Design Shop Talk

Georgia Tech enjoys an international reputation. It sends students out into the world to study and it attracts students from around the world to Atlanta. Associate Professor Mark Cottle curated the Three Euros Symposium at Georgia Tech earlier this year, in which three international alumni of Georgia Tech, Daniel Cavelti ('97) of Switzerland, Thorsten Kock ('95) of Germany, and Xavier Wrona ('02) of France, gave an audience of Tech students and local architects an inside look at European practice. Nathan Koskovich, AIA sat down with them just before they left for home to discuss European practice, how it differs from American practice, and what you learn about your own country when you travel abroad.

One of the interesting things that happens when you are designing a building, or anything else, is that you start to see connections that you never new existed. You find meaning in things that you thought were meaningless. While a college course tittled "Minimal Art and Architecture" may at first appear to be one of those usless college courses educational reformers complain about, Georgia Tech's Charles Rudolph reveals in this conversation with Nathan Koskvich, AIA, that minimal art can teach architects many practical, as well as esoteric, things.

Adam Smith and Lisa Sauve are founders and principals of Synechdoche, a design firm in Ann Arbor Michigan. They describe their practice as "design/make". One of their earlier projects was a temporary installation in Atlanta. Nathan Koskovich, AIA called them up to find out what they've been up to recently, what's behind the name "Synechdoche", and exactly what they mean by "design/Make"

Scott Marble is the new Chair of Georgia Tech's College of Architecture. He doesn't just think about architecture as space making and form giving, though he certainly doesn't ignore that. A lot of his current thought has been focused on the industry architects operate within and how emerging technologies give architects and other designers the opportunity to reshape how the design and construction industry work, and thus bring better design into a wider world. Between Georgia Tech's robust research efforts and Atlanta's strong tradition of reshaping the architecture profession Scott seems to have found a good fit.

Dr. Tony Rizzuto never had any intentions of becoming an academic. He grew up wanting to be a practicing architect, but his professors noticed "he talked a lot" in class, and evidently liking what they heard, encouraged him to become a teacher.

As Chair of Kennesaw State University's Department of Architecture, Tony has an unique ability to connect architectural history and theory to the challenges of modern architectural practice in a way that helps students understand the value of architecture education.

This work also gives Tony many interesting insights into the nature of architecture and design which he shares with Nathan Koskovich, AIA in this conversation.

Nathan Koskovich, AIA and Ryan Gravel talk about how cities become what they are. How we impact them and how they in turn impact us.

Ryan Gravel, AICP, LEED AP, is an urban planner, designer, and author working on site design, infrastructure, concept development, and public policy as the founding principal at Sixpitch. His master’s thesis in 1999 was the original vision for the Atlanta Beltline, a 22-mile transit greenway that after fifteen years of work and collaboration is changing both the physical form of his city and the decisions people make about living there. Alongside other projects at Sixpitch and research on similar “catalyst infrastructure” projects around the world, Ryan’s forthcoming book, “Where We Want to Live,” (St Martin’s Press; March, 2016), investigates this cultural side of infrastructure, describing how its intimate relationship with our way of life can illuminate a brighter path forward for cities

ADC is proud to be a sponsor of the Negro Building Remembrance Competition. Richard Dagenhart, Georgia Tech Professor of Architecture and Urban Design, tells Nathan Koskovich, AIA the little known history of the Negro Building. It's roll in the Cotton States Exhibition of 1895, and in the evolution of African American culture.

Nathan Koskovich speaks with Georgia Tech Urban Design Professor Ellen Dunham-Jones about why she, like so many architects, changed her focus towards urban design, and her work as a professor, theorist, and author.

The lesson? In order to build meaningful buildings, buildings that fulfill the promise of design helping to create a better world, buildings must be placed in a meaningful context.

Ellen Dunham-Jones is an award-winning architect, professor and Coordinator of the MS in Urban Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She serves on the Policy Subcommittee of the AIA Design and Health Leadership Group, is on the Board of Commons Planning, and is past Board Chair and Fellow of the Congress for the New Urbanism.

The Peachtree Way Exhibit opens May 7th and runs through May 27th. This is the first fruit of a partnership between ADC the Georgia Tech Library, AIA Atlanta and AIA Georgia to promote Georgia's design heritage through expanding the efforts made to identify and preserve important archival documents.

Nathan Koskovich, AIA speaks with Jody Thompson, the head of the Georgia Institute of Technology's Archive, and Jack Pyburn, FAIA, who has been instrumental in bringing this partnership together, to discuss why it's necessary to expand the existing archive and what we hope to archive.

If you'd like to donate to support this effort please contact Nathan Koskovich at [email protected]

As the Executive Director of the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC), Doug Hooker is uniquely positioned to gage the state of Metro Atlanta. His organization is charged with coordinating the planning and development of what can feel like innumerable municipalities. Each interconnect with its neighbors but only empowered to work within its own purview.

Its bewildering how many issues are deeply affected by planning and transit, and Doug has to understand all of them. Fortunately for the Atlanta Region, Doug has a unique talent for understanding and explaining complex issues. In this interview with Nathan Koskovich, AIA, he shares many of his thoughts on Atlanta, including how he came to be in the city at all.