UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School at Penn State is hosting a virtual lecture titled “The 99%” by Victor Meesters of Rotor and Margo Sulnier of Rotor Deconstruction (DC) that will be live-streamed at noon on Oct. 2 in the Stuckeman Family Building Jury Space followed by the school’s Research Open House from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Founded in Brussels in 2005, Rotor is a multidisciplinary cooperative design practice that investigates the organization of the material environment and specializes in material flows and reuse strategies. Rotor fosters debate on questions related to resources, waste and obsolescence in the building sector through applied research projects, exhibitions, conferences and publications. On the practical side, the practice coordinates large-scale dismantling operations, collaborates on architectural projects and works on interior and urban design projects.
In an effort to promote and facilitate the reuse of building components to help create a more resource-efficient materials economy, the practice launched the independent cooperative spin-off project Rotor DC in 2016. Rotor DC is active as a consultant and deconstruction operator salvaging and reselling building components. These elements were dismantled from buildings slated for demolition, mostly in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
The Stuckeman Research Open House aims to highlight the wide-ranging design research undertaken by the school's faculty, as well as graduate and undergraduate students. Additionally, collaborators from the College of Arts and Architecture and the broader University community will also be participating.
Projects from researchers within the school’s three centers — Ecology plus Design (E+D), Hamer Center for Community Design and Stuckeman Center for Design Computing — will be featured, along with other research by faculty members across the school’s Departments of Architecture, Graphic Design, and Landscape Architecture.
School researchers will be on hand to discuss their work and to network with potential collaborators.
“The Stuckeman School is a powerhouse for design innovation, integrating science and technology to design solutions that address complex challenges — from the local to the global scale — and make positive impacts on the environment, community and society," said Chingwen Cheng, Stuckeman School director.
"Please join our open house and engage with our undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and research center directors who lead social transformation through design research."