Coordinator, Interior Design Admissions Committee:
Reviewed portfolios and files for prospective students and worked with College of Human Ecology Admissions Office.
Coordinator, Sustainable Tompkins HUB Materials Resource:
Worked with members of the Sustainable Tompkins' Board of Directors to design and create sustainable materials boards for both traveling exhibits and their future Resource Library that will be incorporated in their facility called The HUB, to be constructed in Ithaca by 2011.
Co-coordinator, Design Portfolio Seminars:
Worked with College of Human Ecology Career Development Staff to host two portofolio seminars for design students and other interested HE students.
Coordinator, DEA Senior Reception
In conjunction with the graduating seniors in the Class of 2008, we created a department-wide reception for the Class and their families.
Presenter/Host, "Bring Your Child to Work Day" at Cornell:
For the past seven years, the sophomore design studio has worked with the children of Cornell employees during this annual event, teaching them the basics of the design process. Over 28 children and adults attended the 2008 session, with each student taking home drawings for an information kiosk for their school.
Outreach/Mentor, Learning Web of Ithaca:
Worked with local high school students in this one-on-one program shadowing professionals in a variety of fields.
Transitioning the sophomores from design students to potential design employees, this course
combines both skill development and creative problem-solving in four primary projects:
health care design
lighting design for health care
custom lighting design
service learning
During the 2008 course, the students completed the programming/schematic design/design
development/construction documents phases for a 7,000 square foot health care facility.
This project then became the basis for the study of color and lighting in healing environments,
using evidence-based design principles to guide their lighting solutions.
The scale of the problem-set then shifted to the design and actual construction of a custom
light fixture to be installed in their health care facility.
Lastly, the power of design to transform a "space in need" became the service learning project.
The sophomore interior design students selected the local non-profit Recovery Center's
childcare room, where they designed and then built/painted/installed their design solutions
for this space.
After the study of interior materials' characteristics and capabilities, the course moves onto
the sustainable approach to the selection and specification of "green" interior materials.
LEED criteria are connected to the study of creating sustainable interiors with an emphasis
on earning points for design decisions. Field trips expose the students to "materials in action"
and provide examples of use/maintenance issues. Skills such as life cycle costing and writing
green specifications are also part of the course, as are group work/presentations on current
sustainable material options for the built environment.
Putting construction documents in context involves the study of archival drawings in the Kroch
Rare and Manuscript Collection. Students analyze drawings from the late 19th and early 20th
centuries and then transition to the study of construction document production in the last
30 years. The lecture/studio format for the class provides students with the technical information
necessary to create viable AutoCAD drawings and a venue to practice the skills necessary to
generate their own construction drawings. Completing the design of a teleconferencing space
gives the students the opportunity to learn about a more technological and specific spatial
function that is a common component of most corporate office interiors.
Working with two students during 2007, the independent study partnerships served the HUB
project for Sustainable Tompkins and analyzed the communication patterns at an architectural
firm in New York City.
Receiving an invitation from Alon Barzilay, a 1996 ILR Alum from Philadelphia, to use a current
preservation project for senior studio provided the students with a critically current and edifying
historic preservation opportunity for their senior studio. The students traveled to Philadelphia to
meet the client, Mr. Barzilay, tour and access the building (The Juniper Building on Chestnut
Street in downtown Philadelphia) and document the urban context for this adaptive re-use
project. Students completed all phases of the design process, from building assessment
and model-building to programming, schematic/design development and construction documents.
Visiting jurors were invited to participate in the schematic design review, bringing 12 local
architects, designers, and design faculty to campus to give the students feedback on their work.
The culmination of the studio was a visit by the client, Mr. Barzilay, as he individually reviewed
each student's work and mixed design responses with business practicalities of their design
decisions.