Architecture Students’ Work

Goes from Crough

To a National Museum

By Janelle Cowgill

It was during a 2001 visit to CUA’s School of Architecture and Planning in the Crough Center when Howard Decker, the chief curator of the National Building Museum, stopped dead in his tracks.

The Very. Rev. David M. O’Connell, C.M., President, enjoys the students’ architectural models.

Before him were architectural models of all shapes and sizes created by Catholic University students. He was so enthralled that he decided to put together an exhibit at the museum highlighting the students’ work.

“They made quite an impression,” Mr. Decker recalls thinking. “As we got to looking at them, we saw that they could form the basis for an exhibition that would examine the role that models play as architects create places.”

The resulting CUA exhibition, “Modeled Space/Space Modeled,” is on public display through March 31 at the National Building Museum on F Street near the Judiciary Square Metro stop.

It’s a “natural fit in that the nation’s largest and most distinguished museum devoted to architecture and urbanism would seek out such singular examples of an architect’s craft,” says Terrance Williams, associate dean of CUA’s architecture and planning school.

How many students ever get a chance to see their course assignments displayed in a national museum?

The more than 100 models being displayed highlight the work of CUA students — from freshman projects to master’s theses. Most of the models are small, but about half a dozen are quite large, as big as 5 feet by 20 feet.

"Meterological Research Center on Skyline Drive" by senior Charles McGrath.

“They are an enormous range of size, scale and color,” says Mr. Decker. “Taken together, they really do form a good way to understand what architects do.”

Because most people who have no background in architecture see the process of design as “mystical,” Mr. Decker says, this exhibit will help them understand how design is conceived of, developed and created.

“Everyone finds miniature versions of architecture fascinating. Somehow it captures our imagination,” Mr. Decker muses. “In a way a drawing can’t, it allows us to inhabit a place that’s conceived of in our imagination. It’s interesting how often we see people bending over the models and squinting their eyes, imaging themselves in that place.”

One model constructed by student Ralf Kunzli depicts an open townhouse with a mezzanine overlooking a garden, a sitting area with a bar and a central, airy courtyard.

The two-foot-long design is about a foot high, separated into four floors. The walls between rooms don’t completely touch the ceilings, allowing air and light to flow throughout the home.

“The concept of the building was the lighting — how the light would enter the building,” says Mr. Kunzli, who is pursuing a master’s degree in architecture. “So I created a central courtyard in the middle of the building so light could come inside and spread.”

The inspiration for his design comes from Japanese architect Tadao Ando, whose award-winning works include the Naoshima Contemporary Art Museum in Kagawa, Japan. The CUA student finished the model in about three days and earned an “A.”

The National Building Museum exhibition is the latest in an ongoing effort by Associate Dean Williams and Assistant Dean Eric Jenkins to showcase CUA architectural students’ work. In February 2000, the university’s architecture and urban design students had a similar show sponsored by the DelRay Artisans in Alexandria, Va., an institution that promotes the creation of functional art by woodworkers, metalsmiths, fiber and glass artists, and those working in mixed media.

Chris Penndorf, a junior architecture major, has two projects on display, one of which is an abstract composition entitled “Deconstruction of a Cube.” Another student, Michelle Egrie, who is completing her master’s in architecture this semester, also is displaying two projects: a casino on the Las Vegas strip and a design for a Finnish sauna.

At the National Building Museum, from left: CUA Vice President of Institutional Advancement Richard Collins, Associate Dean Terrance Williams, museum Chief Curator Howard Decker, architecture school Dean Gregory Hunt, Father O’Connell and Provost John Convey.

“To know that my projects were selected to be exhibited down the hall from the work of Caesar Pelli and other contemporary leaders in the field fills me with a great deal of pride,” Mr. Penndorf says.

The exhibition opened on Jan. 31 and was preceded the night before by a reception attended by National Building Museum and Catholic University leaders as well as CUA architecture students. In his remarks at the reception, the Very. Rev. David M. O’Connell, C.M., CUA President, thanked “the nation’s premier museum dedicated to the building arts.”

“The Catholic University of America has the Washington metropolitan area's largest school of architecture,” Father O’Connell added. “In a profession where size always matters, our university also demonstrates an equally large tradition of design and planning excellence made evident year after year by the accomplishments of our students.”