conflicts with public understandings, planning, and construction in Morro Bay. 

Margot McDonald organized the 2008 UC/CSU/CCC Sustainability conference titled Putting Sustainability at work, at Cal Poly.

Marc J Neveu’s essay “Educating the Reflective Practitioner” was published in the ARCC Journal: Affecting Change in Architectural Education. Volume 6, Issue 1, 2009. Eds. J. Brooke Harrington and Anijo Punnen Mathew.

Marc J Neveu’s abstract, “Is Criticism Critical?” was accepted to the Architectural Research & Architectural Criticism Conference sponsored by the Nordic Association for Architectural Research and the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art in Trondheim, Norway, April 23-25, 2009.

Marc J. Neveu had a co-authored paper accepted at the 12th CSU Symposium on University Teaching at Cal Poly May 2nd, 2010. The paper, "Assessing Interdisciplinary Learning Styles" presents preliminary findings from research aimed at understanding the relationship between learning styles and assessment across disciplines.  The research is ongoing and includes faculty from engineering, political science, the social sciences, and urban planning.

Marc J. Neveu’s essay “The Indole of Education: The Apologues of Carlo Lodoli.” was recently published in the Getty Research Journal, Edited by Thomas W. Gaehtgens and Katja Zelljadt. The Getty Research Journal is a peer-reviewed journal that showcases work by scholars and staff associated with the Getty Research Institute and the other programs of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Marc J. Neveu’s essay “The Indole of Education: The Apologues of Carlo Lodoli.” was recently published in the Getty Research Journal, Edited by Thomas W. Gaehtgens and Katja Zelljadt. The Getty Research Journal is a peer-reviewed journal that showcases work by scholars and staff associated with the Getty Research Institute and the other programs of the J. Paul Getty Trust.

Marc J. Neveu’s Session Topic Proposal, Is Architecture Critical? has been accepted and he will chair the session at the ACSA 98th Annual Meeting in New Orleans.

Marc J. Neveu presented a paper entitled “Indole of Material and Form: an analysis of le fòrcole.” at the 2008 ACSA Fall Conference (Material Matters: making architecture) held at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. The paper was presented in the session entitled Material History: the Affect of Yesterday on Today.

Marc J. Neveu was a visiting faculty member in Cultural Studies at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) in Los Angeles during the Fall 2008 semester.

Marc J. Neveuwas selected to participate in the CalPoly Center for Teaching and Learning Junior Faculty Learning Community. The community offers participants the opportunity to network and collaborate with junior faculty from across the university to enhance scholarly engagement on issues associated with responsibilities as a junior faculty member at Cal Poly.

In November, Marc J. Neveu presented a public lecture at the Drury University Hammons School of Architecture in Springfield, Missouri. He lecture, entitled “Thesis for a Thesis,” discussed the formation and nature of an undergraduate thesis project.

Marc J. Neveu’s paper entitled “studia | studio” was accepted to the Architectural History and the Studio session of the 97th ACSA Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. The paper discusses the relationship between historical inquiry and studio pedagogy.

Marc J. Neveu joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor with a PhD in History and Theory of Architecture from McGill University in Montreal, where he also received his Masters Degree, as well as a BArch from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston. He practiced architecture in Boston with Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood Architects, Inc. where he worked on a variety of architectural projects such as museums, institutional and biotech. Prior to joining Cal Poly Marc taught at several institutions in the United States and Canada. His teaching and research interests include the history and theory of architectural pedagogy. A Fulbright Scholar in Italy, his dissertation was titled Architectural Lessons of Carlo Lodoli: Indole of Material and of Self. Dr. Neveu is the author of several published journal articles.

Marc J Neveu and Don Choi were awarded a CalPoly Center for Teaching and Learning Grant. The grant will support the development of a hybrid architectural history course. Using online technology, the hybrid course will improve content delivery, learning outcomes, and assessment techniques. It is intended that the course will also serve as a model for the other architectural survey courses.

Troy Peters will present a paper "Using High Dynamic Resolution Photography As A Design Tool" at the 2009 American Solar Energy Society Conference (ASES) in Buffalo, NY, May, 2009.

Parrallel to this paper, Troy Peters has organized and will be running a forum titled "Real Stories from Real Buildings" which will feature student work from Cal Poly-Pomona, University of Oregon, Ball State University and Oxford Brookes University.

Troy Peters is co-organizing a Workshop titled "SBSE Toolday" which will teach architects and other building professionals how to use handheld tools to perform a one day building investigation at the same conference.

Troy Peters joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor with a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon. Professionally Mr. Peters is NCARB certified and a registered architect in the state of Illinois and Wisconsin in addition to being LEED accredited. In addition to practicing architecture in the Chicago area Mr. Peters is founder of ArchiPhysics. He is the author of software programs for passive solar calculations, and daylight among other things. His academic research and software designs have focused on various aspects of thermal transfer and passive solar design.

Troy N. Peters presented a paper titled Implementing the 2010 Imperative in a Beginning Architectural Design Studio at the American Solar Energy Society this past May 2008 in San Diego, CA.

Troy Peters was the invited judge for the Trimjoist Competition at Mississippi State University on Wednesday, February 4th 2009. The competition had approximately 150 entries divided into 4 year level categories and focused on sustainability.

Stephen Phillips received a Smithsonian Postdoctoral Fellowship for six months to live and study in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian Archives of American Art.

Stephen Phillips' 2007-08 thesis student Eric Vergne won third place in the International Evolo Skyscraper competition. To view competition entry, visit Evolo Skyscraper web site and Cal Poly's Press Release.

Stephen Phillips has been invited by the selection committee for residential grants at the Getty Research Institute to join the 2009-2010 scholar year devoted to the "Display of Art."

Stephen Phillips received a $5000 grant award from the Graham Foundation for research towards a new book titled 'New LA Schools: A Site of Massive Change'.

Dr. Stephen Phillips, AIA who was awarded the prestigious 2008-2009 ACSA/AIAS New Faculty Teaching Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) was featured in the The Tribune on Saturday, January 10, 2009.

To read the article, go to San Luis Obispo.com.

Stephen Phillips, AIA was awarded the prestigious 2008-2009 ACSA/AIAS New Faculty Teaching Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS). Each year, the ACSA and AIAS honor up to three faculty nationally who have demonstrated excellence in teaching performance during the formative years of their architecture design teaching career. Presentation of the award will take place at a special plenary Awards Ceremony at the 97th ACSA Annual Meeting to be held March 26-29, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. Recipients of the 2008-09 ACSA and AIA Education Awards will be published in the 2009 ACSA/AIA Architectural Education Awards Book, which will be distributed during the Award Ceremony at the 97th ACSA Annual Meeting.

Stephen Phillips' AIA's article "Death of The Digital Office" was published in Canada's alternative design magazine, Elemente, December 2008. In addition, his article "The New Avant-Garde Radically Challenges East and West" was published in Brownbook Magazine, Dubai's stylish uban design and fashion guide to the Middle East, November 2008.  

Stephen Phillip' AIA's research proposal for a new book with renowned Dutch Photographer Monica Nouwens-- "New LA Schools: A Site of Massive Change"--was advanced to the final round of proposal submissions.  

Stephen Phillips served this fall as an invited guest critic at SCI-Arc's final graduate thesis reviews in Los Angeles in addition to participating as an invited guest critic on final reviews at Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the Cooper Union in New York City.  

Stephen Phillips Architects (SPARCHS)' design for the Linden Street Apartments in San Francisco was published in San Francisco AIA's Small Firms Great Projects 2008/2009 book series.

Ralph Roesling's office Roesling Nakamura Terada Architects received two AIA awards from the Ventura County Chapter for a new branch library and the reconstruction of the Development Services Center building both in the City of Oxnard. The jury awarded the top Honor Award to the Development Services Center project for the understated architectural expression of the new expansions and interventions and its sustainablility.

The South Oxnard Branch Library recieved an AIA Merit Award for the positive contribution to this diverse community in Oxnard.

For additional information, download the South Oxnard Branch Library (pdf) and the Development Services Center (.pdf) publications.

Tom di Santo has been invited to write a paper this summer on the subject of "Total Design" for the Elizabeth Diller Urban Edge Studio at the UWM/School of Architecture and Urban Planning.  Elizabeth Diller is a principal and founding member of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) and a Professor of Architecture at Princeton University.

Tom di Santo has been invited to teach several watercolour seminars at the University of Oregon, on both their Portland and Eugene campuses.  The seminars will take place in Oregon during the Fall of 2009 (October).

Tom di Santo and Laura Joines-Novotny, principals of M:OME Architects are proud to announce that their AIA Honor Award prize winning Teixeira House is featured on a full page ad for La Cantina Doors in the January 2009 Architectural Record magazine (page 46).

The Teixeira House is an extension of a family home that is almost square in plan, TXS_+ takes cues from Schindler's use of sectional L's.  The space flows horizontally from the existing kitchen into the living room, then up the open stairwell. The exposed glulam beans and plywood on ceilings give a warm, constructivist feel to the space demonstrating this marriage of industrial materials with life + function.  Reflected light from the upper floor pours through the open stairwell and washes the natural cypress wood wall to give a glow to the room below.    Retractable Aluminum clad French doors open wide to allow interweaving of outdoor and indoor space characterizing a uniquely Californian way of living.  There is a breezy informality that takes you from the highly polished radiantly heated concrete floors inside to the slightly more textured concrete of the patio.  Blending the indoor and outdoor living room with the same concrete floor surface extends the perceptual size of the room.    The outdoor living room [patio] is given function by the rock gabion walls lining its edge.  Built by the owners, the rocks from the site excavation work were carefully stacked into wire cages and the top covered with ipe wood to allow a long buffet area or just a cool place for kids to play.  At the end of the wall, the rock gabions form the outdoor shower.

Tom di Santo + Laura Joines-Novotny, principals of M:OME, were invited to exhibit at RE: Design Your Mind II in Belgrade, Serbija this Fall (Sept-October, 2008).  The focus of this current International Design Exhibition is on Ecologically Sensitive Product Design with exhibitors hailing from Serbija, London, New York and California.
For additional information, visit gallery.

Tom di Santo + Laura Joines-Novotny of M:OME was recently approved as the Campus Architect for Besant Hill School, a private boarding school in Ojai. As Campus Architect, M:OME will oversee design guidelines for the campus and provide designs for the Beato Atelier Art Studio, Dining Commons, Wellness Center, Swimming Pool and Changing Rooms, Faculty Housing, Music Practice Rooms, Campus Signage and Entry Gate, as well as the Guido Honorary Grape Arbour. BHS was founded in 1946 by a community of educators, intellectuals and philosophers (such as Spiritual Leader J. Krishnamurti and "Brave New World" author Aldous Huxley) who were convinced of the need for new approaches in education. Notable architect Richard Neutra sent his son to the school. The BHS interest in Bauhaus" inspired pedagogy, as well as their attention to Sustainability in Architecture were contributing factors in the selection of M:OME, whose interest in "Total Design"," the idea of the Gesamptkunstwerk, and eco-literacy in architecture all mirror the BHS philosophies.

Tom di Santo + Laura Joines-Novotny of M:OME exhibited at the O3one Gallery in downtown Beograd, Serbija earlier this year. The Gallery recently reviewed all the art, industrial design and furniture artifacts exhibited in their gallery this year and selected the top 12 pieces for inclusion in their KALENDAR 09. Project sponsored by Raiffeisen Banka.  M:OME was selected among the top 12 (from over hundreds of artifacts reviewed) to be published in the O3one Gallery :KALENDAR 09 available for the month of December 2008.

Tom di Santo recently received a grant from the Wisconsin Preservation Trust and Reinhart Boerner Van Dueren to execute a three day workshop and lecture on design-build fabrication, the design-build process and installation work in the public realm, as part of the Urban Edge Studio at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Tom di Santo  of ga+d <http://www.mome.org/original/introduction.htm>  was presented with the 2008 AIACCC Award of Merit for the Blohm Residence located in San Benito County.  It is ga+d's eleventh AIA award received in the past five awards programs, and the tenth AIA award for ga+d when Tom di Santo is part of the design team. View image1 of the Blohm Residence.

Keith Wiley will be presenting a paper at the 25th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student at the College of Art and Design, LSU, in Baton Rouge, LA, March 12‐14, 2009.
For additional information about the Conference, visit Beginning Design Student.

Margarida Yin's Fall 2009 student Derrick Lee won Honorable place for the Green Modular Building Design Competition. In addition, Derrick will receive the crystal trophy and formal recognition at MBI's World of Modular, March 28-31, 2009 at Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada. For additional information, visit the Modular Building Institute and Cal Poly Press Release web pages.

Keith A. Wiley presented a paper titled Unmaking: Disassembly as a Mode of Inquiry at the 25th National Conference of the Beginning Design Student (NCBDS) in March 2009 at the Louisiana State University.

Christopher Yip was interviewed by the noted Columbia University architectural historian, Gwen Wright, for a segment on the PBS TV program History Detectives which aired nationally on July 7, 2008.

Chris Yip presented a paper titled “Connecting Architecture and Transcendence: the work of Nelson Wu,” at the 15th Asian Studies Development Program National Conference, Mar. 7, 2009, Philadelphia, PA.

Service Awards

Richard Zweifel (35 years of service), Curtis Illingworth and Howard Weisenthal (25 years of service), Daniel Panetta and Christopher Yip (20 years of service), and Margarida Yin (10 years of service) will receive on Thursday, March 5, 2009 the 2009 Cal Poly Service Awards. Congratulations to our esteemed colleagues.

Best Wishes

Don Swearingen has retired from the Architecture Department and will be teaching fall and winter quarters under the Faculty Early Retirement Program (FERP). He received his B.Arch from Oklahoma State University and his M.Arch from the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. Don is a registered architect and has worked professionally in a variety of capacities most notably in Denmark (1969-70) at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine and Applied Arts in Copenhagen, and in Sweden (1980-81) at the Royal Swedish Institute of Technology in Stockholm, both times as a guest researcher in the areas of preservation and industrial building systems. Since joining Cal Poly in 1974, Don has contributed his time, talent, and intellectual breadth of knowledge to the lower and upper years of the design sequence. In particular, Don has introduced generations of freshmen students to the fundamental underpinnings of their discipline through drawing. A world traveler, Don has been instrumental in promoting the two longest running CSU off-campus programs: at the DIS in Denmark and in Florence, Italy. In addition, Don has taught at Cuesta Community College in San Luis Obispo.

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