CHICAGO September 18, 2019 --- Each year the PCI Foundation awards curriculum development grants to universities who submit applications and pass a rigorous review process for acceptance. For 2020, the first award has gone to Washington University in St. Louis.
“The PCI Foundation’s mission is to put precast in the classroom so future architects, engineers and construction managers are aware of the possibilities of precast concrete and its myriad uses,” Marty McIntyre, Executive Director of the Chicago-based PCI Foundation. “We have had a record number of schools apply and are proud to announce that Washington University in St. Louis is our first award for 2020.”
Name of University: Washington University in St. Louis, Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts
Location: One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130
Amount granted: $50,000 over a 4-year period
Timing: Starting in January of 2020 – through December of 2023
Academic leader: Pablo Moyano Fernandez, Assistant Professor in Architecture
Scope of curriculum: Researching, analyzing, studying and building a full-scale mockup assembly on the use of new precast concrete technologies including thin shell precast concrete as a performative part of a building envelope.
Lead Industry Partner: Gate Precast
Quote from Professor Pablo Moyano Fernandez: Today, building enclosures are a sophisticated merger of design, science and craft. Enclosures can control sound, sun, views and define the exterior form and interior space of a building. This grant will go toward course work and hands-on experience to gain an in-depth understanding and development of the technical, experiential and aesthetic exploration of one main material: Ultra High-Performance Concrete as it applies to building envelopes.