Architecture students accepted into international research program

Two graduate students in the University’s School of Architecture were accepted to the Center of Leadership Development in Built Environment Sustainability, a nine-month program to support research and professional training activities sponsored by Louisiana State University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Macau and the American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers.

Stephen Grotz and Fernando Claudio Rodriguez will join an international cohort of 20 graduate students from the United States, Hong Kong and Macau.

Project proposals were accepted in three research areas: human and the built environment, social-technology integration and sustainable development policies and implementation.

Grotz’s proposal, “Bus Transportation is the Solution; the Bus Shelter is the Problem,” analyzes how to reduce the growing car traffic in Hong Kong by reinventing the public bus stop. He plans to develop an architectural solution to the design of the bus stop that could be tested in Hong Kong and implemented in cities across the globe. Associate Professor Kelly Carlson-Reddig is his faculty advisor.

Rodriguez’s proposal is “Environmentally and Humanely Resilient Design for Hot and Humid Coastal Climates.” He will study existing buildings in Hong Kong to develop a taxonomy of environmentally responsive residential building typologies within the city’s urban coastal context. He hopes to demonstrate sustainable, human-centered and resilient strategies that contradict the notion that environmentally responsive buildings are expensive and complex. Assistant Professor Liz McCormick is his faculty advisor.

The course of study includes a four-week visit to Hong Kong and Macau and concludes with a presentation next spring at an annual event held in Cleveland, Ohio, organized by the American Society of Thermal and Fluids Engineers (ASTFE), where projects will be evaluated by ASTFE professionals.