President's Report:
ARCC Annual Report
for 2010-11

Michael D. Kroelinger, President


The importance and value of architectural research during difficult economic times challenged us all to think differently, explore new opportunities, and seek new forms of collaboration to achieve our research goals. Our ARCC e-newsletter shares information about how many of our member schools and programs are focusing their research efforts and offers engagement opportunities during the remainder of this academic year and in the future.

Our Consortium (ARCC) is an international association of architectural research centers committed to the expansion of the research culture and a supporting infrastructure in architecture and related design disciplines. Since its founding as a non-profit corporation in 1976, ARCC has represented a concerted commitment to the improvement of the physical environment and the quality of life.

Central to this commitment are major activities that are occurring the spring. During the ACSA Annual Meeting in Montreal, the ARCC acknowledged our award winners and present a panel session during the conference program. The panel title was “Architecture--Ethics—Research” and was developed by our Vice President, Keith Diaz Moore. The panelists were Sherry Ahrentzen (Arizona State), Tom Fisher (Minnesota) and Alberto Perez-Gomez (McGill). This panel offered an excellent insight into ethics and architectural research and we all who attended benefited.

The 2011 ARCC Spring Architectural Research Conference had a theme of “Considering Research: Reflecting upon Current Themes in Architectural Research”. Participants explored issues of how research can help us reflect on various contemporary environmental, sustainable, social, political, formal, and psychological paradigms. The exploration raised questions around the impacts of these paradigms, whether they have they addressed what they claimed they intend to address, examine where they stand and what effect might they have, and, ultimately, consider how research is an integrated part of our practice and discipline.. Our thanks to Philip Plowright and our host, Lawrence Technological University, for creating an innovative and thought-provoking conference!

Two future research conferences were set and planning was under development during the year. The 2012 ARCC/EAAE Conference will be held in Milan, Italy during June of 2012. The bi-annual summer International research conference, held in conjunction with the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) is titled "Architecture & City, House as a small city and city as a large house." The 2013 ARCC Research Conference host will the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

We worked very aggressively during 2010-11 as a board to increase our connections with our member schools and other audiences that value a research culture. We have enhanced our collaborative agreements by signing a memorandum of understanding with the A+CA. This new group is led by Jim West, Dean at Mississippi State and a former ARCC President. Look for more news about this new relationship in the near future. Our board has also worked to re-think our organizational structure, consortium priorities, and the ways we communicate with our members. Look in late fall for our new website, reminders about award announcements, and more details about how we organize and develop our annual conferences. Our ARCC Journal leaders are also strategizing on ways to more effectively share research and scholarly outcomes.

Fall 2011 was the time of our annual meeting, held during the ACSA Administrator’s Conference which in Hollywood, CA. Our annual meeting was held on Friday morning and was followed by our hosting of the conference breakfast on Saturday morning. Our keynote speaker was Professor Ralph Knowles, winner of our James Haecker Award. The event and Ralph’s presentation was well received and appreciated. We also our annual election during the November meeting and Keith Diaz-Moore was elected President.

The ARCC is a research exchange designed to encourage the sharing and discussion of ideas on research in the design professions. We encouraged our member schools, centers, and faculty to seek ways to collaborate, share innovative research strategies and findings, and promote the value of research within our professional programs and disciplines. Work with ARCC furthers the body of knowledge that our collective work represents.


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