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Community college will host June 29 meeting of the state's top architecture education programs Mayor Stephen R.
Reed discusses an architectural design with Penn
State student Maria Louca. Harrisburg Area
Community College (HACC) has invited the
Pennsylvania architecture colleges and universities
to attend a June 29 Harrisburg Urban Studio
planning meeting. The all-day session will include a briefing about the Urban Studio, discussion of the upcoming fall and spring studio semesters, architecture school involvement, a tour of the City of Harrisburg, and a visit with the Mayor Stephen R. Reed's office. "Much has been accomplished so far this summer in anticipation of the fall semester," Urban Studio Co-founder Robert Philbin said. "This curriculum planning meeting will assist our efforts to expand the reach and impact of the Urban Studio in its second year of activities." Representatives from Drexel University, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia University, Bucknell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Lehigh University, Messiah College, Temple University, The Pennsylvania State University School of Architecture and HACC are expected to attend the conference. Two out-of-state universities have also been invited - Auburn University, founder of the Rural Studio and Maryland's Morgan State University, which has an influential urban design outreach program. Pennsylvania State Sen. Jeffrey Piccola and Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll have been invited to participate in the program. Sen. Piccola is a member of Mayor Reed's Harrisburg Urban Initiative and has been involved with the Urban Studio since its inception. The day's events will start at 10 a.m. with a "meet and greet" with HACC President Edna V. Baehre and members of the Harrisburg Urban Studio Task Force. At 11 a.m. the task force and professional committees will present Urban Studio status reports followed by a presentation on HACC's design-build capabilities. Sen. Piccola is tentatively scheduled as featured speaker for lunch at noon. All Urban Studio participants, guests and press members are invited to attend the lunch hosted by HACC. Stephen A. Glassman, AIA, the chairperson of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), will also speak during the lunch. Glassman was appointed to the PHRC by former Gov. Mark Schweiker in May of 2002 and was subsequently confirmed unanimously by the Pennsylvania State Senate in June of 2002. In June 2003, Gov. Edward G. Rendell appointed Glassman as chairperson. Guy Beneventano, chairman of the Harrisburg Urban Initiative, will speak and take questions about the fall and spring semesters. The symposium will conclude with a tour of Harrisburg and a visit with Mayor Reed. "This event provides the state's leading architecture schools the opportunity to take part in the unique urban architecture learning experience, meet with city and state officials, and tour locations where the students would impact Pennsylvania's capitol city," Beneventano said. "This is an opportunity for the institutions' students and residents of the city of Harrisburg." The symposium will be held in the HACC boardroom in Blocker Hall. Designs by HACC and PSU School of Architecture students will be on display. The Harrisburg Urban Studio is modeled after Auburn University's famous Rural Studio, a program that provides architectural students with a practical learning experience while enhancing the environment of disadvantaged communities. The Urban Studio is a project of Mayor Stephen R. Reed's Harrisburg Urban Initiative. For more information contact Nathan Pigott, Hershey Philbin Associates, npigott@hersheyphilbin.com or 717.975.2148. |
