Andrea S Wheeler

Accomplishments

Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture and Provost's Faculty Fellow for Student Success, chaired a panel discussion on "Experimental and Forward Thinking Approaches to Peace" at the 2023 National Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference held Sept. 15–17 at Iowa State.

"Council learns about student success pilot program" Inside Iowa State, September 14 2023. Andrea Wheeler, faculty fellow for student success in the office of the senior vice president and provost, spoke to the Professional and Scientific (P&S) Council Sept. 7 about the Best Next Steps Program -- a result of the jump-start project to address student retention and success

Andrea Wheeler is a member of the Cambridge University Wolfson College Interdisciplinary Research Hub on Sustainability and Conversation and, as an ex-fellow alumnus, has joined their e-mentoring scheme to connect with professional alumni. She is mentoring a professional graduate from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership program working in transport design for a large London engineering firm.

“Building positive peace goes beyond conflict resolution” Iowa State News Service, May 31 2023. "Building Positive Peace,” a collection of essays from a dozen Iowa State University faculty, underscores how all of us can play a role. The authors demonstrate this by drawing from their own disciplines – agriculture, architecture, business, education, engineering, history, music, nutrition and food systems and philosophy. “Peace is really about relationships. It’s a dynamic process, not a fixed state. One of our goals with this book is to spark conversations and offer a reframing of what we do and how we do it,” says Christina Campbell, the Sandra S. and Roy W. Uelner Professor and an associate professor of food science and human nutrition. Campbell co-edited the book with Simon Cordery, professor and chair of the history department. In their introduction, they emphasize the need to engage people from a diverse array of disciplines, not just those traditionally associated with peace studies, such as theology, international affairs and philosophy. Cordery adds that the authors often use the term “positive peace” to distinguish it from other forms and go beyond conflict resolution.“Classical approaches to peace study may look at how hunger contributes to conflict or how conflict contributes to hunger,” says Campbell. “How can we come at it from a different angle and create the infrastructure so that people have access to healthy, culturally appropriate food in the first place?” Other essays explore how: The arts provide multiple paths to peace (Jonathan Sturm, professor of music, emeritus.) A peace spheres framework fosters individual fulfillment and peace (E.J. Bahng, associate professor of education.) Drinking water security to bring peace to vulnerable populations (Rameshwar S. Kanwar, Charles F. Curtiss Distinguished Professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.) A new framework can boost food supply chain sustainability (Kurt A. Rosentrater, professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering.) Ecotourism can contribute to peace and intergroup cooperation (Jose Antonio Rosa, professor of marketing, emeritus; Nichole Hugo and David J. Boggs, faculty at Eastern Illinois University.) Supply chain management can positively influence the production and distribution of goods and services (Frank Montabon, Dean's Professor of Supply Chain Management.) Homes can be re-imagined to be more sustainable and transcend the current climate crisis (Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture.) Transparency in policy-making and engaging the public builds trust and moves a community toward sustainable, positive peace (Kenneth “Mark” Bryden, professor of mechanical engineering.)

“Faculty Senate Wraps up the School Year” Iowa State Daily, May 2, 2023, The senate recognized the 19 retiring senators before the past president of the Faculty Senate, Andrea Wheeler, conducted the passing of the gavel to the new president, Sarah Bennett-George, signifying the beginning of her term. “I’m proud to pass this gavel to the new Faculty Senate president, Sarah Bennett-George,” Wheeler said. “It has been an honor to work with Sarah over the past few years on the Faculty Senate executive board and in her role as president-elect, and as chair of the Academic Affairs Council.”

ISU College of Design Faculty awarded Internal Research Grant Regenerative Design Challenge Fund. College of Design,17^th April 2023 Established by BNIM, an award-winning architecture and design firm with offices in Des Moines, Kansas City and San Diego, this fund supports grants up to $10,000 for one calendar year for multidisciplinary faculty research in the areas of sustainability and regenerative design. Award for 2023: Co-creating Communities of Climate Resilience: Lessons Learned for Regenerative Design. Jiwnath Ghimire, assistant professor of community and regional planning. Alenka Poplin, associate professor of community and regional planning. Ellee Stapleton, assistant professor of landscape architecture. Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture. This team aims to study practices of engagement and co-creation that are innovative and informal, based on empathy and care for the human being and the environment, that lead to the regenerative design of the community. Case studies will focus on communities in Nepal, Scotland, Oregon, and North Carolina.

Andrea Wheeler, Associate Professor of Architecture, authored a chapter published in Building Positive Peace (Cambridge Scholars Press, March 2023) Edited by Christina Campbell, associate professor of food science and human nutrition, and Simon Cordery, chair of the Department of History, the book is the result of an Iowa State University faculty learning group funded by the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities to explore paths to peace. The contributors discuss peace from a wide variety of perspectives, from history to food science, from sustainable agriculture to engineering to architecture. ISU College of Design, Honors, and Awards

Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture, attended the “Toward Sensible Thinking” seminar hosted by philosopher Luce Irigaray March 6–10, in Paris 2023. She will co-edit the proceedings with Jennifer Carter, adjunct professor at Stony Brook University College of Business. ISU College of Design, Honors, and Awards.

Senators See Early Results of Retention Efforts, Inside Iowa State. Jan 26, 2023. Senators received an update on the early impact of student retention efforts during the fall semester at the Faculty Senate's Jan. 24 meeting. Student success and retention is one of President Wendy Wintersteen's nine jump-start projects for the 2022-31 strategic plan. The three-year project received $1.5 million to increase graduation rates and help students at risk of leaving Iowa State, including those who are first-generation, multicultural, and are significantly impacted by the pandemic. The Academic Success Center (ASC) received $150,000 for supplemental instruction and tutoring. Colleges also received $150,000 to expand tutoring and help rooms, especially for classes with high D, F, and withdrawal rates, said Andrea Wheeler, faculty fellow for student success in the office of the senior vice president and provost. ASC director Adriana Gonzalez-Elliott said the money was used to increase the number of undergraduate tutors by improving pay to $15 an hour. Supplemental instructors also were added to a 100-level economics and math course at the midpoint of the semester. Students who attended the supplemental instruction sessions in the economics course had an average grade of 3.02 compared to 2.73 for those who did not. In the math course, the difference was 2.84 to 2.58. Since becoming ASC director in the fall, Gonzalez-Elliott increased the size of tutoring groups from five to eight for high-demand courses. The center also partners with colleges to assist in help room training and developed the academic success navigator. "It is an intake unit," Gonzalez-Elliott said. "I hope it alleviates the burden on campus to know the ins and outs of our services. The only expectation is for anyone meeting with a student who is unsure of what they need or where to begin, they can be referred here. It provides an individualized approach to connect students to resources at the center and across campus." Wheeler also provided numerous examples of efforts at the college level that included peer-mentoring, tutoring, and matching funds to increase support. She said a working group made up of unit directors, advisors and faculty has been formed to implement initiatives and help develop retention plans across campus.

CyThx 2022 “Andrea Wheeler is one of the most conscientious leaders we have had at Faculty Senate. She is wise, strategic, collegial, and ethical. She reminds us about what it means to be a member of the professoriate at ISU and to do our job with dignity and respect for all.

Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture and Provost’s Faculty Fellow for Student Success, is a visiting fellow of the Design research group at Lulea University of Technology in Sweden. She will present “The Eyes of the Heart,” a lecture on sustainable behaviors and design there on Tuesday, September 20^th, 2022. ISU College of Design, Honors, and Awards.

Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture, was named to a three-year, half-time appointment as Provost’s Faculty Fellow for Student Success, effective July 1, 2022. She is past president of the Faculty Senate. ISU College of Design, Honors, and Awards.

Learner Success lab puts focus on data to drive retention completion, Inside Iowa State, June 9^th,2022. Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture and 2021-22 Faculty Senate president, has been named to a three-year, half-time appointment as Provost's Faculty Fellow for Student Success, effective July 1. Wheeler will work with VanDerZanden to coordinate and lead a student success task force focused on using data to inform decision-making, expand partnerships across the university, identify initiatives to support targeted student populations, and collaboratively develop benchmarks and metrics to meet graduation and retention goals."I am excited to serve Iowa State in this broader capacity and to bring a faculty voice to our student success initiatives," Wheeler said. "I look forward to expanding my network across campus and also better understanding students' needs outside the classroom, which also play a critical role in their academic performance."

“Iowa State left a prestigious association. What does that mean for the school’s reputation? Iowa Capital Dispatch, April 25, 2022. Iowa State Professor Andrea Wheeler, president of the faculty senate, said the university “cannot know yet” how the change will impact faculty recruitment. “ISU faculty are renowned for their excellence in research,” Wheeler wrote in an email. “Faculty will continue to ensure world-class programs and cutting-edge research. ”She also touted the school’s affordability and accessibility for first-generation students. “In terms of recruitment, the decision does not impact the excellence of the undergraduate student experience or our land grant mission,” Wheeler wrote.

Faculty, P&S Leaders make compensation pitch to regents. Inside Iowa State Daily, April 14^th 2022, Andrea Wheeler, president of the Faculty Senate. Full text (PDF) "Faculty have worked tirelessly for the past two years. They have demonstrated goodwill to the university and a wealth of care for their students. Despite personal obligations -- family commitments, children at home, and elderly parents to shield and protect -- faculty continued to uphold the importance of the educational achievement of students, Iowa residents, to ensure the greater life opportunities that education brings."…"Faculty support the great State of Iowa. Graduating students support its businesses, its start-ups and its young entrepreneurs and innovators. The overall economic situation is not bad in Iowa. So, when I tell you, you need to recognize what faculty do, what they really do, I mean recognize through proper reward and proper salary increase what they contribute to the greatness of the State. Iowa State is losing both its competitiveness and the goodwill of faculty."… "Unless we can build, support, and reward, Iowa State will experience a silent drain of the investment it has made in the development of its young faculty. And it will lose great faculty, those who have benefitted from investment: First-generation women advancing in their careers, underrepresented faculty, and those with leadership aspirations. Without a commitment to salary increases, Iowa State will lose this year, and each further year, those who have ensured the continued education of Iowa residents during this pandemic and helped maintain the national and international reputation of our institution."…"Our new strategic plan aspires to a flourishing body of faculty, staff, and students. But without proper salary increases, proper plans, and agreed rewards, this plan will not succeed. The disengagement of faculty, the outward flow of excellence, this slow bleed, will harm not only the wellbeing of Iowa State University, but the educational resources of the great State of Iowa."

Diane Al Shihabi, Mikesch Muecke, and Andrea Wheeler. College of Design Faculty Senate Executive Board members met with several Board of Regents, and State of Iowa members over lunch on April 7th, at the ISU Alumni Center. Faculty Senate President Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture; Faculty Development and Administrative Relations Chair Diane Al Shihabi, associate professor of interior design; and College of Design Caucus Chair Mikesch Muecke, associate professor of architecture, along with four faculty senators from other colleges, discussed shared goals and interests with Board of Regents President Michael Richards, President Pro Tem Sherry Bates, and Executive Director Mark Braun. This event was part of a series of social events planned this year between BoR members and faculty senators on April 13, Wheeler, Al Shihabi, and Muecke, along with other faculty senators and staff members, joined Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen for a Campus Leaders Conversation at the Knoll. Issues discussed included campus culture, staff concerns, and future developments on campus. ISU College of Design, Honors, and Awards.

Andrea Wheeler, Board of Regents Meeting Faculty Senate President Speech. 5^th April 2022 Meeting. Iowa State University, Alumni Center, Full Text.

Clinics will focus on effective leadership, Inside Iowa State, January 20^th, 2022.  Faculty Senate president Andrea Wheeler begins each meeting by telling all in attendance the senate is a collaborative, collegial and cooperative body. She reminds senators that shared governance happens best in an environment of mutual trust and respect. Wheeler is adding action to those words with three clinics that focus on leadership and inclusivity. Clinics set for Feb. 1, March 22, and May 10 will be conducted in collaboration with the Professional and Scientific Council. The goal is to help committee and council members be better prepared for leadership roles, and encourage participation and diversity in the senate and council."This came from conversations more than a year old," said Wheeler, an architecture associate professor. "We want to ensure Faculty Senate and P&S Council are inclusive environments. We want to make sure they are diverse and have a wide range of perspectives. "The clinics are aimed at the senate and P&S Council members, but Wheeler said they are open to all faculty and staff. Skills learned can be applied in roles across campus. Wheeler said committees and councils drive much of the work the senate does before it reaches the full body. Without training or experience, chairing these groups in an inclusive way can be a challenge."The clinics will be very practical and focus on working well together," she said. The clinics -- limited to 100 people each -- are built around the theme of influence and will be led by Tero International, an interpersonal skills research and corporate training company out of Des Moines. Each clinic focuses on one topic: Asking questions, Listening, and Interests. The 90-minute online Zoom clinics are designed to be interactive sessions with multiple breakouts for group discussions. To keep participants engaged, the activity shifts about every 15 minutes. "We will have video clips, there are several polls, breakout groups on specific topics for a peer-learning component, and opportunities to talk as a group," said Tero International founder Rowena Crosbie, who will lead the three clinics. "We started the virtual clinics during the pandemic and found that 90 minutes seems to be just about perfect when utilizing all the tools. "All attendees will receive an email in advance of the clinic with questions to consider. "We also provide several digital resources as learner prep so they can apply it to their world," Crosbie said. "It allows us to provide support to people and any changes they are looking to make."Topics are simple ideas of asking questions or listening during meetings. Understanding why people don't do them more often and effectively is the biggest benefit, Crosbie said. Wheeler said she hopes the clinics will be an eye-opening experience for faculty and staff to realize they can step into a leadership role. "There is support for those who want to step up into committee and council roles," she said. "Senate and P&S Council leaders really want people to take part, and it is not just for the very vocal or only for those who have been at the university a long time. The point is that we welcome new voices and opinions."

CyThx 2021. Andrea Wheeler. "She is welcoming, open to new ideas from new people, and supportive of my future goals."

Faculty Senate President, Andrea Wheeler’s Letter to the Board of Regents, January 14^th 2022. Archived on Iowa State University, Faculty Senate webpages. “Faculty Senate Iowa State University appreciates your recent response to our requests for dialogue and understands the difficult situation that the COVID19 pandemic bestows on us both at the level of the State of Iowa and the Nation. We appreciate all you are doing, and have done, for our institutions. And yet, we are troubled by the recent decision not to respond to the surge in cases caused by the new Omicron variant.”

“Compromising on Diversity” Inside Higher Ed. Nov 11, 2021 “Andrea Wheeler, Senate president and associate professor of architecture, said, “It was an important issue. The rescind was not uncontroversial. People felt strongly.”Now that the vote is over, she said, the Senate will work on a timeline and process for adopting the requirements.“Our Faculty Senate committees and councils emphasize the importance of shared governance and the central role of cooperation in collegial decision-making,” Wheeler added. “Serving as a faculty senator is a very significant commitment.”

 “Iowa State to require diversity course requirement for students” The Ames Tribune. Nov 10, 2021 “Faculty Senate President Andrea Wheeler told the Ames Tribune that with the vote behind them, the senate and its committees and councils can begin to work on setting a timeline for implementing the updated requirement.”

Faculty Senate Leadership at Iowa State University, University of Iowa, and the University of Northern Iowa, Letter to the Board of Regents, 22nd September 2021.

“Faculty Leaders at Iowa State press board to allow them to require masks”, The Hill, 17^th September 2021 Faculty leaders at Iowa State University this week met with the Iowa Board of Regents in hopes of convincing it to allow masks to be required in university classrooms. According to the Des Moines Register, regents met for committee hearings on Wednesday and a board meeting on Thursday, while showing little evidence that they would approve the request of staff members. Iowa State’s faculty senate pressed the issue anyway, with president, Andrea Wheeler arguing during public comments that masks should be mandated in classrooms “for pedagogical and health reasons,” the Register reported. …“I need to control my classroom, as a teacher,” Wheeler reportedly said on Wednesday, noting that her colleagues and other faculty members had similar concerns “that they are losing authority in their environments, because of this decision.”

“Meet Andrea Wheeler, Faculty Senate President”, Iowa State Daily, Sept 9. 2021 I was a first-generation college student, and it took some time to recognize how important mentors are to me. I have made efforts during my time at Iowa State to seek out mentors across campus. We have some amazing professors in our community -- skillful, experienced scholars and academics -- and those with many years of knowledge of the university. These people are community-builders on our campus who are rarely recognized for this work.

 “Iowa State Faculty Leaders Ask the Board of Regents for the Ability to Require Masks in the Classroom, Des Moines Register, September 7, 2021 Regents met in Ames for various committee hearings Wednesday and then for a full board meeting on Thursday. During public comments, Wednesday, Iowa State's faculty senate president, Andrea Wheeler, asked the Board of Regents to allow instructors to require masks in their classrooms "for pedagogical and health reasons."

Iowa State University, Faculty Senate Executive Board, Letter to the Board of Regents, 13th August 2021.

“Free Speech Organization criticizes Iowa State’s guidance on new law” The Ames Tribune August 4, 2021 Andrea Wheeler, Iowa State's faculty senate president, previously said when the senate convenes again in the fall, "we intend to gather information widely from colleges, associate deans, and university counsel and to form an ad-hoc senate committee to move forward with this in a practical way. I am confident this is something we can do and will do successfully." Wheeler said in an email last week to faculty senators that the body's executive board had met, discussed the proposed revisions to the diversity requirement as passed by the faculty senate in May and that a compromise had been approved by the provost and president.

“Update to Iowa State University’s diversity course requirements prolonged by Iowa’s new law on banned concepts” The Ames Tribune, July 25, 2021.

Carol Faber, associate professor of graphic design, completed her term as Faculty Senate president and passed the gavel to incoming president Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture, at the Faculty Senate’s May 4 meeting 2021.

Monica Haddad, associate professor of community and regional planning, and Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture, have been selected to participate in the 2020-21 cohort of the Emerging Leaders Academy. The program is an academic-year initiative to better prepare faculty and P&S staff currently serving in leadership roles at Iowa State or who aspire to hold leadership positions in the future. This year’s group began meeting virtually on Sept. 3 2020.

Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture, has been elected president-elect of the Iowa State University Faculty Senate for 2020–2021. She will serve as Faculty Senate president in 2021–2022, succeeding Carol Faber, associate professor of graphic design. Wheeler has served on the senate’s Academic Affairs Council for the past three years and chaired it for two. In this role she also serves on the Senate Executive Board. She has been a member of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee for three years, and participated in a working group that brought forward a successful resolution on climate change. She is a member of the College of Design Senate Caucus and a Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities-funded interdisciplinary faculty learning community on building sustainable peace. The learning community was established following senators’ conversations about campus climate at Iowa State.

“Kites,” a chapter by Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture, has been published in Critical Practices in Architecture: The Unexamined (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, January 2020), edited by Jonathan Bean, ‎Susannah Dickinson and ‎Aletheia Ida.

During her summer fellowship at the University of Cambridge Center for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, Andrea Wheeler, associate professor of architecture, organized a public event with Luce Irigaray, co-author and editor of Towards a New Human Being (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), a collection of essays by philosophers and theorists.

Andrea Wheeler, an Iowa State University assistant professor of architecture, has been awarded a Visiting Fellowship at CRASSH (The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) and Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, for the Easter Term (April 23 to June 14) 2019. She will be working on a project that critically examines political and ecological aesthetics in architecture through the philosophy of Jacques Rancière, Luce Irigaray and Gernot Böhme.

Iowa State University architecture assistant professor Andrea Wheeler presented a paper on “A Critical Perspective on Ecological Aesthetics and Architectural Atmosphere through the Work of Gernot Bőhme” at philoSOPHIA 2018: Biopower, Biologics, Biospheres — the 12th annual meeting of philoSOPHIA: Society for Continental Feminism — March 22-24 at the University of Richmond in Virginia. Her presentation was introduced by Gary Shapiro, University of Richmond professor emeritus of philosophy and author of books such as Nietzsche’s Earth: Great Events, Great Politics and Earthwards: Robert Smithson and Art After Babel.

Andrea Wheeler, an Iowa State University assistant professor of architecture, presented a paper on “Plant Ethics or an Environment for the Birth of the New Human? An Exploration in Radical Ethics for Sustainable Architecture” in the “Ecological Ethics and the Role of the Architect” session at the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) 106th Annual Meeting March 15-17 in Denver. The session was moderated by Ursula Emery McClure, the A. Hays Town Professor of Architecture at Louisiana State University.

Andrea Wheeler, an Iowa State University assistant professor of architecture, presented “Kites,” a paper about her work on the philosophy of Gernot Bohme and an ecological and architectural aesthetic, at the “Critical Practice in an Age of Complexity” international conference Feb. 22-23 at the University of Arizona, Tucson. The conference was organized by the AMPS (Architecture, Media, Politics and Society) group chaired by Graham Cairns, chair of architecture and interior design at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and local organizers from the University of Arizona Department of Architecture. Presenters from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom presented papers about their critical practice in architecture. The keynote speaker was Jane Rendell, director of architectural research at University College London.

Andrea Wheeler, an Iowa State University assistant professor of architecture, is the author of a review of Engaging the World: Thinking After Irigaray (SUNY Press, 2016), edited by Mary C. Rawlinson, now available on Hypatia Reviews Online. A forum for cutting-edge work in feminist philosophy, Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosphy has been a catalyst for broadening and refining feminist philosophy since the 1980s. All book reviews are open access online. Reviews are commissioned by the Hypatia book review editor and vetted by members of the Hypatia Editorial Board. 

“Livability and Co-Existence Between the Sexes: An Architectural Question?” by Andrea Wheeler, an assistant professor of architecture at Iowa State University, was published in Coexistence. Bodies, actions and hybrid spaces in the contemporary city (RomaTrE-Press, 2017), edited by Giovanni Caudo, Janet Hetman and Annalisa Metta. This book collects the outcome of a call, launched in the fall of 2016, promoted by a group of researchers of the doctorate in landscapes of the contemporary city in the University of Roma Tre Department of Architecture. The invitation, addressed to scholars, designers, photographers and artists in various fields, was to investigate the various circumstances and situations through which coexistence — whether spontaneous, arranged or suggested – takes place in the contemporary city and hosts the gathering of different bodies, behaviors, spaces, times and cultures.The book contains the selected contributions, with a rich variety of cases and reflections, addressed to informal practices and to author projects, to buildings and open spaces, to didactic experiences, theoretical or applied research, able to offer food for thought and answer some questions that we urgently need: What are the spatial dynamics underway in our cities capable of welcoming and expressing forms of coexistence? What chronologies do they require or describe? What are the tools, attitudes and skills needed to design areas of coexistence? Which are the privileged places to experiment actions, practices and projects of co-presence?

“An Interview with Luce Irigaray on Through Vegetal Being: Two Philosophical Perspectives and Sexuate Difference,” an article by Andrea Wheeler, an assistant professor of architecture at Iowa State University, has been published in Angelaki: Journal of the Theoretical Humanities, Issue 4.

Andrea Wheeler, an Iowa State University assistant professor of architecture, led a workshop on sustainable design for more than 50 participants as part of the Institute of Contemporary Arts’ summer program, “Luce Irigaray: How to Give Birth to a New Human Being,” in London Aug. 18.

Wheeler wins University Honors Committee Award for Excellence in Honors Teaching. Andrea Wheeler, Iowa State University assistant professor of architecture, is the recipient of the 2017 University Honors Committee Award for Excellence in Honors Teaching. The recognition carries a monetary award of $500. Wheeler will be recognized at the Honors Poster Session and Convocation from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 26, in the Memorial Union Great Hall. The senior convocation, with refreshments, will follow in the Campanile Room.

Wheeler invited to speak at Sussex University conference. Andrea Wheeler, Iowa State University assistant professor of architecture, was invited to speak at a recent conference on philosopher Luce Irigaray’s new book, To be born: genesis of a new human being. Wheeler presented “What Environment is Suitable for the Development of a Child?” Feb. 27 at Sussex University in Brighton, England.

AMES, Iowa — A team of Iowa State University College of Design faculty has received the inaugural BNIM Regenerative Design Challenge grant to study the potential conversion of existing buildings into homes for young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder using the principles of regenerative design. The winning team includes assistant professors Julie Irish, interior design; Daniel Kuhlmann, community and regional planning; and Andrea Wheeler, architecture; and associate professors Diane Al Shihabi, interior design, and Mikesch Muecke, architecture. Their project, “Building a Community: Homes for Transitioning Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD),” aims to contribute positively to a community’s social, economic and environmental needs by addressing two main issues: how to better engage with ideas of inclusivity and well-being in regenerative architecture, and how design for ASD can assist in rebuilding and renewing communities. “This is a real-world problem in our communities, and this grant will enable our students to consider regenerative solutions with a practical purpose,” Irish said. The funding will support student independent studies with Kuhlmann, and work by students in Wheeler’s Green and Sustainable Architecture seminar, Irish’s Inclusive Design studio, Al Shihabi’s Historic Preservation course, and Muecke’s Special Topics seminar, as well as guest speakers and travel to research conferences.

AMES, Iowa — An exhibition of architectural projects, drawings, writings, installations and short films by Iowa State University architecture students will be on display Feb. 4-9 at the ISU Design on Main Gallery, 203 Main St. “Weather Permitting: Artifacts from the 2018 ISU DoA Venice Architecture Biennale Colloquium and Beyond” features artifacts from and work developed in response to an educational Biennale Session sponsored by the ISU Department of Architecture at the Venice Architecture Biennale in Italy last September. An opening reception will be from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4. Gallery hours are 2 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and 2 to 7 p.m. Thursday. “Weather Permitting” consisted of a two-day student workshop and a subsequent colloquium on the twin themes of architectural atmosphere and eco-aesthetics. The workshop product was formed from the dialogue between two sets of apparatuses — a Kite Choir and an Air Field — that translated the literal atmosphere of nature into an architectural atmosphere, to serve as a stage for the colloquium. The event was organized by architecture assistant professors Firat Erdim, Peter Goché and Andrea Wheeler and associate professor Mikesch Muecke. While still in Iowa, students and faculty rehearsed the Kite Choir, an ensemble with custom-made kites and aeolian (wind-driven) sound instruments. In Venice, recordings from these performances were housed in the Air Field, a pneumatic installation at the Venetian Arsenal dependent on the breath of the session participants.

Weather Permitting - 2018, Venice Biennale Sessions. The Biennale Session of Iowa State University, College of Design, Department of Architecture responds to the call of 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara entitled, “Freespace.” According to the curators, Freespace intends a provocation to explore new ways of thinking about and new ways of seeing or experiencing architecture: ’At the heart of architecture is a sense of generosity’, they write in their manifesto, ’an unexpected generosity. What we must have, is responsibility to the free gifts of nature’.Our inquiry as response, began with the German philosopher Gernot Böhme, and his philosophy of architectural atmosphere. This is architecture experienced through all the senses, in a correspondence of body and environment. He argues that this is the most appropriate aesthetic philosophy for architecture. This perspective was not, however, without criticism and our explorations also included readings from Luce Irigaray, Arnold Berleant, Jane Bennett, and Yrjö Sepänmaa. Weather Permitting Team: Fırat Erdim, Assistant Professor of Architecture, ISU; Peter P. Goché, Assistant Professor of Architecture, ISU; Paula Matthusen, Associate Professor of Music, Wesleyan University; Mikesch Muecke, Associate Professor of Architecture, ISU; Andrea Wheeler, Assistant Professor of Architecture, ISU.