The 11th annual Bowman Design Forum of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design was held on the K-State campus on December 11, 2009.  The Forum brings internationally acclaimed architects to campus to discuss third-year work by students in the K-State Department of Architecture.

This year’s invited guests were Dennis Cusack, AIA, LEED AP, managing principal at SRG Partnership, Inc., with three locations on the West Coast, and Greg Papay, FAIA, managing partner for Lake | Flato Architects of San Antonio, Texas. The guest jurors also presented guest lectures following the forum. Other jurors included Brent Bowman and Patrick Schaub, principals at Bowman Bowman Novick, the event sponsor.

One student from each of five third-year studio sections was selected to present his design for an 8,500 square foot Visitor Center and Administrative Facility for the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Chase County, Kansas. The program called for design of a facility that will offer visitors a chance to gain a better understanding of ecological, cultural and historic resources available at the Preserve as well as the rest of the Kansas Flint Hills. The facility was to also demonstrate the principles and best practices of ecological and sustainable design, as well as to meet LEED Platinum standards and, ideally, to be a demonstration of how to meet the Living Building Challenge. By providing such a demonstration of how to build both practically and poetically on the prairie, the Center and associated landscape were to help visitors envision future ways of dwelling in harmony with the Flint Hills region of the Tallgrass Prairie and to move visitors to stop at the Center just to experience the architecture.

Each Visitor Center proposal was to include a lobby, information desk, exhibit space, interpretive sales and bookstore, multipurpose room, office, storage, and restrooms as well as an adjacent administrative facility. A model, drawings and a Powerpoint presentation of his ideas were prepared by each student participant.

After hearing and viewing the student presentations, the visiting critics evaluated the designs and awarded $2,700 in prize money. The top awards and $750 each went to Jacob Campbell, Derby, KS, and Kevin Stiegler, Kansas City, MO. Their studio professors were Torgeir Norheim and Ulf Meyer, respectively.

Receiving the next awards and $400 each were Scott Gibson, Englewood, CO; Adam Reilly, Topeka, KS;  and Nick Young, Belton, MO. Their studio professors were David Sachs, Gary Coates and Nathan Howe, respectively. Coates also served as project coordinator.

The guest jurors made some positive observations about the students’ work. According to Schaub, “The jurors were really impressed with the depth of thought put into the site and sustainability components of the program.”

Brent Bowman, a 1972 K-State architecture graduate and principal of the Manhattan and Kansas City based architecture firm Bowman Bowman Novick, sponsors the forum. In addition to funding the honoraria and travel expenses of the jurors and providing prize money for the students, Bowman hosts luncheon and dinner gatherings which allow students to interact informally with the jurors.

For more information, contact:
Gary Coates, 785.532.5953
Diane Potts, 785.532.1090