Design Review Board helps campus environment foster learning

As Ohio State fortifies itself to meet the challenges of becoming one of the world's truly great public research universities, significant campus construction is becoming a major part of that process. New structures are being built and older buildings are being renovated to keep up with growing academic and research demands, and a renewed emphasis is being placed on creating a welcoming campus physical environment in relation to those buildings.

As building and remodeling projects like Larkins Hall, Hagerty Hall and the Heart Hospital evolve, a Design Review Board (DRB) provides guidance to ensure that each building fits into the larger campus context in which it is sited.

Created three years ago, the main functions of the review board are to interpret the University's Master Plan and help the University be a good and informed client, said Robert Livesey, chair of the review board and director of the Knowlton School of Architecture. The Master Plan was created in 1995 to ensure that future development decisions reflect and contribute to the long-range concept for conserving campus resources and maintaining a unified, efficient and attractive campus.

"The Design Review Board is both a resource for the University Architect's Office and the users of the building," Livesey said. The board reviews projects from inception through design development, often reviewing a project as many as four times, he added.

Livesey said the biggest challenge is to resolve user-specific needs with general University needs. "We always pay attention to what the user needs, but also consider the greater good. For instance, the DRB is very interested in maintaining significant open spaces on campus," he said.

The DRB is primarily a review body -- not an action body -- and serves as an advisory group to University Architect Jill Morelli and the Space Facilities Committee. The review board makes recommendations that are forwarded to Morelli, and reports to the offices of Academic Affairs and Business and Finance, Livesey said.

Members serve three-year terms and attend an evening and all-day session every other month. During a recent session in May, the Heart Hospital, Page Hall renovations, United States Polar Rock Repository, Robinson Laboratory replacement and a Main Library feasibility study were scheduled for review.

The board's input on planned library renovations serves as an example of the kind of contributions it makes. The DRB listened as the architects involved in the library study and Director of Libraries Joe Branin made a 20-minute presentation outlining where they were in the process. The architects discussed design and space issues, showed slides of libraries they designed at prestigious universities such as Cornell and the University of Southern California, and talked about "returning the library to a state of elegance and grandeur."

The review board applauded the team for its vision of a "library of the 21st century," but urged its members to relate their design to the Master Plan. "You're talking internally. This group thinks in terms of external. How does it live and breathe in relation to campus?" asked Morelli.

After a period of discussion with the architects and Branin, the review board issued several recommendations. Members emphasized that the library is perched in a very prominent position along a long access corridor that connects key buildings such as the Wexner Center, Larkins Hall and residence halls, and that the entries and exterior of the library should capitalize on that. They also offered suggestions about the housing of special collections and asked to see any original plans of the library at their next review.

Review board members are selected by Morelli and Livesey, and include two faculty from the School of Architecture, an outside architect and a landscape architect (precluded from working with the University during their terms on the board), two faculty from the University at large and one student. When selecting outside professionals, Livesey said, "We're looking for people who would be both excellent design critics and open to a broad range of ideas."

Selected faculty members are those who have a long and in-depth relationship with the University and have shown compassion for the campus physical environment, Livesey said.

Review board member David Frantz, professor of English, has served on his share of committees over his 33-year career at Ohio State. He refers to the Design Review Board as an important committee because "you can feel that there's a long-term impact here." He credits the improvement of the caliber of construction on campus to the University's contracting of first-rate national architects and the ongoing dialogue between the architects and the review board.

"I think that you'll see a series of buildings in the coming years that will be very exciting, such as Larkins, the new Knowlton School of Architecture building, and the renovations of Hagerty and Page halls," Frantz said.

Conceding that he has no architectural background, Frantz is humble about his role on the board. He feels that his familiarity with and compassion for the campus he's spent so much time on adds a degree of common sense and practicality to the process. He also said that, for him, review board sessions are like attending a graduate seminar in architecture.

"For a lay person, being exposed to those types of architectural design issues is so intellectually stimulating and so engaging," Frantz said.

He added that absorbing so many architectural discussions has changed his perception. "You begin to see things in terms of architectural forms and look not just at buildings but at spaces, lines and landscapes," Frantz said. "The campus itself is an aspect of the learning environment, and we want everyone to experience this."

Six faculty earn CAREER awards

Faster drug development, improved computer vision, safer disposal of chemical warfare agents -- all of these could result from the work of Ohio State faculty members, who each recently received a prestigious award from the National Science Foundation.

Six junior faculty have earned NSF's Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, which recognizes a young researcher's dual commitment to scholarship and education. Together, the researchers garnered more than $2.5 million in CAREER funding, to be awarded over the next five years.

"These awards confirm that our young faculty are among the best in the nation," said Brad Moore, vice president for research. "They are leaders in creating the new research and educational programs that will attract the world's best students. These young faculty are defining a truly bright future for OSU."

The following Ohio State faculty were named to receive CAREER awards:

• Helen M. Chamberlin, assistant professor of molecular genetics, will receive $500,000 for her study of evolutionary change in gene regulation. She wants to know how and why genes turn on and off, and what this means to organisms which look similar, yet have subtle differences in their genetic code. Her work could eventually provide evidence for the precise molecular changes that take place during evolution.

• Mark P. Foster, assistant professor of biochemistry, will receive $500,000 to study enzyme dynamics. Enzymes are molecular machines responsible for facilitating and carrying out chemical reactions in the body, such as digesting food and repairing chromosomes. Enzymes are also the target of many medications used to treat bacterial and viral infections as well as cancer and hypertension. By understanding enzymes' motion, researchers can in turn develop medications in a more efficient manner, or could use this information to engineer new enzymes that could be used in applications from gene therapy to bioremediation.

• Rabi Mishalani, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science, will receive $375,000 to address the problem of deteriorating transportation infrastructure systems. Mishalani is developing mathematical models and methods that will help managers and engineers inspect infrastructure systems more effectively and make sound maintenance decisions.

• Linda K. Weavers, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science, will receive $375,000 to develop safe, effective and affordable ways to dispose of the byproducts of compounds used in the production of chemical weapons such as Sarin and other nerve gases.

• Patrick M. Woodward, assistant professor of chemistry, will receive $569,000 to investigate oxide-based materials for their optical, electronic and catalytic properties. Woodward hopes to develop a fundamental understanding of how optical and electronic properties can be controlled by changes in the crystal structure and composition of materials.

• Song-Chun Zhu, assistant professor of computer and information science, will receive $340,000 to develop new software and methods for machine vision. Machine vision research is a testament to the complexity and efficiency of the human mind; researchers have struggled for decades to make computers recognize even the most rudimentary shapes and textures -- objects humans can identify automatically. Zhu founded Ohio State's Vision and Learning Group in 1998 to pursue a single, unified theory of visual perception and learning in computers. His work may one day lead to highly intelligent computer systems that can interact with people and the real-world environment.

The CAREER award honors teachers and scholars who are likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century. Since 1996, NSF has given the award to junior faculty who effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their institution.

next page...