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UC to collaborate on new Greater Ohio Living Architecture Center

Faculty from UC's College of Arts & Sciences and College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning will help establish this academic and professional resource

headshot of Jac Kern By Jac Kern 5135561823
4 minute read November 28, 2018

Faculty from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP) and College of Arts & Sciences will collaborate with faculty from Kent State University and Heidelberg University in establishing the Greater Ohio Living Architecture Center (GOLA) as an academic and professional resource committed to improving green infrastructure in Ohio and the Great Lakes region.

Green Roofs for Healthy Cities and the Green Infrastructure Foundation announced at the 16th Annual CitiesAlive Conference in New York City that GOLA will be one of four North American locations chosen to serve as a Regional Center of Living Architecture Excellence.

UC, Kent State and Heidelberg will partner in coordinating and hosting professional training and academic conferences to promote living architecture research, pedagogy, professional training and policy development specific to the region.

“The leaders in this new center have been collaborating on research and pedagogy in Living Architecture since 2008, so this recognition as a Center of Excellence by two international leaders in Living Architecture gives us a platform for launching new initiatives and reaching new funding sources," says DAAP Professor Virginia Russell. "Our Midwestern focus is especially exciting for connecting with other initiatives in our region that are providing research and training for green jobs, green infrastructure, food security and other urban resilience issues.” A past chair of the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Research Committee, 
Russell is the director of the Master of Landscape Architecture and Bachelor of Science of Horticulture programs in DAAP's School of Planning.

Woman in a hard hat installs greenery on a roof
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Virginia Russell installs a green roof on top of the Giraffe House at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

“I am very excited to enter into this partnership with Kent State and Heidelberg Universities, further anchoring the body of living architecture research and education being undertaken in the state of Ohio and helping our region develop into a leader in this field," says Ishi Buffam, associate professor in the College of Arts & Sciences' biological science and geography departments. "The field of living architecture is fascinating because it envisions a marriage between the built and natural environment in a way that provides many needed ecosystem services in cities. For this reason, living architecture elements like green roofs and walls are becoming mainstream — in terms of policy, public interest and implementation. We want to help maintain and grow Ohio’s position at the core of that movement, building from the solid base of expertise and passion which already exists here.”

Reid Coffman, founding GOLA director and chair of the Green Roofs for Healthy Cities Research Committee, is an associate professor of Kent State's College of Architecture and Environmental Design. He echoes the importance that GOLA will have on the region. “The Centers will build upon much of the work in living architecture already underway at these universities, setting the stage for new developments in research and innovation, while helping students prepare to enter this growing industry.”

As for students interested in living architecture, Buffam says, “The GOLA center will provide a great opportunity to introduce students to exciting new research, courses and training in the growing fields of living architecture, urban green design and urban ecology.”

Study Horticulture at DAAP

Featured image at top: UC's Ishi Buffam (left) with Mark Mitchell from Heidelberg University on the Green Roof at the Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati.

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