Facade Tectonics SKINS

SKINS: Issue #136: Nov 2023

Education is a core mission of the Facade Tectonics Institute. We have a robust and active education committee as reflected in this issue of SKINS. The committee is co-chaired by Ajla Akšamija at the University of Utah (and current FTI president) and Gabrielle Brainard with SOM. The committee hosted a virtual Forum of educators this year, video clips of which are included in this issue. The committee also published a research report it conducted on the state of facades education, included as the first feature below. I spoke with Ajla recently and she told me she has been researching facade education practices for a paper she is preparing for the Institute’s 2024 World Congress in October. She was finding very little material, and most of it was coming from our previous World Congresses. This work of the education committee is important and the report they’ve issued is deeply interesting and relevant to the increasing number and sophistication of facade educational programs in architecture schools. Please give it a look, many of you will find the findings rather surprising.

But let Ajla tell you herself. Here, she shares her thoughts on the recent report on facade education published by the Facade Tectonics Institute and the virtual webinar hosted by the Institute's Education Committee.

Read more from Ajla>

We hope you enjoy this issue of SKINS!

Mic Patterson
Executive Editor

Featured
report cover

Research

The State of Facade Education in Academic Institutions: U.S.-Based Perspectives

The publication presents detailed information in an unprecedented study involving 36-facade courses offered at American universities. The results will be interesting to all academics and many professionals. A Facade Tectonics Report

download

Picture

Education

Systems thinking: Teaching facade design in professional architecture degree programs

Gabrielle Brainard surveys facade design education in accredited Bachelor and Master of Architecture programs in the United States in this 2020 World Congress paper. She reviews two strategies for creating a three-semester course sequence in facade design.

read

Video Clips from the FTI Education Forum 2023

Headshot of Kim

Simulation

Environmental Performance Simulation

Dr. Jihun Kim—Associate Professor of Architectural Technology at the City University of New York and a Lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania addresses education strategies for environmental performance simulation.

watch

headshot of Ajla

technical studio

Educational Strategies in Advanced Facade Technology

Dr. Ajla Akšamija—Professor of Architecture at the University of Utah and current FTI President—relates her experience teaching high-performance facade technology through a technical core course integrated with architecture studio.

watch

Headshot of Liz

Digital fabrication

Hands on: Physical Experiments/Digital Fabrication

Liz McCormick—Assistant Professor at University of North Carolina at Charlotte and PhD candidate at North Carolina State—talks about the importance of physical experiments and digital fabrication in facade system education.

watch

headshot of Scott

Technical drawing

An Educational Take on Technical Drawing

Scott Murray—Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Scott Murray discusses the importance of technical drawing in the teaching of facade systems for students of architecture.

watch

Additional education resources from FTI

(Lots more on our website, including videos, podcasts, and papers!)

Education

Teaching Facades

Alex Terzich discusses how architectural professionals can effectively contribute to academic curricula, and lays out three different approaches to teaching facades that can “address the challenges of ever increasing technical complexity and specialization.”

read

Digital tools

Mixed Reality in Facade Education

“... how will this new crop of accessible digital tools, particularly mixed reality (MR) technologies, including both augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), once more re-inform the facade design process and product?” - Anzalone and Bartosh

read

Europe

European Facade Networks

What’s happening with education in Europe? This paper presents European networks and areas of cooperation in facade research and education, including the European Facade Network, the Adaptive Facade Network, the Journal for Facade Design and Engineering (JFDE), and more.

read

Ajla Aksamija Facades Education in the Time of the Pandemic Figure 3

Online learning

Facades Education in the Time of the Pandemic—Perhaps We Can Learn Something from This?

Ajla Akšamija reflects on her experience educating through the pandemic and the opportunities presented by the assimilation of online learning into academic practices. She presents findings, outcomes, and recommendations for the future of facades education.

read

Previously Featured

Resilient Design

Facade Futures: Building Resilience is Skin Deep

U. of Toronto building science professor Ted Kesik explores the critical importance or resilience in buildings and their façade systems and discusses the urgency of realizing buildings that both mitigate the impacts of climate change and promote adaptation through enhanced resilience.

must read!

Facade Retrofits

Transforming Existing Buildings from Climate Liabilities to Climate Assets

Retrofits to existing buildings can save 50 to 75 percent in carbon emissions over replacement. But neglected embodied carbon considerations can easily negate the carbon advantage, warn the authors of this RMI report.

check it out

WC 2024: Salt Lake City! Save the date and plan your trip!

For the first time in this voyage of discovery we're moving the show away from Los Angeles. The University of Utah has graciously invited us to conduct our 2024 World Congress on October 8-10 at the College of Architecture on the U campus and we are very excited about it: great facilities, great city, great national parks nearby to explore. It's an ideal end-destination for a full week of facades and fun, so start making your plans now for the week of October 7, 2024. More details soon!

Organizational Members of the Facade Tectonics Institute

Partners

Technoform North America

Executives

Kuraray, Permasteelisa Group, REFLECTION WINDOW + WALL, seele, TriPyramid Structures

Associates

Facade Tectonics Institute, Inc., Finishing Contractors Association, HOK, Innovation Glass, Lerch Bates, Valmont Structures, Vitro Architectural Glass, WRNS Studio, W&W Glass

Supporters

Antamex Industries, Boston Valley Terra Cotta, Dow, FreMarq Innovations Inc, Heintges, KEPCO+, Kreysler & Associates, Morrison Hershfield now Stantec, Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope, Roschmann Steel & Glass Constructions, Schüco USA, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, SOCOTEC, Inc., The Architect's Newspaper, The Façade Studio

Academics / Nonprofits

Aarhus University, Denmark, IIBEC, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, National Fenestration Rating Council, Rainscreen Association in North America, Universidad de Concepción, University of Utah, Western Wall & Ceiling Contractors Association