UTSA STUDENTS VISIT RIO GRANDE VALLEY TO STUDY MODULAR HOUSING

Studio Visit to Estero Llano Grande State Park.

Graduate students from the School of Architecture + Planning travelled to Weslaco, Texas with Associate Professor Ian Caine to examine modular housing in a regional context. The fall 2021 studio, part of a semester-long transdisciplinary collaboration with University of Arkansas landscape faculty Gabriel Diaz Montemayor, is examining modular housing across regional, metropolitan, neighborhood, and building scales. During the trip, UTSA students met with city officials and visited mobile home parks, wetlands, flood plains, levees, and bird blinds. Students will submit their final studio results to the Annual International Architecture Modular Home Competition in May 2022. 

The studio curriculum builds on an actual community design effort that Caine, Diaz Montemayor, and CURPR researchers are leading in the City of Weslaco, Texas, a city of 41,000. Weslaco is located in Hidalgo County, one of three counties in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, a transborder region is located in the floodplain of the Rio Grande River and adjacent to the Mexican State of Tamaulipas. 

Ian Caine discusses San Antonio's rapid urban growth with the New York Times

Image: The Lyda Hill Texas Collection of Photographs | Picryl

One of fastest growing and oldest cities in the United States, San Antonio faces continuous pressure to embrace economic development while preserving culture. The City expects to add one million residents by 2040, yet faces a severe shortage of affordable housing.

Ian Caine recently discussed these issues with the New York Times:

“San Antonio has a wonderfully preserved historic downtown, an historic building stock and the River Walk, and that’s the image the city projects to the world,” said Ian Caine, the director of the Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio. “And then on the other hand, it’s one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., famously bicultural and minority-majority, and one of the most segregated and poor cities in the U.S.”

“As San Antonio moves forward, it’s trying to make sense of these competing histories,” he added.

Much of San Antonio’s recent growth was catalyzed by the Decade of Downtown, a 2010 initiative championed by former Mayor Julián Castro. As the City heads into a new decade, it must confront multiple challenges that come with development, including issues of affordable housing, gentrification, gridlock, and aquifer protection.

Check out the full article below:

Ian Caine discusses rapid urban growth in unincorporated communities at acsa 109

Image: ACSA

Ian Caine attended the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture’s 109th Annual Meeting to present a recent urban planning effort in Comfort, Texas. Comfort, like 90% of its neighbors in the Texas Hill Country, does not have a municipal government.

Comfort Vision 2050 offers a plan tailored to the realities of life in an unincorporated community, providing a list of 75 Strategic Initiatives that are small-scale, diverse, and possible to achieve without the benefit of municipal government. The research highlights the need to develop regional planning strategies that can address the needs of unincorporated communities, which after all need urban planning for all the same reasons that cities do: to prevent the fragmentation of local ecologies, maintain critical infrastructures, ensure access to housing, preserve physical and cultural history, attract and keep good jobs, expand critical services, facilitate civic discourse, and ensure timely decision-making.

American Planning Association Honors Vision Plan for Comfort, Texas

Image: American Planning Association Texas

Comfort residents discuss the future of their community in one of four public forums. Image: CURPR

The Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA) has awarded Comfort Vision 2050 with a Grassroots Initiative Award at the Gold Level, “[h]onoring an initiative that illustrates how a neighborhood, community group or other local non-governmental entity utilized the planning process to address a specific need or issue within the community.” A jury of leading planners from the APA-Colorado and APA-Texas Chapters made the selections. UTSA’s Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research, led by Ian Caine, facilitated the vision plan in collaboration with the Comfort Area Foundation (CAF) and National Association for Community Asset Builders (NALCAB), with financial support from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Comfort Vision 2050 addresses the political realities of life in an unincorporated community, establishing a novel approach to urban planning that is decentralized, non-governmental, incremental, actionable, coordinated, measurable, and transparent. The plan specifically provides a list of 75 Strategic Initiatives that are small-scale, diverse, and achievable without the benefit of municipal government. 

Thank you to the CAF and NALCAB for initiating the process and to the UTSA team, which included William Dupont, Professor of Architecture; Corey Sparks, Associate Professor of Demography; Bill Barker, FAICP; Matthew Jackson and Thomas Tunstall of UTSA’s Institute for Economic Development; and student researchers Elizabeth Striedel, Ivan Ventura and Diego Sanchez. Most importantly, congratulations to the residents of Comfort for making such an important investment in your community’s future!

What would a sustainable San Antonio look like?

Caine speaking at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts on December 17, 2019.

Ian Caine delivered the final installment of the UTSA 50th Anniversary Scholars Speakers Series, undertaking a broad thought experiment titled What Would a Sustainable San Antonio Look Like? 

“When it comes to climate change, cities like San Antonio are both the problem and the solution,” said Caine. “Cities cover less than 2% of the Earth’s surface, yet they produce 60% of the world’s carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. As we consider how San Antonio will respond to the climate crisis, we need to imagine what a sustainable city would look like, how it would work, and mostly importantly who it would serve.” 

Click on the image (above left) for a link to the talk, which is posted on Youtube.com.

UTSA students receive AIA Design Award for Galveston Island proposal

Proposal for eco-hotel on Galveston Island. Image: André Simon and Ivan Ventura

Operable hurricane shutter for eco-hotel on Galveston Island. Image: André Simon and Ivan Ventura

André Simon and Ivan Ventura. Image: UTSA

UTSA architecture students André Simon and Ivan Ventura received a Student Design Award at the November 19 American Institute of Architects San Antonio People + Place Celebration. The winning project, titled Transform for Storm, proposed an eco-hotel for Galveston Island’s Gulf Coast. This barrier island is the site of frequent hurricanes and in 1900 experienced the deadliest storm in U.S. history, a tragic event that killed 8,000 people. The awards jury selected Simon and Ventura’s proposal from a highly competitive field of entries, noting that the “….project sensitively explored the challenges of coastal habitation, offering hope for our shared future.”

The students developed the project in a fall 2018 design studio led by Ian Caine with collaboration from Dr. Hazem Rashed-Ali. This studio explored issues of ecological literacy and resilience through the comprehensive integration of advanced performance metrics and design pedagogy. The studio pursued the topics in parallel while re-examining the oft-misunderstood relationship between architectural sustainability and aesthetics. 

The studio also embraced the goals and methods of the Architecture 2030 Challenge, which commits that all new buildings and major renovations will be carbon-neutral by 2030. In 2016-2017, Architecture 2030 selected this design curriculum for its Pilot Curriculum Project, while Metropolis Magazine profiled it in an article titled The 7 Best Sustainable Design Courses in America.

UTSA undergrads brave the elements to study hurricane resilience on Galveston Island

Students discuss hurricane resilience with Dustin Henry, AICP, Coastal Resilience Manager for the City of Galveston. Image: Ian Caine

This semester UTSA’s COTE studio (Committee on Technology and the Environment) is back on Galveston Island studying coastal and hurricane resilience. This is the second year running that the studio, led by Ian Caine and Dr. Hazem Rashed-Ali, has worked on Galveston, site of the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. On September 8, 1900 a devastating hurricane swept through Galveston, killing between 6,000 and 8,000 thousand residents.

In the morning the students endured a driving rain storm while discussing ecological resilience with Dustin Henry, Coastal Resource Manager for the City of Galveston. Later in the day, the studio visited a job site with architect Brax Easterwood and learned about how he keeps flood water out buildings in the Strand Historic District.

In December the students will present final proposals for an eco-hotel that embraces the goals and methods of the Architecture 2030 Challenge, which commits that all new buildings and major renovations will be carbon-neutral by 2030.

Ian Caine featured in UTSA's 50th Anniversary Scholar Speaker Series

Image: UTSA

What Would a Sustainable San Antonio Look Like? Join us for an engaging evening with Associate Professor of Architecture Ian Caine as he conducts a broad thought experiment examining the future of San Antonio as a sustainable city. What would it actually look like? How would it function? And, perhaps most importantly, who would it serve?

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

6:00 P.M. Doors open, cash bar available

6:30 P.M. Talk begins

7:15 P.M. Meet the speaker mix and mingle

Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, Feik Family Rotunda
115 Auditorium Circle (directions)

UTSA is proud to present its 50th Anniversary Scholars Speaker Series – the university’s gift to San Antonio in honor of its anniversary year. Spend an evening stirring your curiosity during these monthly talks featuring some of UTSA’s most renowned faculty, and learn how the latest research in their fields applies to our daily lives.

Ventura wins Best-in-show at undergraduate research showcase

Ivan Ventura displays his work at the 2019 Office of Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry Showcase. Image: UTSA

A panel of UTSA faculty recognized undergraduate B.S. Architecture student Ivan Ventura as a winner in the 2019 Undergraduate Research & Creative Inquiry Showcase. The Office for Undergraduate Research (OUR) sponsored this event in order to “enhance learning by complementing classroom-based instruction, provide real-life, hands-on experience in student’s field of interest, and offer development of critical and independent thinking, creativity, and problem solving.”

Ventura exhibited a research project titled "Retrofitting Urban Infrastructure,” which he completed at UTSA’s Center for Urban and Regional Planning under the guidance of Associate Professor Ian Caine. Ventura was one of ten undergraduate researchers honored from a pool of more than 200 participants.

Congratulations to Ivan! Also, thank you to the OUR office for continuing to support undergraduate research at UTSA!

UTSA Students visit Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex to research Edge Cities

Barry Hand, AIA, Principal and Studio Director in Gensler’s Dallas office, discusses the relationship between thought leadership and successful urban design projects with UTSA students. Image: Ian Caine

Fifteen UTSA undergraduate students traveled to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with Associate Professor Ian Caine to assess the state of first-generation Edge Cities like Las Colinas, TX.

Fifty years after their emergence, how are Edge Cities performing? What possibilities exist to retrofit, renovate, or reimagine these environments? Could the retrofit of an Edge City like Las Colinas represent the next wave of American suburbia? If so, what would be the formal expression? What would be the program? 

While visiting DFW, UTSA students stayed in Las Colinas and documented five sites across their design studio’s assigned twenty-acre site. The students also met with architects from Gensler, urban planners from Irving and Las Colinas, and visited iconic architectural and urban projects designed by Renzo Piano, I.M. Pei, Rem Koolhaas, Joshua Prince-Ramus, Thom Mayne, Louis Kahn, Tadao Ando, and Sasaki.

Last but not least was an obligatory studio dinner at the legendary Deep Ellum BBQ joint Pecan Lodge!

Ian Caine discusses San Antonio's rapid growth with reporter from Curbed.com

Image: Shutterstock via Curbed.com

Ian Caine spoke with a reporter from Curbed.com about the rapid urban growth in San Antonio. The city is adding 66 new residents each day, 25,000 each year, and expects 1.1 million more people by 2040. Caine points out that while San Antonio’s rapid expansion offers tremendous economic and civic opportunities, today significant portions of the city still lack sidewalks and exhibit high rates of poverty and economic segregation. How will San Antonio handle the sudden transformation of its physical character, economic profile, and civic aspirations?

UTSA Students win National Design Award from SARA

Image: Society of American Registered Architects (SARA)

Recent UTSA graduates Estefania Barajas and Jorden Gomez received a National Design Award of Excellence from the Society of American Registered Architects (SARA). The SARA jury recognized the student project alongside winning entries from national design leaders like NADAAA, Perkins + Will, and Robert A.M. Stern. Barajas and Gomez designed the winning project, titled “Housing a Million,” as undergraduates in Ian Caine and Rahman Azari’s COTE (Committee on Technology and the Environment) studio during the fall semester of 2017. The COTE curriculum, nationally recognition by Architecture 2030, helps students utilize performance metrics to evaluate their design proposals. Congratulations to Stephanie and Jorden!

UTSA students travel to Galveston Island to study hurricane resilience

Students discuss sea level rise with Dwayne Jones, Executive Director of Galveston Historical Foundation. Image: Ian Caine

The studio visits Galveston’s famous sea wall. Image: Ian Caine

This semester the COTE (Committee on Technology and the Environment) studio, led by Ian Caine and Dr. Hazem Rashed-Ali, is designing an eco-hotel in one of the most beautiful and ecologically harsh environments in the United States: Galveston Island, Texas. On September 8, 1900 a devastating hurricane swept through Galveston, killing between 6,000 and 8,000 thousand residents. In 2018, our graduate studio is re-examining the critical topic of coastal resilience as it relates to the future of Galveston Island. We are also embracing the goals and methods of the Architecture 2030 Challenge, which commits that all new buildings and major renovations will be carbon-neutral by 2030. 

The students received a tour of the Strand Historic District from Dwayne Jones of the Galveston Historical Foundation; talked architectural resilience with local architect Chula Ross-Sanchez; and discussed urban issues with Dustin Henry, Coastal Resource Manager for the City of Galveston. Along the way we ran into water researchers from TU Delft and enjoyed dinner at The Spot, a burger joint along Seawall Boulevard. All-in-all a very educational, hot, and humid day!

Caine named Director of Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research

Associate Professor Ian Caine is the new Director of the UTSA Center for Urban and Regional Planning Research. The Center, founded by Professor Richard Tangum a decade ago, will continue to provide urban planning services to communities in south Texas. In the coming months, the Center will also rededicate itself to academic research, pursuing new knowledge of the forms, processes, and impacts of metropolitan and megaregional growth. The Center seeks to become a thought leader on the topic of urban expansion, developing new models for San Antonio and Texas that will make a national and international impact.

UTSA Professors Caine and Gonzalez present urban research in Mexico City

Image: Fidel Gonzalez/CC 3.0

Ian Caine and UTSA historian Jerry Gonzalez presented a paper titled “Municipal annexation as a mechanism for suburban expansion in San Antonio, Texas 1939-2014.” The work, completed in collaboration with Dr. Rebecca Walter of the University of Washington, examines the political, cultural, and spatial implications of annexation. The conference session, titled “Bridging Cultures through Mapping Practices: Space and Power in Asia and America,” was led by Cécile Armand of the Spatial History Project at Stanford University. This marked the first time that the leading conference, organized by the Association of Digital Humanities Organizations, El Colegio de México, La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), and La Red de Humanidades Digitales (RedHD), has met in Latin America.

Washington University students present final urban proposals for DFW Metroplex

Final review jurors Eric Mumford (Washington University), Antonio Petrov (UTSA), and Judith De Jong (UIC) reflect on the two-day long final review, which featured dozens of compelling student proposals from MUD students. Image: Ian Caine

Image: Ian Caine

Ian Caine was visiting faculty in urban design at Washington University during the 2018 spring semester. Caine and Washington colleague Pablo Moyano worked with second semester Master of Urban Design students to generate large-scale proposals for the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex, the fourth largest metropolitan area in the United States. Dallas and Fort Worth are the sixth and seventh fastest growing cities in the U.S.; together, they expect to achieve a regional population of 10.5 million by the year 2040 (U.S. Census/Dallas Chamber of Commerce).

The students worked on sites representing a cross-section of the DFW landscape, including locations in the historic downtown, defined by the city’s initial nineteenth century infrastructure; the inner-ring suburbs, which emerged with the advent of mid-century ring-roads; and at the metropolitan periphery, where independent “edge” cities continue to form. In each case, students envisioned redevelopment scenarios for multiple urban typologies, each with the potential to introduce programmatic complexity, residential density, and new civic space to the rapidly expanding DFW Metroplex. 

Ian Caine receives DOCUmation Award for Academic Excellence

Ian Caine received the DOCUmation Academic Excellence Award for his research and teaching contributions to the UTSA College of Architecture, Construction and Planning. UTSA Athletics sponsor DOCUmation presented Professor Caine with a $2,000 check during the intermission of a Roadrunner football game. After an unremarkable junior high school football playing career, Caine never thought he would step foot on a football field again. Now, he will use the funds to advance his research into metropolitan and megaregional growth patterns. Go ‘Runners!

Ian Caine receives Outstanding Teaching Award from UTSA CACP

Dean John Murphy presents the award to Ian Caine. Image: UTSA

Dean John Murphy presented Assistant Professor Ian Caine with the College of Architecture, Construction and Planning’s (CACP) Outstanding Teaching Award at the Annual Scholarship Banquet. The award recognizes his exceptional contributions to architectural pedagogy. This marks the second consecutive year that Caine has received the award. Congratulations to all of the CACP scholarship recipients, as well as to faculty and staff award winners!

Ian Caine inducted into UTSA Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars

Jill Fleuriet, Ian Caine, Patricia Sánchez, Hector Aguilar. Image: UTSA

Image: UTSA ADTS

Ian Caine was one of four faculty inducted into the UTSA Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars. Last month Caine, along with UTSA colleagues Hector Aguilar (Department of Chemistry), Jill Fleuriet (Department of Anthropology), and Patricia Sánchez (Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies), also received the UT System Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award, one of the nation's most competitive awards for outstanding undergraduate teaching. 

The Academy of Distinguished Teaching Scholars was established in 2012 to honor and reward a select group of outstanding faculty who exemplify excellence in teaching; to foster a culture of exceptional teaching and learning practices at UTSA; and to create a collective of faculty advocates for teaching excellence who can serve as resources to their colleagues (www.provost.utsa.edu/adts/).

Ian Caine receives 2018 UT Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award

Image: Courtesy of the University of Texas System

Newly appointed UTSA President Dr. Taylor Eighmy (center left) and Interim President Dr. Pedro Reyes (center right) celebrate with the 2017 UT Regents’ Award Winners at a ceremony in Austin, TX. Image: UTSA

Ian Caine is one of four UTSA faculty members to receive the 2017 Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award (ROTA) from The University of Texas System. Professor Caine, along with Hector R. Aguilar (Department of Chemistry), Jill Fleuriet (Department of Anthropology), and Patricia Sánchez (Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies) is among 56 educators from the UT System's 14 institutions being honored with this esteemed award. Each of the honorees will receive an unrestricted check for $25,000 at a ceremony in Austin on August 23.

The UT Board of Regents established the ROTA program in 2008 as a way to honor faculty who achieve sustained excellence in undergraduate teaching.