University of Nebraska, College of Architecture

RDG Planning & Design Invests in Student Soft Skills Development The nationally recognized firm RDG Planning & Design is leading an endowed initiative to expand soft skills development programs at the University of Nebraska College of Architecture. Their gifts and professional involvement are helping to transform student experiences and career preparedness from excellent to extraordinary. They have endowed two programs, the RDG Planning & Design Excellence Fund in Support of Student Development and the John Birge / RDG “Create Meaning Together” Fellows Program. This fall, RDG and the college are piloting two initiatives with this support: The Create Meaning Together Fellows Program is supporting professional development utilizing CliftonStrengths Assessments in the fourth-year Collaborate Studio, and the Student Development fund is supporting development of professional etiquette through a business dinner format. The CliftonStrengths program is being offered through the multi-disciplinary collaborative studio, taught by Interior Design Associate Professor Nathan Bicak and Architecture Associate Professor Steven Hardy. Students began the semester by taking the CliftonStrengths Assessment to identify their 34 unique strengths and the interdisciplinary student-teams are receiving individual and team strengths coaching from RDG Principal and Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach Catrina Cook and Lori Stohs, founder of Lori Stohs Consulting Group, throughout the semester. This coaching will help students understand their assessment results and leverage these to become better leaders, collaborators, co-workers and designers. The program includes four CliftonStrengths training sessions, starting with the introduction, followed by the personal assessment, a mid-term progress review and a final reflection on outcomes and discussion of future directions. The program was previously offered through one of the college’s professional practice courses but is now being integrated into design studios for enriched team dynamics. https://go.unl.edu/30e6

Working with communities across Nebraska, College of Architecture students share their newest Kimball, Nebraska, concept iterations for critique. Facing a substantial population boom that may double its current size of 2,300, the community of Kimball, Nebraska, has joined forces with the College of Architecture to explore sustainable strategies for visioning opportunities for this growth. With stakeholders focused on preparing for changes that could reshape Kimball's identity, this collaboration brings a mix of challenges and possibilities. In response, a fourth-year, interdisciplinary Collaborate Studio from the College of Architecture, led by Professors Nate Bicak and Steve Hardy, is working with Kimball residents and leaders to create a sustainable plan and design visions for the town’s growth. This project aims to meet current and future needs while keeping Kimball’s unique, distinctive character. Kimball stakeholders also want to put plans in place to retain part of the new population after the boom, ensuring long-term, community stability and growth.

The College of Architecture is pleased to announce Professor Jeffrey L Day, FAIA, NCARB has been appointed as president for the National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) starting January 1, 2025, and will serve through December 31, 2025. Day was originally nominated to serve on the board in 2022 by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). Day serves with 13 other NAAB voting board members. The ACSA, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) each nominate three directors; the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) nominates two; and there are two public directors. The NAAB Board meets at least three times a year to consider official business including accreditation decisions. NAAB accredits professional degrees in architecture offered by institutions accredited by a U.S. regional accrediting agency. All 55 U.S. registration boards accept the NAAB-accredited degree for registration; 38 of those boards require it. This honor builds upon Day’s long record of engagement with professional organizations including his national election as an at-large board member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) in 2019; and his recent induction to the 2021 NCARB Scholars in Professional Practice Program.

? Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg ?and Cameron Andreesen give Len Dickinson and Jule Goeller from Sand Creek Post & Beam an update on the impact of the Sand Creek Post & Beam Design Research and Fabrication Fund and tour of the HDR Pavilion which was built with Sand Creek Post & Beam by Timberlyne Group #CLT and #gluelam It was a wonderful visit, and we cannot thank Len and Jule enough for their ongoing support of the College and our students! Some Building Factoids: ·???????Mass Timber makes up two thirds of the HDR Pavilion addition with steel framing making up the remainder in the interstitial support spaces. The Nebraska-based Timberlyne conducted the mill and finish work for all the Douglas Fir mass timber** for the project in their Boerne, Texas facility. o??**Cross laminated timber (CLT) floor decks and glue-laminated post and beam components. ·???????The HDR Pavilion is one of the first mass timber architecture schools in the United States and offers a unique new teaching tool with exposed steel and timber structural systems. Building Stats from Timberlyne Regarding the CLT Construction: 58 – Glulam Columns = 1,071 cubic feet of Douglas Fir 78 - Glulam Beams = 2,530 cubic feet of Douglas Fir 51 – CLT panels = 8,952 cubic feet of Douglas Fir Total 12,553 cu ft of Douglas Fir 22,000 pieces of hardware (this is counting all screws, pins, bolts, and steel connections) ?

1011 News features UNL alumnus and award-winning art director Alex Gordon Stotz as one of their lead stories. Stotz gave a Hyde lecture this week speaking of his career trajectory to the film industry. He is one of the creative driving forces behind blockbuster hits like “Barbie,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and more. https://go.unl.edu/iqrs

To a packed house, award-winning art director Gordon Stotz, one of the creative driving forces behind blockbuster hits like “Barbie,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and more, delivers his Hyde Lecture entitled “Architecture in Film." Join us at the Sheldon Museum of Art.!

Grab a friend and come to TODAY's Hyde Lecture with Alex Gordon Stotz at the Sheldon Museum of Art. Later, join us for a reception at the HDR Pavilion in the lobby!

A beacon of design and Model of Mass-Timber Excellence, Architecture Record features the College of Architecture’s HDR Pavilion and the unique collaborative design partnership of HDR and NADAAA. ?Read full article here: https://go.unl.edu/t4mr

Nice spotlight on alumnus Brenton Rahn's path to licensure and becoming an architect. https://lnkd.in/gHVjpFrs

Recognized for their excellence in design, Sarah Spilinek and Caitlin Elser were awarded an Honor Award from our regional ASLA chapter for their “Beat the Heat Initiative - Arbor Way” which originated from our third-year Landscape Architecture Studio. Project Description: This project is the result of research of the site which is made up of multiple maps and studies such as smell. After research, the community engagement portion with the residents took place where we created a workable Operation game but related it to heat and how it impacts our body. From there, the class separated into groups to design mitigation methods for the site. Sarah and Caitlin worked on Q Street in South Omaha. Arbor Way is a proposal for Q Street running west to east between 36th and 28th Streets just south of the historic Stockyards in South Omaha, and north of Southside Terrace. Based on the traffic study completed in the area, issues such as speed-related crashes, lack of shade, and a need for a transit hub came to light. Our mission: Creating a cool, safe, accessible, and vibrant streetscape with shaded areas, green spaces, sustainable drainage, and community engagement opportunities to enhance urban living in the fight against heat and smell. Created solutions to some of these issues such as the addition of programs such as collective restaurants with pocket parks, a shaded space for farmers markets, community gardens, stormwater management, and many other methods such as green infrastructure, energy, and heat mitigation. With these strategies in our toolbelts, we created a safe harbor for community engagement, allowing them to find an oasis within the shady, tree-filled site. Our goals focus on enhancing community livability and sustainability through strategies like improving thermal comfort, prioritizing pedestrian safety, integrating green spaces, implementing sustainable drainage, and fostering community engagement.