Connections Magazine - 75th Anniversary Edition

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Our California map spotlights the power of CAED’s unique hands-on learning approach.

Cal Poly students revisit the Navajo Nation to bring renewable electricity.

Watch the symposium on critical issues facing current and future planners.

HOW WE LEARN BY DOING

SKIP THE GRID

FUTURE OF PLANNING

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Dean’s Leadership Council discuss growing industry trends, professional responsibility and more.

This year’s event addressed significant issues with porta-potties in the construction industry.

Learn how landscape architecture will continue to shape built and social environments.

DLC INDUSTRY PANEL

VEST HACKATHON

FUTURE OF LA

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Industry-leading structural engineers provide valuable input virtually and in the classroom.

See the celebration of life, nature and community through Design Village.

Celebrating the department’s 75th anniversary in unforgettable style.

ZOOMSEs

BIOPHILIC DESIGN

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Why create a 3D virtual model of Cal Poly? Construction management alumni explain.

Reviewing the CAED Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan, its accomplishments and opportunities.

DIGITAL TWIN

ON THE COVER: A commemorative art celebrating the College of Architecture and Environmental Design’s 75th anniversary milestone.

Thank you to everyone who supported the efforts of this special edition anniversary magazine.

DEI EFFORTS

ARCE’S 75 th

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TRANSITION OF LEADERSHIP

Q&A with CAED Dean Emeritus Christine Theodoropoulos and Interim Dean Kevin Dong.

EDITOR

PUBLICATION DESIGNER

Alex Flores

Julia Jackson-Clark

WRITERS

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Alex Flores, Todd Prodanovich, Brianna Grossman, Simeon Johnson, Madison Vernon and Ryan Meller

Zach Kanter, Josef Kasperovich and Joe Johnston

CONTRIBUTORS

VIDEO PRODUCTION

Christine Theodoropoulos and Kevin Dong

Red CANARY

caed.calpoly.edu

75 years

R E I M A G I N I N G T H E B U I LT E N V I R O N M E N T If you’re looking for a reason to be excited about the future of the built environment, take a walk through the bucolic, rolling hills of Poly Canyon during the annual Design Village. Scattered across the grass, you’ll find visiting community college and College of Architecture & Environmental Design (CAED) students applying mostly first-year architecture and architectural engineering curriculum as they collaborate, problem solve, laugh and learn while assembling structures that double as their homes for the weekend. Resembling art installations as much as shelters, these projects offer a glimpse into the wildly creative and capable minds that are just beginning their journey in shaping the world around them.

“When we look at the activities students engage in, we see Learn by Doing as more than just an educational method — it offers opportunities to reimagine and transform the built environment,” says Dean Emeritus of CAED Christine Theodoropoulos.

“Our students are out in the world, presenting at public meetings, designing and building for communities, and in Poly Canyon experimenting with material, structure and space.”

This immersive approach to teaching the next generation of design leaders has been core to the CAED since the very first class of architectural engineering students enrolled in the fall of 1946. Since then, the CAED has grown immensely to include programs in city and regional planning, landscape architecture, architecture, architectural engineering and construction management. But even as the college has expanded, it has maintained an interdisciplinary nature that uniquely prepares students to thrive in their careers.

“The college instills a fearlessness in the graduates — there’s nothing they can’t learn how to do, and they just dive right in,” says Donna Clandening, vice president and managing principal at AECOM and CAED Dean’s Leadership Council chair. “A lot of Cal Poly CAED graduates do become leaders in

the industry, whether they’re working for a public agency or a private firm. And many of those people have joined the Dean’s Leadership Council to give back to this institution that’s meant so much to us.”

Each year, Cal Poly conducts a survey asking graduates about their employment status within nine months of graduating, and the results speak to both the readiness of alumni to enter the workforce and the weight that a CAED degree carries with employers.

“For the 2021-22 graduating class, 87% of CAED survey respondents reported that they were working full-time positions and 99% reported that they were employed in positions related to their major,” explains CAED Career Counselor Jade Moreno.

“CAED students are absolutely highly desired and recruited by employers. For the most recent annual CAED career fair, held in winter quarter, we had a waiting list of employers who wanted to attend but couldn’t due to capacity issues.”

As each CAED graduating class embarks on their careers, the Learn by Doing ethos delves further into their industries. These bold, creative and resourceful alumni are changing the world around us in big and small ways, creating a legacy for the college that will endure for generations.

This 75th anniversary magazine celebrates the myriad ways in which the college has evolved, the indelible impact that it has had on the built-environment industries and the people who power this dynamic institution. From studio spotlights to conversations with industry leaders, the following pages will give you a glimpse into the bright future that lies ahead for the college.

“I don’t think that the college’s future is going to be revolutionary as much as it’s going to be evolutionary,” says Theodoropoulos. “Each time we undertake a project, each time we create something new, we shape that evolution.”

Architectural engineering master’s student Rob Hardwick working on a domed wooden structure for Design Village.

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How We

LEARN BY DOING FOR MORE THAN 75 YEARS, eager minds have come to Cal Poly to learn what it takes to meaningfully contribute to the built environment. And while each new student arrives expecting lectures, textbooks and coursework, few imagine how far their education can take them outside the confines of the classroom — like, say, to a reservoir to launch a canoe made of concrete.

“It floats, four people sit in it, and you row,” says Tom Case about Concrete Canoe, a competition in which students build and race seaworthy vessels made from a famously not-so-buoyant material. “I did the competition for years and it was so fun, and it was an indoctrination into the whole Learn by Doing philosophy. We designed it, we built it, we made sure it floated and then we put it to use to see who had the better boat and the better team. That’s just how they do things at the CAED — it’s hands on.”

Tom Case’s experiments in nautical concrete took place when he studied construction management at Cal Poly. Since graduating in 1986, he has worked for Granite Construction for nearly three decades, followed by stints at other renowned companies before starting his own consulting firm, TCM Services, in 2020. He also serves on the Dean’s Leadership Council (DLC), lending his expertise to the CAED alongside other industry leaders who benefitted from a CAED education.

“Many universities are very theoretical, so their students understand the theory of engineering analysis, but they might not understand the actual process of how everything comes together,” says DLC member Daniel Bastião, who graduated in 2004 with a degree in architectural engineering and now runs his own architecture and architectural engineering firm. “Because we do it all through our Learn by Doing training, we understand the full scope of how a project actually comes together. That’s the main reason why leading companies come to Cal Poly to recruit. They want an office full of Cal Poly alumni, because they know how to build from day one, they know how to communicate between disciplines, and they come from a challenging environment that prepares them for the real world.”

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Top: Architecture graduate Clinton Allen (left) and fourth-year construction management student Gina Chun (middle) analyze a roof to determine the optimal location of the photovoltaic system as part of an installation of solar panels in Navajo Nation.

Above: VEST Hackathon team presents their final porta-potty redesign to their peers and the judges using 3D design software.

“Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the CAED, I graduated with a degree in architectural engineering, but I’ve worked for structural engineering firms, multidisciplinary engineering firms, architecture firms and construction firms.”

that kind of hands-on education that Cal Poly started with at the very beginning of the 20th century.”

In 1940 the State Board of Education granted the school collegiate status and Cal Poly began offering Bachelor of Arts degrees. Over the course of the decade, as enrollment grew with soldiers returning from World War II and pursuing higher education through the G.I. bill, the university’s academic offerings swelled as well. Architectural engineering was the first program of its kind at Cal Poly, welcoming a class of just eight students with a focus on the built environment in the spring of 1947.

A CAED education is effective because it’s brought to life with help from an intricate network of discipline experts and practitioners. These great minds come together in the DLC, department advisory councils, and countless labs, lecture halls and project sites to shape curricula that reflects the real-time built environment. The line between academia and industry is intentionally blurred, because that’s how students are best prepared for thriving careers.

“We have at least two companies visiting our campus every day for guest lectures and info sessions, and they frequently give our students site tours in the Bay Area and Los Angeles,” says Construction Management Department Head Jeong Woo. “Those industry leaders bring the latest and greatest trends in construction to our students on a daily basis, like how they’re utilizing artificial intelligence and virtual construction. Our students are exposed to the cutting-edge innovations happening in the industry through those partnerships.”

Coming from such a dynamic learning environment, a student’s journey in their field may start with something like a concrete canoe and end with overseeing some of the biggest projects in the world, as many CAED alumni do at industry-leading firms.

While the specifics of each student’s experience at the CAED are unique, the guiding ethos of Learn by Doing has remained consistent for more than seven decades. According to CAED Dean Emeritus Christine Theodoropoulos, “It’s the DNA of the college.”

To understand the origins of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design’s Learn by Doing ethos, it helps to turn the clock back even earlier than the college’s founding in 1946. Established as a secondary and vocational school in 1901, the California Polytechnic School — as it was known then — initially offered immersive training in fields like agriculture, mechanics and household arts.

“They were training people to be able to live in an agrarian community where everyone needed to have lots of skills,” says Theodoropoulos. “People had to farm, fix machines, make clothing, build structures and care for animals. It was

“The early architectural engineering program was very different from the one we have today,” says Theodoropoulos. “The graduates of that program went on to do many different things. Not all of them became engineers — some of them took on roles that were closer to what we would call an architect today.”

In 1964, students gained access to Poly Canyon, where they could engage in hands-on experimentation, bringing design concepts to life. Poly Canyon would become an iconic part of the CAED, with countless structures built and dismantled for years to come.

In the late ‘60s, programs in architecture, city and regional planning and construction engineering — a precursor to today’s construction management program — were added to the college, followed by the addition of landscape architecture in 1972. In the late ‘70s, each of these programs became departments with their own department heads. But while the departments offered unique curricula, it was also a highly interdisciplinary learning environment, with students taking many of the same core classes as those with different majors within the college.

“Putting architectural engineering in a college of architecture rather than a college of engineering where you’d typically expect to see it was a stroke of genius,” says Architectural Engineering Department Head Al Estes. “When you build a building, it requires an engineer and an architect to design it, and then you have to keep in mind those people who have to actually build your design.

So, by putting architects and engineers and construction managers all in the same college, you really set the students up for success in this industry. I think we’re the only college in the country that has that unique mix of disciplines, and you can see the positive effect.”

“Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the CAED, I graduated with a degree in architectural engineering, but I’ve worked for structural engineering firms, multidisciplinary engineering firms, architecture firms and construction firms,” says Donna Clandening, vice president and managing principal at AECOM and DLC chair. “Now I’m at a firm that combines all of that together — it’s an integrated infrastructure firm, which means we do architecture, engineering, landscape, planning, construction, all of the above. So, in some respects I’ve come full circle.”

As computer-aided design became more prevalent in the 1980s, specialized courses were added to the curricula teaching students from all five depart-

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ALUMNI IMPACT IN CALIFORNIA 1

CAFÉ OHLONE

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CAED landscape architecture alumni Sarah Samynathan and Alain Peauroi helped bring this unique outdoor dining space to life in the courtyard of UC Berkeley’s Hearst Museum of Anthropology. Incorporating handmade wooden furniture, indigenous plants and a shellmound that pays homage to the traditional Ohlone shellmounds found along the shores of the San Francisco Bay, this project offers a beautiful dining experience while celebrating the rich culture of the native Ohlone people.

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STANFORD LAW SCHOOL’S WILLIAM H. NEUKOM BUILDING Susan Rozakis earned her degree in construction management from the CAED in 1981, and before taking her current role as director of workplace design and delivery at Google, she worked for 17 years as project manager for Stanford. One of the many projects she was involved with was the beautiful William H. Neukom Building, which features a striking rotunda and lush garden terrace where law school students and faculty learn and collaborate.

FISHER BAY OBSERVATORY AT THE EXPLORATORIUM

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Geoffrey W. Neumayr, who graduated from the CAED’s architectural engineering program in 1984 and currently serves on the DLC, served as project manager for the San Francisco International Airport BART Station. Completed in 2003, the station conveniently connects one of the nation’s busiest airports to communities across the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Francisco, Oakland, North San José and more.

After graduating from the CAED’s architectural engineering program in 2004, DLC member Daniel A. Bastião helped design the Fisher Bay Observatory at the iconic Exploratorium on the San Francisco Bay waterfront. The gorgeous structure, made of glass and exposed steel beams, hosts various exhibitions and boasts one of the city’s best unobstructed views of the bay.

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COMMUNICATIONS HILL

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Starting in the 1980s, CAED city and regional planning alumnus and DLC member Ray Hashimoto secured permitting for the development of Communications Hill in San José. Starting in 2002, construction began on the mixed-use, high-density, urban neighborhood that houses more than 11,000 people today and boasts numerous parks, trails and views of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BART STATION

SANTA BARBARA BOWL CAED landscape architecture alumnus, DLC member and president of Van Atta Associates, Susan Van Atta shaped the gorgeous outdoor environment of the Santa Barbara Bowl. Using native plants and creating spaces that emphasize the beauty of the surrounding canyon, Van Atta’s work makes the 5,000-person venue music venue feel like an extension of the natural world around it.

ments how to use cutting-edge computer programs in the design process.

Over time, however, the use of computers and computer-aided design became so normative and thoroughly integrated into each discipline that specialized courses were generally no longer needed.

architecture students, but we joined for the first time. The council also provided mentorship for the four teams doing projects and funding for all of their materials. It was an incredible experience for the students, and one of our teams had the distinction of winning the top prize.”

In 1988, the relationship between the college and its profession grew even deeper with the creation of the Dean’s Leadership Council. The DLC was a way to bring some of the greatest minds in the built environment industry together, working with the dean to ensure that the college was well-resourced, well-staffed and well-positioned to provide the type of immersive, cutting-edge education that the industry demanded.

Today there are more than 100 industry leaders involved in the college’s many leadership councils, and more who visit the campus for guest lectures, career fairs and more. This robust network speaks to the impact the CAED has on the built environment industry, the value a CAED degree carries with recruiters and the gratitude the college’s alumni feel for their education. Seventy-five years in the making, this extensive and interdisciplinary network is a remarkable achievement.

“It’s great to be with all of these folks and hear their ideas for improving the college, and I also feel it’s a great way to give back,” says DLC member Ray Hashimoto, who earned his bachelor’s degree in city and regional planning in 1981 and is now a principal at HMH Engineers. “If my professional experience can help the school and advise the dean and department heads on curriculum, that’s a great way for me to contribute to the school and retain a connection to the campus. Of course, I also love any reason to go back to San Luis and hang out.”

In the decades since the establishment of the DLC, each department has also created their own advisory councils, deepening the college’s connection to the industry at the department level.

“This year, the Landscape Architecture Department Advisory Council provided funding that allowed our students to participate in Design Village,” says Landscape Architecture Department Head Beverly Bass.

“That’s normally something that architecture students do, not landscape

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Walk down the street of a large metropolitan city, stroll the campus of a prestigious university or visit a cutting-edge medical or research facility and the odds are you will see the fingerprints of CAED alumni on the environment around you. From the futuristic wave of glass and metal encompassing Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium (designed by CAED alumnus and studio executive chair at Woods Bagot Rick Gunter) to the fun-soaked fountain playgrounds of San Diego’s Waterfront Park (created by CAED alumnus and principal at Schmidt Design Group Jeff Justus), CAED alumni have used the skills developed on campus to do tremendous work for communities around the world. These projects demonstrate more than just the technical ability of the architects, engineers, planners, construction managers and landscape architects — they demonstrate the ability of these individuals to respond to the needs of society at this moment.

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SOFI STADIUM After earning his degree in architecture from the CAED in 1991, Rick Gunter went on to have a dynamic career that included leading the design of Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium. The 70,240-seat indoor stadium is home to the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers but has also hosted big musical acts, including The Rolling Stones, Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift and more. The massive and imaginative structure has earned many awards since its opening in 2020.

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FATHER JOE’S VILLAGES CAED architecture alumnus, DLC member and founder/chairman of AVRP Studios Doug Austin led the design of an award-winning housing complex for Father Joe’s Villages in San Diego. Created to help address the community’s homelessness crisis, this modern, inviting structure includes a child development facility for unhoused children, transitional housing for 150 unhoused single men and 65 affordable housing units.

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J. CRAIG VENTER INSTITUTE DLC member Ted Hyman graduated from the CAED’s architecture program in 1979 and has been behind some of the world’s most forward-thinking designs, such as La Jolla’s J. Craig Venter Institute.

The genomic research laboratory and office space is LEED Platinum certified, produces more energy than it consumes and serves as a model for environmentally responsible construction as one of the greenest buildings in the world.

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10 WATERFRONT PARK After graduating from CAED’s landscape architecture program in 1990, Jeff Justus became a principal at the renowned Schmidt Design Group where he led the design of San Diego’s Waterfront Park. The project includes sprawling green areas, views of San Diego Bay, numerous gardens and fountains where children play and cool off in sweltering summer months. Since its completion in 2014, Waterfront Park has won numerous design awards and is one of the city’s most beloved public spaces.

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Daniel Cunningham, a landscape architecture alumnus and associate principal at SWA Group, embodies the dynamic lens that alumni are bringing to the built environment. He’s currently leading the design of a unique memorial at Harvey Milk Plaza in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood that demonstrates a deep understanding of modern design techniques, local history and the needs of the community.

Harvey Milk was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, where he served as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors until he was tragically assassinated in 1978. An outspoken advocate for LGBTQ+ rights during his life, Milk has been an inspiration to countless San Francisco activists and members of the Castro’s LGBTQ+ community. Cunningham and his team consulted with this community to design an outdoor space that will feature a digital display showcasing iconic imagery from the Castro and inspirational messaging, a grove with 11 trees representing the months Milk spent in office before his death and a beautiful, tiered pedestal with embedded lighting that will act as a gathering space for future activists.

“The community expressed the desire for an unconventional memorial representative of Harvey’s personality,” says Cunningham. “You’ll notice there is no bronze statue of Harvey to be found. The entire memorial acts as a stage, elevating the voices of the community, and allowing it to evolve with the movement over time.”

Waterfront Park during the County of San Diego’s free “Summer Movies in the Park.” Photo courtesy: County of San Diego.

“Harvey Milk Plaza can be a space that both honors the history of the LGBTQ+ rights movement and lifts up the voices and struggles of today’s queer community, all while functioning as an inviting gateway to

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“The built environment reflects our values as a society and our students have proven to not only be highly responsive to the issues we’re facing, but there’s also a concreteness to their response.” the Castro and Muni (San Francisco’s municipal transit network),” says San Francisco’s District Eight Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who represents the Castro.

CAED alumni are also stepping up to tackle climate change issues head on — both in terms of selecting projects and materials used.

The Mercat Del Peix Research Center in Barcelona will be a project unlike any other — renderings of the two mass timber buildings connected by a lush courtyard appear like utopian science fiction art. Ted Hyman, an architecture alumnus and now partner at ZGF Architects in Los Angeles, expects construction to wrap on this cutting-edge laboratory sometime in 2026.

“It was the winning entry in an international design competition,” says Hyman about the project, “and the research programs in the building include climate change and responses to global warming. It also deals with everything from equity to solving food issues around the world. Not only is it designed to be net-zero energy, it is going to be one of the first mass timber laboratory buildings in the world working to a net-zero carbon footprint in less than three years.”

Today, CAED students are deeply concerned about climate change and social equity, and that bleeds into the work they’re producing in their studios. Talk to any CAED student about the projects they’re working on, and they won’t just tell you about the physical structure or space they’re designing but will explain how it fits into the larger context of present-day society and the challenges we face.

“You can definitely see the passion that the students have for these issues,” says Bass.

“Our seniors spend the majority of their last year working on their capstone project, then we have a big showcase where they present their work and invite all of their friends, and we invite supporters and alumni to come see it. This year, so many of the projects were based on social justice and climate change. These students are really passionate about these issues, and they really want to go out and make an impact in the world. They see it as necessary, but also very meaningful work.”

“The built environment reflects our values as a society,” says Theodoropoulos. “And our students have proven to not only be highly responsive to the issues we’re facing, but there’s also a concreteness to their response. It’s not a theoretical response, it’s very practically oriented: ‘Here’s what we need to address, and this is our idea about how to do it.”

There’s a lot to be excited about when looking at the future of the CAED. As faculty and student design-build collaboration grows and the college’s network of industry partners expands, the college will flourish in providing an increasingly rich and immersive education.

Right now, there are nearly 2,000 aspiring architects, city and regional planners, construction managers, landscape architects and architectural engineers enrolled at the CAED. As each new class graduates and enters the field, the way they reimagine the built environment will ultimately be the legacy of the college.

Landscape architecture faculty member Joseph Ragsdale’s Advanced Landscape Construction class creates a new garden area in the Leaning Pine Arboretum, which hosts a collection of class projects, laboratory exercises and senior projects.

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“That’s part of what’s so wonderful about being here—you’re always welcoming new students and then you’re sending them off into the world,” says Theodoropoulos.

“What issues are they going to need to respond to? How are they going to deploy their education and Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing culture to meet the challenges of their time?

I’ll always be excited to see how that unfolds.”

The Cal Poly Alumni behind the new William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation

Behind the scenes

BY SIMEON JOHNSON AND ALEX FLORES Photos by Zach Kanter

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n May 5, the Cal Poly community gathered to celebrate the dedication of its newest building. The William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation is a 102,000-square-foot interdisciplinary facility equipped with state-of-the-art laboratory and teaching spaces.

holds special significance for the college. Many individuals involved in creating the facility are CAED alumni, including the architect, structural engineer, landscape architect and many of those managing the construction efforts.

The modern building will enhance research and learning experiences for students and faculty in the Bailey College of Science and Mathematics, the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and the College of Liberal Arts while also serving as a central hub for the campus. The four-story, 2.32-acre structure features configurable classrooms, hands-on learning programs, undergraduate research labs and standard large-sized lecture halls for general education courses.

Architect Ted Hyman graduated from Cal Poly in 1979 and designed many education facilities, including the Warren J. Baker Center for Science and Mathematics at Cal Poly. He attributes the success of both the Baker and Frost Centers to the student-focused culture of the university, its faculty and its administration.

Although the spaces will not be directly available to the College of Architecture and Environmental Design, the interdisciplinary building

“Most universities, when you talk about the relationship of faculty offices to student spaces, they want them sequestered away from what are typically more noisy spaces. They want a higher level of privacy when they’re in their office. Here, in those early discussions, they said, ‘We

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want a place right outside our office where students can hang out, where we can see them, where they can come knock on our door and interact easily.’ That’s a pretty unique approach for us, and it drove the planning both at Baker where there is collaboration and ad hoc teaching space right outside of the offices, and now at Frost pushing that approach even further creating similar spaces that link faculty offices, student collaboration space and research space,” Hyman recounted.

Hyman also discussed the significance of interdisciplinary collaboration as one of the college’s strengths, tracing his experience working with other professions back to his studies in the CAED. “When we were here, we had to take classes with other majors. I have good friends that are leading some of the best structural engineering firms around the world now who sat in the same class as I did at Cal Poly.

My education in structural and mechanical engineering, all those things along with design, has been the foundation of my work throughout my career. It is so essential that students come out of here with that broader experience on what it means to design a building holistically rather than just thinking about form giving,” he noted.

Several vital elements in the Frost Center would not have been included if not for Hyman’s interdisciplinary training, including the innovative approach to the building’s HVAC system and the integration of exposed structural concrete as an aesthetic in the design.

Hyman broke down his approach to generating the design for the building. He explained that the form started as a simple box, and his team worked with the university to organize all the programmatic spaces needed for the facility. The site constraints drove the building from a rectangular form, to maximize the available site around the existing buildings, creating the iconic angular atrium in the process.

The inclusion of the “collaboration bridge,” as Hyman put it, and secondary wing of laboratories was a pragmatic response to the budget. On one hand, the opening acts as a north / south gateway at the core of campus.

On the other hand, it also allowed the university administration to continue fundraising up to the start of construction. If funding fell short, the bridge and secondary wing of the building could be eliminated or phased

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out without requiring significant redesign of the building.

The materials and finishes were selected to knit the fabric of the campus together architecturally. The red brick facades on the engineering buildings to the south and the administration building to the north are reflected on Baker and Frost while the exposed concrete references the school’s many brutalist structures but interprets the style in a more tectonic and human way. Lastly, one of the most important elements of the design from the exterior and within the atrium is the transparency of the building putting research on display, highlighting the intellectual collision of interdisciplinary work going on inside.

Structural engineer Kurt Clandening graduated from Cal Poly with his bachelor’s in 1987 and earned a master’s at UC Berkeley in 1988. Clandening discussed some technical aspects of how the building was conceived and constructed while reiterating the significance of collaboration in making the project successful.

Aside from tying the building together, the visibility of the structural concrete plays a key role in stabilizing the building and minimizing vibrations for the lab spaces. The thermal mass also helps regulate temperatures, keeping the building cooler on hot days and slightly warmer on cool nights.

Clandening’s design approach was also critical in ensuring the building stayed true to the architect’s vision while still being practical to construct. One way this was achieved was by eliminating the need for seismic joints in the bridge area. While it would have been easier to design the building as two structures, it would have been significantly more costly and complex to build. Instead, Clandening and his team opted to create a heavily reinforced core for the building on either side of the bridge to act as a rigid support, stabilizing it in the event of an earthquake. They also maximized the interior space by insetting the columns back to the office and classroom walls while cantilevering the walkways and lounge areas into the atrium.

Clandening explained that one of his team’s biggest challenges was working with the building’s unusual geometry, dictated by its cramped site.

Left: Ribbon cutting at the opening ceremony.

Right: Careful coordination of mechincal systems allowed the exposed structure to be expressed clearly.

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“A flat slab system works well with rebar in two directions, but when you start doing these multiple grids, you get layers of rebar. There were some areas in those 12-inch slabs where we’ve probably got six layers of rebar because you have them coming in at all different angles,” he said.

pen in those outdoor spaces. When they are not active, we also want to make sure that they do not feel huge and overwhelming and that they are still inviting. That is where the tree canopy and the subtleties of the materials, and eventually outdoor tables and seating, will come into play,” Janecki elaborated.

Aside from the rebar, the slabs also hide utility conduits, eliminating the need for drop ceilings in most areas. Even in the more minor details like the exterior fins, the structural and architectural teams worked together to find ways to achieve the intended results with more straightforward and less costly methods. By eliminating the need for access, they made it possible to hang the expanded metal shades from the facade directly without an extensive supporting structure like initially planned.

Janecki noted that her familiarity with the campus from her studies and from more recent visits in her role on the Landscape Architecture Department’s advisory board helped expedite the site inventory and analysis stage, allowing her team to produce their concept for the site quickly. The design underwent several iterations as spaces were sized and materials and plants were selected, but the initial vision stayed clear throughout the process.

The innovation continues outside the building’s walls and into the landscape designed by Joni L. Janecki & Associates (JLJA). Janecki, a graduate of the college’s landscape architecture program, focused her team’s efforts on creating and activating green spaces within the site that serve the academic and recreational needs of the campus community. She explained that the design creates opportunities for scientific experimentation, like soil and water testing or botanical research. At the same time, it provides spaces for arts and humanities, where students can paint, perform, debate or write. The diverse range of plants also offers a prime learning environment for those studying horticulture, and the outdoor rooms can be used for agriculture classes.

“We also imagine that, just as it did on opening day, there could be events such as graduations, student fairs, science fairs that could hap-

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She explained how the grading and hardscape are used to define six zones within site: Gateway, Canyon, Bluff, Landing, Dell and Grove, each offering a different microclimate and scale of space, from larger open areas capable of hosting events to sheltered seating for small groups or individuals. Besides communicating the narrative behind the design, the paving and grading also have functional characteristics that contribute towards the building’s LEED certification, including reflectivity to reduce the urban heat island effect and on-site stormwater retention and filtration.

Another point Janecki highlighted was the diversity of the project’s plant palette, which builds on the campus’ extensive collection of beautiful trees and references the site’s history as a plant conservatory.

The plant layout transitions users from the more natural groupings of Australian species found around Baker Center into an agriculture-in-

spired layout of California natives going along Building 10 toward North Perimeter Drive. Janecki noted that including fruiting and edible plants was a priority, in order to reflect the agriculture-related coursework taught in the adjacent buildings. Moreover, many of the plants that were selected have medicinal and cultural uses for them as well. Special effort was invested in the site’s southwest corner to preserve the most eye-catching planting element: a towering eucalyptus that has long been a campus landmark.

One challenging aspect of the project was budgetary. Despite the generous funding for the building and class spaces, the budget for the landscaping component of the project was limited, considering the scale of the site. As a result, the JLJA team had to be selective and find ways of cutting costs while still achieving their vision.

“We had to really examine and talk through what are the most important parts of the landscape. For us as a team, it came down to the pattern in the paving and the planting patterns, but maybe the size of the plants going in at the time of planting was not as important,” Janecki explained.

She also discussed how her office’s team, managed by Paige Pedersen, another Cal Poly landscape architecture alum, worked with the civil engineers, architects and structural and geotechnical engineers to ensure the design would meet the site’s requirements and function as expected when complete. The collaboration was especially effective thanks to the care and commitment dedicated by the many alumni working on the project.

“We found that everyone who came to the table, particularly the alumni, found the project to be super important to them from their own background and experience, and I think all of us gave as much as we could as professionals and providing support for extra meetings or things like that,” Janecki noted.

Niko Workman, a fourth-year landscape architecture student and JLJA intern, also had the opportunity to contribute to the project, initially working with the landscape team on redlined revisions for the construction documents and later assisting with site visits as the hardscape was constructed and the plants were installed. He shared that his involvement allowed him to better understand the process a project goes through, from paper and computer drawings to the built landscape. It also taught him valuable lessons about working with others within the office and interdisciplinary collaboration with engineers, architects and contractors.

When construction began in May 2019, more CAED alumni joined the project, working with the general contractor Gilbane and many subcontractors. The structural concrete subcontractor, Largo Concrete, even provided a unique position for Andrew Kline, construction management alum and faculty member, to experience the process as a faculty intern.

“One of the things that Largo is very strongly supportive of is interdisciplinary studies. Coming from the Construction Management Department, we’re strong supporters of senior projects and whatnot that include all the disciplines within [CAED],” said Chris Forster, construction management alum and vice president of operations for Largo Concrete.

Kline explained that his role was to work on the project while learning from the specialists and bringing that knowledge back to the classroom

Left: North side of the William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation during the dedication ceremony.

Right: Crowd attendance during Frost Center dedication seated in the outdoor area north of the building.

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The transparency of the building puts research and innovation on display.

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That’s a pretty unique approach for us, and it drove the planning both at Baker where there is collaboration and ad hoc teaching space right outside of the offices, and now at Frost pushing that approach even further creating similar spaces that link faculty offices, student collaboration and research space.”

for his students. He discussed his team’s challenges but expressed pride and satisfaction with their accomplishments.

“Months were spent planning for every concrete deck and exposed structural wall. The walls ranged from 10 to 30 feet tall and 12 to 18 inches thick and it took a team to coordinate the planning and execution of each structural element. It was a huge accomplishment getting each element poured and it is amazing to see the quality on every floor and hallway of the structure now,” Kline expressed.

Each alum also recounted this project’s special significance to them. For Hyman, the opportunity to design two buildings at his alma mater was a privilege few of his peers ever received.

“Coming back and really getting connected in the sense of community has been amazing. This building, the Frost Center, it’s been a high point of my career,” he said.

Hyman and his team even helped with the fundraising to keep the “DISCERE FACIENDO” (Learn by Doing) motto in the brickwork near the bridge from being value-engineered out of the project.

“As an architect, you don’t usually try to raise more money for your building, but it was so important, and I think we were super excited by that,” he explained.

The dedication of everyone involved was what set this project apart for Clandening. He recalled that his team was constantly pushed to create the best possible building from the beginning. Throughout the project’s different components, there was always a passion for excellence, which he noted is unique to university campuses, particularly Cal Poly.

“It was very easy to bring that passion being an alum, being here on campus saying, ‘okay, I was here, I know what these buildings do. I’ve seen them,” Clandening noted.

For Janecki, the project’s significance was the chance to design a space serving the entire university.

“It’s an exciting time because of all the different disciplines in that building and the cross-pollination that can happen. It is good for the students and great for the faculty and staff that there is this opportunity for them to spill out of the building into these outdoor spaces where students from other places can come and take a break.

I am hoping that it becomes a real hub for conversation and activities. That is my dream,” she explained.

From a personal perspective, the Frost Center holds great significance for Workman as it was one of his first opportunities to see a landscape he worked on constructed in the real world.

“There is nothing more exciting than walking past a dirt lot for months as a student while knowing a bit about what is to come and finally seeing it all come together.

Seeing this project completed reminds me why I chose this career,” he said.

With the unique position of being an alum and a faculty member, Kline found the project incredibly enriching because of the connections he had with many of the other professionals working on the project and the passion they all had for creating a lasting impact on the campus.

“I had some past students who were working for the subcontractors, some current students who are working for Largo too, and then some peers of mine who are working for the general contractor team, so it almost felt like a family reunion,” he explained.

Kline discussed how impressive it was to see the quality achieved with the finishes, which he attributes to the contractor’s level of engagement with the university, engineers and design team. He explained that everyone involved wanted to leave a lasting impact on the campus they love returning to.

The completed Frost Center is a testament to the quality of professionals the CAED sends out into the world.

Everything about this project, from the architecture and structural design to the construction and landscaping, reflects the care and expertise that CAED alums carry with them and pass on to new graduates. The facility showcases the college’s continued success at training the shapers of our built environment across California and beyond.

“I love walking past it and seeing the finished project, walking my students past it, looking at different aspects of how that got put together. I think the finished project tells one story, but all the lessons learned tell a number of different ones. It is a beautiful project that will inspire future contractors, engineers and architects,” Kline concluded.

Scan the QR code to watch the Frost Center video.

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E

very year, representatives from the world’s biggest construction companies come together with the next generation of construction leaders for a four-day conference and student competition in Reno, Nevada. The Associated Schools of Construction (ASC) has held conferences for more than 60 years, and the student competitions have been a true test of how well universities prepare their students to succeed in the industry.

“The competition judges are real industry professionals, and they give a real project scenario to the participating student teams,” says Construction Management Department Head Jeong Woo. “That could be a bridge project, a high-rise apartment building, a data center or any number of things depending on the category. The judges give teams drawings and some supporting data about the project, and the students need to do things like develop a budget, safety plan, project schedule, project logistics plan, 3D model and more.”

The ASC student competitions are a way for construction management students to demonstrate that they not only understand construction on a theoretical level, but that they can perform the same tasks that real-world construction projects demand — and in just a few days, no less. This year, no other university teams demonstrated their knowledge more acutely than Cal Poly, which took home wins in more categories than any other school in the region with four out of 12 first-place finishes.

It shouldn’t come as any surprise that CAED students perform well in a format designed and judged by leading industry professionals. That’s because interacting with industry leaders and working on real-world problems isn’t a unique experience for CAED students — it’s another day on campus.

For city and regional planning students, they’re learning from individuals who create and influence industry standards.

“The professional work and research conducted by faculty members like Ken Topping, Bill Siembieda, David Cohn, Michael Boswell, Adrienne Greve and others have had a statewide impact,” says City and Regional Planning Department Head Amir Hajrasouliha. “A CRP faculty team developed and wrote the California Adaptation Planning Guide (APG) in 2011. The APG became a fundamental reference document for all local government environmental and city planners in California. It was later updated to APG 2.0 and became essential reading for climate action plans throughout the state. Additionally, CRP faculty teams prepared four State of California Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plans for the governor between 2007 and 2018. The 2010 plan became a national model for statewide hazard plans, establishing CRP’s reputation for applied research in hazard and environmental planning, and recognition as leaders in the field.”

Visits to the CAED from working industry professionals for guest lectures, lab support, portfolio reviews, mock in-

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PREPARED FOR IMPACT By working closely with industry leaders, the CAED enhances curricula and prepares students.

terviews, career fairs and more are commonplace. In fact, some of those industry leaders join the faculty full time.

“In most engineering programs, every one of the faculty members is a Ph.D.-credentialed researcher, and most of them aren’t big on practical experience,” says Architectural Engineering Department Head Al Estes. “But we have a dual path to tenure for our faculty members, so half of them are Ph.D.-credentialed theoretical professionals, and half are seasoned practitioners. So, when students are taking upper-division design labs, they’re being taught by people who have done it for a living for a decade or more rather than just read about it in a textbook. That combination of real-world applications and theory is what makes our graduates so hirable and so prepared to start working on day one.”

The symbiosis between students and industry professionals is ever-present at the CAED. Whether learning from industry-leading faculty or participating in a competition judged by industry professionals, CAED students can expect to collaborate in innovative teams at the leading edge for creating sustainable, compelling surroundings.

Further preparation is achieved through industry-sponsored labs that ensure students have the best equipment and materials available. Industry partners also support academic travel, allowing students to participate in exchange programs worldwide with faculty advisors, join industry conferences to interact with leading firms and work with non-profit organizations like Miyamoto Global Disaster Relief in collaboration with Structural Engineering Students for Humanity (SESH). By working closely with industry leaders, the CAED enhances curricula and prepares students to set new standards for the built environment.

City and Regional Planning faculty members Adrienne Greve and Mike Boswell wrote policy for implementation of climate change initiatives for the state, cities within California, and the university, with students assisting.

Photo by Joe Johnston

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Expert Input Dean’s Leadership Council Provides Insights into Industry Trends and Career Advancement

BY SIMEON JOHNSON Photo by Josef Kasperovich

The CAED Dean’s Leadership Council — a group of experienced professionals from various built-environment fields that lend their resources to supporting the college — has traditionally provided guidance and support through recommendations to the faculty and administration. This year, they invited students to the Berg Gallery to meet the members and hear from them directly. The lunch and learn event saw students enjoy a light meal while five council panelists took questions from CAED Dean Emeritus Christine Theodoropoulos.

Coming from architecture, landscape architecture, architectural engineering and construction management industries, the panelists were able to share a broad perspective on how industry trends affect the experiences, opportunities and responsibilities of those in the planning, design and construction industries.

A Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects principal, Ryan Jang, explained that industry trends affect society. He noted that in his role as an architect, it is critical to have a big-picture view, seeing our society’s issues as more than individual challenges but as flaws with connected and interrelated systems. Jang highlighted that professionals

must look beyond simply providing the final product to the client as there is a responsibility to consider the project’s more significant social and environmental impact.

Ray Hashimoto, vice president of HMH, shared his outlook as a leader in landscape architecture. He discussed the impact of the pandemic and the remote working model, commenting on the challenges faced due to the lack of face-to-face collaboration that would have traditionally taken place in the office. Hashimoto also noted the opportunities afforded by new legislation encouraging increased density and housing supply in urban areas, with possibilities for everything from high-rises to accessory dwelling units and more unconventional solutions like repurposing underutilized commercial spaces.

Senior project manager Kaitlin Murchison from DPR Construction echoed some of Hashimoto’s takeaways and emphasized the growing trend toward more collaborative project delivery models. She noted that while design-build is not new, the level of cooperation and communication on projects today starts earlier and goes more profoundly than in the past. While this approach has many apparent advantages, it also presents some

challenges to designers and those responsible for managing construction. The design process tends to be iterative, requiring many revisions and changes, while construction ideally follows a linear path driven by the budget and schedule. Murchison highlighted the importance of maintaining open and honest communication throughout the process to help mitigate these conflicts, explaining how her team uses weekly meetings to connect with owners, designers and consultants to ensure everyone stays on the same page.

Donna Clandening, vice president and managing principal at AECOM Buildings + Places Southern California, noted that one recent trend across industries has been the pandemic-accelerated development and adoption of technologies connecting us more closely with others around the globe. She discussed how built-environment industries have increasingly shifted towards globalization, with teams often collaborating across time zones and national borders. While these technologies have opened the world to partnership possibilities, they also create a barrier without in-person interactions. Clandening noted that this would be one of the many issues the industry must navigate amid the trend toward collaboration increasingly occurring on digital platforms.

Clandening also highlighted the significance of addressing equity in the built environment. Public projects are increasingly focused on distributing services more equitably, so an understanding of these issues is essential for planners, designers and construction managers. Many clients are asking firms what their beliefs and priorities around equity are, so it is important to consider it a factor in their work.

One of construction management program’s first alumni, Susan Rozakis, shared her experience as Google’s senior director of workplace design and delivery. She discussed value management — the importance of priorities and critical goals to understand better the tradeoffs and opportunity costs of decisions in the design and construction process — as a significant trend in major capital projects. Rozakis pointed out the blurred lines between work, entertainment and home. Designers will need to consider the change in how people use their spaces, where uses can no longer be cleanly separated and organized in the ways they have traditionally.

Shifting from industry trends to career advice, the panelists offered recommendations for students entering the job market and seeking to advance in their fields.

Rozakis led by sharing how students should try to understand the people they go on to work with and find something to learn from them. She noted that this could apply across disciplines and encouraged students to seek opportunities to learn from those in related profes-

sions, both in school and the job field. Rozakis concluded by reminding students that the learning process takes time and projects require years to complete, so it is vital to keep looking for more to learn from a long-term project rather than jumping to something new every few months.

Clandening reinforced the point about interdisciplinary cooperation and learning, noting how lines blur between disciplines and how important it is to learn skills beyond the traditional boundaries of an academic major or a job title. Murchison reiterated, encouraging students to try different internships, network with professionals from distinct fields and always be curious and understanding of the industry overall.

Hashimoto advised students to use the office environment to work with peers and learn from those with more experience. He explained that while a hybrid work schedule might attract new graduates, it provides a different level of collaboration and learning than face-to-face conversations with coworkers in the physical office space.

Hashimoto also echoed the other panelists, encouraging students to be open to a broad range of experiences even if they are not what they might have envisioned in school. Finally, he encouraged students to build a strong network from day one to stay aware of their work’s social and political context.

Jang began his recommendation by observing that most graduate students will be looking at a 50-year career ahead of them. His takeaway was that it is normal to explore at the beginning. He explained that in his practice, new hires are encouraged to float between different types of projects and tasks rather than being immediately focused or specialized. After this initial period of exploring, he advised students to focus on seeing a project through from beginning to completion or as much of the process as possible. By observing how the building evolves from the original idea developed in concept design into a physical structure, young professionals can better understand what it means to create a space beyond the initial sketches and renderings. Jang closed by challenging students to continue learning and to see their profession as a craft they are ever refining no matter their career stage.

Collectively, the Dean’s Leadership Council Industry Panel agreed the built-environment industry demands lifelong curiosity, adaptability and a commitment to equity to find career success and shape a brighter, more sustainable future.

Scan the QR code to watch the DLC Panel video.

K E Y TA K E AWAY S

1

By observing how the building evolves from the original idea developed in concept design into physical structure, young professionals can better understand what it means to create a space beyong the initial sketches and renderings.

2

Designers will need to consider the change in how people use their spaces, where uses can no longer be cleanly seperated and organized in the ways they have traditionally.

3

It is critical to have a big-picture view, seeing our society’s issues as more than individual challenges but as flaws with connected and interrelated systems.

4

Build a strong network from day one to stay aware of your work’s social and political context.

5

Public projects, in particular, are increasingly focused on distributing services more equitably, so an understanding of these issues is essential to built-environment professionals being effective in their work.

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BY BRIANNA GROSSMAN

BUILDING STRUCTURES

& RELATIONSHIPS

W

inter 2023 kicked off a new interdisciplinary program for the Architecture Department called “ZOOMSEs,” where industry-leading structural engineers guide architecture students in the studio using the video conferencing service Zoom.

The idea to bring in ZOOMSEs was spearheaded by architecture faculty member and program organizer Thomas Fowler, who saw an opportunity to improve collaboration and engagement among student architects and structural engineer professionals.

He also wanted to better prepare architecture students with structural system integration knowledge before reaching their spring capstone course.

Fowler began planning summer of 2022 when he asked Alloy Kemp, a façade engineer and vice president at Thornton Tomasetti, if she would be interested in helping with the program.

Kemp agreed right away saying she enjoyed working with Cal Poly architecture students because of the program’s strong reputation. She also recruited other structural engineers to join the effort.

“All of a sudden, I have all these people emailing me [saying] ‘I want to be a part of this,” describes Fowler, who was encouraged

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by the outpour of positive feedback and willingness to engage in deeper interdisciplinary relationships. He was able to hire nine structural engineers, one for each studio.

The studios participating in the ZOOMSEs program were a part of ARCH 352/353 during winter and spring quarter. ZOOMSEs also supplemented material covered in ARCE 316. As students worked on projects in their respective studios, structural engineers telecommuted into the classroom once a week to review their work and give advice. ZOOMSEs also attended in-person sessions to fortify their collaboration with students.

In February, the Architecture Department had its first in-person, studio-wide event. The Berg Gallery buzzed with anticipation as dozens of excited architecture students packed into the room to take their spots with their studios; each table stacked with cutting boards, hot glue guns, X-ACTO knives, drawing tools, digital models and of course, eight ounces of family-size spaghetti.

The spaghetti prologue model workshop — which was initially scheduled for the first week of winter quarter to coincide with the start of ZOOMSEs but had to be rescheduled due to heavy rain storms and flooding — was an introductory warm-up event

“I think it gets students to understand that, you know, collaborations are more than just the project, you should build relationships” Far Left: Students huddle around their structures as they work to complete the final steps of the project.

Left: A nearly-complete structure as time winds down for students to finish their projects.

inviting internationally acclaimed architecture and engineering firm Skidmore Ownings and Merrill (SOM). The workshop challenged third-year architecture students to design and build a 13-inch-tall structure using store-bought spaghetti, all in under two hours. Fowler’s graduate students who attended the event served as the final judges of the projects.

Eric Long, a structural engineer and partner at SOM in San Francisco, echoed the sentiments of fruitful collaboration with architecture students over Zoom.

Following a brief introduction from Fowler, students immediately got to work.

Long noted understanding the types of questions or suggestions that may come up from other disciplines during a project are a valuable skill practiced in these workshops.

Third-year architecture student Kate Hilgendorf liked the hands-on approach the prologue model challenge provided.

“You can actually test and see designs in real situations and it’s just different than modeling something on your computer and assuming it holds up weight,” she said.

Not only were students given an opportunity to test their designs, but they also engaged directly with industry leaders who were excited to connect with students.

“I really enjoy working with students and being able to hopefully bring a sense of both curiosity and awe to the design process,” Long said.

The prologue challenge ended excitingly as students observed their classmates perform load tests with bricks and weights. The most successful structures held up as many as three bricks, while others were crushed holding one — both outcomes prompting loud cheers from onlookers.

Several students, like Hilgendorf and Cloonan, left with a greater awareness of how interdisciplinary relationships play out in real time.

Dylan Cloonan, third-year architecture student, appreciated being able to get real-time structural engineering advice from the industry experts.

“You can’t just have an architect, you can’t just have an engineer, you need to have both, and you need to have the mindset of both,” Hilgendorf said.

“It’s really a lot more impactful, I think, than just learning about it or like seeing it on a screen,” Cloonan said. “It really sets us up for success in the future with employers because you always are working with structural engineers.”

Another in-person event in April welcomed five of the structural engineers to meet with all third-year architecture students face-to-face and offer guidance on their projects. The engineers gave introductions to all the combined studios, then broke off to consult with students and do comprehensive reviews. With the ongoing help of the ZOOMSEs, architecture students worked through the rest of spring quarter to conclude their projects.

Collaboration was an essential part of ZOOMSEs for Fowler, who described the process of design as multi-dimensional rather than a “cookie cutter linear process.” The process of designing a structure requires people from different disciplines to work together at every stage.

“I think it gets students to understand that collaborations are more than just the project, you should build relationships,” Fowler said.

Students witnessed these interdisciplinary relationships firsthand from SOM partners Mark Sarkisian and Leo Chow, who were at the event offering advice and gave the keynote speech. Both Chow and Sarkisian have worked together for years, and as Fowler importantly noted, the respect between the two has allowed for more seamless collaboration.

ZOOMSEs served as proof of concept as to why structural engineer and architect relationships are essential to the design and building process. Considering that Cal Poly’s Architecture Department originated from the Architectural Engineering Department, the ZOOMSEs, as Fowler notes, brought architecture students back to the program’s founding principles.

Give now

To support ZOOMSEs caed.calpoly.edu/caed-giving

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REALITY CAPTURE ON CAMPUS CAPTURING A CAL POLY DIGITAL TWIN

BY SIMEON JOHNSON

R

eality capture systems — technologies used to digitally capture and model physical sites — are quickly becoming a critical tool for building construction and maintenance. The Cal Poly Digital Twin project seeks to use that technology to create a 3D virtual model of the campus to visualize and organize data for efficient campus management, planning and development.

In January, representatives from DroneDeploy came to the CAED to demonstrate the technology used to create a digital twin — a digital model and simulation — of the Cal Poly campus. However, the team could not demonstrate a drone’s use for exterior captures due to heavy rain storms and flooding. Instead, they allowed students to observe the Boston Dynamics “dog” robot, used to capture interiors autonomously and look at their visualization software, StructionSite. Although the live demo day event did not occur, the project remains ongoing.

Brianna Williams, construction management alumna and DroneDeploy’s director of product, shared her insights into some of the benefits the digital twin project could provide.

“The first and most obvious use for having a digital twin of the campus would be to give people virtual tours of the facilities,” Williams said. “It would allow people to walk the campus or a building before they have ever gone and done that.”

The digital twin project would also help with renovations. Capturing campus buildings in their existing conditions would provide valuable data for the university, such as documenting what is behind walls, floors and ceilings, and making it easy to inspect buildings for damage that is difficult to notice.

VEC founder and CEO Shane Saltzgiver, another construction management alum, is a proponent for integrating building information modeling (BIM) and reality capture technology into construction education. In 2009, Saltzgiver was introduced to BIM tools by construction management faculty member Lonny Simonian. He continued exploring this area of interest, eventually applying it to electrical contracting projects in San Francisco.

Saltzgiver later started his own company in the field, facilitated the local public utilities commission’s adoption of these technologies and returned to Cal Poly every quarter as a guest lecturer to inform students about the emerging technologies and encouraging them to get excited about these advances.

“There are a few components to the kind of technological overhaul which is happening. You got the software side with Revit, Navisworks and other 3D tools. From the hardware side, there are a few primary categories right now. You have 3D laser scanning and robotics stations that provide layouts tied to the coordinate system. They are taking the BIM model and transferring that

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information into the field. You also have 360-degree captures documenting site conditions, either aerially with a drone or by walking through with 360-degree cameras,” Saltzgiver explained.

Saltzgiver noted that digitizing the entire campus would be a sizable task, but various people could be employed to reduce the cost and time required. He explained that when he ran his initial estimate, there were about six million square feet to capture on campus. It would take a surveying team about 80 to 100 working days to complete a high-precision laser scan of this scale using the traditional method with a tripod. The cost of a team from VEC completing that work as a service would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Saltzgiver noted that another fairly precise option would be to create a digital replica using walk-throughs with wearable lasers.

While tolerances would be slightly higher, this approach would cut the time required to digitize the campus in half, bringing the cost down to around $150,000.

Alternatively, if precision is not essential and tolerance of up to a foot is considered acceptable, drones and photogrammetry could be a solution. A preliminary scan would only take a few days to capture most of the campus, with some additional flights around significant buildings and locations to add detail in those areas.

Creating a digital replica based only on drone photos could be achieved for the relatively low cost of $20,000 but might have less utility due to the larger tolerances.

Saltzgiver went on to discuss how these various approaches with associated tolerances and costs are why it is crucial to refine the initiative’s goals before the capture process begins to ensure the most optimal method is selected.

Saltzgiver and Williams remarked that smaller portions of the campus, such as areas planned for renovations or specific rooms significant to building management systems, could be captured more quickly with significant benefits to the university and the Construction Management Department. Williams suggested that students could even complete the capturing process as part of a class, providing valuable experience. Saltzgiver also noted that the construction management program already has some of the necessary equipment and has been increasingly integrating BIM and reality capture into the curriculum.

As the project progresses, there will be more demonstrations and opportunities for students to gain exposure to these tools. The resounding takeaway from both interviewees is that these technologies are starting to revolutionize the construction industry, and students would do well to familiarize themselves with them through classes and their research.

Photo courtesy of DroneDeploy.

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ARCE Students Lead Structural Forum

O

n Feb. 4, the 33rd Structural Forum was held at Cal Poly and the Madonna Expo Center, with over 150 students and 54 companies attending. At the forum, architectural engineering (ARCE) students and professionals gathered in San Luis Obispo for a weekend of learning and networking with the industry’s best.

Hosted by Cal Poly’s student chapters of the Structural Engineering Association of California (SEAOC) and Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI), the event was an outstanding leadership feat.

year was “Challenging Constraints,” and the seminars ranged from addressing issues surrounding diversity, equity and inclusion to in-depth explorations of engineering projects like the base isolation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah and the structural design for SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. In the afternoon, students and representatives headed to the Madonna Expo Center for the resume-free career fair, banquet and keynote speech.

Each year, a team of students, known as the Forum Committee, volunteers for months to make the conference successful. One student takes on the role of forum chair for the committee and is responsible for leading the effort. As attendance has grown and Structural Forum has become a high-profile event, the committee has expanded to a team of 35 and an assistant forum chair, a new role this year.

Stepping into the event space up the hill from Madonna Inn, it is not an ordinary career fair. Students can immediately find representatives to interact with, even if their first choice is busy. Without the long lines, rushed elevator pitch and stress of bringing the perfect resume, Structural Forum feels more like an “ARCE family reunion,” as Cal Poly’s SEAOC president Sasha Padilla put it.

Even students who have already secured positions attended the event to expand their network. They also enjoyed complimentary refreshments and merchandise from their favorite companies.

Forum Chair Shaina Dickey and Assistant Forum Chair Brayden Martinez started the initial phase of preparations in June 2022, researching speakers, reaching out to companies and assembling the committee. They also had to create a budget and find funding for the event. Because of ARCE’s reputation for training talented students, firms were willing to pay a notable registration fee to attend and recruit from Cal Poly. These fees covered the $16,000 spent on the venue and other costs associated with the event.

The remaining funds go to the next Structural Forum and financial aid for students, allowing them to participate in activities like cross-country field trips.

Early in the fall, Dickey set up a website with information about the event and sent detailed instructions on how companies could apply to participate. The forum is one of the year’s most significant events for the architectural engineering community in California, and the application process is highly competitive.

When registration opened, it only took six hours for 54 companies to sign up, with 25 more eligible firms added to the waitlist due to limited space at the venue. In the weeks and days leading up to the forum, the committee volunteers poured hundreds of hours into coordinating all the details, from making the nametags, signage and centerpieces to setting up at the Expo Center and staffing the sign-in table.

On Friday night, architectural engineering professionals from the companies arrived in San Luis Obispo while the students finished final preparations. The event kicked off Saturday morning with breakfast, followed by talks by industry leaders. The topic for this

Many companies also prefer Structural Forum because it is more focused and allows them to connect specifically with ARCE students. The resume-free format encourages more personal and genuine conversations rather than rushed small talk and piles of paper to sort through.

“We want Cal Poly students […] the culture works. We are on the same page. It’s hands-on, get it done, go to work mentality,” Max Chamberlain, an engineer representing Biggs Cardosa Associates, said.

After a few hours at the career fair, students and professionals made their way to the banquet, which followed a highly-organized seating arrangement prepared months in advance.

“The students have a list of first, second and third choices when they sign up. There is a meeting where the selection takes place,” said John Lawson, ARCE faculty member and past faculty advisor for Structural Forum. “We used to worry about getting enough students here to fill all the tables. Now, we worry about do we have enough tables?”

Once the food was served, the conversation continued into the evening, giving students an ideal setting to make a lasting impression on their firm of choice.

The event culminated with the keynote address. This year’s keynote speaker Ron Klemencic, chairman and CEO of Magnusson

In terms of its planning, its breath, its execution, it was really well done, so kudos to the students there.

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BY SIMEON JOHNSON

Klemencic Associates, summarized his speech by saying “remain forevermore curious.”

“Not just accepting things for the way they are, but to try and understand why things are the way they are. And then with that knowledge, be in a position to maybe challenge them or think of a new way to go about design, engineering or construction,” he added.

With the conclusion of ARCE’s annual event, students helped clean up the space, tear down booths and record items for improvement.

After 33 years, the complete operation has been refined to a science, with few technical improvements necessary. Throughout the process, first- and second-year students are included and trained so they can take over the event in their third or fourth year.

“I participate in a number of similar events around the country at different universities, and the Cal Poly event, in my experience, is about the best I’ve ever participated in,” Klemencic said. “In terms of its planning, its breath, its execution, it was really well done, so kudos to the students there.”

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All Above: After checking in, students were immediately immersed in networking and treated to appetizers before the formal dinner.

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Shaping California’s Communities

BY RYAN MELLER

Over the past several months, the graduate Community and Regional Planning Studio (CRP 552/554) and the undergraduate Community Planning Lab (CRP 410/411) have immersed themselves in the communities of Desert Hot Springs and King City.

Under the direction of faculty member Dave Amos, 15 second-year graduate students in CRP 552/554 worked closely with the City of Desert Hot Springs to create a rehabilitation plan for the downtown core. Their plans have emphasized economic development and improving the pedestrian landscape.

Their first visit in Nov. 2022 focused on understanding the existing conditions of downtown Desert Hot Springs. Students set up tables at local stores and asked residents for feedback. The second visit took place in January, where students led a community workshop and a youth outreach event at the local high school focused on initial concepts for revitalization.

The final plan provided a blueprint for future downtown development and revitalization and was presented to the city council and stakeholders in March 2023. The recommendations included revising the zoning code, implementing key pedestrian upgrades and establishing new city programs to spur economic activity.

The 18 fourth-year students in CRP 410/411, led by faculty member Kelly Main, collaborated with King City to develop recommendations for upcoming amendments to the city’s comprehensive plan. The city has a strong agricultural background, historic downtown and diverse cultural traditions.

The studio visited King City four times over the six-month project to develop recommendations that reflect the needs of community members. Two bilingual Cal Poly students

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Left: CRP 554 studio presents its final plan to the Desert Hot Springs City Council and stakeholders.

Above and below: CRP students conducted outreach activities in King City, participating in local events like the Halloween “Trunk or Treat” and annual holiday parade.

accompanied the lab to facilitate the Spanish-speaking community’s participation.

During these visits, the students conducted outreach activities involving collaborative mapping and focus group meetings with high school students. They also participated in local events like the Halloween “Trunk or Treat” and marched in the annual holiday parade. Additionally, students interviewed and surveyed passersby at local grocery stores and asked them to prioritize actions and strategies using “priority posters.”

The students have developed over 150 recommendations for a strategic plan focused on health, equity and sustainability. These include projects that are relatively easy, quick and inexpensive for King City to achieve but still consider the preservation of the city’s small-town atmosphere and sense of community.

The lab presented its final plan to the King City Planning Commission and City Council during the spring quarter.

While Desert Hot Springs funded their respective studio, the King City studio was funded by the Errett Fisher Foundation Student Educational Enhancement Fund. This means economically-disadvantaged communities that desperately need quality planning services may be unable to afford the minimal fee the City and Regional Planning Department charges to cover the costs of supplies and student travel.

The department aims to expand its reach to underprivileged communities by securing more funding to enhance its urban design and community planning studios. To support studios in providing a meaningful experience for students and the communities they serve, consider donating by visiting the CAED giving website, calling 805-756-1311 or emailing caed@calpoly.edu to make a gift.

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SKIP THE GRID CAL POLY STUDENTS BRING RENEWABLE POWER TO NAVAJO NATION

BY BRIANNA GROSSMAN

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earn by Doing is more than an ethos, it’s a process that helps students develop their skillset while positively engaging with communities in California and beyond. For one group of Cal Poly students that meant bringing free and renewable electricity to Navajo families.

Extending beyond 27,000 square miles in the northeastern corner of Arizona is “Navajo Nation,” the land of the Navajo, or Diné, tribe. Back in March, students traveled from San Luis Obispo down to Red Mesa, an area within Navajo Nation, to install solar panels for families without, or with limited access to power. This is the second trip by Cal Poly students following the installation of solar-powered refrigerators in 2022.

The program, called Skip the Grid, was initiated by the Construction Management Department in partnership with Heart of America (HOA), a non-profit organization committed to closing the equity gap for schoolaged children. The organization communicated with the Red Mesa Unified School District to identify families with students who needed access to electricity and then served as a liaison between the district and Cal Poly students.

The student group was led by student captain Heather Sailor, a recent construction management graduate who was involved in last year’s installations. “This project offered the ultimate Learn by Doing experience,” she said.

It’s a project that took months of preparation, explained Gina Chun, a fourth-year construction management student. “We started planning towards the end of the fall quarter, so around November,” she said. “It’s actually a rigorous preparation process because all the homes are located in a very remote area, far from hardware stores and hospitals.”

The students split into different expert groups: construction, cultural training, education, systems and testing, and fundraising. The construction and systems and testing groups dealt with preparing for the installations, fundraising handled the financial aspect of the trip and education and cultural training groups focused on bridging Cal Poly students and the Navajo community. All participating students enrolled in cultural training to ensure a respectful and knowledgeable experience while completing the installations.

What makes the project unique is the diverse range of disciplines across the entire group, which included students from five different colleges.

Clinton Allen, a recent architecture graduate and Chun’s groupmate, appreciated the interdisciplinary nature of the project.

“It was really cool to see the entire team come together with all of our different lived experiences and produce something that was amazing for everyone involved,” Allen said. Chun and Allen’s group included students studying architecture, construction management, mathematics and graphic communication.

“Each student brought in a new perspective to whatever issue that we were facing or any conflict, and they were able to hone in their own individual background and their own interest and skills,” Chun said.

About a month before the trip, students reorganized into five installation groups and began performing practice installations to visualize the process for when they’d arrive at the site. Practice days consisted of getting familiar with safety protocols and the system’s equipment, which included four 100-watt solar panels, a battery with a built-in inverter, lights and connection components. Another aspect of the practice installations was figuring out the working styles and dynamics within the build teams.

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solar panels installed

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It was really cool to see the entire team come together with all of our different lived experiences and produce something that was amazing for everyone involved.

However, without any preinstallation inspections, groups still faced many unknown challenges ahead.

Some groups in higher elevations were met with snowy or windy conditions that made installation a bit harder, but Allen notes his team’s organizational skills and preinstallation practice prepared them for the tougher circumstances.

Once arriving at a house, an HOA representative led introductions between the families and installation groups. Students then surveyed the home, looking at the roof’s stability, the best placement for solar panels for optimal sunlight and the inside to determine the lighting arrangement. The first installation took the longest, but once groups got the hang of it, the process became much more streamlined.

“There was a lot of quick decision making on the spot and you had to be really decisive,” Chun said. As leader of the group, she had to be confident in her decision making when the group looked to her for answers. “You realize that you have to just go with your gut instinct,” she said.

In total, the group of 20 students completed nearly 30 installations in a span of two days, more than double of what was installed in 2022.

Groups even brought extra batteries and other equipment for families who received solar panel installations during last year’s trip and needed replacements. Families also received a standardized demonstration of how the system works and brief instruction manuals with visual diagrams of the solar panel battery and what appliances can be used with it.

During the trip, the education team gave a lesson on solar energy and renewable markets they prepared months before to over 400 K-12 students from Red Mesa. The lesson — which occurred while the other groups worked on the first installations — led students through various solar power activities.

The solar panels will provide much needed electricity for families in the Red Mesa Unified School District to do homework, access the internet and overall have more agency over an important resource. “Education equity [is] inextricably linked to energy equity which became even more apparent during COVID-19,” Sailor noted.

The Skip the Grid project effort unites Cal Poly students, HOA and numerous sponsors like SOLV Energy, Anvil Builders, Live Action, Cupertino Electric, Goal Zero and TCB Builders.

Left: Fourth-year construction management student Gina Chun starting the solar panel roof installation.

Right: Architecture graduate Clinton Allen installing light fixture above kitchen area of the home.

Photo courtesy: SOLV Energy

Returning students are planning to return to Navajo Nation next year to continue installing solar panels and bringing Navajo residents renewable power. Sailor, although now graduated, revealed a possible plan for next year’s students to lead a class on building, management and design at Red Mesa High School.

Allen described the gratification he felt after completing the installations, explaining how thankful he felt to be allowed to work in Navajo space.

“I definitely left that experience rethinking my desires in life and kind of my career expectations or goals of what I should do,” Allen said. He hopes to do more humanitarian and community work now that he’s graduated and entering the workforce.

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OMEN WHO HACK

REIMAGINING THE PORTA-POTTY

BY BRIANNA GROSSMAN Photos by Zach Kanter

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group of dedicated Cal Poly students is bringing a new meaning to hacking; it has nothing to do with computers, and everything to do with porta-potties.

The second annual Verifying Everyone’s Safety Together (VEST) Hackathon, hosted by a group of women in construction management, sociology and psychology, sought to address significant issues with porta-potties in the construction industry. Offensive graffiti, lack of cleanliness, poor ventilation and odor are a few of the many problems making portable restrooms unpleasant and difficult to use.

Leading the collaborative two-day event were construction management fourth-years Jacqueline Badal, Anna Knutson and Regan Tonda, psychology fourth-year Jessica Shaver, sociology fourthyear Julia Seaver, and construction management faculty member Stacy Kolegraff.

“A porta-potty is such a simple thing, but everyone has to use one,” Tonda said. While often overlooked, porta-potties can reinforce gender disparities on job sites because there are fewer bathrooms for women and they’re frequently locked or require a hard-to-access code.

The lack of accessible and adequate bathrooms discourages women from using them as needed and may deter proper hydration leading to poor health, explains Kolegraff.

“You’re going to have long-term health issues. And if it’s women who are disproportionately impacted, again, those are the ones who are going to have the health issues. And we want to eliminate those barriers,” she said.

This year’s hackathon follows the first VEST event held in 2022, which invited participants to “hack” the standard construction safety vest to make it more suitable and fitted for women. The inspiration comes from construction management alumna Lizette Galvez’s senior project, which focused on finding equitable solutions to the current safety vest design.

The safety vest event proved to be a success as groups mocked up six vest prototypes; none of the prototypes were up to code, but they demonstrated how safety standards need to be changed to account for a diversifying workforce. Kolegroff then invited the American National Standards Institute and International Safety Equipment Association, two organizations responsible for developing standards for safety equipment, to campus to test out some of the prototypes.

The standards are set to be updated in 2025 and Kolegroff hopes that the work done by Cal Poly students will contribute to and continue those important conversations about inclusivity and equity.

This year’s reimagining of the porta-potty proved to be a bit more difficult as bathrooms require more material and are significantly bigger than a vest. Students, construction management industry partners and manufacturers gathered in the Simpson Strong-Tie Materials Demonstration Lab to collaborate and problem-solve.

Badal, whose role included merging technology and construction, used virtual reality to visualize and gauge the dimensions of a standard workplace porta-potty through an Oculus headset.

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“And so, you could put it on, you can spin around... and that just gives the members of the hackathon a way to visualize a really disturbing porta-potty... to get their thoughts going as to what these look like and then how we can remodel them,” Badal explained.

Once participants got a good idea of what they were up against, they began brainstorming.

Tonda and her team compiled a list of things they didn’t like about porta-potties, like lack of lighting, dirty surfaces and smell. They then created a diagram with possible solutions, like installing a light bulb, a foot pedal and a small fan.

Knutson and her group took a similar approach, using computer software SketchUp to sketch out a design and then making a cardboard model. Some of her ideas included non-stick paint to better resist graffiti and a QR code to unlock the bathroom, rather than a physical key.

Knutson shared her experience of being one of the only women on a construction site and having to search for the bathroom key.

“It takes time out of my day to go and basically ask for permission to go to the bathroom, which is a little weird,” Knutson said. This hackathon is a way for her to ensure other women in construction don’t have to endure the same lack of consideration.

While porta-potties may seem like a small aspect of creating an inclusive work environment, they represent how women are frequently unaccounted for in male-dominated spaces. Redesigning something as simple as a bathroom that is functional, accessible and enjoyable can help level the playing field.

“We set the standard for what we want to see, how we can respect other people who are going to be on the job site,” said Badal. “It starts with these conversations, starts with these discussions, and it starts with us coming together and saying, ‘this is not okay.”

The event wrapped up with each group presenting their cardboard models and receiving feedback from other participants. Many of the graduating women who led the event hope their efforts from the hackathon will carry on into their careers and help them foster a more equitable culture in construction management.

“It’s awesome to see things that are involving more inclusion and bringing in perspectives of women in the industry and making it just more enjoyable for everyone,” said Tonda.

Kolegraff notes that this event was made possible by a grant and that she has already received another grant to do the hackathon next year. She hopes future events will bring more awareness to inclusivity issues and inspire different roles within construction management to develop and patent inclusive designs.

“But really, you know, we’re all humans and we want to be in a place where we’re treated as humans,” Kolegraff concluded.

Scan the QR code to watch the VEST Hackathon video.

Clockwise from top: Teams of students present their prototypes to the rest of the group.

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Students and industry leaders sit together for a lunch break in between presentations.

A look inside a porta-potty prototype featuring a ventilation fan and auto-closing toilet seat.

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Going Back TO Our Roots A Celebration of Life, Nature and Community Through Design Village

BY BRIANNA GROSSMAN Photos by Zach Kanter and Joe Johnston

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his spring, Poly Canyon was transformed once again into a vibrant and communal workspace to build, collaborate and celebrate.

Cal Poly held its 48th Design Village competition with this year’s theme Biophilia, “the innate human instinct to interact and connect with nature and other living beings,” as the event’s organizers defined it.

The competition requires first-year architecture and architectural engineering students — and, for the first time in its history, landscape architecture students — to build a structure they must sleep in through the weekend. Cal Poly students from different disciplines and visiting colleges also participated.

On Friday, April 28, hundreds of students made their trek through Cal Poly’s campus while carrying their carefully crafted structures to Poly Canyon. Design Village Weekend is known as a rite of passage for first-year students; the project can be challenging, but it provides an early hands-on experience like no other.

“I think having [Design Village] be [during] first year allows us to really just get thrown in. I mean, Cal Poly’s motto is Learn by Doing, so it really is the epitome of Learn by Doing,” said Kira Constantino, a first-year architecture student.

While many students would expect to do a project like this in their last year, first-year architectural engineering student Nathan Maldonado explained that participating in their first year helps students deal with unexpected challenges they may encounter down the road.

“The campus has already thrown you into the wolves. It’s a good way of saying that [...] that’s how life is,” said Maldonado. “You know, you’ll try your best, but you can’t prepare for everything.”

Preparedness is critical to the competition, as groups must adapt to and overcome various canyon conditions. The turnaround is quick; students have roughly four weeks to plan, get permits, find materials and build structures.

César Torres Bustamente, a professor of landscape architecture, sees this as an opportunity to get his young students ready for their careers.

“Being able to adapt, being able to adjust and being very, very open to making changes along the way. I think that really, really helps and emphasizes that design is not perfect, but design is being able to adapt to those changes,” Bustamente said.

Design Village is also an opportunity for students to take their skills beyond the studio walls and make something that will be a part of campus, even if it is temporary.

“So, while there might be other projects here at Cal Poly, Design Village is one of those that there’s a certain intimacy to it because you have to live in it, and you’ve built it from the ground up,” said first-year architecture student Elijah Harris. He explained how informative the project has been in demonstrating the actual process of building a large-scale structure, which requires strong team communication, expectation management and group consensus.

“You can forget about those things when it’s very conceptual and very small scale,” Harris said.

Another first-year architecture student, Max Dennison, noted that his vocabulary shifted from general design language to building-specific phrases. “Now it’s, ‘we need to weld this at 90 degrees and in this amount of depth in order for it to be structurally sound for this and that,’ it’s a cool change,” Dennison said.

Students worked closely with the CAED Support Shop to learn to weld, saw and cut material for their structures. The shop provides various facilities like the digital fabrication lab, wood shop and metal shop, and student training to use equipment independently. Harris pointed out how helpful the shop was in advising and supplying materials from the scrapyard.

“It’s a community thing,” Harris said. “It’s not just our team; it’s our whole community of architecture and environmental design coming together and helping out all these first years to make this project something that we could have never made on our own.”

(Continued on Page 32)

It’s not just our team; it’s our whole community of architecture and environmental design coming together and helping out all these first years to make this project something that we could have never made on our own.

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“He was really a jack of all trades as well. He taught us all how to sew. He was amazing at welding, and he was an art student. We really couldn’t have started this project without Sean, and we needed to make that known.”

- Max Dennison, fellow first year architecture student and groupmate of Sean Hillman who passed away in April 2023.

The event kept his spirit alive through a remembrance gathering, memorial t-shirts and a wreath in his honor (pictured below).

The shop serves as a communal space for students to practice technical and communication skills necessary for working on large-scale group projects.

First-year students also get the opportunity to connect with more experienced CAED students and get peer support.

At its core, Design Village is about connection to the built environment, the Cal Poly community and the land, making Biophilia a critical theme throughout the project. Students were encouraged to tap into their connections with nature and integrate it into their projects. Many groups designed their structures to mimic plants and flowers, others designed theirs with colors and patterns resembling animal life and one even built theirs to mirror a DNA helix.

In addition to creating a design respondent to the theme, participants were responsible for ensuring their materials had an afterlife, meaning the materials used for the structure had to serve a second purpose once disassembled. Many groups got creative.

Scan the QR code to watch the Design Village video.

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Architecture first-year student Ben Rohrer and his team used bamboo for their structure and planned to make chairs once the competition ended.

Some of the materials from Harris’s design will be used in senior projects, and the others are biodegradable.

“We managed to contact a cat shelter, and they agreed,” Maldonado said.

Maldonado’s group donated their structure — complete with small hammocks for sunbathing — to a local cat shelter.

From left to right: In honor of Sean Hillman, many students wore green clothing and ribbon pins, and spray painted their structures and shirts in his dedication.

Hillman’s group’s structure near the entrance to Design Village.

Signage for Hillman’s group’s structure “Poly Canyon Revival.”

The creativity and passion for sustainability and the built environment all came together during Design Village competition weekend as everyone settled their structures on the hill. The evening brought live music from local bands in a concert held by San Luis Obispo music festival Shabang and Cal Poly’s radio station KCPR. Students, faculty and onlookers shared food and enjoyed the music as the sun set behind the hills.

Prior to the celebrations, the Cal Poly community came together underneath the geodesic dome to remember Sean Hillman, a first-year architectural engineering student who died on April 24. The ARCE Department and the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) student club — of which Hillman was a member — organized the remembrance to honor Hillman.

Dennison, who was Hillman’s groupmate, said their team wanted to create something extra for Hillman’s family to see at the site. Together, they made a chair from their structure’s extra materials and bamboo — a material Hillman wanted to include in the structure, even if it was just for decoration.

They also made shirts with “Dedicated to Sean Hillman” spray painted on the back; the same phrase was spray painted on their structure.

With the help of faculty, Dennison and his group made templates and provided spray paint for other groups to add Hilman’s name to their structures. Countless students also wore green during the weekend to honor his memory.

“He was really a jack of all trades as well. He taught us all how to sew. He was amazing at welding, and he was an art student,” Dennison said. “We really couldn’t have started this project without Sean, and we needed to make that known.”

Sean’s hammock was left in front of the completed project, which was turned into a memorial filled with plants and flowers.

On Saturday, students learned from and celebrated every project as judges walked around and listened to short presentations from each team. A group called The Spins won first place for their design “Twisted”, consisting of bamboo twisted into a DNA helix and incorporating plants into the structure.

On Sunday morning, groups disassembled their structures and cleaned up the canyon. Many first-year students walked away with a more complex understanding of the built environment and an experience that will guide their time at Cal Poly and beyond.

Rohrer reflected on his experience and the significance of doing a largescale project during the first year of the program. For him, Design Village offered a new perspective on housing.

“You’ll come into it and you’ll kind of have an expectation of what a building has to be,” he said. “Doing this project right away, it changes the way you think about a living space.”

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Landscape Architecture Design Village Debut Landscape architecture students — competing for the first time in the competition’s history — made their mark on the 48th Design Village. With four entries by the program, the competition saw DNA helix, monarch butterfly, jellyfish and swallow-inspired designs. The event’s overall winner was landscape architecture team The Spins, composed of Lindsey Kuehn, Jack Mura, Lynn Kataoka, Ailani Tran, Katie Allen, Evelyn Neagoy, Ruby Smith, Ellie Feistel and Arlo Hadley, for their structure “Twisted.” As the team put it, “Twisted is an intricate design solution modeled off a simple organic shape. DNA is the center of all life and is beautifully represented in the helix form.

The simple twist of this design emulates the intertwining of humans and nature.”

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To close out day one of the celebration, participants and visitors enjoyed concerts featuring local bands 9 Hearts and Amtrak.

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Disciplinary Experts on Challenges and Opportunities of the Built Environment

BY MADISON VERNON

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n the spirit of commemorating CAED’s 75th anniversary, CAED faculty were asked to share their thoughts on opportunities and challenges of today’s built-environment education and profession.

The initial discussion dealt with teaching sustainable design and impacts of environmental footprint.

“We try to introduce courses related to sustainable development, learning the concept by application also,” Miran Day, landscape architecture faculty member, said. “We introduce and teach them in a sequence to integrate the concepts. This includes areas such as sustainability, climate change and climate sequestration.”

For architecture faculty member Dale Clifford, collaboration between built environment industries is necessary to help designers gain a more comprehensive view of how they shape people’s lives.

“Architects are generally optimistic and see opportunities to use their skills to address current housing issues, equality, sustainability and biodiversity — to name a few,” he said. “Architecture itself cannot solve these issues, but we can provide guidance and launch design initiatives that disrupt the status quo and positively address environmental issues and economic disparity.”

City and regional planning faculty member Hemalata Dandekar acknowledged that the planning department’s clients are well-aware of issues impacting sustainability and expect student work to incorporate a response.

“In my History of Planning course, I point out the ways in which climate vulnerability and the growth of communities beyond the carrying capacity of the natural environment cause declines in civilization and explain the relevance of understanding the forces at play today,” she said.

As a topic of interest for many students, faculty saw an opportunity to create an interdisciplinary sustainable environments minor for all CAED majors. The minor provides students with the knowledge and abilities needed to integrate ecological, social equity and economics concerns within the context of human and natural resource systems and the built environment.

“We want to teach students how to learn the concepts, but also how to apply them. It’s not all theoretical, but how to practice sustainable design in the built environment,” Day said.

“There are a lot of industries that have been disrupted by the computer age, including the built environment. The disruption within our industry is due to remote work, online shopping, autonomous cars in the future, affordable housing […] all these things change what we are building,” Lawson described.

For city and regional planning, new technologies are changing the way planners analyze and present information. Dandekar described the importance of understanding and utilizing these resources.

“GIS and visualization tools are getting easier and easier to use. These are going to be increasingly important in a planner’s toolkit. They are going to be useful in communicating plans for the future in terms that people understand,” she said.

Lawson has witnessed the importance of leveraging current technologies to prepare students for innovations within the industry. When asked about his best advice for recent graduates entering the industry, he said, “diversify, diversify, diversify.”

“People within the industry that think they can learn only one type of building or construction are going to find needing to diversify themselves leading into the future,” Lawson continued.

The final subject discussed was Cal Poly converting from a quarter to semester calendar by the start of the 2026-27 academic year.

When considering the conversion, Clifford mentioned the importance of remembering the communities impacted by CAED students and future alumni.

“The practice of architecture has progressively narrowed and become more specialized. Many recent graduates are seeking positions in organizations that serve the public and/or experimenting with smaller-scale practices based on community outreach,” he said.

Regarding changes in teaching, “The conversion to semesters will not significantly impact how we teach,” Clifford said. “We just need to shift gears. Shifting is innate to faculty, as they continually tune their teaching content and methods to provide better educational opportunities for students.”

The second subject discussed focused on technological innovations and how planners, designers and builders can navigate new advancements.

“Instead of students being assigned a project with a short deadline, professors can actually extend the continuity of the project into more phases,” Lawson said about the changes in course length.

For architectural engineering faculty member John Lawson this means the industry must be ready to adapt to change.

As new and continuing challenges arise, so do new opportunities — a mindset the CAED has become attuned to.

“We want to teach the students how to learn the concepts, but also how to apply them. It’s not all theoretical, but how to practice sustainable design in the built environment”

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Architecture teacher-scholar faculty Dylan Krueger’s class work on constructing a temporary structure in the Experimental Practices Laboratory at Poly Canyon. The teacher-scholar model enables faculty to continuously develop new knowledge, integrate scholarship and innovate curriculum, ensuring students receive a modernized and industry-relevant education.

Photo by Joe Johnston

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Latest DEI Efforts

BY BRIANNA GROSSMAN Photos by Zach Kanter In June 2023, the College of Architecture and Environmental Design reviewed its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) plan, revisiting the goals and action plans it drafted in winter 2020 and finalized in spring 2021.

The CAED Faculty Staff Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (FSDEI) committee spearheaded the original draft using Student Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (SDEI) action plans made in 2018 and 2019.

The current plan includes CAED community feedback received through surveys, listening sessions and Dean’s Leadership Council meetings.

The latest version aims to be more comprehensive, revolving around three primary goals identified by the college: • Developing an inclusive and equitable culture.

• Recruiting and retaining a diverse community of faculty, staff and students.

• Engaging diversity, equity and inclusion across each department and curriculum.

Although the DEI plan was recently updated, students and faculty have long been working towards improving the culture and curriculum of the college to better reflect the identities and experiences of Cal Poly’s constituents.

Avery Vuong, a third-year architecture major and president of Cal Poly’s National Organizations of Minority Architecture Students (NOMAS) chapter, is helping foster a more culturally-inclusive space through event organizing, community outreach and professional development.

Vuong explains that the organization puts a lot of effort into its outreach to prospective students. Their goal is to show future students the possibilities and opportunities for them within the college.

“I think groups such as ours are the best way for students to be comfortable and be connected, in a more natural capacity,” she said.

NOMAS partners with other groups within the college, like CAED DEI club, to foster diversity through student outreach, community design-driven projects and design excellence. They also participate in campuswide outreach events, initiatives and conferences.

“United by Excellence: Paving the Road to Higher Education” is a conference hosted biannually by Admissions and Recruitment in October and February, coinciding with Latinx Heritage Month and Black History Month. They partner with the university’s six colleges, faculty and staff associations, student support services, Student Diversity and Belonging centers and additional units on campus.

The event invites high schools and organizations serving underrepresented and first-generation college students to campus for an immersive experience, including lectures, resource fairs, workshops, cultural club performances, student panels, admission criteria presentations and heritage month celebrations.

On Feb. 3 and Oct. 27, CAED welcomed visiting high school students to presentations by CAED departments and student groups like NOMAS.

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Top: David Kempken leading a tour of the CAED support shop.

Above: Visiting high school student wearing a Cal Poly DEI backpack.

“Many of these students may be visiting a college campus for the first time, and this may be the only in-person exposure they have had to higher education,” wrote Mandy Blackburn, assistant director of student engagement. “The goal is to create an inclusive and welcoming event where students from underrepresented backgrounds can see what it’s like to be a Cal Poly college student for a day and envision themselves applying to Cal Poly.”

The program is still relatively new, with this year’s events being the second and third since its inception. Soon, Cal Poly hopes to begin gathering student data and tracking student interest and applications to measure the program’s impact.

“My experience at the Latinx conference was great. They showed us the

Above: Architectural engineering student and Cal Poly Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) President Isabella Jimenez-Melendrez presenting to visiting high school students.

five different [CAED departments] and really went in depth about each of them. You could tell it was really hands on,” said Valeria Nunez, a visiting student from Pioneer Valley High School.

White encouraged students to consider incorporating community programs and spaces into a design brief for a law school library.

The efforts of NOMAS and other student DEI groups are essential in creating a culture of belonging with current and prospective students. Though Vuong admits, the college could be doing more.

“A lot of responsibility falls on student organizations right now to take care of connecting students from underrepresented groups with mentors,” Vuong said.

“And the law campus was placed in a low-income area. So, we were challenged as students to come up with equitable solutions to tie the project to its surroundings,” she said.

Neuner and her partner were inspired to include a pro bono law program and daycare in their project. “Faculty makes a big difference in helping students to think about these topics,” she said.

Additionally, Neuner explained a diverse faculty reflective of the diverse student body across all departments could bolster students’ learning experiences.

The college aims to correct this gap — stated in the CAED DEI plan — by compiling student and faculty resource lists, providing financial and well-being support, encouraging student decision-making, and making student demographic reports more accessible and transparent.

Department faculty are also a critical resource in creating opportunities for students interested in equity-related projects. Katherine Neuner, a fifth-year architecture student and a recent winner of the 2023 Diversity x Design scholarship

by HOK, says she was recommended by the Architecture Department to apply for the scholarship.

“Getting other perspectives and really diving into the politics, even if they’re ugly, is very useful for us,” Vuong explained. While some classes currently offer diversity in design projects for different majors, there is an opportunity to increase such opportunities and introduce DEI topics earlier in the curriculum.

“Had they not informed me about it, I don’t think I probably would’ve applied for it,” she said.

Vuong noted the college could foster a more open dialogue with student groups across all departments to discuss and build the curriculum around topics students find important.

Such a practice could increase community involvement and much-needed transparency.

Neuner also discussed the importance of faculty encouraging students to think about social justice within their design projects. In one of Neuner’s classes, her professor Stacey

“There are a lot of people out here that would love to help further DEI within CAED. So, they just have to reach out and keep an open eye for us,” Vuong concluded.

The CAED DEI plan is designed to be updated to reflect the needs of the ever-changing CAED community. The latest revision can be viewed at caed.calpoly.edu

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the future is now 40 7 5 T H A N N I V E R S A R Y | 2 0 2 3

The City and Regional Planning Department hosts dicussions about the future of planning.

BY BRIANNA GROSSMAN Photos by Zach Kanter

Continued on Page 42

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On April 21,

at Cal Poly’s Swanson Center of Effort Conference Hall, the City and Regional Planning (CRP) Department welcomed students, faculty, alumni and partners to “The Future of Planning” symposium in celebration of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED)’s 75th anniversary. Facilitated and partially sponsored by the City and Regional Planning Advisory Council (CiRPAC), the symposium included presentations and discussions with five California planners at the forefront of their field who spoke about critical issues facing current and future planners.

With Cal Poly transitioning from a quarter to semester system by the start of the 2026-27 academic year, the symposium presented an exciting opportunity to restructure the current curriculum to reflect the world ahead. CAED Dean Emeritus Christine Theodoropoulos opened the symposium by establishing the focus on the future: “Do you structure a curriculum around skills? Do you structure it around subject areas?

Maybe you need to look into what the future issues for planning are, and that is how you start to configure a learning experience for future planners.”

On Page 40-41: Symposium attendees gathered on Hotel SLO’s rooftop bar to relax and continue conversations about the future of planning.

Left: CRP graduate student Sully Israel asking a question during Q&A. Right: (From left to right) Panelists Leora Tanjuatco Ross, Saharnaz Mirzazad and Steven Lewis speaking to the CRP community.

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The dean’s sentiments carried into the conversation between Jimmy Paulding, District Four Supervisor of San Luis Obispo County, and Phil Serna, District One Supervisor of Sacramento County, who both spoke to the challenges they currently deal with in their public service positions. Homelessness, as Serna explained, remains a top issue in urban, suburban and rural areas, and has a major influence on the county’s budget. The challenge has forced Serna and Paulding to rethink and expand their responsibility as planners and representatives.

Planners will be expected to provide diverse types of housing to meet the needs of unhoused people and ensure the best possible delivery methods for resources such as substance abuse help and mental health services. Serna and Paulding further noted how a more

efficient system of approving housing permits and strengthened regional collaboration could help cities mitigate the housing crisis, at least for now.

During the COVID-19 pandemic when remote work increased significantly, many office and commercial buildings became vacant and, therefore, could be developed into housing solutions. Paulding and other elected officials along the Central Coast worked on ways to create living units in existing development, like repurposing the vacant commercial spaces in downtown San Luis Obispo. Urban repurposing can be challenging, considering not all commercial units are equipped to be homes, but “we need to be looking at how to maximize and fully utilize existing developed space,” Paulding urged. Another way to do so, he explained, is by making predesigned Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) plans available for homeowners. San Luis Obispo County introduced a new program that allows residents to obtain ADU plans over the counter for varying levels of square footage. Paulding hopes ADUs can help create more affordable housing without scrambling to find new development spaces.

Perhaps today’s most urgent and growing challenge continues to be climate change and disaster preparedness. Just this year, San Luis Obispo saw unprecedented atmospheric rivers and flooding, and the greater state of California has long been dealing with catastrophic wildfires.

“We’ve got to get with the program. We need to prioritize disaster preparedness as much as we need to ensure that we’re designing our communities to make them more resilient,” Paulding said. Building infrastructure that can withstand extreme weather events, planning for more efficient transportation and continuously revisiting and updating mitigation plans are ways to adjust to climate change’s present consequences. “And of course, I think we all understand what [climate change] is by now because we live it. It’s

no longer something that we see in a very distant future, decades away. It’s happening to us now,” Serna said.

After a short Q&A, the initial discussion ended and was followed by a panel with Steven Lewis, Leora Tanjuatco Ross and Saharnaz Mirzazad. The group continued earlier conversations about housing, climate change and social justice.

“Following the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a greater sense of awareness of the social inequities and systemic faults facing our communities.

Having a strong value system to combat these injustices is a characteristic of an effective planner,” said Lewis, architect and urban design principal at ZGF Architects.

Social justice, among other topics, dominated the conversation as the group discussed the lack of available housing for low-income Californians.

“Our current planning process prioritizes the wants of the comfortable over the needs of the marginalized and our society in general,” said Tanjuatco Ross, national director of Yes-In-My-Backyard Action Group.

Tanjuatco Ross stressed the need for a more democratic, community-based approach to planning, rather than the accustomed project-by-project process. Instead of approving individual proposals and catering to small, short-term projects, planners should focus on enforcing state fair housing laws and meeting people out in the community to gauge the overall needs, she explained.

There were also talks about the interconnectedness of housing with other issues. Chief Deputy Director at the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research Saharnaz Mirzazad encouraged planners to expand beyond their silos and work together with other disciplines to problem-solve.

“We need more of that,” she said while expanding on ways that her department has reevaluated the housing crisis. “One of the things that was in last year’s budget was housing as a climate strategy, which was a new way of thinking about the housing issue. Housing is a climate issue. They are intertwined. We can’t separate them from each other,” she said.

Some of Mirzazad’s work as chief deputy director involves engaging communities in climate action and assembling California’s Fifth Climate Change Assessment. Part of the newest assessment includes a Tribal Committee, “a necessary addition,” said Mirzazad, noting the historical lack of indigenous and minority voices in California governance.

She’s hopeful the Tribal Committee will help play a major part in shaping California’s future climate action. The establishment of the committee serves as a reminder for elected officials to be more inten-

tional with their engagement with underrepresented communities. Mirzazad suggested participatory budgeting practices as a direct tool planners can adopt to engage community members, who are otherwise overlooked, in financial decision-making and resource allocation.

Heidi Vonblum, planning director of the City of San Diego, closed out the event with a presentation about her current work in San Diego. She acknowledged the struggle of addressing so many urgent issues while accommodating the needs of various communities. “Work progress is incremental. We cannot solve every single problem every step along the way, but we can have an intentional pathway forward to get us there,” she said. A critical part of that problem-solving, as Mirzazad touched on, comes from continuous and thoughtful public engagement.

“We are focused on engaging residents in new ways, meeting real people where they are, speaking in languages and words that people actually understand, targeting engagement with community-based organizations,” Vonblum said. Equitable public engagement is such an essential practice, the City of San Diego has an entire division dedicated to thoughtful engagement methods. The goal is to enact policies and plans that represent San Diego’s diverse demographics, rather than just those who have the privilege to participate in such planning conversations.

Looking forward, city and regional planners will continue to confront urgent challenges. But with so many ideas for creative, community-based solutions presented by the guest speakers, it’s up to future planners to harness the courage to execute them. As Lewis noted, leading with empathy and an appreciation for the challenge will guide communities in the right direction: “People are resilient. They will find a way where there is no way.”

After questions from the audience, the symposium concluded but the conversation continued, engulfed in the panoramic view of Cal Poly, where many of the attendees studied and began their careers in city and regional planning. Later that day, as the soft golden hues of the remaining sunlight backlit the City of San Luis Obispo, the attendees gathered on Hotel SLO’s rooftop bar to relax and resume the engaging conversations from earlier.

The discussions encouraged by the symposium helped raise issues that are already defining the path for the city and regional planning profession: the housing crisis, homelessness, climate change, the water crisis, social justice, shrinking public budgets, and public engagement and participation in the decision-making process. Each an urgent issue in California which needs to be considered in new undergraduate and graduate planning curriculum.

WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

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Implementing solutions for homelessness in urban, suburban and rural areas

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Climate change and disaster preparedness

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Low-income housing accessibility

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Working with other disciplines to problemsolve

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Encouraging engagement from the public

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We are taught to think about the human experience, the public realm, how people move through spaces, impacts on the environment and how all those things are connected.”

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Design Justice and DecisionMaking The Future of Landscape Architecture

BY BRIANNA GROSSMAN Photos by Zach Kanter

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embers of the Landscape Architecture Department Advisory Council (LADAC) gathered in the KTGY gallery this past April to close out the last LADAC meeting of the year.

A symposium-style gathering, the meeting welcomed students, industry panelists and presenters who spoke to members about social justice, public service, leadership and climate resilience.

The overarching theme, “Future of Landscape Architecture,” was carefully woven into each presentation with considerations of how the field has shaped both built and social environments, and how it will continue to do so amidst issues concerning justice, equity and democracy.

Presenters Lauren Hackney, Joni Janecki and Sarah Cawrse each gave a PechaKucha-style presentation using primarily images instead of text across 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each to convey a distinct critical issue.

Hackney, who is a lecturer at Cal Poly and founder of the San Luis Obispo-based practice Reciprocal Studio, presented on what social justice means in design, and how a space can be designed to be equitable, safe and secure.

“It's also an idea that the process of attaining social justice should be democratic and participatory and celebrate the capacity of humans to work collaboratively to create change,” Hackney said.

Not only should the final product reflect the needs and desires of the community involved, but the process of planning and design must also do so, Hackney explained. Meeting with residents, visiting the site with communities and using familiar and accessible language are all practices to ensure just participation in the design process.

“Your work toward social justice will be engaging much larger and societal factors and challenges, and so understanding that and bringing your own values and understanding of community participation is really important,” Hackney said.

A Cal Poly alumna and principal and co-owner of Joni L. Janecki & Associates, Janecki echoed Hackney’s sentiments.

(Continued on Page 46)

Left: Landscape architecture faculty member Lauren Hackney addressing “feminist spatial practices” within landscape architecture.

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Landscape architecture alum Kevin Conger speaking to the audience during the panel discussion.

She emphasized a landscape architect’s role of fostering the relationship between nature and community in an ecologically responsible way. Her designs incorporate local materials, native plants and efficient drainage and irrigation systems to help conserve local resources and land. They also serve to bring the community closer to nature.

“It's important to me to have playful spaces,” Janecki said. She notes the multigenerational uses of public outdoor spaces and how they should be accessible to everyone. “Take advantage of this idea of depth of life and the qualities that we really cherish in nature that we can bring into our public spaces in the building environment,” she said.

Ultimately, it is up to the designers to ensure just participation, safe and equitable spaces and climate resilient design, which can be done through public service. Landscape architects have a “huge impact on communities and people's quality of life,” said Cal Poly alumna and Denver Senior City Planner Sarah Cawrse. Cawrse originally worked in the private sector after graduating from Cal Poly, but later began a career in public service where she could have more influence in decision-making processes.

“In this landscape architecture program, we are taught to think about the human experience, the public realm, how people move through spaces, impacts on the environment and how all those things are connected,” Cawrse said. “This type of thinking is such an asset in so many places, companies and jobs. We can apply our design knowledge in so many different ways.”

As a city planner for Denver, Cawrse gets to collaborate with other designers, developers and major stakeholders in plan-

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ning, recommending and setting goals for community spaces.

But, as Cawrse notes, landscape architects can enter a variety of roles at the forefront of policymaking, such as mayors, governors, city council members, lawmakers, academics and developers.

Landscape architects having active roles in decision-making and community-building is an idea that further resonated with the panelists. Along with Janecki, the panel featured Cal Poly alumni Kevin Conger, Martin Flores and Tala Fatolahzadeh, who served as the moderator.

Discussion of migration, climate change, displacement, land preservation and housing further conveyed the necessary and urgent presence of designers with problem-solving skills in government positions.

“I think we're not realizing our potential,” Conger said. “We need landscape architects that are willing to move away from the design profession of designing parks and start getting into city-making and policy-making and getting up that decision tree.”

Being prepared and willing to work with other professions and local leaders was a point further elaborated by Flores.

“I can't stress enough... interdisciplinary engagement has to happen in order to be productive and active, and to be able to be leaders,” Flores said.

The panel wrapped up with questions from and discussion with the audience. Participants of the conference were left with a more well-informed look into the future of landscape architecture and a recognition of the good work already being done.

TO SUPPORT THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT caed.calpoly.edu/caed-giving

C E L E B RATI NG

75

Y E A RS O F

ARCHITECTURAL ENGINEERING

BY MADISON VERNON AND BRIANNA GROSSMAN Photos by Zach Kanter

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W

hen Cal Poly’s Architectural Engineering Department (ARCE) admitted its first class of undergraduates 75 years ago, students completed coursework related to building trades, including beginning courses in reinforced concrete and engineering mechanics.

Since then, the department has remained committed to its Learn by Doing curriculum and recently commemorated its 75th anniversary with a big celebration.

On Saturday, Nov. 4, the ARCE department invited students, faculty and alumni to reunite in honor of the major milestone at the Madonna Inn Expo Center in San Luis Obispo. The spirited event was sponsored by Computers and Structures Inc. (CSI).

For CSI CEO and event sponsor Ashraf Habibullah, the anniversary celebration aimed to reconnect all who have played a part in the department’s extensive history. As an active community member of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design (CAED) for over 40 years, Habibullah was excited to have everyone back together.

“I have friends at Cal Poly that go back nearly 50 years. I essentially have friends in every generation

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From left to right: ARCE Department Head Al Estes addressing those in attendance.

Guests dancing to the live band, the Ashraf All-Stars.

Multiple generations of students, alumni and faculty celebrate ARCE together.

On Page 47: Event sponsor Ashraf Habibullah smiles as the crowd cheers in acknowledgment of his generosity and continuous support.

and that’s all because of Cal Poly,” Habibullah said.

“So, when they told me that they were going to celebrate the 75th anniversary, I said, ‘we’re down there, we’re gonna be there, and we’re gonna rock all of SLO.” Third-year ARCE student Ana Atanassov also shared in the excitement of the department’s past and present coming together for the night. “I’m here to meet people, network and just have a nice time,” she said during the event.

Celebrating the department’s 75th anniversary also means celebrating the program’s evolution over the years. As the first program in the CAED, ARCE has evolved tremendously. For nearly 20 years, Cole McDaniel, ARCE faculty member and graduate program coordinator, has witnessed that transformation.

With the inclusion of state-of-the-art technology, the ARCE department has continued to prioritize collaborative, critical thinking applications to better prepare and empower students. For McDaniel, the future relies on objective analysis and evaluation being at the forefront of the classroom environment.

“We’ve always had a big focus on students thinking critically and not just consuming information.

Especially as more and more information becomes available, the level of thinking is dropping,” he said. “We want to emphasize critical thinking so when something new arises in the future, students are able to solve it.”

ARCE alum and faculty member John Lawson described the department’s emphasis on interdisciplinary project design as very impactful on

“To my knowledge, there is no other college that encompasses all these majors that are in the built environment. It’s very unique and I think it makes comradery among the disciplines much easier.”

his teaching style. Now entering his 14th year as faculty, Lawson credits that same vision as a driving force that has continued to separate Cal Poly’s program from others across the nation.

“To my knowledge, there is no other college that encompasses all these majors [architectural engineering, construction management and architecture],” he said. “It’s very unique and I think it makes comradery among the disciplines much easier.”

That comradery echoes throughout the department’s student body, as Atanassov noted how willing the professors are to help and encourage students. “They’ll support you every step along the way,” she said.

“I definitely agree with Ana, it’s very supportive,” third-year ARCE student Loan My Nguyen said about the casual and friendly culture of ARCE. “[The professors] go by first name.”

Concluding a full day of celebratory events, the anniversary reception featured an unforgettable evening of live music, dancing, food and drinks with ARCE’s students and esteemed alumni and faculty.

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Q

CAED DEAN EMERITUS

CHRISTINE THEODOROPOULOS

W

hat are the goals for the CAED heading into the transition of deans? What are some next steps for the college or its departments?

The CAED will open doors for students by serving as a leading partner in emerging educational initiatives at Cal Poly, including the real estate education initiative, the renewable energy education initiative and through stewardship of place in partnership with regional communities.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

As CAED departments implement plans to transition from Cal Poly’s long-standing quarter calendar to semesters, faculty are reimagining the curriculum to reflect critical environmental issues, emerging tools, process innovations and cross disciplinary collaborations.

This includes a proposal for a new Bachelor of Science in the Built Environment program where future students will have opportunities to explore all the disciplines of the CAED and specialize in sustainability, health and real estate development.

The 2023-24 academic year will see the launch of the Hasslein Chair, a visiting faculty position that brings practitioners and scholars with interdisciplinary interests to teach at Cal Poly.

&

graduates for careers that are just as relevant and essential for the future of the built environment but cannot be fully situated in the CAED’s existing degree programs; these are careers that synthesize the intersection of the CAED’s disciplinary domains and disciplinary perspectives beyond the CAED. What has serving as dean of the CAED meant to you?

How will the CAED continue collaborative efforts serving communities locally and globally?

By participating in community dialog about pressing issues that impact San Luis Obispo County’s quality of the built environment and solutions that improve quality of life, such as design for accessibility, affordability, public health and sustainability.

Thorough advocacy about the value of design education, and furthering partnerships among educational institutions, educators and the practice community will create better bridges for students as they transition from school to practice.

Reflecting on CAED’s 75th anniversary, what aspects of the college’s curriculum and industry partnerships have been successful? Is there room for improvement?

Learn by Doing that prepares graduates to begin rewarding careers that shape the built environment under the guidance of inspiring faculty and with the partnership of the practice community has always been and continues to be the core of the CAED experience, with decades of success, and decades of transformation as building technologies, cultures and the nature of practice evolves. The five disciplines of the CAED, established as independent programs in 1970, each comprise core knowledge and abilities validated by the success of graduates and recognition from the industry. At the ¾ mark of the CAED’s first century we are challenging to prepare

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For me, the most rewarding part of the dean’s role is the joy of making connections between members of the CAED community, the college’s many friends and partners and project opportunities… and celebrating the stories about achievements of students, faculty and staff, and celebrating their impacts, large and small.

Are there any parting words you wish to share with the CAED community?

As I reflect on where the college stands today, I take pride in our shared commitment to students. Students are where the action is.

And students are powerful agents of change. Every class brings new perspectives and experiences that reflect all they are, the communities they come from, and the learning communities they form at Cal Poly. I admire their passion for tackling great challenges — climate mitigation, housing, social equity and community resilience — as they explore the breadth of what exists and what is possible.

I would like to thank the generations of students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends and partners who, for 75 years, have contributed to the impressive achievements that make the CAED a premier institution in California and the nation, preparing students for leadership roles in professions that shape the built environment.

The opportunity to serve as dean of the CAED has been a true privilege for which I am deeply grateful. I look forward to staying connected. Best wishes!

CAED INTERIM DEAN

KEVIN DONG

new curriculum developed by our five departments, all the departments are striving to create creative cross disciplinary experiences for students – a hallmark of the CAED.

&

• Professional development programs. This year I hope to identify workshops, courses or activities which allow those interested in growing professionally. If faculty and staff have a desire to expand their knowledge in their work or develop leadership and management skills, the college will identify programs that offer training.

A

re there any welcoming or introductory words you wish to share with the CAED community as the interim dean for the 2023-24 academic year?

It’s an honor and privilege to serve as the interim dean. I never imagined myself in this role. As an alum, I’m grateful to Cal Poly and the CAED for starting my journey as a design professional, as a life-long learner, and as an advocate for teamwork, interdisciplinary partnering and a willingness to dream. I hope to share my enthusiasm and vision for our college with students, staff, faculty and alumni in the next year.

Thank you!

What are your goals for the CAED heading into this transition of deans? What are some next steps for the college or its departments?

My main goal is to provide a sense of stability while moving ahead with key initiatives established by Cal Poly. Being a part of the CAED community for over 20 years has helped me understand the opportunities, potential and challenges that exist within the college. Additionally, I served as an associate dean with Christine. It’s been a pleasure reconnecting with the people and places beyond Dexter Lawn! The tenure as associate dean helped me better understand the nuances of working across the university, across the college, as well as exposing me to Cal Poly as a campus and those responsibilities that occur behind the scenes such as student well-being, student services, facilities, budget and advancement.

My past experiences will allow us to align ourselves with the priorities of the provost and strengthen us as a unit. For the upcoming year, the major goals for our college are: • The quarter to semester transition. It has consumed the college for the past couple of years and it’s going to be another two to three years that require attention as we help our students transition into the new system. It’s a challenge, but also exciting. After reviewing the

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). There’s been a lot of movement on DEI in terms of the activities and initiatives the past few years.

This year, the provost would like to intentionally support our Black community. I think we all recognize that the population at Cal Poly and within our college doesn’t reflect the population of California.

The goal is to attract, retain, grow and promote our Black community.

We will assess current programs, and if helpful, strengthen those programs, or develop new ones. Our goal is to make the CAED feel like a place to call home or be a home away from home. We’re in the early phases of understanding what is present and active on campus. My hope is that we can start something on our own and be the leaders on this.

• The other initiative that resonates with us is a “place of stewardship.”

Highlighting and advocating service projects that improve society and the built environment. Every department in CAED stewards communities, which is really wonderful. So, our goal is to highlight these service learning scholarship projects or workshops, and document how CAED impacts the communities they work with.

Those are the big initiatives that the provost would like us to look at this year. Another focus for the CAED is interdisciplinary coursework.

Currently, we have few interdisciplinary activities or courses. This is the hallmark of our college! And it’s a valuable and memorable learning experience for our students. Working as a team across departments and the college, I want us to create a system that is easier for the faculty and staff to provide interdisciplinary opportunities and help identify opportunities for interdisciplinary studios. It’s a cornerstone of our college culture and we should strive to keep it as a core mission.

What will communication between the interim dean and the CAED community look like this academic year?

My goal is to be accessible to the CAED community. I will attend departmental faculty meetings at least once per quarter, attend student council meetings and hold weekly office hours. My hope is that meeting in small venues will allow students, faculty and staff to voice their concerns and ideas in a safe and engaging environment. As mentioned before, the university has initiatives for the 2023-24 academic year and it’s critical that the college supports them, but also communicates how these initiatives are rolled out.

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A word from

PRESIDENT ARMSTRONG

D

uring World War II, Cal Poly played an important role in training Navy pilots as well as in training farmers and agricultural workers who were producing to support the war effort.

As the wartime focus ended and the campus — like the rest of the country — began to look to the future again, it was decided that Cal Poly could help to train the next generation of architects and architectural engineers, and eventually city planners, construction managers and landscape architects. Thus, the College of Architecture and Environmental Design was born.

Now, after 75 years of Learn by Doing successes and accolades, the college remains central to the university and our mission of providing a world-class, comprehensive polytechnic education to California’s best and brightest. With more than 16,000 alumni, the college has played a role in the creation of built environments that touch the lives of hundreds of millions of people.

Seventy-five years from now, I am sure, some future president of Cal Poly—who has probably not even been born yet — will have the privilege of celebrating the continued success and astonishing impact of the college. Today, on the occasion of its 75th anniversary, I add my voice to the chorus of congratulations, and extend my good wishes for a glorious future for Cal Poly’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design!

JEFFREY D. ARMSTRONG President, Cal Poly

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SUPPORTING THE CAED THROUGH

Giving

It’s an honor and privilege to reach out to you, our alumni and friends of the college, as the interim dean of the College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

As an alumnus (Architectural Engineering, ’86) and a longtime professor, I’ve experienced and witnessed the power of Learn by Doing. I’ve had the joy of sharing my experiences and teaching students, but also learning about life-changing experiences students share with me.

These experiences are possible because of contributions — your contributions! Your connection to our college holds great significance, and please accept my sincerest appreciation for your continued support.

Sustained support from donors like you has allowed our college to successfully continue the practical application of theory through real-world projects and expand our integrated approach to developing the built environment from inception to design through construction and the life cycle of a community.

This year, we invite you to join us once again in our strategic mission to provide rich learning experiences that prepare our students for leadership roles in professions that plan, design, construct and steward the built environment.

We are focused on the following fundraising priorities that promote Learn by Doing experiences: • CAED core: interdisciplinary and collaborative activities.

• CAED action: student service and community projects.

• CAED achievement: student innovation through competitions, conferences and exhibitions.

• CAED impact: planned giving and lasting support for student learning.

Because of the support of donors, we can continue to offer the significant educational benefits that come from a low student-to-professor ratio and high-quality technological and support facilities.

Together, we can prepare our students to work globally and at the leading edge of innovation, creating sustainable, compelling surroundings. We are grateful for your partnership in shaping the future and look forward to reaching even greater heights.

Sincerely,

Kevin Dong Interim Dean, College of Architecture and Environmental Design

Give now

TO SUPPORT CAED caed.calpoly.edu/caed-giving

C O L L E G E O F A R C H I T E C T U R E A N D E N V I R O N M E N TA L D E S I G N | C A L P O LY 5 3

California Polytechnic State University 1 Grand Avenue San Luis Obispo, CA 93407-0250

S TA Y CO N N E C T E D caed.calpoly.edu