Students from K-State minority architects group earn design honors at national conference, named chapter of the year

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Source: La Barbara James Wigfall, 785-532-5961, lbjw@k-state.edu
Photo available of students who attended the conference; to request, call 785-532-6415
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu

Thursday, November 2, 2006

STUDENTS FROM K-STATE MINORITY ARCHITECTS GROUP EARN DESIGN HONORS AT NATIONAL CONFERENCE, NAMED CHAPTER OF THE YEAR

MANHATTAN -- When Kansas State University students designed a film institute and retail/residential center in San Francisco as part of a competition, they considered the opinions of their most important judges -- the neighborhood's residents.

That collaboration and sense of civic engagement made the project stand out when it was judged at the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students design competition in San Francisco. Students from K-State's chapter took fourth place and were awarded $500. The group also was named chapter of the year -- the second time the chapter has won the honor.

Six students and two faculty advisers from the group attended the conference. The group was supported by K-State's office of diversity and dual career development and the dean's office and various departments of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design.

The competition required students choose a site and design a center where community members, minorities in particular, could learn about and express their cultural heritage through film. The K-State group chose a closed factory on an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site that is accessible by various modes of transportation. The site is in a multiethnic San Francisco neighborhood near Candlestick Park that is accessible by public transportation.

The students designed an amphitheater with a large screen on which to project films using community footage. By placing the screen outside, the students sought to make the inner workings of the film institute transparent to passers-by and others in the community, said La Barbara James Wigfall, K-State associate professor of landscape architecture and regional and community planning. Then, the students went above and beyond the requirements by designing a master plan for the film institute that included a mixed-use development.

"The site was a eyesore to the community," said Clarence Oxendine, fourth-year senior in landscape architecture, Springfield, Mo., who attended the conference. " I think we really took a fresh approach to what can be done."

The students did the majority of the designing at K-State and didn't see the site in person until they were on their way from the airport to the conference. Wigfall said once they were in San Francisco, the students discovered there was a design charrette planned by residents and city leaders as part of ongoing revitalization efforts. This gave students the opportunity to meet and work alongside the community on the project.

"Our students cared enough about this community to go to this charrette when they could have been sightseeing," Wigfall said. "The residents said they were very grateful that we cared so much about the community."

Wigfall and the students said the college and its faculty are strong supporters of the group and the competition. Wigfall said the students and faculty spent many hours on the project in addition to regular studio work, despite that other schools represented at the conference used studio time for their projects.

"It speaks to the students' commitment to diversity," Wigfall said.

K-State's National Organization of Minority Architecture Students is open to all students in the College of Architecture, Planning and Design, as well as graphic design students. The group seeks to support and bring exposure of multicultural issues in the design professions through activities like lectures, critiques and displays. The group's submission for chapter of the year described its competition design process, as well ways members are engaged at K-State, from speaking at high schools to creating the college's Diversity Week.

The group also works to support minority students in the design disciplines and any other design students who are dedicated to diversity, said member Shalece Charles, fifth-year senior in architecture, Kansas City, Kan., who also attended the conference. "We're pretty much there for one another," she said. "We are a family."

K-State students who participated in the project include:

Clemente Jaquez-Herrera, senior in architecture, and Manuel Elizondo, junior in architecture, both of Garden City.

From Greater Kansas City: David Hildebrandt, fifth-year senior in architecture who attended the conference, and Andrea Pardo, junior in architecture, both of Kansas City, Kan.; Mohamed El-Housiny, senior in architecture, Colette Hamilton, senior in architecture who attended the conference, LeCretia Morrison, junior in architecture, and Kala Raglin, junior in architecture, all of Kansas City, Mo.; and Dwain South, fifth-year senior in interior architecture, Olathe.

Andrew Bryant, junior in architecture, Haysville; Karina Perez-Fajardo, junior in architecture, and Giannina Zapattini, junior in interior architecture and product design, both of Manhattan; James White, fifth-year senior in interior architecture, Topeka; and Carmen Simon, fifth-year senior in architecture who attended the conference, Wichita.

From Missouri: Ray Fambro, graduate student in architecture, Cape Girardeau; LaQuita Jackson, freshman in environmental design who attended the conference, Grandview; Erica Lester, junior in interior architecture and product design, Raytown; and John Anderson, senior in architecture, St. Louis.

From Texas: Whitley Fields, freshman in environmental design, Plano.