Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
More than 50 students in the Survey of World Architectural History I class at Texas A&M volunteered to help the University Art Galleries Department clean the Aggie Bonfire Memorial Oct. 22.
"Students' participation in the annual cleaning of the memorial was a good 'hands on' way of introducing them to a fundamental aspect of preservation and heritage conservation," said Kevin Glowacki, assistant professor of architecture, who leads the class. "I was very pleased to see so many students volunteer."
Glowacki’s students joined several other student groups for the memorial cleanup effort. The 11th anniversary of the Bonfire tragedy, in which 12 Aggies lost their lives, was Nov. 18, 2010.
"Our course actually focuses on the history of architecture from antiquity through the Middle Ages, but we do look at the Bonfire Memorial to compare some essential architectural ideas, such as simplicity of form combined with monumentality, significant orientation, and sequential movement," said Glowacki. "These same design features can be seen in many architectural precedents from the ancient world — at Stonehenge, for example, which a recent study has interpreted as a ceremonial center and memorial to ancestors."
Robert Shemwell, who earned a Bachelor of Environmental Design degree from Texas A&M in 1982, was the memorial's lead architect. Shemwell is a principal with San Antonio-based Overland Partners, Inc. Read his thoughts about the memorial design.
A leading author and architectural historian chose the memorial as one of America's 37 most beloved national landmarks: See story.
- Posted: Nov. 9, 2010 -
Contact: Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.
