News release from the University of Saint Francis:
BSU students working with USF, Fort Wayne on competitive academic project
(March 12, 2013) Sophomores in the Department of Architecture at the Ball State University (BSU) College of Architecture and Planning (CAP) are working with the University of Saint Francis (USF) and the City of Fort Wayne on an academic competitive design project.
For over 40 years, BSU CAP students have produced building projects that serve as entries for a competition sponsored by the Indiana Concrete Masonry Association (ICMA). This year, BSU is coordinating its student project with USF and the Fort Wayne Community Development Division to design a mixed-use project across from the USF Performing Arts Center at 431 W. Berry St., on property owned by USF. Features of the BSU students’ designs should include new student housing for USF, apartments for lease, local retail for the downtown area and garage parking.
The competition began Monday, when around 80 CAP students visited the project site. To provide a real-world client scenario, USF and city of Fort Wayne representatives will meet with CAP students in Muncie on Friday, when the architectural students can learn more about the theoretical facility’s needs and its potential for economic impact on the city. Project requirements, constraints and other aspects will be examined in a question-and-answer session that will follow.
BSU students will deliver their projects in April, and on Monday, April 22, the best 20 projects will be selected by a jury for recognition. Projects typically consist of a physical model and boards displaying graphic and textual information on the project. The student projects provide ideas, but are not professional solutions that must be developed by professional architects.
“This competition has become a cherished tradition among our faculty, alumni and students for more than 40 years,” said Antonieta Angulo, associate professor of practice in the BSU Department of Architecture. “It is always important for us to work in projects that relate to the real world. This project will be one of such experiences. We appreciate the kind willingness of the USF administration and president, as well as the City of Fort Wayne, to collaborate in our ICMA competition project of 2013.”
“It is our pleasure and our duty to participate in this academic exercise with Ball State University students,” said USF President Sister M. Elise Kriss, OSF. “We are pleased to provide the dynamics of a growing downtown campus as a basis for this creative work.”
The University of Saint Francis, founded in 1890 as a comprehensive university in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, offers more than 60 undergraduate and 14 graduate programs in five schools: The School of Health Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, Keith Busse School of Business and Entrepreneurial Leadership, School of Professional Studies and School of Creative Arts. More than 2,300 students from a broad geographic region attend USF for its academic excellence. The university has a regional campus in Crown Point, Ind.