Jeanne Homer | Oklahoma State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Jeanne Homer

Induced earthquakes constitute a hazard to Oklahoma buildings. Oklahoma averaged about 1 earthqua... more Induced earthquakes constitute a hazard to Oklahoma buildings. Oklahoma averaged about 1 earthquake magnitude ≥3 per year from 1974 to 2008. However, over 100 earthquakes magnitude ≥3 occurred per year in 2013 and 2014. Based on the average of horizontal spectral response acceleration for 1.0-second period and peak ground acceleration, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) forecasts a Modified Mercalli Intensity of VI to greater than VIII and a chance of damage from an earthquake of 10%-12% for 2016. This forecast prompts the following questions: 1) Which buildings are at risk due to their physical characteristics and location? 2) Which buildings would be difficult to replace? The purpose of this paper is to assess the vulnerability of buildings on the National Register for Historic Places in Oklahoma with the highest risk for earthquake damage (10-12%) as indicated by several maps, including USGS seismic hazard maps for tectonic and induced earthquakes. Thirteen buildings on the National Register are located within or adjacent to the highest risk area in northwest Oklahoma determined by an interdisciplinary team consisting of an architect, a geologist, and an architectural engineer. Using FEMA P-154 Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for Potential Seismic Hazards, the team assesses these buildings for earthquake vulnerability. Assessment begins with a search of the Sanborn maps, which provide information about older buildings' physical characteristics. Soil type, which affects the transfer of earthquake energy, is also taken into consideration. Assessment continues with a visual screening of other characteristics, including type of construction and openness of the ground floor. Buildings are scored per FEMA P-154, which can lead to a recommendation for further study. Based on this study, there is the potential to expand an assessment of hundreds of historic buildings in Oklahoma in high-risk areas.

When designing a competition entry for a low-impact residential development in Tulsa, the multidi... more When designing a competition entry for a low-impact residential development in Tulsa, the multidisciplinary team faced a variety of challenges. On the one hand, the team was asked to present a solution that could be easily implemented by creating a marketable development. On the other hand, the design was required to meet the low-impact design requirements of minimized stormwater runoff. The contextual parameters of the competition included providing single-family residences and lots sized similarly to those in the area, maintaining historic Works Progress Administration walls on the southern edge and across the center of the site, and providing a solution to stormwater runoff with poorly draining soil. The team's goal was to minimize environmental impacts while providing a feasible, contextual design. Typical residential development in Tulsa involves stripping a site clean, building repetitive houses with superficial utilization of sustainable practices, and loading the aging infrastructure by creating higher runoffgenerating urban land, ultimately resulting in contaminated water and polluted waterways. The design solution should combine water reuse, filtration, and replenishment with sustainable, contextual architecture and landscape, while providing marketability for the developer.

Collaboration is a highly valued skill by professionals, yet the way it is most commonly introduc... more Collaboration is a highly valued skill by professionals, yet the way it is most commonly introduced to students may emphasize only short-term impacts. Within a traditional interdisciplinary project, cooperative collaboration is often employed in which students of different disciplines are responsible for contributing their specialized knowledge and approaches to a project. There is some learning and general awareness achieved, but it is difficult to measure whether each student adequately understands all of the material in both the short-and long-terms. To better confirm that material is absorbed more fully for long-term impact, what we do in the Architectural Engineering Capstone Studio and throughout much of our curriculum is based on an expanded idea of the teaching technique of role-playing. The phrase that better describes our process is conversant immersion that emphasizes depth and breadth of the design process.

A perennial challenge in the Comprehensive Design Studio is the balance of student creativity and... more A perennial challenge in the Comprehensive Design Studio is the balance of student creativity and the incorporation of technical topics within one design studio. Due to time constraints, student creativity can be sacrificed for the sake of project completion. Contrary to our initial experience with Revit, however, we have learned that with an early and efficient incorporation of Revit in the studio, students' designs become more creative and developed; it extends design time for consideration of alternatives, customization of building elements, refinement of lighting concepts, and investigation of interior design. Creativity is revealed in this studio through individuality and invention in solving an architectural problem with technical and time constraints, and Revit allows this to happen.

A foundation of collaboration and design and technology integration underpins the structure of Ok... more A foundation of collaboration and design and technology integration underpins the structure of Oklahoma State University School of Architecture, which offers both Architecture and Architectural Engineering degrees. Throughout the curriculum, faculty and students interact in a fashion that emphasizes collaboration which is most fully achieved in the Comprehensive Design Studio. Architecture, structure, and building systems faculty co-teach the course, which is a studio plus a seminar. The studio's health and viability thrive due to this integration of disciplines and is further strengthened by nurtured relationships with professionals.

For many architects, the expression of structure has been a primary factor in the generation of s... more For many architects, the expression of structure has been a primary factor in the generation of space and form. In fact, many architectural historians distinguish the two primary approaches to architecture as either space articulated by expressed structure (rationalist architecture) or space generated as a plastic expression divorced from the expression of its structure (formalist architecture). However, too often architects can treat structure as separate from the core values of architecture. Structural design is thought to be necessary only to ensure safety, not to enrich the expression of space. At the same time, many structural engineers can perceive the design of structure purely from a practical viewpoint without exploring its creative potential. This is fostered by professional education that many times separates architects and engineers at the university.

The European Summer Study Abroad program offered through our school is an invaluable opportunity ... more The European Summer Study Abroad program offered through our school is an invaluable opportunity for students to not only experience important architecture and a variety of city planning, but to also focus on graphic analysis and communication. The program is based in France and lasts eight to nine weeks with group visits to at least two other places and two or three weeks of student independent travel. Graphic assignments and daily activities are done on site, a balance to what we typically do in the design studios.

Our School of Architecture's Comprehensive Design Studio course won the 2004 NCARB Prize for inte... more Our School of Architecture's Comprehensive Design Studio course won the 2004 NCARB Prize for integration of practice with the academy, and it was the culmination of twenty-seven years of development and refinements. The Comprehensive Design Studio was introduced by Professor Alan Brunken into the curriculum around 1978. Today it is taught by a team of three architects, one of whom specializes in environmental controls, and one structural engineer, and the size of the class varies from 30 to 45 students. Both architecture and architectural engineering students are required to take this course. The course requirements are somewhat different for the two majors, and often less than a quarter of the class is AE students. We have come to call this the Comprehensive Semester because it not only requires the use of information learned throughout the curriculum, but also incorporates a studio, a technology seminar, and a management course into a tightly knit whole. Throughout the semester, all students integrate architectural design with mechanical and structural systems design, while understanding correlating management practices. One project occupies the entire semester, which is divided into three phases: schematic design, design development, and design documentation. Although the AE students must continue to design the project's architecture, the requirements for them begin to differ during design development, placing a focus on structural systems design and calculations. Formal juries of professional architects and engineers mark the transitions from one phase to another, and the calendar allows the rare opportunity for students to respond to jury comments through design revisions. Handouts are distributed and seminars occur weekly to provide additional information and requirements as the designs progress.

A foundation of teamwork underpins the structure of Oklahoma State University's School of Archite... more A foundation of teamwork underpins the structure of Oklahoma State University's School of Architecture, which offers both Architecture and Architectural Engineering degrees. Throughout the curriculum, sometimes to an inconvenient level, faculty and students interact in a fashion that emphasizes collaboration. While many overlaps occur among faculty and between the architecture and architectural engineering students' experiences throughout the curriculum, collaboration is most fully achieved in the Comprehensive Design Studio. Within the studio, different facets of collaboration create connections among disciplines, among students, and with professionals. It is this multi-layered collaboration that shapes the flexible backbone of the course. Despite many changes and both subtle and significant updates in the course, the course's health and viability thrive due to the integration of disciplines and nurtured relationships.

405.744.6043 405.744.6491 fax "I still have a dent in my car from that semester." (result of a fr... more 405.744.6043 405.744.6491 fax "I still have a dent in my car from that semester." (result of a frustrated punch):

In the fourth year design studio, students were assigned a project that served as an introduction... more In the fourth year design studio, students were assigned a project that served as an introduction to a semester in which integrated systems are emphasized: structure, materials, and space. The students were required to create an assemblage of plastic bottles they collected over the break using mechanical connections. In the act of making, they could not ignore the constraints of construction, materials, and connections.

An environmentally responsible building is not necessarily a sustainable work of architecture. Gr... more An environmentally responsible building is not necessarily a sustainable work of architecture. Great works of sustainable architecture are buildings that not only consider and endure time, but also display the fundamental principles of Vitruvius' Firmitas Utilitas Venustas. Essentially, sustainable architecture is logical, is based on coordination and knowledge of many disciplines and technology, and has a relationship with the built, natural, and cultural context. What many works of great architecture ultimately strive toward is spiritual space, or space that moves us emotionally. Great sustainable architecture can achieve this spiritual space through its relation to and reliance upon nature.

Teaching Documents by Jeanne Homer

Emergency Egress Video streaming links for a 50-minute educational video about the basics of eme... more Emergency Egress Video streaming links for a
50-minute educational video about the basics of emergency egress design that includes case studies that influenced building code standards.

Conference Presentations by Jeanne Homer

AIA Oklahoma 2015 Presentation