Three distinguished practitioners and academics have been invited to lead the first ever architecture Fifth-Year Design Studio Forum at Kansas State University’s College of Architecture, Planning and Design. 

The guest critics have been invited to campus to join major studio advisors in reviewing an exemplary group of fifth-year studio projects. The projects will be displayed in Seaton Hall’s Chang Gallery, Pierce Commons and Room 104 on Thursday, May 8. On Friday, May 9, the projects will be discussed in reviews open to all students and faculty. Those reviews begin at 11:00 a.m. and conclude at 3:30 p.m. The day’s activities will culminate at 4:30 p.m. in Pierce Commons with an open forum led by the guest critics in response to and reflection on the issues raised by the reviewed projects. The recipient of the Heintzelman Prize, given annually to the strongest fifth-year studio project, will also be determined by the guest critics. The name of the Heintzelman Prize recipient will be announced during the college’s graduation ceremony on May 17.

The Fifth-Year Design Studio Forum honors and celebrates fifth-year students and serves to culminate the design studio experience at K-State. According to professor and fifth-year architecture studio coordinator Vladimir Krstic, “The Forum will provide graduating students in the Department of Architecture with the competitive chance to present and communicate their work in a more prominent setting resonant with the highest standards of the program.”

The guest critics who will lead the forum are Robert McCarter, Dwayne Oyler and Karl Puljak.

Robert McCarter is a practicing architect, professor of architecture and author. He is the current Ruth and Norman Moore Professor of Architecture at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis. He has also taught and performed administrative duties at School of Architecture at the University of Florida and the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University, New York. During his 21 years in academia (including 15 years in academic administration), McCarter taught at least one design studio every semester (42 studios, with over 600 students). He has been a licensed architect since 1982, and from 1991-2007 was President of D-Mc2 Architecture, P. A., in Tioga, Florida, during which time his firm had 12 buildings constructed to their designs. A prolific and award-winning author, McCarter is also a recipient of a Rotch Foundation Traveling Studio Award, a Graham Foundation Grant, and a Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Traveling Fellowship.

Dwayne Oyler received a Bachelor of Architecture from Kansas State University in 1996 and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design in 2001. He was awarded the Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill Traveling Fellowship in 1996. Oyler has worked in the office of Toshiko Mori, Architect, and has collaborated with Lebbeus Woods on numerous projects in the United States and Europe. Currently the Coordinator for the Undergraduate Thesis Design Studio at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), Oyler has also taught at Cooper Union in New York City and the Research Institute for Experimental Architecture in Vico Morcote, Switzerland. He is a licensed architect in the State of California. Oyler and Jenny Wu have established the office of Oyler Wu Collaborative, whose work includes projects of a wide range of types, primarily located in the Los Angeles area and in Taipei, Taiwan, and has been published in Architectural Record, Interior Design, ID Magazine, LA Times Magazine, and Surface Magazine.

Karl Puljak received his Bachelor of Architecture (with honors) and Certificate in Regional and Community Planning from Kansas State University in 1990. While at K-State, he participated in KSU summer programs at the Boston Architectural Center and in Todi, Italy, was active in the Department of Music, served as the co-editor of Oz Journal Volume 12, was a member of AIAS and received the Alpha Rho Chi Medal. Puljak worked in architectural offices in St. Louis and Vienna, Austria before returning to graduate school. He earned his Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1995. Since 1995, he has been teaching at Louisiana Tech University and currently serves as the Director of the School of Architecture. He initiated the fifth-year design/build studio at Louisiana Tech, which has resulted in the design and construction of 15 projects throughout Lincoln Parish since 2001. He has presented papers and lectures on issues as diverse as beginning design pedagogy, service learning, and fireworks stands. He currently serves as president of AIA-Monroe and as member of the AIA Louisiana Board of Directors.

For more information, contact:
Vladimir Krstic, 785.532.1114
Diane Potts, 785.532.1090