College Of Architecture, Planning & Design
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Regional & Community Planning Student Selected to Receive ARCC/KING Student Medal for Excellence

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

 News release prepared by: Emily Vietti, 785-532-1090, evietti@k-state.edu

Thursday, June 2, 2011

 

REGIONAL & COMMUNITY PLANNING STUDENT SELECTED TO RECEIVE ARCC/KING STUDENT MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE

MANHATTAN - Erica Besler, recent graduate from the College of Architecture, Planning & Design in Regional & Community Planning, Evergreen, Colorado, has been selected by APDesign to receive this year’s ARCC/King Student Medal for Excellence in Architectural and Environmental Research. Besler received the award for her master’s report: “Measuring Locational Equity and Accessibility of Neighborhood Parks in Kansas City, Missouri.”

One student from each discipline in the College is selected to compete for the award, and the winner is determined by a jury.

“I am pleased to see the ARCC/King Medal competition serving as a forum to promote the significant design-research efforts of our students and their faculty advisors,” said Professor and Dean Tim de Noble. “This serves to increase the efficacy of applied design thinking.”

The three other nominees were: Lydia Palma, recent graduate in Interior Architecture & Product Design, Topeka, Kansas, for “Swingin’ Off Your Rocker”; Kyle Ward, recent graduate in Landscape Architecture, Hutchinson, Kansas, for “The Detroit East Riverwalk: Extend.Connect.Provide.”; and Kyle White, recent graduate in Architecture, Newburg, Missouri, for “The Learning Suite: Creating Environments for Autistic Children.”

The jury described Besler’s report as “very methodical and logical. It was the most academic of the projects we reviewed, and it was well-done, hypothesis-driven work.”

Named in honor of Jonathan King, co-founder and first president of the Architectural Research Centers Consortium, the ARCC/King Student Medal is given to one student per ARCC-member college per year. Selection is “based upon criteria that acknowledge innovation, integrity, and scholarship in architectural and/or environmental design research.”