shameless publicity for the cu architecture

Student designs appear on campus

Students compete to win first place position, rewarded with use of their design.

By: Whittney Farrow

Award-winning designs to make Clemson more carbon neutral are underway this semester in the grad tower of Lee Hall.

The school-wide competition was called "Super Crit", and architecture students worked on projects in teams. The students behind the three winning designs are bright and enthusiastic about the goals of their projects. "Our brief study looked at the many ways in which we could alter our perception of the Clemson University campus in a sustainable manner," explained Meg Chandler, one of the project team members.

There are three designs that won McMahan Awards for Sustainability: "Bringing Life Into Death Valley" by Nic Fonner, Meg Chandler, Will Wingfield and Tim Hoskins, "Maximizing Landscapes" by Ashley Ortmann, Paul Kennedy, Shawn McKeever and Thomas Weir and "The Harvest" by Michael Ward, Mandy Mobley, Clint Riddle, Nathan Missel and Alisha White. The designers of the projects looked at existing structures on campus and available resources.

"Bringing Life Into Death Valley" uses, of course, Death Valley as a source of energy. For approximately 299 days of the year Death Valley is vacant. This design would involved placing photovoltaic cells on the backs of the stadium seats. They would all be folded down during the year when they aren't being used and Death Valley would become a source of electricity by absorbing solar energy. Nic Fonner points out, "[We] wanted to attempt to green the icon of Clemson University," said Nic Fonner. The Death Valley team is also considering ways to collect the millions of gallons of water that fall into the stadium each year.

"Maximizing Landscapes" looked at making the whole campus more sustainable by maximizing the natural environment and minimizing the consumption within the campus. "We as a group realize the impacts that our student population has on the environment," said Paul Kennedy.
They also looked at ways in which things we do everyday can be altered to lessen their impact on the environment.

The third design, "The Harvest", is an interesting plan that utilizes the resources we have on campus. Inspiration came from items such as lumber that has been cut down and rots away because no one needs it. "How can we use them?" asked Michael Ward of these trees. Students who are familiar with Lee Hall and the grad tower know that getting from one to the other is a little confusing and aggravating. The team decided to design a bridge connecting the two parts of the building. They were inspired by the basket weaving done in South Carolina.They created a similar design, keeping the extra lumber that is normally thrown away in mind. In addition to finding a use for our trees that are cut down, the latticework of wood would support vegetation and protect the building from ultra violet rays.

Along with the Solid Green spirit that Clemson has adopted, these designs could make a big difference. Each individual team member is working on a different aspect of his or her design over the duration of this semester.

The final review of the project designs is on Dec. 6. It is open to anyone interested and the admission is free. These new ideas can one day become a reality at Clemson.

POSTSCRIPT ANALYSIS

Whitney visited the studio space to talk with us. She was absolutely delightful, and seems to have taken an interest in issues of sustainability on campus. A staff photographer visited studio a few days later to photograph the models. This article appeared in the 26 October issue of the Tiger. Front page, above the fold. Just wanted to clarify a few points from the article:

The caption reads that our bridge intervention would be located between Lee + Lowry halls; this in incorrect. As stated in the text of the article, the bridge is to be located between the Grad Tower and Undergrad Studios of Lee Hall. The article makes this clear, but I heard reports that the some Engineering students were up in arms that we would put this next to their building. Additionally, we are unsure what becomes of the trees cut down by the University. We assume that they are ground up for mulch, but we have not contacted anyone at the University to confirm this.

On the whole, I am delighted to see the works of the School of Architecture relayed to the general student body. Hopefully, this will create some architectural discourse among the students of Clemson University.