Millburn High School Architecture Students Get Professional Advice

July 6, 2012

Millburn High School Architecture 2 and 3 classes had the opportunity to present their term work to a group of professional and distinguished local architects in June. Hugh Boyd, FAIA, Montclair and Nancy Dougherty, AIA LEED, Partner in Studio 1200 of Short Hills joined AIA Regional Director Jerome Eben, AIA for a critical review of student projects, and to talk with students about their work and architectural design.

For their final project, according to MHS Architecture teacher Dr. Roger Keller, AIA, “Students were required to design a structure project using BIM software. The project is extremely challenging due to a difficult steep site requiring the student to integrate the hillside, and engage the adjacent lake, while also using their personal cultural heritage to inform the design.” Students were also required to create a 3D paper model of their design.

Mr. Eben has been a guest in Dr. Roger Keller’s Architecture classes several times over the years, and Ms. Dougherty, owner of Studio 1200 in Short Hills has hosted the Architecture 2 class at her studio to talk about architecture. Mr. Eben is especially impressed with the architecture program at Millburn High School, as it is “the only school in the state that has an architecture program where students study the process of architecture, not just the mechanics.” He believes this is an essential course for all of these students, saying, “While these students may not become architects, they are likely to hire an architect in the future and thanks to this course they will have the necessary knowledge and understanding to bring to any architectural project.”

Dr. Keller explains, “Our program is aimed at a holistic understanding of the architectural process – not to necessarily create architects but to produce an understanding of architecture in our lives today as consumers, business owners, corporate executives, politicians, or anyone with input into the built environment. We therefore study history, ecology and sustainability, and are introduced to construction concepts, town planning, model building and 3D spaces, using the tools of hand drawing, Adobe suite, and Cad/ BIM and other 3D software to accomplish those goals.”

“We are fortunate to have these outstanding local AIA architects come, meet individually with each student, and provide professional reviews of the student’s ideas, design process, presentations and hard work. It provides a level of realism to our program that would be unreachable in a high school setting without their participation.”

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By admin | Posted in AIA-NJ News, Architecture Students, Members & the Community, Uncategorized | Tagged: AIA New Jersey, aianj, Eben, Hugh Boyd, Jerry Eben, member_news, Nancy Dougherty, Studio 1200 | Comments (0)