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| Position | Associate Professor |
|---|---|
| Phone | 805.756.1790 805.756.7351 |
| Fax | 805.756.1500 |
| mlucas@calpoly.edu | |
| Office | 14-219 |
| Office Hours | MW 10:00 - 11:30 am (05-220) F 9:00 - 11:00 pm (14-219) |
| Web Page | |
| Fall Courses | ARCH 481 Senior Architectural Design Project ARCH 492 Senior Design Thesis |
| Winter Courses | ARCH 481 Senior Architectural Design Project ARCH 326 Native American Architecture & Place |
| Spring Courses | ARCH 481 Senior Architectural Design Project ARCH 401 Toward A Barrier-Free Environment |
Areas of Expertise
Profile
Born outside Pittsburgh, he recalls summers with his Grandparents on their tree farm amid Amish and Mennonite neighbors on the western side of the Appalachians. As a steelworker at Pittsburgh’s Homestead Works during several collegiate summers, he added a love for the industrial vernacular. He obtained his Bachelor of Architecture degree at Cincinnati.
Initially his professional career focused on practice with firms in the Ohio Valley and Chesapeake Bay regions, establishing a portfolio of urban interventions in the Riverfront Historic District of Covington, Kentucky, Mt Adams Historic District in Cincinnati, Fell’s Point, Canton, Federal Hill, and Mt. Vernon Historic Districts in Baltimore, and the Patapsco River mill village of Oella, Maryland. From the mid 1980’s he specialized in K-12 and University projects across the mid-Atlantic. Built work where he acted as designer earned awards from Cincinnati, and Baltimore Chapters of the American Institute of Architects and received publication in Progressive Architecture and Better Homes and Gardens. He retains professional registration in Maryland, and acts as a consult for regional non-profit and community groups.
Following his Master of Architecture degree at Morgan State in Baltimore, his career has focused on teaching. He has taught at Cal Poly since 1997. His classes include Thesis Design Lab and Seminar, and Native American Architecture and Place, which is cross listed with the Ethnic Studies Department. He is a Student Advisor, Director of the Summer Career Workshop for high school students, and Faculty Advisor for Design Village.
His research is in the area of human development and spatial concept formation, place, and identity, specifically looking at the junction of individual tacit, phenomenological, and intuitive knowing with cultural conventions. His studies have focused on Pacific Northwest and Puebloan Native American, and 20th century American vernacular situations and his pedagogy. He has presented his findings at venues of the Associated Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Society for Phenomenology and Media, American Popular Culture Association, Pecos Conference on Southwest Archeology, Northwest Society of Architectural Historians, and Gran Quivira Conference on Spanish Colonial Studies and Borderlands Research.
Education
M.Arch, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, 1995
B.Arch, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1979
Teaching Experience
Associate Professor, Architecture Department, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA
Registration
Licensed Architect: Maryland (1982-present), Pennsylvania (1996-97)