During the spring semester students studying industrial design, graphic design and computer game development got the chance to work together on a prototype of the 21-foot-wide high-definition video wall that will be the centerpiece of the library’s game lab.

The Serious Side of Gaming

Student calibrates new game on a mini-version of the Hunt Library's Christie MicroTiles digital canvass.

The students learned to research the needs of a client, orchestrate the work of a team of designers and engineers, and complete a project on a tight deadline. They scoped, planned and delivered NOL, a collaborative pursuit game designed to use real-time data from the library’s database to allow players to work together to guard the Vault of Knowledge, a mystical storage site holding the collected wisdom and secrets gained from the innate human capacity for curiosity and thirst for understanding.

Michael Young, associate professor of computer science, said the vast visual real estate provided by the Christie MicroTiles screen encouraged the students to develop a game more adapted to large groups than the typical computer game. They even combined two motion sensing devices to double the number of  players connected  to the system.

‘We Can’t Wait’

“We can’t wait for the Hunt Library to open so we can further bolster our program by using the whole ecosystem of visualization spaces in the building,” he said.

Students put NOL's Kinect interface through its paces.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing during the semester. The design students had to resolve dilemmas involving the large aspect ratios and wide camera angles inherent in the giant video wall. They were also consulted by library staff designing the user experience for the game lab in particular and library in general.

“This is fundamental to the work of a great designer,” said Tim Buie, assistant professor of industrial design. “A new technology comes along and the best designers find productive and creative ways to use it. Our students have now had an immersive experience earning their wings on a new technology.”

Seeing the game run for the first time on the Christie MicroTiles screen, one student summed up the experience of the semester: “This is epic.”

The Hunt Library, designed to be nothing less than the best learning and collaborative space in the country,  is scheduled to open in January.

If he found it ironic that he was too busy working on a sustainable project to participate in Earth Day events, he didn’t admit it.

Students work through Earth Day to finish a sustainable project next to Owens Hall. Andy Fox takes a break, in photo at top.

“Every day is Earth Day,” he said.

Hands-On Learning

Fox, an assistant professor of landscape architecture, is helping to transform campus by incorporating real sustainable construction projects into the curriculum. Graduate and undergraduate students in landscape architecture and related fields get credit for taking part in these design/build studios.

This semester’s project was the second phase of a three-year effort to create an environmentally friendly corridor, called “the Artists’ Backyard,” between Turlington Hall and Owens Hall. If you didn’t know to look for the sustainable features, you’d probably miss them. There’s a cistern that collects rainwater off the roof and diverts it into a nearby rain garden, drought-resistant plants to reduce the university’s landscape maintenance budget, and permeable bricks in the walkways that help filter water bound for the storm drains.

All the physical improvements, from the wooden benches and chairs to the planters and lighting, were built by  the students. Project costs were covered by University Housing.

Out of Their Caves

Beyond the ecological benefits, the new development will offer students a lush, quiet environment to study, collaborate or just relax.

“We want to get the students out of their caves,” Fox said. “We’re creating a responsive campus landscape that’s all about what the students need. It’s going to be the perfect backyard.”

University Housing and the Department of Landscape Architecture are hosting a project completion ceremony beginning at 1:30 p.m. Friday, May 4, in Burns Auditorium, Kamphoefner Hall. A ribbon cutting will take place at the project site immediately following the ceremony.

A special photo exhibition will be presented in the Allred Gallery in Kamphoefner Hall, giving viewers a sneak peek of what’s to come leading up to the show. The exhibit will open this Friday, April 20, and run until April 27.

Real-World Experience

Art2Wear is an opportunity for young designers to gain real-world experience that challenges them to imagine, create and inspire wearable art. The highly anticipated fashion show fuses talent from both the College of Design and College of Textiles, exposing student designers to the broader field of fashion. Art2Wear was started in 2002 by Associate Professor of Art + Design Vita Plume, who will be retiring after this academic year. It attracts more than 4,000 attendees.

Larissa Bransky puts the finishing touches on a dress. Photo by Jason Rizzo.

There will also be events following the show, including after-parties at several Hillsborough Street venues as a part of Hillsborough Street’s Live It Up campaign. The after-parties will be open to the public and people will get a chance to meet the designers and get a close-up view of some of the clothes featured in the show.

Sponsors for this year’s Art2Wear show include the Gregg Museum of Art and Design, Cotton Inc., Hillsborough Street, Raleigh Denim, MAC Cosmetics, Redken, Paul Mitchell Salon, Alter Ego and Atomic Salon, among others.

Design Showcase

If fans are interested in purchasing merchandise there will be a Design Showcase during the event featuring products and apparel for sale. Art2Wear apparel will also be available for purchase prior to the show at a special bundle rate of $17 for a T-shirt and bag on April 20 and April 23 from noon to 2 p.m. near Brooks Hall. Prices will go up during the day of the show so purchase early to get the discounted rate.

General admission to the upstairs seating at Reynolds Coliseum for the Art2Wear show:

• NC State community: free with NC State ID
• General public: $5 suggested donation

Tickets for floor and bleacher seating are available for purchase at $25 and $15 levels. Additional information including online ticket purchasing options can be found at http://www.ncsuart2wear.com.

Robin Moore, professor of landscape architecture, and Dr. Nilda Cosco, associate research professor, won the inaugural Natural Initiatives Award from the North Carolina Children and Nature Coalition, along with Jani Kozlowski, policy unit manager, and Janet McGinnis, education consultant for the N.C. Division of Child Development and Early Education.

Moore and Cosco are founding members of the coalition, which was organized at NC State in 2000.

Back to the humdrum of his architecture classes, senior Andy Park found himself unconsciously whistling a happy tune. “Is that a Disney song?” a classmate asked. Park admitted he couldn’t get it out of his head.

But the students have good reason to whistle while they work. The top prize not only earns them $3,000, but a chance to score paid summer internships at one of the entertainment industry’s legendary creative shops: Walt Disney Imagineering.

Life-Changing Adventure

In a word, the experience was “transformational,” says Brian Gaudio, a Park Scholar majoring in architecture. “Life-changing,” adds Kyle Thompson, another Park Scholar who will graduate in May with an undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering.

The students designed a sophisticated presentation that included this poster welcoming guests to a theme park on the moon.

For mechanical engineering junior Michael Habersetzer, words failed when the prize was announced in an event at Imagineering’s Southern California studios on Feb. 3.

“I only hope that somewhere someone in that auditorium had a video camera,” he says. “Because you wouldn’t believe the elation—the jumping, hugging and crying we did. It was so emotional, there on stage in front of our new friends.”

Those new friends include many of the Disney Imagineers who treated the students to the experience of a lifetime: a week behind the scenes with the creative minds responsible for all of Disney’s theme parks, resorts, cruise ships and attractions worldwide.

The Power of Imagination

At a company named for the merging of imagination and engineering, the students expected to learn a lot about collaboration. But reality far exceeded expectations.

“You don’t have to be just an engineer or just an architect,” Park says.

“At Imagineering, your discipline is Imagineering,” adds Gaudio, who found the creative environment at the company exhilarating.

“They transported us 1,000 years into the future,” he says. “We learned that when you let go of limitations, you can develop your dreams through the incredible power of imagination.”

That, it turns out, was also the theme of the students’ first-place project, “The Mind of Molly Mouse,” a theme park proposal set on the moon in the year 3011.

In the narrative they wrote for the project, the students wove a tale of two parks, one ruled by the evil supercomputer Archillion, a graceless behemoth capable only of linear thinking, and a rival park called Preclarium protected by the whimsical and creative Molly Mouse, a descendant of Mickey Mouse. As visitors travel throughout the two parks, Molly helps them gather the seeds of imagination to defeat Archillion.

Design Thinking in Action

It’s a tale that resonates at NC State as much as Disney. In fact, it’s easy to see why the students felt at home during their trip to Walt Disney Imagineering. The company practices the principles of innovation, collaboration and “design thinking” that NC State has been teaching for years.

It may also explain why NC State teams have made it to the ImagiNations finals three times in the past four years, and why NC State alumni are prized among the company’s current and former employees.

Thompson, a third-generation NC State engineering student, says the project has opened his eyes to new possibilities.

“I love engineering,” he says. “I love every equation, every formula. But at Disney you don’t have to be constrained by anything, by any engineering formula. You want to build a theme park on the moon? Sure, anything goes.”

He stops to reflect on the implications and this time he’s the one at a loss for words.

“Wow,” he finally says. “I want to work at Disney. I want to do something amazing.”

Pictured above, from left, Kyle Thompson, Michael Habersetzer, Andy Park and Brian Gaudio.

The glossy print is just one of 20,000 photos Saul Flores snapped during a summer-long trek across Latin America in 2010; a trip of more than 5,000 miles through 10 countries – often on foot – that took him from Ecuador to the United States.

Next Wednesday, Flores recounts stories from the trip at the D.H. Hill Library to introduce an exhibition of his photos in the library’s Exhibit Gallery. Flores’ talk, scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Assembly Room in the library’s east wing, is part of the Stellar Student series, supported by the Friends of the Library.

Epic Journey

It’s a remarkable opportunity for an undergraduate. But Flores, a member of the university’s Caldwell Fellows program, has been encouraged to think big since he arrived at NC State four years ago to study business administration and graphic design.

The summer journey, which he dubbed, “The Walk of the Immigrants,” was inspired by the long and perilous journey that many Latin Americans make to reach the U.S. border and the chance for a better life. It’s a journey his mother made more than 20 years ago, before he was born.

In an interview with the Bulletin the morning he left for Ecuador, Flores said he had three goals for the trip: to raise awareness about the plight of immigrants, document the beauty and richness of Latin American cultures, and raise money for an impoverished elementary school in his mother’s hometown of Atencingo, a rural community 100 miles southeast of Mexico City.

Photos for a Cause

Since then, he’s made considerable progress on all fronts. Thanks to widespread publicity about the trip, Flores has raised about $8,000 for the school, primarily through online sales of his photographs. He’s also secured donations of computers and clothing to help the children in Atencingo.

The  exhibit in the D.H. Hill Library is not only another opportunity to raise funds, it’s a valuable educational opportunity for Flores, who helped curate the show with Exhibits Program Librarian Molly Renda.

“I love storytelling, and I love photography,” Flores said as helped put the finishing touches on the exhibit. “But design is everything to me.”

Freelon’s appointment was one of a series of presidential appointments announced by the White House on Dec. 1. Obama said, “I am grateful that these impressive individuals have chose to dedicate their talents to serving the American people at this important time for our country. I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

The commission, established in 1910, is charged with giving expert advice to the president, Congress and federal agencies on matters of design and aesthetics as they affect the federal interests and preserve the dignity of the nation’s capital. The commission provides advice to the U.S. Mint on the design of coins and medals, and approves the site and design of national memorials, both in the United States and on foreign soil. Within the District of Columbia community, the commission advises on design matters affecting the Historic District of Georgetown and adjacent areas.

The commission also administers the National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs program, which was created by Congress to benefit nonprofit cultural entities whose primary purpose is to provide Washington with exhibitions or performing arts.

Commission members serve four years without compensation and may be reappointed.

Plume, whose Eastern European family was torn apart by World War II, felt apprehension. What would it be like to live in a country at war?

“I learned that life will go on—it did for me and many others—but it didn’t for all the soldiers,” she said.

A loss close to home, a family friend from Canada, made her reflect. Capt. Jefferson Francis, a doctoral student and father of a 6-month-old baby, dropped out of the Ph.D. program to become a soldier. He was killed in Afghanistan in 2007 at age 36.

“He chose to serve his country and give his life,” Plume said.

Vita Plume spent hours creating the images of each soldier's face for the Fallen Soldiers exhibit.

Ghostly Gallery

As the 10th anniversary of 9-11 approached, Plume, an associate professor of art and design, wanted to find a way to focus attention on the human cost of the war.

She created Fallen Soldiers, a collection of more than 300 woven portraits of U.S. and Canadian soldiers who died in Iraq or Afghanistan. It’s dedicated to Capt. Francis.

Each panel contains only the eyes and initials of a soldier. Dye gives the faces, some sharp and some almost unidentifiable, a ghostly look.

“I spent a lot of time with each of them,” Plume said, describing the time-intensive process of weaving, stitching and applying dye. “When I put them up, it’s almost overwhelming, the mass of them. But each face is distinct.”

Familiar Faces

A student who’s helped Plume select portraits for the project told her mentor it hit home that most of the fallen soldiers were about her age.

“The power of art is that it can cause us to see in a new way and challenge us to think about these things,” Plume said.

The portraits represent about 2 percent of the more than 6,000 U.S. soldiers killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan since 2002 and approximately 90 percent of the Canadian casualties in Afghanistan.

A key to the exhibit gives the full name, rank, place of birth and date of death for each person, including fallen soldiers from Raleigh, Wilson and Fayetteville.

The careful chronological organization of the work allowed Plume to help one Canadian visitor locate the period in time when his next-door neighbor was killed—and find the panel with his friend’s face.

Fallen Soldiers will be on exhibit through Nov. 19 in the Brooks Hall Gallery. The opening reception is today (Nov. 10). beginning at 5 p.m.

The exhibition is supported by the NC Arts Council, Cotton Inc. and the Department of Art + Design. Plume continues to add panels and is seeking new venues for Fallen Soldiers.

“It was like living in a museum,” he said. “It was amazing; sleeping in his bed, eating in his kitchen, working in his studio.”

Modern Influence

Marchant used Le Corbusier's color palette for the Allred Gallery project.

The work is now paying dividends. Marchant, the associate dean of undergraduate and interdisciplinary studies in the College of Design, recently designed a new floor for the Allred Gallery in Kamphoefner Hall with colors and patterns inspired by Le Corbusier’s groundbreaking work, The Modulor. In the book, published in 1950, Le Corbusier developed the concept of using the proportions of the human body to design buildings and mechanical things.

“The design is pure,” Marchant said during a tour of the gallery. “It’s a timeless composition. Pure abstraction.”

The beautiful terrazzo flooring was donated by the David Allen Company.

Read Marchant’s explanation of the project, “Standing on Le Corbusier,” in DesignLife. The feature includes a fascinating video of Marchant discussing Le Corbusier’s ideas.