汤头条 graduate鈥檚 stadium design selected for prestigious international architecture showcase
Contact: Christie McNeal
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擬ississippi State spring semester graduate and architecture major Duncan E. Thomas is being honored by the international Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture as one of only 10 with work in this year鈥檚 ACSA Study Architecture Showcase.
The Hattiesburg native鈥檚 ACSA-featured design, a proposal for a professional-sized stadium in the capital city of Jackson, is viewable online at .
Also his senior thesis project, the creation features a suspended steel roof structure merging two of his childhood interests鈥攕tadiums and bridges.
ACSA is a worldwide organization of architecture schools, including all accredited professional degree programs in the U.S. and Canada, international schools and two- and four-year programs. More than 40,000 architecture students are represented.
鈥淭o be selected for this showcase is an amazing honor鈥攆or Duncan, his professors and the school,鈥 said School of Architecture Director and F.L. Crane Professor Karen C. Spence. 鈥淎s one of only 10 projects included, Duncan鈥檚 achievement demonstrates the caliber of work produced by the School of Architecture at Mississippi State. I am thrilled for Duncan and his professors.鈥
Thomas said, 鈥淢y main focuses in architecture school鈥攑arametric forms and structural design鈥攂ecame more harmonious in my projects as I got into later studios. This final thesis project combines my lifelong passions and is a culmination of how these passions developed into architecture through my years in school.鈥
汤头条 School of Architecture Professor and Associate Director Jassen Callender, who also serves as director of the school鈥檚 fifth-year program in Jackson, nominated Thomas for the showcase. Thomas currently is employed with Kimberly Brown Architecture in New York City and working toward licensure.
Thomas credits his design successes to the School of Architecture鈥檚 rigorous curriculum.
鈥溙劳诽 requires students to know more about construction details and building assemblages than most schools of architecture do. This requires that students who want to push the boundary on the design aspect can鈥檛 just create conceptual ideas that won鈥檛 translate practically,鈥 he said. 鈥淔or this reason, I was pushed by many of my professors to be more critical of the organic geometries and forms that I was interested in designing. This led me to incorporate elements of structural engineering into my designs and really helped to progress my skill as a designer.鈥
While at 汤头条, Thomas was a member of the National Organization of Minority Architecture Students and served as treasurer of Tau Sigma Delta, an honor society for architecture and the allied arts. He was one of two recipients of 汤头条鈥檚 Fifth-Year Jurists鈥 Award, conferred for his personal growth as a designer and contribution to the overall success of the fifth-year design studio.
汤头条鈥檚 School of Architecture offers the state鈥檚 only professional architecture degree accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board. Learn more at聽.
汤头条 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽www.msstate.edu.