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| We are pleased to report a variety of activities
supported by the Raymond A. Bowers Program for Excellence in Design and
Construction of the Built Environment over the past academic year.
These activities demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the mission of the
program, which is to “promote the development and continuous improvement
of a working partnership between the Departments of Architectural Engineering,
Architecture, and Landscape Architecture to better prepare graduates of
Penn State to become leaders in design and construction.”
International Collaborative Technical Curriculum This interdisciplinary faculty project was developed as a teaching model for the technical curriculum in Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Architectural Engineering. Faculty collaborating on the project included: Robert Hewitt and Cecilia Rusnak (L.Arch.); Thomas Boothby (A.E.); Douglas Hoffman, Christopher Diehl and Romolo Martemucci (Arch.). In Fall 1999, input from L.Arch. and A.E. students was provided to the regular fourth-year Architectural Design studios at University Park. The integrated design workshops focused on pivotal moments of master planning and architectural design for housing and mixed-used programs situated within urban contexts. L.Arch. and Arch. students collaborated on the planning of mixed-use and multi-family housing in an urban context in order to introduce more professional approaches to open space planning and design. A.E. and Arch. students focused on introducing more appropriate structural design to the design process. In Spring 2000, students in the three disciplines also collaborated
on a technically challenging charette project in Rome. Although the
L.Arch. and Arch. students were already based in Rome, seven A.E. students
had the opportunity to travel to Rome for a week to participate in this
event.
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During the week-long project, students in the
three disciplines collaborated effectively in the design of a pedestrian
connection between two important sites in the heart of Rome. The
connection required careful thought and dialogue in the knitting together
of urban neighborhoods and districts, in the visual impact of structure,
and the successful integration of buildings, structures, and communities.
A manuscript highlighting the results of this project is currently being prepared for publication in the Journal of Engineering Education. In addition, the Bowers Program sponsored or co-sponsored the following activities:
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