A semester of change is on the horizon for the College of Architecture and Environmental Design.

Steven Fong, new dean of the college, gave his inaugural address on Friday in the Auditorium. Fong’s address focused on what he values about CAED and how he plans to move the college forward.

FIVE GOALS FOR CAED • To increase presence in Cleveland as an advocate for design. • To be a player in cultural activities such as the Cleveland Museum of Art. • To work with professional offices and organizations and expand design activities. • To explore the use of digital tools. • To provide venues for research as an educational institution.

“I’m very enthusiastic about the new programs,” Fong said, referring to the Master of Urban Design degree and the opportunities available to students through the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative.

The CUDC is the combined efforts of students at Kent State’s graduate program in urban design and the Urban Design Center of Northeast Ohio.

Urban design is all about improving social conditions, said Jeremy Smith, senior architecture major and president of the American Institute of Architecture Students.

“It’s about improving economic growth,” he said.

Smith also stressed how imperative it is for architectural structures to be able to accommodate different activities and businesses.

For example, instead of creating a building strictly for offices, the design of the structure should allow for places such as fitness centers and daycares.

“People should have the opportunity to use buildings at all hours of the day and night,” Smith said.

Fong said he hopes to “soon be able to participate in new modes of production,” by giving each student, or designer, the opportunity to produce his or her own work. This process would require the designer to send 3-D files to manufacturers who would then create a prototype for the designer. This enables the designer to take a more hands-on approach to his or her project.

A small-scale version of this production process is already available to students on the Kent State campus.

Corey Ringle, fourth-year architecture major, used the technology lab in Van Deusen Hall to create part of her project last fall. Using a 3-D CAD model, she was able to have a prototype of her project made of plaster. She said the prototype allows you to do “a lot of detailed things you could never do with models.”

Students can create models up to 8.5 inches by 11 inches, using this tool. Ringle said she wishes the program was more accessible and more affordable for students.

Fong also said he planned to improve the college by creating more opportunities for graduate level programs after The Florence Program, which gives graduate architecture and urban design students, as well as undergraduate architecture and interior design students, the opportunity to study abroad for a semester in Florence, Italy, where they study first-hand European art and architecture.

Contact College of Architecture and Environmental Design and School of Art reporter Shauna Stottsberry at [email protected].