By Renee Cheng, head

School of Architecture faculty are involved in a number of initiatives with the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and national architectural educational groups: data-gathering efforts to measure the quality of our programs across peer institutions, examining the impact of recent changes in the architectural profession instigated by Building Information Modeling (BIM), and the ongoing concern with architecture's contribution to the public good.

Data gathering and rankings

Although the University of Minnesota was highly ranked in the recent Design Intelligence survey of deans and department heads, we would like to see a more robust and reliable data-gathering effort. In the September 2006 issue of Architecture magazine, Dean Thomas Fisher wrote a well-received opinion column, "Rankled by rankings."

"When I applied to architecture schools over 35 years ago, only the most basic information existed.... Nowhere could I find comparisons, based on reliable data, about what mattered most to me: the qualitative and quantitative differences among programs.

"Amazingly, the situation has hardly changed since then. ...[T]here still does not exist an easy way for prospective students to compare schools, factually and in-depth.... As schools face increasing competition for limited university resources, the lack of comparative data puts us at a disadvantage. And as the supply of newly licensed architects falls increasingly short of the demand, obscuring the entry point into the profession makes no sense."

Dean Fisher and I were appointed cochairs of a national committee charged with recommending a long-term data-gathering strategy for tracking students as they enter schools and advance through professional licensure.

Focus on integrated practice

Software that allows for the three-dimensional construction of a virtual building, Building Information Modeling (BIM), will increasingly influence project delivery and the interactions between architects and other stakeholders. BIM, along with the new way of working it engenders, known as integrated practice, will mean changes in education, but the exact nature of the shift is unclear.

The promise of integrated practice is vast -- possibilities include full collaboration with a range of stakeholders and virtual rehearsal of construction. There are promising experiments on ways of working that challenge traditional practice in pursuit of all three elements of the tripartite goal -- better, faster, and cheaper. To fulfill this promise, an evolutionary leap in design thinking -- commensurate with technological advances -- is sorely needed. There is an urgent need for architectural education to prepare future practitioners who will catalyze this change.

The University of Minnesota is well positioned to lead in developing an educational strategy to prepare our graduates for a changing practice. The School of Architecture has hosted seminars that received widespread attention, faculty have participated in seminal planning sessions for proposed changes in how licensure and internship relates to education, and faculty articles and panel appearances on BIM and education have reinforced the University's reputation as a school that takes design education seriously.

Architecture for the public good

The unprecedented loss of buildings on the east end of the Biloxi peninsula on the Mississippi Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina and the need to rebuild differently has created an extraordinary place for students to learn about architecture in the public realm.

The School of Architecture has partnered with Mississippi State University's Gulf Coast Community Design Studio and Architecture for Humanity in their efforts to rebuild houses and restore neighborhoods in east Biloxi. Our partnership includes forming a curriculum for semester-long study that will become a model for other schools around the country.

Our students are in Biloxi this spring, working with HUD-sponsored multifamily housing design/build projects in the community. In addition to the semester-long study, another group of 15 Minnesota students participated in two projects during spring break 2007, renovating a house used for volunteer housing and restoring and renovating a historic house in John Henry Beck Park that will be used for community meetings and a police office. More students will be returning during May term.

We have also formed an alliance with Citybuild, a New Orleans-based group. We completed a project with them last summer in the ninth ward of New Orleans. During spring break this year, a group of our students designed and renovated a double shotgun house into the New Calhoun McCormick Photography Gallery, using material salvaged from a destroyed home a block away.