Laborers and Craftsman Saluted as “The Constructors” of “Green Architecture” Facility

Laborers and Craftsman Saluted as “The Constructors” of “Green Architecture” Facility

09/04/2009

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Marywood University's School of Architecture celebrated the laborers and craftsmen of the University's newly renovated Center for Architectural Studies on Saturday, August 22, 2009, just one week before classes started for the new School. Sr. Anne Munley, IHM, Marywood University President, and Gregory Keane Hunt, FAIA, School of Architecture Dean, hosted a "Celebration of the Constructors" at the new Center-an event that honored and thanked the many laborers and craftsmen whose collective skills and talents helped to create this special "green architecture" facility..

Dean Hunt said that while these are the individuals who bring the building plans to life-whether by sawing, welding, pouring, connecting, sanding, or finishing-rarely do they get the chance to see the finished work, made possible through their combined efforts. The celebration brought together representatives from all areas of craftsmanship to do just that-witness and celebrate the final product of their collective effort. The celebration included a reception and dinner for the constructors and a presentation to them of a publication commemorating their work on the renovation into the University's first "green" facility.

According to Dean Hunt, many of these workers learned valuable new lessons about "green building practices" during the nine-month renovation project. Heralding a new era of labor involving recycled and repurposed buildings, Dean Hunt commended the celebrants for their expert craftsmanship, care, and precision on this project-a landmark of sustainability practice for the University and the Northeast Pennsylvania region.

Greeting the honored guests, Sister Anne acknowledged the exceptional work necessary to refurbish, repurpose, and recycle the materials used throughout the construction project. She called on the assembled to remember their significant roles. "As creators of sustainability, your efforts are larger than this project," observed Sister Anne. "Through your work on this building, you are serving the greater good." 

In his expression of thanks, Dean Hunt acknowledged "the individuals who actually make our buildings- the constructors." As one of the architects to contribute to the design of the new facility, Dean Hunt also added a personal salute to the individuals "who take lines, symbols and words on paper and translate them into physical reality." 

The ten-month renovation of the University's former Health and Physical Education Center was an "excavation of the structure to flexible, multi-use space," according to Dean Hunt. "It's an enormous transformation," Mr. Hunt said, noting that 83 percent of the construction waste was recycled. "This building, which celebrates many of the key concepts of 'green architecture,' will not only be a learning center for the inaugural class of Marywood architecture students, but for future architecture students as well, who will all become part of the country's first wave of 'green architects.'"

University officials said that the new School of Architecture will be one of only a few programs in the country that focus on green design and require students to become professionally certified in LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), the U.S. Green Building Council rating system.

"It's beautiful, it's functional, it's really a learning lab," said Sister Anne. "Our School of Architecture is an example of Marywood's rich heritage of responding creatively to unmet needs," she added.

Seventy students began their studies September 1 as members of the first class in the Marywood University School of Architecture. The program includes both architecture majors and majors from the interior architecture/design program, formerly part of the university's Art program. Fifty of the seventy students will major in architecture--more than double what the university originally expected.

See additional photos from the event. www.marywood.edu/architecture/gallery/