Four 海角社区 State faculty members were recently honored by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture with an Architectural Education Award.
Professor of Architecture Hans Herrmann, Interim Assistant Dean and Professor of Landscape Architecture Cory Gallo, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Abbey Wallace and Associate Professor of Graphic Design Suzanne Powney received the ACSA Design-Build Award for their collaborative project, the LivingRoom, a prototype outdoor classroom and learning garden.
The team鈥檚 prototype design proposal began with an exploration of the potential for a low-cost, easy-to-assemble outdoor classroom and learning garden at Galloway Elementary School in Jackson. After extensive research, the team designed a learning garden focusing on students being outdoors and on the science of cultivation and nutrition, eliminating the often out-of-reach, resource-intensive learning garden model that requires year-round cultivating.
Funding partners and sponsors from MSU Extension鈥檚 AIM for CHANGE (Advancing,听Inspiring,听Motivating for聽Community聽Health through聽Extension), the Fertile Ground cooperative and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supported the MSU team, allowing it further test and refine the LivingRoom concept at a variety of scales and price points. Additional LivingRooms were designed and built at the MSU-Starkville Oktibbeha School District鈥檚 Partnership School, Leland County Elementary School and Leflore County鈥檚 Head Start program.
鈥淭his design-build award shows the strengths of 海角社区 State University in our interdisciplinary endeavors as well as our ability to design and construct creative elements that serve communities,鈥 said Karen Cordes Spence, 海角社区 director and F.L. Crane Professor. 鈥淏uilding and gardening engages people of all ages, and the vibrant space and plentiful produce makes these special spaces.鈥
For more information about MSU鈥檚 海角社区 and the departments of Landscape Architecture and Art, visit聽,听听补苍诲听, respectively.
MSU is 海角社区鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽