September 14, 2018 College Welcomes Esteemed Architect as Endowed Professor
The College of Architecture and Design has named Billie Faircloth, a partner of KieranTimberlake, as its 2018 BarberMcMurry Professor.
Faircloth joined KieranTimberlake in 2008, where she leads a group of professionals in diverse fields, including environmental management, chemical physics, materials science and architecture. In her work, Faircloth “fosters collaboration between disciplines, trades, academies, and industries in order to define a relevant problem-solving boundary for the built environment,” according to KieranTimberlake’s website.
Previously, Faircloth taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, University of Texas at Austin and Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
As the UT BarberMcMurry Professor, Faircloth is teaching an interdisciplinary design studio during the fall 2018 semester that is made up of students from all three schools in the college. Facilitating the studio is Scottie McDaniel, adjunct assistant professor of Landscape Architecture at UT, and shaping the discourse is Stephanie Carlisle, environmental researcher at KieranTimberlake and lecturer in Urban Ecology at PennDesign.
“I’m looking forward to working with students at the College of Architecture and Design and exploring design agency at the interface of architecture, ecology and materials,” Faircloth said.
Students in the studio are studying the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cherokee National Forest and its relationship with the river, National Forest and lakes that surround it. Their research is taking them into the national park for overnight camping trips, sessions with park officials and investigation of the history of the land and the composition of the land, itself.
In the end, the students will establish design proposals for three separate sites, including a Center for Ecological Interpretation and Land Use History, a companion extraction landscape and material processing site.
Since 2013, the BarberMcMurry Professorship in the UT College of Architecture and Design has promoted design excellence through teaching by an internationally recognized architect.
The professorship is the result of a $1 million endowment given by Blanche Barber and architects in BarberMcMurry. Previous BarberMcMurry professors have included Lawrence Scarpa in 2013 and Wendell Burnette in 2015.
Headshot photo credit: KieranTimberlake