Architects are typically responsible for designing habitats forothers to reside in, but the architecture program of The Universityof Memphis will be getting a little housing assistance from thedepartment of art this summer.
The architecture program, currently housed in the EngineeringTechnology Building, is set to take up residence on the fourthfloor of Jones Hall beginning July 1. The move is being met withenthusiasm by faculty and the professional architecturecommunity.
"The faculty in architecture supported the move 100 percent,"said Michael Hagge, coordinator of architecture. "The support wehave received from the professional community has also increaseddramatically."
Faculty in the architecture program have developed plans fortheir new space in Jones Hall that will include design studios, acomputer studio, a critique area, exhibit space, classrooms andfaculty offices.
"We have designed the (new) space according to our needs, andhopefully there will be adequate funds to meet these needs," Haggesaid. "If not, we will accept minimal improvements and then makeother changes in a phased process."
Members of the program hope to fulfill these needs by removingsome of the non load-bearing walls in Jones Hall to create a studioenvironment where open dialogue among students and faculty canflourish, said Sherry Bryan, professor of architecture.
But work that will be done to ready Jones Hall for the move willgo far beyond fourth floor renovations.
Fourth-year architecture student Duke Walker, on right, workson his thesis in The Engineering Building. After this summer, a newstudio environment will be established for architecture students onthe fourth floor of Jones Hall.
Jennie Connersphoto
"We are planning to move the already existing main offices fromthe second floor to the first," said Richard Ranta, dean of theCollege of Communications and Fine Arts. "We're also hoping to puta student art gallery on the first floor."
The fourth floor of Jones Hall is currently home to TheUniversity Honors Program and Administrative Systems, but that isalso slated to change.
The move is one of many changes the architecture program hasundergone since March 2000.
Members of the architecture department were given a green lightby the Tennessee Board of Regents nearly four years ago to transfertheir department from the College of Engineering to the College ofCommunication and Fine Arts.
The Bachelor of Science (Architectural Technology) degree thatwas offered under the Engineering College is being phased out,Hagge said. Graduates now receive a four-year pre-professionalBachelor of Fine Arts degree with a major in architecture.
In addition to degree issues, members of the architectureprogram said they wanted to unite with a college that better fitstheir area of expertise.
"Architecture is much closer to being a fine art than a sciencelike engineering," Hagge said. "Basically, we make art thatfunctions as a habitable space."
Once the union between the two departments was approved,department relocation became the next step for architecturedepartment faculty and the College of Communication and Finearts.
"Actually, one of the provisions for us to bring them into theCollege of Communication and Fine Arts was to move them into JonesHall," Ranta said. "It's just taken a few years to do so."
While it may have been years in the making, the move is certainto make an immediate impact on the interior design and graphicdesign departments, both of which are already housed in JonesHall.
"It was very difficult having them so far away from the rest ofour departments, especially interior design, because theirpartnership is so close," Ranta said.
For this reason, everyone hopes to benefit from the move.
"I assume (everyone) is happy we have joined the College ofCommunication and Fine Arts and can share activities and so forth,"Hagge said. "Now we can all interact more easily."
