A Request for Architectural Mentors:

This is my annual request for firms to volunteer to mentor the students in CRC’s Arch 332/334 design class, Spring, 2012.  I know that many of you have volunteered in past years and have reported that they find the process rewarding on many levels: 1) It gives you a chance to support and influence the development of the next generation of architects;  2) It is invigorating to the office to be reconnected to their education roots and the enthusiasm of the students;  3) It gives the office an opportunity to assist the students in learning altruism and giving back;  4) It can be educational for the office staff. 

We are going to take on  2 projects:  1) for the period of Jan 18-Mar 5, the student team (probably 3 students) will be researching and proposing for a Sacramento suburban and urban neighborhood.  If you have a particular project neighborhood that you would like them to evaluate, they can choose that as their subject, otherwise they will make a choice of their own.  What I am trying to do is to get them to compare and look holistically at the issues of creating a modern livable neighborhood.  There will be two stages for this project: 1) a research stage for them to evaluate existing conditions, what are the issues, and what is a livable neighborhood; 2) to propose and develop responses to the defined issues;  2) for the period of Mar 5-May 5, the same student team will be entering the ”Leading Edge Student Design Competition”  www.leadingedgecompetition.org where they will be designing a zero-net energy, 4-6 unit  townhouse style residential building with an outdoor children’s play yard and an internet café/juice bar open to the public.  The project site is in Merced.  Our students have won or placed in this international competition several times in past years.

I will give lectures, guidance and we will have guest speakers to help the students proceed with the research necessary for both projects.  For each stage, the mentors will hear progress presentations at some interval and propose areas or issues for the students to study and help “nudge” their proposals in appropriate directions.  Some architectural offices have weekly progress presentations of their office projects and just add the student presentations to this process.  So let’s say that it takes the students 20 minutes to present their progress presentation, one or a committee of professionals can offer as much critique time as they feel is necessary.  So I’m guessing that it will take anywhere from 1 ½ hours to 2 hours every two to three weeks, starting probably the middle of February and ending the middle of May.  We usually have a public power point presentation of the student work at the end of the semester.  Last year we had the presentations at SMUD.  Some offices sometimes pull in their consultants but this is not necessary.  The students then will prepare the boards for submission by June 15, 2012. 

The primary purpose of this class is to introduce the student to the concept of “livable communities”.  We will investigate how the settlements that we create integrate our values of community and resource conscious design.  Additional topics include resource conscious design, control of heat and light (passive and active strategies), building orientation for natural and mechanical heat dissipation and maximum lighting effectiveness; solar energy; human thermal comfort; climate, site analysis, energy flow, heating, cooling ventilating and day lighting of architectural environments. 

 If you are interested in participating, please contact John Ellis at ellisjd@crc.losrios.edu

 Thanks to all of you that have donated you time and energy in the past.  The benefit of connecting academia and the profession is extremely important to all of us.

FREE ADMISSION!
5:45PM – 7:30PM at the AIACV Gallery: 1400 S Street, Sacramento 95811

Soul of the City Dates and Topics (Dates have been revised):

February 29th ~ The Soul of Sacramento
What is it? Where is it? Let’s find it and celebrate it! Join us for an introduction to Soul of the City!
Facilitators: Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation, Saxon Sigerson, AIA and Jason Silva, AIA

April 25th ~ Urban Open Space
What makes a good place to visit in the urban environment? Where are the best places in our region? Join us for this lively discussion about where it is and where to find it.
Facilitators: Peter Larimer, ASLA and Marq Truscott, FASLA

June 27th ~ Street Food in the City
Appetite on the Run! A discussion on street food and its impact on Sacramento.
Facilitators: Costa Apostolos of Sacto MoFO and writes on, Living in Urban Sac and Catherine Enfield, a food truck advocate who’s written many articles on the subject, founding member of Sacto MoFo, and now has http://www.sacfoodtrucks.net
Food trucks will be present for you to enjoy!

October (Dates to be posted on Facebook):

 Urban Agriculture
The best restaurants in town have long preferred local source food, and the public appetite for it has increased steadily. Come to discuss the spectrum of urban agriculture, from edible front yards and urban farming community gardens.
Facilitators: Bill Maynard, City of Sacramento Community Garden Program Coordinator, Claire Napawan, Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture at UC Davis and Marq Truscott, FASLA

Infill: How to balance the old with the new
A discussion of creating the new in traditonal neighborhoods; balancing respect, sustainably design opportunity and individuality
Facilitators: Bruce Monighan, AIA and Craig Hausman, AIA

Click here for the flyer with revised dates

Follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SacSoul2012

or for more info email Chris Brown at cbrown@dlrgroup.com

Refreshments and drinks will be served.

The AAH Committee is focused on design and architecture in the healthcare field.

For more information please contact Keith Demaray at Keith.Demaray@hmcarchitects.com

Solomon Dubnick Gallery
1021 R Street, Sacramento (in the Fuller building just a few blocks away from the AIACV office.)

To view Diana’s work visit her website at: http://www.dianajahns.com/tempwork.html

Posted By: Amy Crelly

A Perfect Circadian Day: Exploring the Daylight/Darkness-Health Connection
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
5:30 – 7 PM
UC DAVIS CONFERENCE CENTER BALLROOM
LECTURE ON EMERGING TOPICS IN ENERGY EFFICIENCY
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Join award-winning lighting design experts James Benya and Deborah Burnett for this fast-paced multimedia presentation on the connections between lighting and human health. Held at the UC Davis Conference Center, Davis, CA, this hour-long talk will reveal breakthrough research findings and provide those in attendance with the tools and understanding to create an indoor environment that promotes health, healing and cognitive function while also enhancing energy efficiency. This event is part of the Don Aumann Memorial Lecture series at UC Davis. It is dedicated to the memory of former CLTC Program Director Don Aumann, and supports his vision for sustainability through education and action.

Cost: Free and open to the public.
Contact: Kelly Cunningham, kcunning@ucdavis.edu.
More information is at http://cltc.ucdavis.edu/

Here is a bit more about him from his blog:

“I am a one person architectural firm in Fair Oaks, California. I am a former journeyman carpenter and construction superintendent.  I received my professional degree in architecture from the University of Southern California after studying in Florence, Italy.  I have been in practice on my own since 1999.  I also teach a one month architecture class to high school seniors each year.

My design philosophy

For me architecture is more than function and more than form.  Architecture is about making places with meaning that resonate in the soul.  Wonderful form making and crystal clear functionality can contribute to that special quality but it is an understanding of the client, the site and universal truths of the human condition that are needed in making a beautiful and memorable place.

I also believe that buildings need to be good citizens not only from a sustainable and energy efficient point of view, but also from an urban perspective in considering how a given building can contribute to making a better city.

Lastly, there are times when a client needs a very simple and functional design, or a store layout just like the one they did last year.  That is fine too.  I totally understand and embrace the fact that architecture can’t be making a profound artistic statement all the time.”

Periodically we will be sharing his posts on the Chapter website, and will provide a direct link back to his blog.

Enjoy!

~   ~  ~

I discovered this building while cruising Santa Cruz looking for some architectural entertainment.  The front elevation is pretty straight forward but come around the north side and whoah!  There is this cut away at an angle where the roof stays straight and the wall is angled back.

I love the little opening in the front elevation that takes you through to this funny space.  It is a little like the Alice in Wonderland rabbit hole.  Except that the reality seems to be the same on each side of the threshold.  There was a service going on inside and I was not able to see the impact of the outside geometry on the plan.  I love imagining the decisions that went into this building’s design.  Who made the call to create this geometry and what was the reaction when that idea was shared with others?  Then what did people say when they saw the finished building?  I make no assumptions that it was an architect involved here although if you look at the symmetrical, hierarchical composition of the arch top window and the two rectangular side windows,  there is clearly some design sensibility at work.  So many questions!  This one is on the list for future research.

Vist: http://saxonsangles.wordpress.com/2011/04/02/a-mysterious-little-santa-cruz-ca-building/

About ACE:

ACE was brought to Sacramento in 2007 and is a collaborative effort between educational institutions, the local construction industry and the Construction Industry Educational Foundation. The goal is two-fold: first, to expose high school students to the world of architecture, construction, engineering and the building trades; second, to introduce the students to an array of career opportunities within the industry.

Each year, the students are given an RFP that they must respond to as if they are trying to win the bid. The students work as a team with mentors from the local construction industry to create a project that is later presented to a panel of judges from different industry fields. These projects are judged on a number of different criteria and each winning team is awarded at the annual ACE Awards Banquet. Also at this banquet, we are able to award a number of students with scholarships to further their education within the industry.

In 2007 we sponsored 3 schools, 2008 13 schools, 2009 15 schools, 2010 12 schools, and this school year 11 schools. The ACE Mentoring Program brings students and employers together allowing both parties to plan and prepare for a future within the construction industry. To date, over $40,000 in scholarships has been awarded to students pursuing a career within construction. Well over 95 mentors from our industry have been working with students to help guide them and spark their interest about the construction industry.

We have had tremendous support from our local construction industry throughout the years. For example, some of our mentors and contributing companies from last year are:

Jason Passalacqua from Buehler & Buehler
Alberto Villalpando and Clint Williams from Turner Construction
Noel Cruz from AIA
Diane Buckley from Signature Reprographics
Debi Stevens, AIA and James Willsie from Rainforth-Grau Architects
Bryan Holt and Heman Chand from HMH Builders
Samuel Vasquez, Suzanne Sasaki and Matt Melcher, AIA from Lionakis
Jaycen Russell from ImageWorks Architects, Inc
Michael Buschow, AIA from GRA Architects

This is only to name a few mentors and local companies. The amount of local support throughout the years has been phenomenal and continues to grow.

We invite you today to help us continue this successful program through financial donations. This program is provided for the students and schools at no cost and the local professionals donate their time to help mentor these students. Without the financial support from the industry, we would not be able to reach so many young high school students with such great success.

To learn more about this program, feel free to visit the following sites:

Foundation Site: http://ciefsac.org/programs/ace-mentor-program/
Local Affiliate Site: http://www.wix.com/sacramentoca/ace#!
National Site: http://www.acementor.org/

You can also contact ACE anytime:
ACE Mentor Program of Greater Sacramento
(916) 442-8991 ex. 116
1331 T Street, Sacramento, CA 95811