April 13, 2004
Contact: Ray Ladd
(805) 756-7432, rladd@calpoly.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Architecture, Environmental Design Offers Variety of Events for Open House
SAN LUIS OBISPO – Students of Cal Poly's College of Architecture and Environmental Design will present a variety of free, public events during the university's Open House this Friday and Saturday, April 16-17.
Activities range from a chance to reminisce with former classmates and see futuristic exhibits to shuttle rides up scenic Poly Canyon to see the colorful Design Village Competition.
These are some of the college's events and exhibitions scheduled during “Spotlight Cal Poly”:
Friday events:
- A newly built “Tower of Power" featuring examples of several post-Northridge, earthquake-resistant details will be dedicated at 11 a.m. Friday at the west end of the Engineering West Building in honor of former Construction Management Department Head James A. Rodger. The structural-steel teaching aid was designed to demonstrate the more-common aspects of non-seismic structural steel connections.
- Student displays in the Architecture and Environmental Design Building will include Community Renovations: Mixed Retail and Housing Infill, 1-5 p.m. in Room 304, and the Collaborative Interactive Design Studio, 2-4 p.m., rooms 207 and 224. Demonstrations will take place every half hour in Room 224.
- Off campus is a 2-4 p.m. open house at the Cal Poly Downtown Studio for Affordable Housing, in the Pacific Coast Center at Higuera Street and Madonna Road.
- The Hearst Lecture Series will present a talk on “Operational Layers” by architect Lorcan O’Herlihy at 4 p.m. Friday. Known for new and unique applications of materials, O’Herlihy worked at I.M.Pei and Partners on the Louvre Museum in Paris and has received a National Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects. The lecture will be in the Rotunda (Room 213) of the Business Building.
Friday and Saturday events:
- Four exhibits will be held in the college's Gallery and Stair Court on Friday from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. They will display student work as well as preliminary designs for the Solar Decathlon, a national competition to build the most energy-efficient and innovative home possible. These will be alongside a tribute to one of the college's earliest graduates, the late Leon Phillips (architecture ’51), showcasing his one-of-a-kind metal sculptures, plus paintings displayed in memory of former faculty member Vern Swanson.
- The Alpha Rho Chi student club will host tours of the college noon-4 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, starting in the Architecture and Environmental Design Stair Court.
- Sustain-a-Build, Come Help Take the Stain Out of Sustainability” is the theme of the Design Village Competition 2004, which begins Friday. Students from several states and Canada will compete in the unique and intensive three-day event, carrying materials up Poly Canyon to build and live in their self-designed shelters. Visitors are invited to ride shuttles from the base of Poly Canyon Road 2-4 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday to see the structures during judging. The awards ceremony will be Sunday at 11 a.m.
Saturday events:
- The college will host an Open House and Alumni Welcome from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday in Room 212 of the Architecture and Environmental Design Building, and a City and Regional Planning Alumni Reception, open to the public, will be held from 2 to 3 p.m. on the second floor of the Dexter Building.
- The City and Regional Planning Department will present "Virtual Reality in San Luis Obispo" demonstrations at 12:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. in Room 249 of the Dexter Building.
- The weekend's second Hearst Lecture will be presented at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Business Rotunda. Architect Brian Alan Husting will speak on “Special Places in Special Places, the Architecture of Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo.” The 1981 Cal Poly architecture graduate is a senior associate and senior designer at the firm, considered the world’s No. 1 entertainment, hospitality and leisure design firm. The lecture will spotlight projects in 130 countries and territories around the globe.
More information on the college and its Open House events is online at www.caed.calpoly.edu.
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