Exhibit - Drone Art: Low Altitude Landscapes

University of Virginia

“Why does the sight of birds flying attract the eye? Is it the graceful movement, the surprising reminder of that third dimension, altitude? And how does the countryside appear as they're soaring over buildings and trees? This exhibit displays large photographs taken from a bird-sized remote control helicopter, showing wide panoramas from a few hundred feet up. John Vigour started taking these pictures a year ago because his model-aircraft Christmas present contained a built-in camera. The project took on a life of its own and evolved into a delightful revelation of the Virginia landscape.”

~UVA A-School

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Cooper Center official 2013 population estimates for Virginia

Weldon Cooper Center

“Virginia Population Growth Slows - Population growth in Virginia slowed last year as fewer people moved to the state, but the commonwealth still outpaced the nation, according to the most recent official state population estimates from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

Virginia’s population grew between 2012 and 2013 by less than 1 percent, or 74,531 people, to increase the state total population to nearly 8.3 million. While growth last year was the slowest in Virginia since before the recession, the commonwealth still grew faster than the nation, which grew by 0.7 percent. Compared to other states, Virginia posted the 14th-highest growth rate and the seventh-largest numerical population gain.

Within Virginia, the large population gains were more than ever concentrated in urban localities particularly in Northern Virginia. While Fredericksburg is the fastest-growing locality since 2010, increasing by more than 15 percent, most urban localities in Virginia also experienced above-average growth, representing a change from the previous decade. Between 2000 and 2010, urban localities grew much more slowly than suburban localities in Virginia; in contrast, during the past four years, many urban areas are among Virginia’s fastest-growing localities, with Arlington, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Radford and Richmond among the cities growing at a rate faster than the state since 2010.

Most localities that lost population or experienced natural decrease were located outside of the so-called “urban crescent,” which stretches from Hampton Roads to Richmond and up the Interstate 95 corridor to Northern Virginia. In Southwest Virginia, all seven coal-producing counties declined in population between 2012 and 2013.

The Cooper Center’s population estimates, prepared annually, are the official figures for the commonwealth of Virginia. The estimates are based on changes since 2010 in housing stock, school enrollment, births, deaths and drivers’ license issuances. They are used by state and local government agencies in revenue sharing, funding allocations, planning and budgeting.”

~Weldon Cooper Center

Click here for the full report

Arctic Design Initiative Exhibition

University of Virginia

“The Arctic Design Initiative, formed in 2012 at the UVA School of Architecture, is an interdisciplinary design research platform that explores architectural, urban and ecological futures of the rapidly changing arctic. It is the first of its kind in the U.S. and one of only a handful of programs worldwide to link design with natural and social science studies of the region.

The exhibition, which kick-starts and shares this effort with the School and the University, is a snapshot of collective research produced in the past year via fieldwork, conferences, and courses offered at the UVA School of Architecture, involving a wide array of arctic experts, colleagues and institutions, at home and abroad, as well as our undergraduate- and graduate-level architecture and landscape architecture students.

The eclectic narratives of the presented work show that the arctic is a dynamic, transnational, connected and contested region. Reinforced by the fast rate of climate change and globalization, it is rushing into a new, unprecedented era where its environmental, political, economic and cultural trajectories are unknown and must be tested. At this critical moment, the exhibition examines a range of issues, challenges and opportunities that are currently shaping and will continue to influence the region, as well as their long-term impact on its unique landscapes.” 

~ Co-Directors, Arctic Design Initiative:

Matthew Jull, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Architecture

Leena Cho, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture

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Which concept from this year's UVa Vortex would you most like to see in your lifetime?

University of Virginia

“This year’s UVa Vortex had students in the School of Architecture envision new ways to address congestion and improve the U.S. Route 29 corridor.  Of these three big ideas... If you had to pick one, which of these three ideas would you most like to see in your lifetime?”

~Writes Charlottesville Tomorrow

Click here to learn more and vote

Urban Design Seminar Series

Conversations on the Public Realm in the D.C. Region

Jan. 28, Feb. 11, March 4, March 18 and April 1 from 7-9:30 PM

1021 Prince Street, Alexandria

The School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and the Washington Alexandria Architecture Center (WAAC) are excited to announce our first interdisciplinary seminar series.  Over the course of the spring term, we will host five sessions exploring intriguing and challenging aspects of the public realm in the National Capital Region.

Speakers will include Virginia Tech faculty from planning, public policy, landscape architecture and architecture along with noted practitioner experts. Each session will include a presentation, a discussion period and a small reception. 

The seminars are free and open to the public, but for space planning purposes we would appreciate it if you would notify us of your attendance by sending an email to udseminar@vt.edu.

Jan. 28: African American Heritage: How is it Represented in the Public Realm and How Does it Affect Planning and Development in the D.C. Region?

Panelists include: 

Audrey Davis, Acting Director, Alexandria Black History Museum 

Nikki Graves Henderson, Director, Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation

Jane Freundel Levey, Director of Heritage and Community Programs, Cultural Tourism DC

Moderator:

Elizabeth Morton (Urban Affairs and Planning faculty)

Rapporteurs:

Derek Hyra (Urban Affairs and Planning faculty)

Matt Dull (Center for Public Administration and Policy faculty)

Feb. 11: Design Review: Opportunities and Complexities in Regulating the Public Realm

Panelists include: 

Roger Lewis, architect and critic for the Washington Post

Elizabeth Miller, Director Physical Planning Division at National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC)

Lee Quill, Founding Principal at Cunningham Quill Architects

Matt Steenhoek, PN Hoffman

Moderators: 

Elizabeth Morton (Urban Affairs and Planning faculty)

Susan Piedmont-Palladino (Architecture faculty)

March 4: The Cultivation of the Potomac River Landscape 

Paul Kelsch (Landscape Architecture faculty)

March 18: 4 Blocks: Lessons in an Urban Campus

Susan Piedmont-Palladino (Architecture faculty)

April 1: Arboreta Washingtonensis: Collecting Trees in the Public Realm

Nathan Heavers (Landscape Architecture faculty)

Ray Mims, U.S. Botanical Garden and head of the Sustainable Sites Initiative (invited)

The seminar series is jointly sponsored by the School of Public and International Affairs, the Urban Affairs and Planning program, the Washington Alexandria Architecture Center, and the new Urban Design Concentration, with the support of the Dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the Washington, DC Initiative (DCI).

University of Virginia

“On Monday afternoon, 300 students from the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture will walk up and down the area’s busiest traffic corridor to begin imagining how it might be redeveloped in the near future. The expedition along U.S. 29 will come near the start of the school’s third annual ‘vortex,’ a week-long workshop in which students apply their design training to reimagine an aspect of the Charlottesville-Albemarle County area.”

~Writes Sean Tubbs of Charlottesville Tomorrow

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Virginia Tech's Urban Affairs and Planning

Virginia Tech's "Urban Affairs and Planning's (UAP) diverse programs and interdisciplinary faculty provide a wide range of professional specializations, including: Environmental Planning and Policy; Land Use and Physical Development Planning; Housing, Community and Economic Development; International Development Planning."

Click here to learn more about their program 

UVA Student's Documentary on US29

University of Virginia

A UVA Planning student created this short documentary on the various interpretations of Charlottesville's most notorious road, Route 29. Click here to watch this great video.

Going Mental: Architecture Professor Researches Everyday Travel and the Cognitive Map

University of Virginia

“Do you have a special way of getting to work or to a favorite restaurant? If so, then your cognitive map is doing its job. These routes are mental maps stored in the brain, and new research shows that what people store in their cognitive map often depends on their mode of travel.

Andrew Mondschein, who joined the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Architecture in September as an assistant professor in the Department of Urban and Environmental Planning, led a team that found “cognitively active” travelers, those driving a car or walking, have more accurate mental maps than “cognitively passive” travelers, such as car or bus passengers. The findings were published in the latest issue of ACCESS, which reports on research funded by the University of California Transportation Center.

In his article, ‘Going Mental: Everyday Travel and the Cognitive Map,’ Mondschein and his team show that cognitively active people have a greater awareness of where things like shopping centers, parks and potential employers are located in their cities and towns.”

~Writes Robert Hull of UVA Today

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U.Va. Alumni Help Children on the Move Take Their Schools with Them

University of Virginia

“For many children around the world – refugees from conflicts, or migrants whose families chase work where they can find it ­– regularly attending a school is not an option. Building Trust International, a nonprofit that provides building support and design advice to charities and communities in need, concluded that if the children can’t get to the school, perhaps there was a way to bring the school to the children. In 2012, Building Trust sponsored an international design competition to create a solution for displaced communities who lack adequate buildings for schools. The goal was to create the opportunity for communities to establish buildings for educational opportunities in their temporary homes.

Amadeo Bennetta and Dan LaRossa, both of whom received master’s degrees from the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, designed a moving school for migrant and refugee communities of Southeast Asia, creating an opportunity for communities to establish an educational home away from home. As a result of their design’s ability to 'address the issues relating to simplicity, flexibility and the needs of this program to be relocated or adapted over time,' it was selected as the winner from hundreds of competitors.”

~Writes Ashley Patterson of UVA Today

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