WORSHOPS, PANELS, & PRESENTATIONS

Workshops 

Designing for Deconstruction and Reuse – 11:30-12:30 pm Saturday,  April 20th

For a circular economy, architects need to plan how building components can be reused rather than going to the landfill. This session offers a chance to build with scale plywood components to understand how short reusable members can make a variety of long span structures. In this kind of reciprocal frame architecture, pieces mutually support each other. The session introduction will give an overview of Design for Deconstruction and Reuse and show how University of Oregon Architecture students worked with Oregon State University Wood Science and Engineering students to design and build a reciprocal frame pavilion in the Timber Tectonics for the Digital Age class. For more info, see http://timbertectonics.com

Crafting the Counter Story: A Zine-Making Workshop with Terresa Moses – 11:30-1:00 pm Sunday,  April 21st

The counter story sheds light on the untold stories that make up the larger narrative of our social justice movements and experiences. Zines have historically been used to support these stories and voices, many of which have been marginalized and silenced due to the constraint of publicly accessed forms of media. Attend this zine making workshop to explore zine history and culture, craft your story, and create your own zine!

Panels

Designing the future: Global engagement in Design Education – 11:30-12:30 pm Saturday,  April 20th

This panel will explore the significance of global engagement within design education, drawing from their collective experiences in international design studios, field schools, design conferences, and study-abroad initiatives. Specifically, the discussion will highlight upcoming opportunities for students available through the Sustainable Cities and Landscapes Hub, an initiative of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU). This hub includes 21 universities around the Pacific Rim, focusing on place-based design and planning strategies to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. It is based at the University of Oregon.

Panelists: Jeff Hou, Ken Yocom, Yizhao Yang, Fei Mo, Kory Russel, and Yekang Ko 

Location: LA 177

River as Architecture: Buildings are Living Things – 11:30-1:00 pm Sunday,  April 21st

Panel Discussion on Critical Regionalism in the Anthropocene.

How does the critical framework of Frampton’s “Critical Regionalism” adapt to a changing climate? What type of environmental thinking helps architects and designers make good decisions today? What can our ecosystems teach us about building? This panel of 4 practitioners and educators will discuss mapping these ideas onto the practice of architecture in the West.

Panelists: Will Smith, Project lead at Waechter Architecture; Ali Gens, Associate at Hacker Architects; Benjamin Fuglevand, Directors of US Operations for Mackay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects; and Abraham Kelso, Principal at Marinbow

Location: LA 115

Presentations

Something in the Way: Memory and Preservation on the Upper Klamath River – 10:30-11:30 am Sunday,  April 20th 

The demolition of hydroelectric dams on the Upper Klamath River is an overdue step toward justice for the environment and indigenous communities. The dams’ removal is also the latest change to a manipulated landscape that has served the needs of successive user groups. For preservationists who typically interpret history through material conditions, the Upper Klamath presents a challenge. How should we remember the conflicting uses of this place? How can we visualize the past when historic objects are absent?

This presentation will trace the Upper Klamath’s overwritten landscape and the friction it produces. It then reviews public commentary during the dam removal process and examines the concerns of current user groups. Using precedents from art and architecture, the presentation will explore interpretive approaches that begin to address the river’s layered and intangible histories. The final portion speaks to architecture and preservation broadly. As climate-driven and adaptive reuse projects proliferate, how will we develop an inclusive, multi-dimensional view of the historic built environment?

Samuel Wylie,  M. Arch, MS Historic Preservation student

Location: LA 115

Unplacement and Engagement in Unstructured Realities – 3:00-4:30 pm Saturday, April 20th

Nuno Nunes,  a representative from the UN International Organization on Migration, will discuss the concept of shelter as an immediate health and safety need, which often serves as a limitation for permanent construction in many unsuitable locations. He will address the issue of housing that cannot be rebuilt and lead into a discussion on the statistics of displacement and housing, underscoring the unfortunate necessity of these solutions in the current climate. The session aims to close by examining the diverse roles of humanitarians, professionals, and displaced individuals in these unstructured realities. The focus will be on how these challenges affect land and property rights, overall life, society, and the specific role of housing and shelter within these dynamics.

Location: LA 115

Student Work

Passing Notes: NOMAS – 11:30-12:30 pm Saturday,  April 20th

Join students from the newly-established University of Oregon chapter of NOMAS, the National Organization of Minority Architects, in challenging the isolation of contemporary architectural education and collectively reimagine a more just future.

Location: LA 166

Material Innovations: Student Project Panel – 11:30-1:00 pm Sunday,  April 20th

Fruit Composite Bio Plastic, Maya Merrill BA Product Design

 Exploring the use of discard fruit to create biodegradable food containers for University Dining services that currently rely on large amounts of plastic

How to tie Wood Knots, Ri Zarate and Dylan Wood

Woods anisotropic nature can lead to defects in lumber creating a curvature that is typically avoided or prevented via odd numbers of cross laminations. The actuation is activated by fluctuations in moisture content within the wood cells leading to a shrinking and swelling motion that does not require additional energy. Laminating two layers of wood veneer, one dry (passive layer) and one with a high moisture content (active layer), creates a predictable, strong, and scalable self-actuating curvature. This study sought to choreograph these wood bilayers to self-tie into a knot by honing the 2D geometry used to laser cut veneers prior to the lamination process. Programmable actuation is well studied, but choreographing wood to tie itself into a knot is difficult because they require both bending and torsion which makes it difficult to simulate digitally, and natural inconsistencies in wood can further reduce precision. First, a sensitivity study was performed to test radius achieved between maple veneers cut from different parts of the tree and ensure control. Torsion was achieved by varying grain angle of the high moisture content active layer in relation to the dry passive layer. Finally, actuation speed was altered by changing the thickness of veneer strip width. Resulting in several wood knots, the increase in elasticity of the veneer in its final curved form opens new possibilities for improving the performance of wood products by taking advantage of woods “physical intelligence”. With such complex single curvature being possible without needing high energy steam bending, combined with the scalability of the process from veneer to wood boards, this method could be applied to organic furniture, high performance CLT wall panels, or deployable building cladding systems and beyond.

Urban Design Project, Lyric Rosa-O’Hayer B. Environmental Studies and Sociology, with a minor in Women’s Gender and Sexuality

Settler colonialism is sewn within the fabric of our society, and it is crucial to be aware of that fact and make decisions that seek to unbind what has been done. Education is a large part of that undoing, and by uplifting Indigenous voices and listening to Indigenous communities we can further work to prevent further damage and heal our colonized minds. For Urban Design 435 we were tasked with taking an area in Portland that has been undeveloped, and designing a plan that would draw individuals into the area for a wide array of reasons. This is located by the Tilikum crossing bridge, and for this project I designed a space that would allow for those to enjoy the area without having to own a car by implementing low income housing, low cost grocery stores, thrift stores, and a medical clinic that is low cost and accessible. The location is right next to a public transport station, as well as a bike path, allowing for transportation options that do not require a vehicle. Additionally, there would be plenty of green spaces and an educational center that is focused on Indigenous knowledge, incorporating the help and expertise from the various Indigenous communities native to the Portland area. This set up aims to provide what the Portland community needs while being more sustainable, but still blending with the educational and family aspect of OMSI right next door. It also will be a space for Indigenous learning spread throughout the area such as within the green spaces, and not just within the Indigenous learning center.

Location: LA 166