Darrick A. Mack

University of Minnesota - B.A. Arch '96, B.Arch '96, M.Arch '04

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

A visiting (at the time) professor, Renee Cheng, who taught a tectonics class that really opened up the way we should explore materials and techniques.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Traveling through Europe in spring of 1999 with Eric, Aaron, Donovan, and Chris and eventually meeting up with Arthur Chen to participate in the Port Cities study abroad class in Lisbon, Barcelona, and Venice. A very interesting and memorable trip through some of the oldest and most varied cities in Europe.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

A housing project for the Phillips Neighborhood with Arthur Chen. The studio worked with actual clients and a predetermined program of needs. It allowed us to really explore our (sometimes drastic) ideas about how to best provide community housing and to learn how to interact and respond to community relations.

Jennifer D. Charzewski

University of Minnesota - M.Arch '05

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

Theory, research-based design, precedent study, and integration of design at detail scale.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

Renee Cheng for being the best possible mentor a grad student could hope for and Julie Snow as a visiting critic, a later employer, and a complete inspiration for practice.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

They mostly relate to a pervasive sense of place, romanticized by memories of cozy winter nights in studio with snow falling, an urban walk to campus with fall leaves, the downtown views from campus, breaks from studio to go to yoga or swim at the rec center, and of course the invention of various quesadillas on Nick Potts' quesadilla maker.

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

Bell Museum with Cheng in GD2 studio, Urban Infill in Mic Johnson's GD3 studio, and Pre-Fab Motel in Charlie Lazor's GD2 studio.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

The study of fabrication methods in application to design with Charlie Lazor, the research of multi-functional details as the heart of design with Renee Cheng for Graduate Research Assistant projects, and modern, elegant, sleek, rigorous architecture distilled to its cleanest elements in the practice of Julie Snow and the infused legacy of Scandinavian aesthetic in the area.

Shawn J. Keltner

University of Minnesota - B.A. Arch '00, M.Arch '07

What was the most important thing/skill/concept you learned at the School of Architecture?

Critical Thinking, computer aided manufacturing, and design self study and thesis.

Who made the most lasting impression (most influenced you) and why?

Tom Fisher, for his thoughtful and considerate critiques. Renee Cheng, for her eagerness to promote current information into what was a dated curriculum. Bruno Franck, for the great adventures building low-income houses in the deep south of northern Minnesotta. Dale Mullfinger, for the best introduction to architectural design and studio culture that one could hope for.

What is your favorite memory from your studio days?

Totally ignoring the rules and doing the opposite!

Please identify one (or more) memorable design project that you worked on while a student at the School of Architecture.

My thesis of the soft space/sleep space. It was an 8'x8'x8' homasote cube, the inside of which was CNC formed routed foam, that created a space for students to sleep and relax. It was a reaction to the hard, rectilinear forms and acoustics that pervaded the school, as well as the first full scale demonstration of CNC routing at the school. It was also the first collaboration with Dave Hultman of the Aerospace Engineering Department. Also, I co-taught an Affordable Housing Design class with Bruno Franck in which we built a highly energy efficient house in northern Minnesota and then had students apply what they learned towards Affordable Housing Design in studio.

What major forces (such as individual architects, design philosophies, rendering styles, research methods, etc.) do you remember influencing you significantly as a student?

There were several such "forces" for me. One of my great influences was the work of Frank Gehry on campus. This was a fairly new building when I started at the U in 1996. I was further influenced by a conference on design and manufacturing in the digital age that I attended as a grad student. This type of design using advanced computer methods and parametrics was not taught at CALA at the time.

Cite an example (be specific) that illustrates how you used the education you received at the School of Architecture to positively impact (or better) your community, city, nation or the world.

I have influenced many coworkers to think more critically about what and how they design buildings.