The Design Research Studio (DRS) fosters a culture of research and creative activity by serving as a catalyst, facilitator, sponsor, and incubator of student and faculty creative initiatives and research projects to generate new knowledge, encourage entrepreneurship, and promote interdisciplinary collaborations in architecture, design, and the visual arts.
In its inaugural year, the DRS worked with faculty and students across the school to define projects, seek funding, and identify internal and external partnerships to support research and creative activity. Highlights from 2009 include:
FACULTY
Heather Corcoran, associate professor of communication design, is collaborating with WU's Preventative Medicine department to develop an informational system for communicating individualized health profiles, focusing on disease risk. In addition, she has established a relationship with researchers in the area of health communications to research how best to communicate geographically driven cancer data.
Paul Donnelly, Rebecca & John Voyles Professor of architecture, has completed his first round of Phase Change Material (PCM) research. His research uses PCM membranes to enhance performance characteristics of contemporary window enclosure systems, thus improving energy efficiency of buildings. He is seeking further funding to test the product before taking it to market.
DB Dowd, professor of communication design, continues to build upon his work with the Modern Graphic History Library as he writes his new book, titled Blind Spot, which will describe, categorize, and engage the unruly realm of purposive graphic images. In addition, he continues to seek support for building discourse of purposive graphic images through an online journal.
Jodi Polzin, senior lecturer in architecture, is conducting a Health Impact Assessment (HIA) in the St. Louis city of Pagedale. The HIA is a tool to provide decision-makers with recommendations to mitigate the negative and maximize the positive impacts of a project or policy on health and health inequities. Among the many factors addressed, Polzin will focus on the impact of the built environment. The research is being conducted in collaboration with WU's School of Medicine and Social Work School, Beyond Housing, and community members.
GRADUATE STUDENTS
MFA10 candidate Mary Beth Hassan, MSN, is collaborating with the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. Her goals are to describe the multiple characteristics of visual processing and to foster the development of visual skills as both a teaching strategy and a nonthreatening, enjoyable experience for adults with Alzheimer's disease.
SAM FOX SCHOOL CREATIVE ACTIVITY RESEARCH GRANTS
The goal of the Sam Fox School Creative Activity Research Grants, established in 2007, is to encourage and enable tenured and tenure-track faculty to pursue a specific project or innovative direction in their creative work and research. Updates on the work being done by the 2008-09 winners include:
Michael Byron, professor of painting, has started a Facebook group as part of his Elephanta Project. Acccording to the statement on the site, "The Elephanta Project is committed to examining the elephant's mystery and imposing form, its fragile future as a species, and the deep current of our fascination and responsibility to this majestic creature."
Lisa Bulawsky, associate professor of printmaking, continues to conduct interviews with an elderly population to produce works on paper that explore the integral relationship of history and memory to identity. She is collaborating with various local groups to facilitate the interviews, as well as students from the College of Art and the School of Social Work.
Jenny Lovell, assistant professor of architecture, has just completed the first draft of her book that outlines an integrated approach to building envelope design. The book is not a technical or style catalogue; it is about framing an approach and attitude toward building envelope design and how and why building envelope is important to the big picture – how you might make decisions to meet the enormously complex issues involved in good design strategies that make delightful spaces and places that perform well. It will be published by Princeton Architectural Press and be available late in Spring 2010.
Heather Woofter, assistant professor of architecture, continues to work on Metabolic City, an exhibition exploring conceptual overlaps in the 1960s work of the Japanese Metabolists, the architectural collaborative Archigram from Britain, and the Dutch artist Constant Nieuwenhuys, based around the themes of networks, growth patterns, adaptable habitats, and the role of technology. The exhibition will open September 18, 2009 at the Kemper Art Museum.
CENTERS & PROGRAMS
The Materials Resource Center has completed its first round of research to develop a materials database and website. The database seeks to provide a comprehensive system for evaluation and use of sustainable materials. Funding to implement the site is currently being pursued. The Center is also developing a blog to further the discourse about sustainable materials.
The Alberti Program – Architecture for Young People is now in its third year teaching sustainable architecture to fourth- through ninth-grade students in St. Louis. Taught by associate professor of architecture Gay Lorberbaum and student teaching assistants from the College of Architecture, the program brings scholars and professionals together to teach youth how to design and build for a sustainable future.
RESEARCH RESOURCES
If you are thinking about pursuing a research project, please reference the Research Gateway. This site is the largest source of information about University policies and procedures for research and creative activity. It also includes helpful information for planning and pursuing external funding. In addition, we are developing a list of education resources for the design and visuals arts community that can be accessed through the Art & Architecture Library at this link. Please contact Enrique Von Rohr before seeking funding, or if you have any questions regarding University research.
EXTERNAL SUPPORT
We welcome the opportunity for individuals, corporations, or foundations to sponsor specific research initiatives or creative activity, or to sponsor a class, faculty project, or research question. Please contact Enrique Von Rohr at 314.935.6826 or vonrohr@samfox.wustl.edu to discuss.
The DRS continues to work with all research support entities at Washington University in St. Louis to further the value of design and visual arts in all of our collaborations. Defining projects or research goals and building relationships both within the university community and beyond is a long-term strategic goal of the DRS. Our core mission is to further research and creative activity through external funding support and collaborative engagements.
