Volume 1, Issue 2 | January 30-February 12, 2020
env interim dean lauren weiss bricker
Dean's Note: Welcome to On the Grid
Preserving the ties that bind us in a rapidly changing world – this is one of our leading preoccupations today. It motivates us to keep current on methods to bridge the divides of time and space. At the College of Environmental Design, we feel strongly about the importance of reinforcing and expanding ENV’s connections to our many friends both within and external to the College. This year we are renewing – with some modifications – previous communication methods and launching new plans. Read more
interdepartmental | stay in the know
brutalism in the desert by nyree vertanessian building perspective
ARCHITECTURE
Nyree Vertanessian ('20, architecture) won a $,1500 scholarship for her second-place win in the 2020 CASH ( Coalition for Adequate School Housing ) Student Design Awards.

Her entry, "Brutalism in the Desert," is a proposal for a new College of the Desert campus in Palm Springs, and was originally designed for Professor Sarah Lorenzen 's Education Topic Studio (ARC 4031) in Fall 2019.

"The buildings on this campus are designed with a smaller footprint on the ground floor and a larger floor area on the second and third floors, creating a large shaded plaza under each building," Vertanessian explained. "The project aims to create a surreal experience for its users, while they walk underneath these large, heavy buildings with floating upper levels."

Vertanessian and the two other competition winners will be honored at the 41st Annual Conference on School Facilities on Feb. 19-21 in Long Beach.
bob kain hmc portrait
Bob Kain , AIA, ACHA ('73, architecture), a leader in architectural practice and a model alumnus , died on Dec. 10 at the age of 69.

Kain passionately supported the Department of Architecture, and was instrumental to programs such as the Healthcare Architecture Initiative and Cal Poly Pomona's participation in the Design Village Competition. He was a board member of the Cal Poly Pomona University Educational Trust, and was named 2004 ENV Distinguished Alumnus.

ART
Folk/pop musician and painter Norma Tanega who taught at the Department of Art in the 1970s after spending the preceding decade writing songs for Dusty Springfield and promoting her own music in England died on Dec. 29 at age 80. Browse her art and music, and read about her eventful life here .

LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE
Every second Thursday this semester, Associate Professor Barry Lehrman will host workshops at the Makers Studio at the University Library to introduce students to physical computing – creating and/or using devices that execute specific tasks after processing information gathered from the surrounding environment. This is no sci-fi abstraction; we're already using it in our daily lives, from voice recognition software to interactive video games like "Dance Dance Revolution."

Pine Wind Japanese Garden , designed by the late Professor Emeritus Takeo Uesugi , inspired Torrance's award-winning 2020 Rose Float entry "Our Garden of Hope and Dreams." In an interview with Rafu Shimpo , lecturer Keiji Uesugi reflected: "My father would be undoubtedly be filled with joy that the beautiful and harmonious message of the Japanese garden will be shared across the world through the Rose Parade broadcast."

URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING
D anny Wu ('95, urban and regional planning), Cal Poly Pomona's new executive director of transportation and planning , is a featured speaker in the department's Spring 2020 Lecture Series. Catch him on Feb. 17 at 6 p.m. in Bldg. 7, Room 215.

Professor Richard Willson has an eight-course series on transportation planning on Planetizen that covers foundational theories and concepts related to transportation planning. Each video lesson addresses the role of transportation systems, local and global impacts on the environment and social justice, relationships to land use, travel behavior and modeling, travel demand management, working with capacity, plan-making, and finance. (See this series and Willson's other Planetizen video courses on parking reform and career planning here .)
street vendor cooking. image by kcet.org
bookmark | hear from an expert
Assistant Professor Alvaro Huerta 's essay " An Education in the Informal Economy " is in the January issue of Planning Magazine. In it, he argues that understanding the linkages between the formal and informal economies could help planners advise policymakers to better design, plan and manage communities.

"Today, millions of informal workers and petty entrepreneurs are in business every day across the U.S.," Huerta writes. "These workers are ubiquitous, yet planners have little experience with the informal economy, both in education and in practice."
exhibitions | get cultured
the ocean by ann phong
HUMANS OF THE EARTH
(HOTE) LOS ANGELES

Art department lecturer Ann Phong 's latest solo exhibition, Fragility , depicts the impact of human activities on our planet.

"Having seen many cities with a beautiful living environment, it’s painful to witness some other areas that are damaged by the human habitat," Phong said. "It seems like the more convenience we seek in our lives, the more trash we create... To obtain a peaceful life, one first needs to make peace with the earth." 

Exhibition Dates
January 9 - February 2
Location
urban interface 2015 courtesy of artist jennifer gunlock
W. KEITH & JANET KELLOGG UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY

St. Broxville - Into the Thicket: Jennifer Gunlock, Hilary Norcliffe, Katie Stubblefield is an interactive exhibition dedicated to nature and humankind's complex relationship with the environment.

Experience collaborative assembled sculpture and works on paper combined with wood elements, ceramic and video projection installation, and constructed instrumental sound installations.

Exhibition Dates
January 21 - March 26
Opening Reception + Artist Talk
February 1, 2-5 p.m.
Closing Reception + Artist Q&A
March 24, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Location
Bldg. 35A
DON B. HUNTLEY GALLERY

Enter a toy shop of childhood fantasy, fun and games — but what you think you see, may not be what you think.

 Through the Toy Shop and Behind the Curtain: The Artistry of Gina M is a full-scale immersive space installation combining whimsical, found-object assemblages and trompe l'oeil ceramics.

Exhibition Dates
January 21 - May 14
Location
University Library (Bldg. 15)
4th Floor, Room 4435
internships | your professional development
sneakers three arrows
UPLAND UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT GARDEN PROGRAM
Upland Unified School District has immediate openings for two paid internship positions open to undergraduate ($15/hour) and graduate students ($20/hour). Gardening experience is a must. Interns must have access to a personal vehicle, and be available for 10 hours/week for 25 weeks. This internship program is sponsored by longtime ENV supporter Randall Lewis. [DETAILS]

ADVISORY COUNCIL ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION
The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) in Washington, D.C., has summer internships for undergraduate and graduate students. The ACHP is a federal agency overseeing the historic preservation review process for federal projects. [DETAILS]
alumni | promotions & kudos
Kimberly Kilgour m.arch alumna
<< Kimberly Kilgour, AIA, LEED AP ('96, master's in architecture) was promoted from Project Manager to Principal at SmithGroup ,
an international architecture, engineering and planning firm with the distinction as nation's oldest continually operating architectural and engineering firm (It was founded in 1853 by architect Sheldon Smith). Kilgour works in the firm's Los Angeles office.
megan c smith vcd class of 2019
Megan C. Smith >>
('19, visual communication design; minor in art history) joined PepsiCo in January as a field marketing coordinator at its Riverside location.

Smith is in the California Pepsi Print Shop where she creates point-of-sale designs customized for the company's retail and food service environments.

Yoojung Yang ('13, master's in landscape architecture) is now a full-time GIS Consultant for GBS Korea , an expansion of the independent consultancy Global Business Solutions headquartered in Auckland, N.Z.
what if we were all the same book cover cm harris
cm harris author portrait
<< Charity Michelle Harris
('15, graphic design; minor in marketing management) received the American Book Fest's 2019 Best Children's Book Award for " What If We Were All the Same! " (2019, Purple Diamond Press).

A paean to diversity and inclusion, her book is a "love letter" to her younger self : bullied for being different; diagnosed at 7 with the neuromuscular disease Charcoat-Marie-Tooth Disease, and at 21 with the chronic pain condition Trigeminal neuralgia.
ON THE GRID is produced by the College of Environmental Design (ENV) at Cal Poly Pomona.
Send your news, announcements and upcoming events to env@cpp.edu .