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K-State Today

March 10, 2014

Students, faculty, professionals participate in multicultural center charrette

Submitted by Thom Jackson

Charrette

What do students think would be the ideal design for a place where all members of the Kansas State University could come together and share or express ideas while respecting another's culture, race, creed, gender or orientation?

That was the challenge for College of Architecture, Planning & Design students who participated in the APDesign Center for Multicultural Enrichment Charrette Feb. 22 at Seaton Hall. The purpose of the charrette was to come up with a design for an on-campus multicultural student center — and do it in a limited amount of time.

The charrette was inspired by Kirk Schulz, Kansas State University president; Myra Gordon, associate provost for the office of diversity; and Damien Williams, director of development for university programs and diversity at the Kansas State University Foundation, who saw the need for the center.

"I am so pleased, although not surprised, to see the efforts of our students, not only during the charrette, which resulted in some really wonderful design ideas for this campus resource, but in advance of the event," said Tim de Noble, dean of the college, also known as APDesign. "The organizers, assisted by Associate Dean Wendy Ornelas, were diligent in gathering research including base materials and data through surveys. It was a comprehensive effort and in this way the quality results were rooted in excellent research. I am also pleased that the K-State Administration recognized the opportunity of engaging our excellent students in visioning the future of our campus."

Teams included students, a faculty mentor and a professional design mentor. The winning team was selected by a external jury, which included Gabriel Durand-Hollis, principal with Durand-Hollis Rupe Architects; Charyl McAfee-Duncan, president of McAfee3 Architects; Albert N. Ray, associate at Moody Nolan Architects; and Ryan Swanson, associate vice president of K-State's Division of Facilities.

"Designing a multicultural student center for the K-State campus was a perfect forum for our students to collaborate in an interdisciplinary manner, similar to what happens in the profession. The make up of the charrette teams were multicultural and inclusive," Ornelas said. "Each team's design proposals were inventive, creative and realized the goals of the program. The charrette was such an incredible learning experience for everyone involved — the students, stakeholders, mentors and jurors. It was a tremendous experience, and one that will be the highlight for many in their K-State career."

The winning team was led by Yosuke Michishita, master's student in architecture. Team members included Matthew Spaniol, master's student in interior architecture & product design; J.J. Nicolas, master's student in architecture; Matthew Skarin, master's student in architecture; and Kelsie Shy, second-year student in landscape architecture. Ornelas was the team's academic faculty mentor and Swanson was the professional mentor. The site for the design proposal was Holtz Hall.

The second-place team was led by Maryam Al-Balushi, master's student in architecture. Team members included Casey Gorrell, master's student in landscape architecture; Teresa Siegele, master's student in interior architecture & product design; Brandon Christian, master's student in architecture; and Hector Martinez, second-year student in architecture. LaBarbara Wigfall, associate professor of landscape architecture/regional & community planning, was the team's academic faculty mentor. Durand-Hollis was the professional mentor. The site for the team's design proposal was the ECM Building.

Two teams tied for third place. They were:

• Matt Cadle, team leader and master's student in architecture; Anthony Ngo, master's student in interior architecture & product design; Christy Phelps, master's student in architecture; Kaitlin Bernal, second-year student in landscape architecture; and Elliott Joern, third-year student in architecture. Genevieve Baudoin, assistant professor of architecture, was the team's academic faculty mentor. Ray as the professional mentor. The site for the team's design proposal was Holtz Hall.

• Mohammed Dinn, team leader and master's student in architecture; Bryce Cummings, master's student in architecture; Michael Murphy, master's student in interior architecture & product design; Wesley Moore, third-year student in landscape architecture; and Samuel Jung, second-year student in interior architecture & product design. The team's faculty mentor was Ryadi Adityavarman, associate professor of interior architecture & product design. The professional mentor was McAfee-Duncan. The site for the team's design proposal was the ECM Building.

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