Texas A&M University not only produces leaders, the institution itself frequently leads the higher-education pack, as is the case with the idea for an on-campus symposium where faculty share their research with colleagues, developed by architecture dean Tom Regan.

“It is unusual for a college such as ours to take ‘time out’ for a day and cancel our usual schedule of classes, design studios and meetings to hear other faculty members report on their current research,” Regan says. “But this idea has worked so well for us, we’re doing it for the eighth year in a row. And the concept has spread to many other architecture colleges across the country.

“One of our college’s core values is the influence of research on teaching and practice, and this symposium serves as a catalyst for research-informed teaching in our three undergraduate and nine graduate degree programs. These research presentations allow everyone to benefit from current research in the college, and it is fitting for us in our role as the largest college of our kind in the nation to establish new traditions that clearly connect scholarly research with professional education.”

The day-long research showcase, held Monday (Oct. 30), featured 55 faculty presentations previously delivered at scholarly venues in 34 countries around the world during the 2005-06 academic year.

“The individual sessions comprising the symposium reflect all aspects of the designed environment,” said Lou Tassinary, associate dean for research at the College of Architecture. “The categories were not predetermined, but rather reflect themes that have emerged in the work of faculty over the past year.”

Organized thematically, presentations examined ongoing research in studio pedagogy, architectural theory and design, art, healthcare architecture and planning, disaster planning and mitigation, 3-D modeling and animation, sustainable urbanism and design, historic preservation, construction science, the architecture of place, visualization, energy conservation, housing, land development and facility management.

Texas A&M architecture professor Roger Ulrich, the most internationally cited and quoted researcher in evidence-based healthcare design, delivered the keynote address on “Biophilic Design of Healthcare Environments.”

Biophilic design, Ulrich said, is a sub-area of the larger field of evidence-based design influenced conceptually by Harvard naturalist Edward O. Wilson’s biophilia hypothesis — the notion that evolution has left modern humans with a partly genetic affinity for nature. Ulrich’s presentation summarized biophilia theory and scientific research pertinent to designing healthcare settings that promote better medical outcomes.

“In older hospital rooms, you usually can cut the stress and anxiety with a knife,” Ulrich said. “The new wave in hospital design is founded upon evidence that the built-environment can either heighten psychological, physiological and social stress, resulting in unfavorable medical outcomes, or it can reduce such stress, increasing the odds for better recovery. When you look at hospitals designed based on this evidence, you know at once that these buildings are different – and better.”

Texas A&M architecture professor Roger Ulrich, the most internationally cited and quoted researcher in evidence-based healthcare design, delivered the keynote address on “Biophilic Design of Healthcare Environments.”