Archive

A new book exploring critical planning issues facing Latino communities includes a chapter about a building technique in Texas colonias by Cecilia Giusti, assistant professor of urban planning at Texas A&M, and Miriam Olivares, an Urban and Regional Science doctoral student.

Five graduate students pursuing certificates in facility management at the Texas A&M College of Architecture earned scholarships from the International Facility Management Association, as well as travel/attendance packages for an October conference.

Texas A&M College of Architecture Outstanding Alumnus Adrian Smith, of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture in Chicago, announced today that his firm is designing yet another “World’s Tallest Building, the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, near the Red Sea.

Construction continues on the new Arts and Humanities building on the “grassy knoll” south of the Langford Architecture Center’s Building A. The $46 million, 107,000-square-foot structure, scheduled to be completed in 2012, is the first building at Texas A&M specifically designed for instruction and scholarship in the arts and humanities.

Honors earned by former college students, faculty and staff are noted in the July/August 2011 issue of Texas Aggie, published by The Association of Former Students. The magazine included Harold Adams ’61, Jim Thompson ’68, Ron Skaggs ’65 and others.

Residents of Brownwood, Texas had a chance last fall to shape their city’s future by participating in a survey developed by Master of Urban Planning students at Texas A&M, part of a collaboration with the city’s officials to update its master plan.

Staff at the Texas A&M College of Architecture Digital Fabrication Facility, aka Architecture Ranch, helped engineering students build a hybrid race car that won first place in a contest at a NASCAR track in New Hampshire. The car's carbon fiber body panels were fabricated on the CNC mill.

Brandon Vento, a third-year environmental design student at Texas A&M and his brother Coulton, a Kingwood High School student, have developed FlashPics, a free iPhone photo application that’s drawn raves from reviewers and an article in The Tribune, their hometown newspaper.

Southern Ellis, who holds two design degrees from Texas A&M, will be at HKS Inc.’s Dallas office working on healthcare projects and performing research as its 2011-12 healthcare fellow. “I have found an amazing opportunity to directly affect the lives of people through the creation of healing environments,” said Ellis.

Tall Furniture, a new kind of stage furniture designed and built by former student Bob Turek ’08, won first place in the do-it-yourself category of the Core77 Design Awards, which recognizes excellence in all areas of design enterprise.

Gabriel Esquivel, professor of architecture at Texas A&M, collaborated with students at Monterrey Tech to create “Diaphanus,” an architectural installation that resembles a bouquet with laser-cut polypropylene flowers that provides a 1,350-square-foot rainwater collection surface.

Texas A&M Master of Urban Planning graduate Heather Wade ‘11, Texas’ first coastal community development agent, is creating plans with leaders in Coastal Bend counties with the twin aims of retaining the area’s coastal charm while growing in environmentally responsible ways.

Students in a construction science class are preparing bids for an off-the-electrical-grid high school concept based on a project in Addison, Texas, where they took a site tour led by contractor Satterfield & Pontikes.

Governor Rick Perry, EA Games President Frank Gibeau and COO Daryl Holt offered praise for the significant talent pool offered by programs such as the undergraduate and graduate degrees in visualization at Texas A&M during a press conference announcing EA's expansion into Austin.

A July 7, 2011 CNN story on Texas colonias highlights recent and ongoing efforts led by the College of Architecture aimed at enhancing the quality of life in these impoverished border communities, many of which lack basic necessities such as potable water, electricity and sewer systems.