02/15/21

AMES, Iowa — Ashley Bigham and Erik Herrmann, co-founders of Columbus, Ohio-based Outpost Office, will present the 2021 Richard F. Hansen Lecture in Architecture hosted by the Iowa State University Department of Architecture.

Event details and registration

Bigham and Herrmann’s virtual lecture, “Working Afield,” will be from 5:30–6:45 p.m. CST Wednesday, March 3, over Zoom. Register in advance to participate in this free online presentation. A confirmation email will be sent with information about joining the event.

The duo will present several recent projects, including “Drawing Fields,” winner of the 2020 Ragdale Ring competition, a Faculty Design Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and Best Temporary Installation of 2020 by The Architect’s Newspaper.

Outpost Office is “an architectural practice seeking new public audiences through experimental creative production ranging from the serious to the absurd, often simultaneously,” says the firm’s mission statement. “We do this to produce spaces that are unexpected, are unanticipated and — we hope — ignite curiosity about the built environment.”

The practice was named one of Architect Magazine’s Next Progressives in 2019. Their work and writing has been featured in Log, Metropolis, Mark, Surface and Avery Shorts, among others. Their work also has been exhibited at the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Tallinn Architecture Biennale, Roca London Gallery, Yale School of Architecture, Princeton University School of Architecture, Harvard University Graduate School of Design and The Cooper Union.

About the speakers

In addition to co-directing Outpost Office, Bigham and Herrmann are assistant professors of architecture at The Ohio State University’s Austin E. Knowlton School of Architecture. Each holds a bachelor of architecture the University of Tennessee College of Architecture and Design and a master of architecture from Yale University School of Architecture.

Bigham was a 2014 Fulbright Research Fellow at the Center for Urban History of East Central Europe in Lviv, Ukraine, and the 2015–2016 Walter B. Sanders Fellow at the University of Michigan’s A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning. She is a 2021 MacDowell Colony Fellow. She previously practiced at MOS and Gray Organschi Architecture.

Herrmann was a 2015 German Chancellor’s Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at the University of Stuttgart Institute for Computational Design; the 2016–2017 Walter B. Sanders Fellow at the Taubman College of Architecture; and a 2019 MacDowell Colony Fellow. He previously practiced at Trahan Architects and Gray Organschi Architecture.

About the Richard F. Hansen Prize

Bigham and Herrmann also will serve as guest jurors for the Richard F. Hansen Prize, established in 2004 by Iowa State alumni Richard F. and Barbara Hansen and awarded annually to the winner(s) of a design competition held in conjunction with the lecture.

One individual student and four teams will present projects completed in the fall 2020 architecture third-year undergraduate studios. Projects include:

  • “Utu Niyama” by Emma Bontrager, Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and Macallister Weber, San Antonio, Texas
    Studio topic: “Cultural Interpretation Center,” Ayodele Iyanalu, assistant teaching professor
  • “E-63” by Oliver Goche, Ames, and Aaron Koopal, Urbandale
    Studio topic: “Nature Conservation Center,” Roman Chikerinets, assistant teaching professor
  • “Sanctuary” by Griffin Lilly, Bondurant; Andrew Moon, Stillwater, Minnesota, and Adam Myhre, Chaska, Minnesota
    Studio topic: “Ecocultural Landscape,” Kevin Lair, assistant teaching professor
  • “Amalgam” by Gabriela Robles-Munoz, League City, Texas
    Studio topic: “Roadside Studio,” Anna Aversing, graduate teaching assistant
  • “Unearthing Thick Injustice” by Hiba Salih, Khartoum, Sudan
    Studio topic: “Common Landscapes: Reimagining the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,” Liza Walling, assistant teaching professor

Presentations will be from 1–5 p.m. CST, also over Zoom. Register separately to participate in the presentations. A confirmation email will be sent with information about joining the afternoon event.

Serving on the jury with the Outpost Office duo will be Deborah Hauptmann, professor and chair of the Department of Architecture. Awards will be announced at the beginning of the lecture.

Contacts

Shelby Doyle, Architecture Public Programs Committee, doyle@iastate.edu
Sharon Wohl, Architecture 301 Studio Coordinator, swohl@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Design Communications, hsauer@iastate.edu

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