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Rafael Viñoly Awards Grant

This is the first year of the firm’s fellowship program.

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 12/5/2005 12:00:00 AM

Rafael Viñoly Architects (RVA) has selected Joseph Hagerman, a graduate of Mississippi State University College of Architect, as the 2005 research fellow. Until September 2006, Hagerman, who is pursuing a master of science in civil engineering at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University, will work out of the architecture firm’s New York office.

During his stint at RVA, the graduate student will research ways to "improve the environmental performance as well as the formal possibilities of green roofs." He will have full access to the RVA resources. With a series of informal presentations, Hagerman will share his progress with the office.

Hagerman, who is interested in modular products which actively clean up the environment, is best known for his product Biopavers--a pre-cast concrete tile which when planted, remediates soils and pollutants.

Current green standards apply mostly towards products which are considered environmentally neutral--verses products which can actually sequester, treate, and dispose massive buildups of toxins and pollutants already present. Using the best available technology for green buildings, and the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program, Hagerman and RVA will search for ways to address pollutants currently residing in the environment.