Ralph L. Knowles
Professor Emeritus
School of Architecture
University of Southern California
PAPERS ON THIS WEB SITE
Solar Policy and Design:The potential
exists to conceive of architecture in other than static terms.
The
Solar Envelope: Twenty years of design research in the USC Solar
Studio
show that, if generally applied as an instrument of zoning, the solar
envelope
will not only allow potential growth but will open new aesthetic
possibilities
for architecture and urban design.
Rhythm and Ritual: A Motive for Design:
This paper, using examples from history, from actual experience, and
from the
latest work of the USC Solar Studio, argues that a spatial conception
linking
nature's rhythms to life's rituals can give new life and freshness to
design.
On Being the Right Size: The right size,
and notably the right size of a building, is relative. It is dependent
upon the
costs of construction and of maintenance. It is also proportional to
the more
illusory standards of livability and of choice. This paper, reporting
on a
10-year urban housing study for Los Angeles, concludes that for energy
conservation
and life quality, buildings can be neither too great nor too small.
The Rituals of Place: Ritual is
taken in this paper to be an imaginative recreation of the natural
rhythms we
experience. For example, the sun comes into our garden or through our
window.
We can move either toward or away from it for relief. At first our
actions only
rehearse a direct search for physical comfort. But eventually, simple
movements
may be expanded in detail to express the individual character of a
place.
The Interstitium: Recent studies
show that while originally conceived as a fixed limit on construction,
the
solar envelope's boundaries can cycle between seasonal extremes without
denying
year-round solar access. Between the low winter envelope and the higher
summer
envelope lies an interstitial space that can adjust to accommodate
seasonally
adaptive architecture.
Solar
Aesthetic: Given the awakening interest in a new
architectural aesthetic, driven by the worldwide need to conserve
energy, a design research project initiated in 1962 takes on fresh
meaning today.
Solar Aesthetic II: If we are
to confront aesthetic questions of solar form, we must begin with
nature.
Solar Aethetic III: In
support of a natural architectural lanugage, private sheltering rituals
offer an implicit architectural order, while publicly guaranteed solar
access supports an explicit order of physical symbols.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Education
1959. Master of
Architecture,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.
1954. Bachelor of
Architecture,
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.
Honors
2011. USC
Architectural Guild. Founder's Award 2011.
2010/2011.
Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC). The Haecker Award
2010.
2010. AIA Los Angeles Chapter: Presidential Honoree 2010, Excellence In Education Award.
2005. The American
Solar Energy Society (ASES), Fellow of the Society.
2003. American
Solar Energy
Society (ASES), Passive Solar Pioneer Award.
2000. USC
Distinguished Emeritus
Award.
1996. USC Torch and
Tassel Chapter
of Mortar Board Award: Faculty of the Month for March.
1995. American
Collegiate Schools
of Architecture (ACSA) Distinguished Professor Award.
1993. Fulbright
Teaching
Fellowship, Slovak Technical University, Bratislava, SLOVAKIA, Spring.
1988. Sixth
Distinguished Faculty
Lecture, USC.
1983. Phi Kappa Phi
Book Award (Sun
Rhythm Form).
1983. Phi Kappa Phi
Honor
Society.
1980. National
Endowment for the
Arts (NEA), Design Arts Grants Recognition.
1975-1978.
University
Professorship for Design Research, USC; three successive yearly
appointments.
1974. American
Institute of
Architects (AIA), Medal for Research.
1970. Award for
Teaching
Excellence, University of Southern California (USC).
1962. Grand
National Award,
Fourth Annual Ruberoid Competition.
Teaching Experience
1999. University of
Hawaii,
appointed adjunct professor to aid in development of ARCH D program.
1994. Retired from
full-time
teaching at USC; continuing on
part-time basis.
1973-75. Interim
Dean, School of
Architecture and Fine Arts.
1963-present.
University of
Southern California (USC), Los Angeles, CA.
1959-63. Auburn
University,
Auburn, Alabama.
Professional Activities (NC
Bd.
Arch. #992)
Professional juries
and
committees.
Contributions to
museum
exhibitions.
1968-present. Solar
policy and
design consultant: AIA, AIA/RC, DOE, NAS, NEA, Oak Ridge, SERI, TVA;
States of
Alaska, California, and Nebraska; County of Los Angeles; Cities of
Chattanooga,
Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.
1959-present.
Consultant to
private architectural and planning firms.
1954-59.
Architectural offices.
Research Grants and Contracts
1994. Lusk Center
Research
Institute.
1984-85. National
Endowment for
the Arts, Senior-Level Sabbatical Fellowship.
1979-81. Solar
Energy Research Institute
(SERI): DOE (two separate contracts).
1979. Albert C.
Martin and
Associates, Los Angeles.
1968. Los Angeles
Department of
Water and Power.
1967-80. National
Endowment for
the Arts (five separate grants).
1962-63. Graham
Foundation
Fellowship.
1961-62. Container
Corporation of
America.
1960. Grant-in-Aid,
Auburn
University.
Books
2006. Ritual
House: Drawing on
nature’s rhythms for architecture and urban design. Island Press.
1981. Sun
Rhythm Form. MIT Press.
(Paperback ed. 1985)
1981. Energia E
Forma. Padua, Italy: Franco
Muzzio c. editore. Paperback.
(Italian translation of Energy and Form.)
1979. Solar
Envelope Concepts:
Moderate Density Building Applications.
Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI). (with Richard D. Berry).
1976. Sun. USC.
1974. Energy
and Form: An
Ecological Approach to Urban Growth. MIT
Press. (Paperback ed. 1977)
1969. Owens
Valley Study: A
Natural Ecological Framework for Settlement.
USC.
1968. Form and
Stability. USC.
1967. Sun;
Wind; Water. USC.
Articles, Reports, Invited Papers
Circa 50. Among the
most recent
ones are the following:
2011. "Solar
Aesthetic." In Sang Lee, ed., Aesthetics of Sustainable Architecture.
Roterdam 2011: 010 Publishers.
2010. "The Energy of Light." An exhibition at Pratt Institute: The Rubella and Norman Schafler Gallery, Oct. 7, 2010 - Jan. 21, 2011.
2006. “Solar Access
by Design.”
In SOLAR TODAY, Nov/Dec.
2003. “The Solar
Envelope.” In D.
Watson, A. Plattus, and R. Shibley, eds., Time-Saver Standards for
Urban
Design. New York: McGraw-Hill: 4.6-1 to 4.6-18.
2000. "The Solar
Envelope:
Its meaning for urban growth and form."Proceeding of the Millennium
Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture (PLEA)", Cambridge University, Cambridge,
England, 2-5 July.
2000. "The
Interstitium: A
zoning strategy for seasonally adaptive architecture." (Co-authored
with
Karen M. Kensek) Proceedings of the Environmental Design Research
Association(EDRA) Conference on Building Bridges: Connecting People,
Research
and Design, San Francisco, CA,
May 10-14.
1999. "Advanced
Technical
Education in the New Millennium: The Academy of Architectural Sciences,
a New
Post Graduate Virtual University" (Coauthored with Jeffery Cook,,
Murray
Milne, and John Reynolds.) Proceedings of the Association of
Collegiate
Schools of Architecture (ACSA) International Science
and Technology Conference, University of Montreal, June 24 - 27.
Lectures at Conferences, Symposia, and Professional Meetings
Circa 50 lectures.
Among the
major ones are the following:
2006. Lecture
coinciding with
book signing for Ritual House
and with
exhibition titled The Green House: New Directions in
Sustainable
Architecture and Design, National
Building
Museum, Washington, D.C.
1990. First Meeting
for
International Research Collaboration, Slovak Technical University,
Bratislava,
Czechoslovakia. Research Collaborator. Invited lecture and group
discussion of
research into solar policy and design, and ecological planning.
1984. International
Design
Conference in Aspen (IDCA): "Neighbors: Canada, Mexico, and the
U.S.": Aspen, CO. NEA Fellow.
1984. Royal
Institute of British
Architects (RIBA): 150th Birthday Conference, "The State of the Art."
York, England. Speaker and panelist.
1981. Keynote
speaker, AIA
National Convention, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Keynote Address.
Lectures at Universities
Circa 100 lectures
at 50
universities.
Citations in the Media
Circa 150: Books,
journals and
professional publications, newspapers, newsmagazines, TV and radio
reports.