ReseARCH News Summer 2023
Architecture & Urban Design Sacred Architecture Preservation & Sustainability History & Theory Ancient History Technology & Visualization Allied Arts Faculty, School, & Student Publications Student Projects
In Honors
Faculty
Professor Samir Younés, associate dean for faculty affairs and curriculum, was elected to the Board of Directors of the International Jacques Ellul Society, February 2023.
Professor of the Practice Marianne Cusato and Adjunct Professor of the Practice Tiffany Abernathy have been appointed to the International Network for Traditional Building Architecture and Urbanism (INTBAU) board of trustees.
Alessandro Pierattini has been promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure, read the announcement here.
Giuseppe Mazzone has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor, read the announcement here.
Traditional Building and Period Homes magazines awarded Professor Duncan G. Stroik (Duncan G. Stroik Architect LLC) the 2022 Palladio Award for Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity at Thomas Aquinas College in the impact category which recognizes a project that has influenced new classical construction and has had a positive effect on its place in the past 20 years. Also in summer 2022 Sacred Places recognized Prof. Stroik's work on Saint Augustine Cathedral in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Students
School of Architecture alumna Mary Rzepczynski ‘21, of Concord, Massachusetts, was named a 2023 Yenching Scholar. She is Notre Dame’s 10th Yenching Scholar in the past eight years. Selected from hundreds of applicants, Yenching Scholars participate in an interdisciplinary master’s degree program in China studies at the Yenching Academy, Peking University, with tuition and other expenses fully covered by the academy. Read more on news.nd.edu.
The Chicago Chapter of ICAA announced the winners of the 2022 Acanthus Awards which recognize and promote excellence in classical and vernacular design within the Chicago-Midwest region, celebrating achievement in architecture, interior design, preservation & restoration, landscape design, the allied arts & craftsmanship, unbuilt work, and student work.
Natalie Pratt ‘22, The National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion, Wisconsin
The Philadelphia Chapter of the ICAA announced the winners of the 2022 Trumbauer Awards, which honor exemplary work in architecture, design, planning, landscape, decorative, and fine arts that preserve and advance the classical tradition.
Molly Jordern ‘21, A School for Traditional Building Craft in Cincinnati, Ohio
Ben Shelton ‘21, The Westchester Market Station in West Chester, Pennsylvania
The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art (ICAA) New York announced the winners of the 2022 McKim, Mead & White Awards for Excellence in Classical and New Traditional Design, recognizing achievement in architecture, interiors, landscape, urbanism, and building craftsmanship & artisanship throughout New York, New Jersey, and Fairfield County, Connecticut.
Eric Jean-Luc Kerke ‘22, The American Academy of Classical Art
Caroline Colella '20, Immigration Station: Designing for Dignity at the Border
Architecture & Urban Design
Concept Home Presented on National Mall as Part of HUD's Innovative Housing Showcase in Washington, DC
Director of Housing & Community Regeneration Initiatives Marianne Cusato and her company Cypress CDC built a concept Home on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Innovative Housing Showcase. The project was partially funded with a research grant from the School of Architecture. The goal of building the 540-square-foot accessory dwelling unit was to engage a national discussion about reducing the complexity of the construction process, streamlining prefabricated home delivery through panelization, and reforming federal disaster housing policy. The house was prepped off site, then installed on the Mall in five days. Nearly 2,000 people, including HUD Secretary Martha Fudge, toured the home during the three-day event. Following the event the house was dismantled and shipped back to Panama City, Florida, where it is in storage waiting to be placed on an infill lot and rented for workforce housing. Click below to view the informational posters about the design and materials, created by Cypress CDC, or visit TalkAboutHousing.com.
In April 2023 Associate Professor David Mayernik’s design for the TASIS campus master plan was submitted to the Comune della Collina d’Oro in Canton Ticino, Switzerland, the result of several years of internal and external reviews in response to changing internal and global issues, and new local planning regulations. A project for two new buildings for music, general classrooms, and dormitory/faculty apartments will follow upon approval of the master plan, and will effectively complete the hillside village campus plan begun in 1997.
Professor Stroik was featured in “A Who’s Who in Traditional Building: Duncan G. Stroik,” by Nancy A. Ruhling, Traditional Building, October 2022, pp. 50-62.
Sacred Architecture
Professor Steven Semes presented to the Saint Louis Chapter of the American Institute of Architects about the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, discussing cultural and technical aspects, in collaboration with Professor Tonya Ohnstad of Catholic University of America, who spoke about the project undertaken with her students to build one of the timber trusses destroyed in the 2019 fire using historic tools and techniques.
Prof. Stroik featured work at an exhibition titled, “Christ Chapel, Hillsdale College,” The Architecture of Prayer, Calvin University, Grand Rapids, Michigan, February 6 – April 7, 2023.
In February 2023 Prof. Stroik delivered a presentation titled,“ Unity by Inclusion,” for the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend Architecture Workshop for Priests in Warsaw, Indiana.
In February 2023 Prof. Stroik delivered a presentation titled, “The Hermeneutic of Continuity or Discontinuity? Benedict XVI and Sacred Architecture,” during the Remembering Roger Scruton: Oikophilia, Liberal Learning and High Culture Conference, held at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute in Seattle, Washington.
In September 2022 Prof. Stroik delivered a presentation titled, “Sacred Architecture,” to the Knights of Columbus at the University of Notre Dame.
In Fall of 2022 Prof. Stroik hosted and produced “A.W.N. Pugin: God’s Architect?”, an interview with David Lewis.
In August 2022 Associate Professor Krupali Krusche delivered a presentation titled, “Decoding the Taj Mahal,” to the Antiquarian Society of St Joseph, Northern Indiana Historical Society Foundation.
In June 2022 Prof. Stroik delivered a presentation titled, “From Good to Glorious: Notes on Building and Renovating the House of God,” at the Sacra Liturgia Conference in San Francisco, California.
Traditional Building and Period Homes magazines awarded Prof. Stroik (Duncan G. Stroik Architect LLC) the 2022 Palladio Award for Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity.
Prof. Krusche published the article “Decoding a Hindu Temple: Toronto’s Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Shri Swaminarayan Mandir and the Mandala as a Principle of Design,” in the Journal of the Society for the Study of Architecture in Canada, May 2022.
In the summer of 2022 Sacred Places recognized Prof. Stroik for the work on Saint Augustine Cathedral in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Preservation & Sustainability
Associate Professor of the Practice Stephen Hartley authored a study entitled: ‘Historic Trades Education in the United States: A Report on the Current Conditions of Historic Trades Instruction and Recommendations to Improve Training Delivery,’ commissioned by Preservation Maryland's Campaign for Historic Trades in conjunction with the National Park Service's Historic Preservation Training Center. The report is the first comprehensive study of traditional trades training and education since the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Whitehill Report on Professional and Public Education for Historic Preservation, published in 1968. The final report is scheduled for public release in fall 2023.
In May 2023 Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Research, Scholarship, and Creative Work Ming Hu published the journal paper “Strategies and Techniques of Life Cycle–Embodied Carbon Reduction from the Building and Construction Sector: A Review” in the Journal of Architectural Engineering.
Prof. Hu was awarded a grant from the University of Notre Dame Lucy Family Institute for Data & Society (LFIDS) for a project titled, “Housing - Health Equity Nexus: Better Housing as Health Risk Mediator (HOUSE4HEALTH)” aimed to “partner with South Bend community organizations to develop a machine learning-aided model to evaluate built environment indicators concerning climate change-accelerated health risks, specifically focusing on housing conditions.”
In May 2023 Prof. Krusche delivered a presentation titled, “Future Projections of Mumbai’s Climate and Flooding Crisis and How to Deal with it,” at the Global Coastal Cities Summit in Mumbai.
Prof. Krusche co-organized a conference presentation titled “Supporting Pathways of Sea Level Science and Planning,” for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), along with Ben Hamlington, PhD, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and William Sweet, PhD, NOAA, in Washington D.C., from March 2-5, 2023.
Associate Professor of the Practice Luis Fargier Gabaldon received a grant from the Concrete Research Council for his work titled Sustainable and Safe Reinforced Concrete Retaining Walls.
Associate Professor of the Practice Paolo Vitti has arranged an MOU between the University of Notre Dame and the Municipality of Syros and Syros Institute (Syros Island, Greece) for research on traditional architecture in Greece and the Islands, as well as an MOU with the Municipality of Orani (Sardinia, Italy) for collaboration on heritage preservation and sustainable architecture.
In October 2022 Prof. Krusche delivered a presentation titled, “Sea Level Rise and Flooding on the Eastern Waterfront of Mumbai and its impact on planned development of the area,” at the Fall 2022 AIA/ACSA Intersections Research Conference Resilient Futures.
In September 2022 Prof. Krusche delivered a presentation titled, “Sea Level Rise Planning in Mumbai,” to the NASA Sea Level Change Team (N-SLCT) in Savannah, Georgia.
In September of 2022 Prof. Stroik delivered a presentation titled, “Skillful Architects and Able Craftsman: Today’s Renewal of Architectural Craft,” at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
In August 2022 Prof. Hu published a research article in Science Advances titled, “Inequalities in urban greenness and epigenetic aging: Different associations by race and neighborhood socioeconomic status.”
History & Theory
Professor Richard Economakis presented a four-part video series A Survey of Classical Architecture as part of the ICAA's Continuing Education & Educational Films program. The first three entries in the series focuses on the emergence of Western classical architecture in Ancient Greece, the continuation of those architectural expressions in Ancient Rome and the writings of Vitruvius, and their resurgence in the Italian Renaissance. The final presentation starts with the expressionistic architecture of the Baroque Period and then completes the journey with the New Classical architecture of today.
Assistant Professor Selena Anders received a History of Art Grant from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation to host a conference following the publication of her book Eight Days in Rome with Giuseppe Vasi, centered on the history of Roman guidebooks. The conference will be at the Rome Global Gateway in the fall of 2024.
Prof. Anders presented “Drawing the Past, Designing the Future: Giuseppe Valadier’s Documentation of Rome’s Ancient Monuments,” during a panel titled, “Excavating the Past/Making the Modern: Antiquity into Ornament in Eighteenth-Century Drawing,” at the La Sapienza event for the Congress of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS) at the University of Rome. This paper takes a closer look at Valadier’s documentation of Rome’s antiquities and how they shaped his architectural career. Moreover, it compares these works of documentation with the author’s last publication of his architectural works, Opere di architettura e di ornamento ideato ed eseguite da Giuseppe Valadier (1833). This book is often overlooked in contemporary scholarship; however, it illuminates Valadier’s contribution to our present-day relationship with Rome’s antiquities while shedding much-needed light on his own opinion of their maintenance, preservation, and incorporation into new architectural forms.
Prof. Anders published a paper titled, "Housing the Butcher, the Baker, and the Candlestick Maker: The Cultural Significance of Residential Façade Porticoes in Medieval Rome," in Different Visions academic journal.
Prof. Anders published “The Architectural Sketches of Luigi Vanvitelli” through the Convegno Internazionale di Studi Luigi Vanvitelli, il Maestro e la sua Eredità in Caserta, Italy. This paper examines the architectural drawings of Luigi Vanvitelli housed in the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. From altarpieces to ephemeral works of architecture, these illustrations demonstrate how Vanvitelli documented existing built objects to be reimagined anew and how he conceived novel structures.
In April 2023, Prof. Semes spoke, along with Professor Hannah Malone of the Royal Netherlands Academy in Rome and the University of Groningen, on “The Physical Legacies of Fascism in Rome,” in a colloquium sponsored by the Rome Global Gateway and the Notre Dame program in Italian Studies.
In March 2023, Prof. Mayernik delivered a talk to the School of Architecture virtually on campus and live in Rome on his research in the Fall of 2022. "Opere ed Invenzione," presented work on reconstructing Venetian Baroque theaters and opera sets, and the inventive process of Renaissance artists and architects.
In March 2023 Prof. Semes gave an invited talk at the Cornell University Program in Rome, “Gustavo Giovannoni, the Architetto Integrale.”
In February 2023 Prof. Anders delivered a lecture titled, “Restoration of the Colosseum and the Arch of Titus,” for the graduate students of Politecnico di Milano.
In January 2023 Prof. Anders delivered a presentation titled, “Educating the Eighteenth-Century Architect in Rome: The Drawings of the Accademia di San Luca at Cooper Hewitt,” at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum . For this presentation, Anders examined Cooper Hewitt’s architectural drawings produced at the Accademia di San Luca and the purpose of their production which shed light on architectural pedagogy at one of the most prestigious art schools in Enlightenment Europe. They include prize-winning drawings from the academy’s famous competitions, the Concorsi Clementini, teaching drawings made by faculty, and student drawing exercises.
In December 2022 Prof. Krusche co-organized a presentation titled, “Special Collections Workshop III: Treatises in Hindu and Mughal Architecture,” with Angela Dressen, and Villa I Tatti, at the The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies Renaissance Society of America (RSA) conference.
In September of 2022 Prof. Stroik delivered a presentation titled, “Precedents and Presidents,” at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
In Fall of 2022 Prof. Stroik hosted and produced “A.W.N. Pugin: God’s Architect?”, an interview with David Lewis.
In Fall of 2022 Prof. Younés, associate dean for faculty affairs and curriculum, published an essay entitled "The Two Orders and the Appearance of the World" in The Ellul Forum, No. 70.
In June of 2022 Prof. Stroik delivered a presentation titled, “The Fictive Architecture of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel,” to the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Foundation in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Ancient History
Prof. Paolo Vitti has arranged an MOU between the University of Notre Dame and the Musei Statali di Roma for his research on the Mausoleum of Hadrian Roma Tre, Architecture Department.
Technology & Visualization
Prof. Krusche presented and exhibited at the Immers-eXpo: Present and Future of Mixed Reality Research, the yearly showcase of immersive technologies at Jesus College, Oxford. Her presentation centered on the future of digital technologies in design and building and her talk was titled, "3D Future of Web Interface."The paper was accompanied by an exhibit of the work of DHARMA Visualization Team Brown, C., Yao, S., Zhang, X., Brown, C., Caven, J., Krusche, K., Wang, C. that displayed a 3D model of the Roman Forum, Rome, Italy on 2D web interface interactive screens. This project is in collaboration with the Computer Science Department and College of Engineering at Notre Dame.
Prof. Fargier Gabaldon copublished “RCS Moment Frames in High Seismic Zones in the United States,” with authors Cordova P., Parra-Montesinos G., Deierlein G. Proceedings in Civil Engineering, Ernst & Sohn, Volume 6, Issue 1 (2023).
Prof. Krusche published an article with Brown, C., Yao, S., Zhang, X., Brown, C., Caven, J., Wang, C., titled “Visualizing Digital Architectural Data for Heritage Education,” a visualization and data analysis in 2023.
In December of 2022 Prof. Krusche delivered a presentation organized by Angela Dressen and Villa I Tatti titled, “Web interface for the 3D Visualization of the Roman Forum,” for a workshop titled “Digital Humanities Workshop I: Learning about 3D Models and Virtual Realities through Two Projects,” at the the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies Renaissance Society of America (RSA) Conference.
In September of 2022 Prof. Stroik delivered a presentation titled, “Skillful Architects and Able Craftsman: Today’s Renewal of Architectural Craft,” at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.
Allied Arts
In the summer of 2022 Prof. Mayernik painted watercolor on-site of the Pieve di Romena in the Casentino area of Tuscany for Neslihan Şenocak’s (Associate Professor Department of History and Director of Sakip Sabanci Center for Turkish Studies, Columbia University) edited book A People’s Church: Medieval Italy and Christianity, 1050–1300, which was published by Cornell University Press in May of 2023.
Faculty, School, & Student Publications
The book “Green Building Costs: The Affordability of Sustainable Design” by Prof. Hu, is set to be published this fall. This book aims to unlock the affordability of green buildings, dispelling myths, revealing factors, and empowering design teams. Copies are available for pre-order here.
Prof. Semes published New Building in Old Cities: Selected Writings of Gustavo Giovannoni on Urban and Architectural Conservation with co-editors Jeff Cody of the Getty Conservation Institute and Francesco Siravo of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture is currently in production and will be published by Getty Publications early in 2024.
ANTA Volume 4 specifically explores the story of the transference of Spanish architecture to the Americas through a historical and modern lens. We begin with the story of traditional architecture in Spain at the turn of the century and work our way to contemporary traditional projects in Spain. Following that, we explore how traditional Spanish architecture came to the two coasts of the United States through the perspectives of Florida and California. This exploration considers how traditions are shared and adapted through time and place.
STOA Magazine is the new architecture magazine of the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. Student-led, edited, written, and designed, STOA seeks to elegantly present interesting features of a variety of formats and topics within the architectural world. We publish one 250-page magazine every spring.
Prof. Semes contributed a chapter, written with Professor Elisabetta Procida of the University of Rome “La Sapienza,” entitled “Il Tempio dei Parioli di Armando Brasini: visione e costruzione,” to the just-published book edited by Marcello Faggiolo and Alessandro Mazza, I Monti Parioli e il ‘nuovo Campo Marzio’ della cultura internazionale, Rome: Artemide, 2023.
Prof. Stroik co-authored “Hillsdale College Organs,” with Paul Fritts, and Paul Thornock in The Diapason, January 2023, pp. 20-21. He also contributed,“The Chapel of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity,” to ANTA 4 Fall 2022, pp. 263-271, and was featured in “A Who’s Who in Traditional Building: Duncan G. Stroik,” by Nancy A. Ruhling, Traditional Building, October 2022, pp. 50-62.
Student Projects
The 2024 Master in Historic Preservation cohort presented their final Urban Conservation Studio project titled "Back to Better: An Urban Conservation and Regeneration Plan for South Bend's Near Northwest Neighborhood" to visiting South Bend community members and stakeholders. Learn more about the 2023 Urban Conservation Studio instructed by Adjunct Assistant Professor of the Practice Nicholas Rolinski.
Prof. Anders and Assistant Professor of the Practice Kate Chambers led a group of students to France to conduct on-site research, interviews, sketching, measured drawing, and photography around the rebuilding of the Cathédrale de Notre Dame de Paris. Students interviewed the restoration architects while having unprecedented access to the construction site. They also interviewed the artisans working on the restoration of the church who are part of the Ateliers De France. Articles and images from their experience will be included in the fourth edition of STOA Magazine. This trip was supported by the faculty-led student travel grant from the Nanovic Institute.
In March 2023, Prof. Economakis led students of the first year Graduate Path C Studio to Athens, Greece, to familiarize them with the city's historic architecture and their site in the Historic Triangle. The team presented their ideas to Athens Vice Mayor Vassilios Axiotis and Amalia Androulidaki, PhD, of the Greek Ministry of Culture. They consulted with Professors George Panetsos of the University of Patras and Thanos Pagonis of the Athens Polytechnic University, and joined tours with Professor Dimitris Karidis of the Athens Polytechnic, John Leonard, PhD, and Lena Lambrinou, PhD, of the Acropolis Restoration Services.