Campus architects gather at UW-Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison’s 933 acres of campus will serve as both host and laboratory when university architects from across the U.S. and Canada descend on Wisconsin.

During the 56th annual conference of the Association of University Architects (AUA), occurring June 19-24, experts will be invited to explore the breadth of the campus landscape, from the Beaux Arts-style Education Building — designed in 1899 — to the solar and geothermal-supported Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery.

“This is an opportunity for all these architects who are charged with overseeing the physical development of some of the most prestigious campuses in the country to experience ours, and do an informal peer review,” says Daniel Okoli, university architect and director of capital planning and development.

The $98 million Union South, with its reuse of 90 percent of building materials, will be showcased, as well as the Microbial Sciences Building and the blooming Allen Centennial Gardens. Beyond campus, architects will tour Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin estate in Spring Green, which marks its 100th anniversary this year.

AUA members will also attend talks on project strategies in time of austerity, on harmonizing universities and cities, sustainability and forming public-private development partnerships.

“Our theme for this year’s conference is ‘Making Connections,'” says Okoli, who notes a changing architectural environment and the need for campuses to forge connections with neighborhoods and funders, and to integrate historic and modern high-tech construction.

This year’s conference is the first in the association’s history to be held in Wisconsin.