UC students learn from "starchitects"

Joshua Crow spent most of his summer in Chicago co-oping for an engineering company. Crow, a University of Cincinnati architectural engineering fourth-year student, chose to attend UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science because of the real-world experience gained through UC’s co-op program.

“The co-op program is a great opportunity to get the experience and get the tools you need to go into the real world,” Crow says.

Throughout his UC career, Crow has spent time at several engineering and construction firms working on projects for national companies like McDonald’s and Wendy’s. Co-op has allowed him to apply lessons learned in the classroom to real-world work projects. But one of Crow’s most memorable experiences happened this summer — thousands of miles away in Venice, Italy.

Before packing up and heading off to his co-op for the summer, Crow, along with classmates Robert Smollen, Grady Schutt and Justin Hobing, received quite the surprise.

During their spring semester, the students were challenged to design a building that represents the urban vision for the region Iskandar Puteri, where Malaysia and Singapore meet, 100 years in the future.

Christoph Klemmt, assistant professor in DAAP’s School of Architecture and Interior Design, submitted their class project for consideration and inclusion in the 16th International Venice Biennale. The Biennale, which runs May 26-Nov. 25, 2018, is regarded as the world’s most prestigious platform for contemporary art and architecture.

“Our teacher submitted our projects, but we shrugged it off and thought we wouldn’t get anywhere with it,” says Smollen.

Weeks later an email from Klemmt landed in their inbox, notifying the students their project had been accepted into a Venice Biennale session called “Iskandar Puteri 100YC.”

“I was certainly shocked,” says Hobing. “I was surprised that we were even submitted.”

Smollen says it was an amazing surprise to be accepted and a prestigious opportunity. Not only did they get to travel abroad and explore a new city, they would present their projects to a team of internally renowned architects, often referred to as “starchitects,” and receive invaluable feedback from the industry’s best.

An architect is responsible for the aesthetic design and general layout of a building, whereas an architectural engineer is responsible for the design of the building’s systems and ensuring the building will function.

“When I went to request time off from my supervisor, he was shocked,” says Schutt, who co-oped for a firm in Philadelphia. “He said it was a great opportunity and told me to take as much time as I needed.”

And the four students did. They traveled to Venice, Italy, several days prior to their presentation to explore the city and culture.

On presentation day, the four students stood in front of a packed room inside the Giardino Delle Vergini.

In the front row sat a panel of renowned architects from across the globe. The four students shook off their nerves and delved into their presentation, keenly aware of the opportunity at hand.

The panel of “starchitects” — including Tom Kovac, Leanne Zilka, Gwyllim Jahn, Martine De Maeseneer, Liss C. Werner, Denise Luna and Warren Techentin — listened intently as Crow, Smollen, Hobing and Shutt spoke about the design approach and challenges of their projects, and then peppered them with questions.

“I think it took them a little bit into the presentation to realize that we were looking at it from a construction and engineering aspect as well as an architectural aspect,” Smollen says. “I think once they discovered that, they were more appreciative of what we were trying to do.”

Crow liked the constructive criticism. “Learning what the best of the best think and how they think is completely 100 percent of benefit to us.”

Hobing says the opportunity to be critiqued by “starchitects” is a learning experience with lifelong impacts.

“The combination of what I’ve learned in the classroom, coming to Venice, the combination of critiques and what I’ve learned in co-op, in the field… I feel extremely prepared for my life coming forward, and I’ve gotten to do a lot of cool things along the way.”