Posts Tagged ‘students’

Spectacular Event + Front Page!!!

Posted by Cynthia Lapp

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A spectacular time was had yesterday at the Duluth Futures presentations Clyde Iron Works.

The "Design Duluth" combined Landscape Architecture and Architecture graduate design studio from the Minneapolis campus of the UMN traveled north to present their semester's work to enthusiastic reviews by Mayor Don Ness, city planners, port authority folks and local design professionals.

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You can read about it in the Duluth News Tribune, and on the College of Design Blog links below:

http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/252706/

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/design/designatmn/2012/12/student-in-duluth.html

Huge thanks to Alex Guiliani at Clyde Iron Works, the College of Design, our own Randy Larson, and the great work by the students!

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Some Time to Dream

Posted by Cynthia Lapp
2012-11-07_17

This week we reconnected with the Duluth Graduate Design Studio, checking in to see what questions and sites the students are tackling in their final phase of the semester. The course is a combination of graduate Architect and Landscape Architect students looking at opportunities and issues that Duluth is facing now and in the next 20-50 years.

 

There are 17 project teams. Each team presented their preliminary thinking, choice of site/s and reason for why they are focusing on their chosen issue. Many groups cited the ideas and goals stated in presentations of Mayor Ness and other city and Port officials, making good use of the information they gathered during their survey visit in September.

 

Projects ranged from stormwater mitigation solutions to environmental and entrepreneurial research to trail systems in the Iron Range.

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Bob Bruce came down from Duluth to give feedback to the students, and connect them with folks in Duluth with expertise on the topics and sites they are exploring in their designs. Bob is an architect who has been active in Duluth and the region for 30+ years, with experience ranging from the executive director of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute at Northland College to head of planning for the City of Duluth.

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Bob was excited about the opportunity to see new ideas and hear how the students were thinking about Duluth's future.

 

"Dealing with emergencies and the day to day is essential, but it's not the only thing. You need to take time to position for the future, and think about what you want it to be," Bob explained. "There has to be some time to dream."

 

The students will be presenting their design concepts at a public event at Clyde Iron Works on Wednesday, December 12 from Noon - 2:00 pm. Come on by to see and hear what the students are dreaming for Duluth.

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Hanging Out with Tracy Metz

Posted by Cynthia Lapp
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We had a thrilling weeked in Minneapolis with Tracy Metz and her husband Baptist Brayé. We toured architectural and cultural highlights and had engaging conversation with some UMN Landscape Architecture faculty.

At the Guthrie Theater, Mill City Museum and Minneapolis Library

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Meeting with Vince deBritto and Jamuna Golden, instructors from the UMN Department of Landscape Architecture:

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On Monday we sat in on second- and third-year Graduate Design studios from the Landscape Architecture and Architecture programs.

Visiting Matt Tucker's second year Graduate Design studio

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and a combined Architecture and Landscape Architecture third year Graduate Design studio

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Tracy's lecture Monday evening in Rapson Hall was intriguing and well-attended, with many good questions from a broad audience of students, pracitioners and general community members.

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You can view Tracy's lecture here
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYP93Chb8js?wmode=transparent]

We observed many conversations and ideas surfacing through Tracy's direct contact with faculty and students, as well as discussion about the broader issues addressed by her talk and book, Sweet&Salt. It was a pleasure to host her visit, and partner with the organizations that made her Minnesota visit possible!

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Tracy Metz in Minneapolis!

Posted by Cynthia Lapp

Tracy Metz is a writer, cultural critic, US-expat in Amsterdam, Harvard Loeb Fellow, world citizen, engaging and generous person, and a friend of Meteek & Co.

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This Monday, October 1 at 6:00 pm in Rapson Hall on the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus, Tracy Metz will give a lecture about her book, "Sweet&Salt: Water and the Dutch." There will be a reception and book signing afterwards.

"Sweet&Salt", co-authored with Maartje van den Huevel and published by NAi, is a combination of inspiring essays and dramatic pieces of art from the history and future of the Dutch relationship to water.Her lecture is part of the "Next Generation of Parks" series supported by the Minneapolis Parks Foundation, ASLA-MN and the Walker Art Center. These partners, along with the University of Minnesota's Landscape Architecture program and Meteek & Co., have gotten together to sponsor Tracy's lecture and visit.

Here are some pages from the book:

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Go to the lecture Monday night in Minneapolis, or let someone there know about it who would be interested!

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Below are a bunch of links to more information and a book review:

Announcements:
https://events.umn.edu/Sweet-and-Salt-Water-and-the-Dutch-021698.htm

http://mplsparksfoundation.org/2012/09/26/design-qa-preview-mondays-sweet-sal...

Design Q&A:
http://mplsparksfoundation.org/2012/09/11/event-next-generation-of-parks-mond...

Book Review:
http://blogs.gsd.harvard.edu/loeb-fellows/water-is-their-frenemy/

Duluth Graduate Design Studio

Posted by Cynthia Lapp

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How does Duluth create more resilient physical, economic and social infrastructures? What might Duluth need in the next 20, 50 or 100 years? These are a few of the complex questions a group of graduate students from the UMN Minneapolis campus will address this semsester as they use Duluth as their design focus.

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We hosted the group of 36 students and three instructors from Landscape Architecture and Architecture during their three-day visit of the city and environs. They toured the landscape and structure of the city, and heard presentations from the Port Authority, city officials including Mayor Don Ness, UMD campus planning, and about the underlying geomorphology of the area.

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The students have much to think about for their upcoming analysis of Duluth. This information will then be used in teams on selected projects and sites within Duluth, culminating in design presentations at the end of the semester. We are looking forward to seeing what they create!

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Thanks to all the presenters and folks who assisted in organizing the visit. At the City: Mayor Don Ness, Jessica Tillman, Chris Kleist, DyAnn Andybur, Chuck Froseth, Steven Robertson, Pakou Ly. At the Port Authority, Ron Johnson and Adele Yorde. At UMD, John Rashid, John Green, Erik Brown and Christine Strom.

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“Hot Box” for Materials Testing Co-Developed with UMD Students

Posted by Cynthia Lapp

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The performance of windows and wall sections has been our focus with projects that we build, remodel, or supply. With an annual temperature variance of at least 120°F,  our climate challenges the best materials on the market. When we can't find a material that will stand up to conditions, we create solutions to fit the job.

Working with five students in Civil Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth, Meteek offered the assignment of buidling a "hot box" to test the thermal qualities of window and wall sections, as well as individual materials. These students took the idea and ran, building, wiring and writing the programming for this testing instrument as their combined senior projects. 

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We attended their project presentation this week and were treated to a demonstration. The material to be tested is clamped into place. A program runs a freezer on one side and an oven on the other create the thermocline necessary for the test. Results are recorded for each testing cycle. 

A win-win project, the Hot Box was a success for the students who built a "real-life" project for an actual client, and a success for Meteek to continue innovating solutions for our tough climate. Congratulations!

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