Strauch Gift Brings Focus to Environmental and Sustainable Design For the past several years, Hans (B.Arch. ’80) and Roger ’78 Strauch have provided a yearly gift to AAP to fund a visiting critic who focuses on issues of environmental and sustainable design in the Department of Architecture. Now, thanks to a $750,000 gift from the brothers, the position will exist in perpetuity. “Sustainability is so important to the future of design that it needs to become part of the vocabulary— threaded into the normal course of all design work and not a specialization,” says Hans Strauch. “Roger and I know this will take time, but we believe that Cornell is the place to push for this new future. Here, sustainability will be brought to a much higher level than it would be elsewhere.” Sustainability is an issue that both brothers are passionate about and have integrated into their careers. Hans Strauch is the president of HDS Architecture, a Cambridge, Massachusetts–based firm. He first became interested in sustainable design in 1996, while working on the Moss-Palais building at Leipziger Platz in Berlin’s former DMZ. It was during the design and construction of this project that he saw how a sustainable approach could be infused into building technology and design principals. Roger Strauch is the chairman of the Roda Group, a seed-stage venture capital group based in Berkeley, California, that invests in businesses that address the consequences of climate change or promote clean technology. Currently funded companies are in a variety of sectors, including water treatment, sports medicine, and energy storage. Starting in fall 2014, the endowed Strauch Visiting Critic in Sustainable Design will be at AAP for one semester per academic year. The critic will focus on issues of environmental impact, conservation, and sustainability within the field of design. Previous Strauch critics include Greg Keeffe, Claudia Pasquero, Marco Poletto, and Christiane Sauer. The Strauch Visiting Critic joins the Gensler Visiting Critic as the second such endowed position in the department.AAP
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photo / Zachary Tyler Newton
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Urban Design Studio Launches at AAP NYC During the fall semester, AAP NYC played host to the launch of the newly established Barclay Jones Urban Design Studio. Funded with a gift by Barclay Jones III, the series of classes will introduce M.R.P. students to contemporary urban design practice. The inaugural studio was taught by visiting faculty Claire Weisz and Adam Lubinsky of WXY Architecture and Urban Design, a design and planning firm based in New York City, and focused on “social and environmental transformation of the public realm at multiple scales.” The studio, called Splintering Urbanism: The East River and Hudson River Waterfronts, focused on two “mirrored” sites in Manhattan: the East River waterfront from the Brooklyn Bridge to 34th Street, and the Hudson River waterfront from Chambers Street to 34th Street. Students were challenged to account for the way that Hurricane Sandy’s impact has prompted the need to examine the paradigms that underpinned the development and redevelopment of each of these two waterfronts over the last half century, and to explore ways to address the challenges of sustainability and resiliency. The studio’s final review was juried by Yeju Choi (NowHere Office); Michael Keane (NYU Wagner); Kaja Kuhl (Columbia University and youarethecity); Gilad Meron (Autodesk Impact Design Foundation); Adriel Mesznik (WXY); Chat Travieso (artist and architectural designer); and Donna Walcavage (Stantec). Jones is the son of legendary planning professor Barclay Jones Jr., and parent to Katherine and Augie, who are current Cornell students.AAP
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MOU Establishes Learning Center in India Fredrik Logevall, vice provost for international affairs, signed a memorandum of understanding between Cornell and the Keystone Foundation in September that establishes the Nilgiris Field Learning Center (NFLC) in Kotagiri, Tamil Nadu, India. The NFLC is a partnership between Keystone and Cornell to explore research projects and engage in teaching and learning that meet the needs of both partners. Research projects will be identified collaboratively between Cornell faculty members, Keystone professionals, and community members living in the Nilgiris region. The NFLC is offering a study abroad program in spring 2014, where Cornell students will be engaged in experiential learning with members of indigenous communities and Keystone staff who work with them. Each group will bring their experiences and knowledge to learning modules devoted to ecosystems, health and nutrition, and water management. “We imagine the NFLC as a place for transformative engaged learning and research for the Cornell and Keystone communities, where we will work together on questions of sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity conservation,” said Neema Kudva, associate professor
of city and regional planning, who is faculty lead on the project. “The first class of learners, from Cornell and from indigenous communities in the Nilgiris region, will be in Kotagiri in spring 2014. It is exciting, and a challenge, but something that my colleagues and I want to help build.” The project has received campuswide support as an innovative example of engaged research and teaching. Cornell faculty and Keystone staff are leading a semester-long, 12- to 15-credit study abroad program in spring 2014. Five modules will help students develop research, fieldwork, analytical, and presentation skills. Fieldwork focuses on ecosystems, health, nutrition, and waste management. The idea for the NFLC was brought to Cornell by Pratim Roy, director of Keystone, as his Humphrey Fellow Project in 2012–13. A Cornell team of five faculty members, two students, and one staff member traveled to Kotagiri in January 2013; and the Keystone team spent two weeks in Ithaca in September, working on curriculum and research projects, assuring that administrative issues were addressed, and continuing to build relationships with Cornell faculty and programs that support the NFLC.AAP
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