CORRECTION: In a previous caption for the above photo, Michael Speaks’ name was misstated. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

In the last 20 years, Michael Speaks’ career in architecture has allowed him to travel far and wide.

He’s taught architecture in the Netherlands, Los Angeles and Lexington, Ky.

His most recent stop: Syracuse, where he has taken the position of dean of the School of Architecture.

As dean, Speaks’ experience in the architecture field will help further promote SU’s outreach in the community, as well as push for technology and adaption in the evolving field.

“The world changes,” Speaks said. “Different things are happening at Syracuse than 10 years ago. Different things are happening in the world than were happening 10 years ago. We will have very different opportunities and will do different things.”

He said it’s hard to know precisely what those opportunities are until he surveys and analyzes the constraints.

Taylor Wood, assistant dean of advancement at the School of Architecture, said Speaks is looking to start new programs that benefit the school both educationally and financially.

“(Speaks is) a very entrepreneurial dean,” Wood said. “He’s going to look to start some new things and generate some new programs and new revenue streams for the school.”

Wood, who has worked with Speaks at the University of Kentucky, now manages the school’s fundraising activities while helping formulate Speaks’ vision for the school, he said.

The ultimate goal is to help students make connections through Syracuse community projects, study abroad programs and global campuses, Wood said.

SU’s presence will be carried further downstate in January 2014, when The Fisher Center in New York City opens. The center, which will feature two full architecture studios, will be one of Speaks’ main priorities as dean, Wood said.

Developing and completing the New York City facility is just one of the tasks Speaks has been focusing on. He said he is also bringing new talent to SU through the lecture series, working on new programs to promote SU outreach in the global community and continuing the push for technology.

The educational model on campus is changing and growing constantly to adapt to the evolution of technology because, Speaks said, “so much of what we do now occurs on little flat screens.”

He said designers used to draw by hand and then craft models and buildings based on those drawings. Now, strides in digital technology have accelerated the process.

This advancement in technology has created such a demand for these skills that every student has to be able to design with software or it’s difficult to get a job, Speaks said. For SU students, these technologies are available and integrated into the architecture program.

“One of the things that we can do now, with technology and software and digital design,” Speaks said, “is a student or an architect can make a digital design, create a file and that file can be used to 3D-print a model.”

Drawing and crafting models by hand, which would previously take weeks, has been replaced by designing and creating models using 3D printers, which finishes in a matter of hours, Speaks said.

The School of Architecture utilizes 3D printers and laser cutters, all of which use digital files to create models. These fabrication tools are available in Slocum Hall, where students can go to have models manufactured, Speaks said.

A new creative space, the Einhorn Studio, is being added to the school to replace the normal classroom studio and merge the entire learning, designing and building process, Speaks said.

SU alumnus Steve Einhorn sponsored the studio’s construction with the intention of designing a contemporary architecture studio with a modern teaching style and practical skills, Speaks added.

The studio will have mobile desks to encourage regrouping and collaboration between students. It will also feature a new 3D projection system and model-building equipment under the same roof.

“It encourages collaboration, it encourages teamwork, it encourages making and learning by making,” Speaks said. “In a way, it approximates the way the 21st century design office works.”

This training in group-based environments is something that Associate Dean of the School of Architecture Jonathan Solomon said he thinks makes architects important and unique in the professional world.

Solomon said the School of Architecture’s three strengths are professional education, study abroad opportunities and students working in the community.  While he thinks these strengths will remain, he said they are likely to evolve.

“It’s a good thing for schools to be able to renew themselves in this way from time to time,” Solomon said. “There’s an opportunity for a kind of reflective moment on the part of the school and for a new set of priorities to be brought forward.”

Published on August 27, 2013 at 3:16 am