Tours

If you would like to add a tour to an existing registration, please log into My SCUP and click "My Transactions" to edit your registration.

You may also contact registration@scup.org or call 734.764.2007.

Sunday, October 2, 2011, 1:30 PM–5:00 PM
University of Texas at San Antonio

Founded by the Texas Legislature in 1969, the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) now has eight colleges and three campuses that offer access and opportunity to over 30,000 students in more than 130 degree programs. UTSA campuses include the Main Campus, which is located on two tracts of 600 and 125 acres each in the rolling hill country of northwest San Antonio; the Downtown Campus which is located on eighteen acres on the west side of downtown San Antonio; and the Hemisfair Park Campus, which includes the Institute of Texan Cultures located on the grounds of the 1968 Hemisfair in downtown San Antonio. The tour will feature a driving tour of the Downtown Campus and a walking tour of the Main Campus. Please note the walking portion of the tour includes several stairs. Please alert SCUP (karen.verhey@scup.org) if you have difficulty with stairs. 

The Downtown Campus includes four multi-purpose buildings on four contiguous downtown blocks arranged around a central circular plaza with concentric rows of red oaks. The Main Campus features five original buildings clustered around Sombrilla Plaza, a large open space for gathering that is covered with a monumental shade structure, thus making it one of the most unique open spaces on any college campus. The original campus master plan and buildings were designed by Ford, Powell and Carson Architects & Planners, the architectural firm of Texas’ most noted architect, O’Neil Ford. In the last decade new buildings constructed on the Main Campus include; the Biotechnology Sciences & Engineering Building and the Applied Engineering Technology Building, both of which provide research and teaching laboratories and classrooms for the Colleges of Engineering and Sciences. Also constructed have been facilities for student life, such as the Recreation and Wellness Center that includes gymnasiums, weight rooms, and a cardio area, and the University Center, which includes a 750 seat ballroom. 

Optional Event: Requires registration $35

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Recognize how multiple locations for an urban campus require different approaches to design.
  2. Review the long-term success of a master planning process that began in the 1960s.
  3. Discuss ways to promote unique landscape features, such as mature tree canopies, as a key aspect of the campus experience.
  4. Describe key features of facilities dedicated to the sciences and to student life.

TAGS: Urban Campus, Landscaping, Facility Design: Science/Engineering, Facility Design: Student Center, Facility Design: Wellness/Sports Center

Continuing Education Credits:
AIA LU 2.0 units (SCUPS11T01)

Monday, October 3, 2011, 4:00 PM–5:30 PM
The Riverbank - A Historic and Architectural Tour of San Antonio

Whoever says Americans don’t see their cities from any vantage point other than that of a car window hasn’t been to San Antonio. This consummate pedestrian adventure, featuring the Alamo’s garden-like grounds and stretches of the River Walk (the top two visitor destinations in Texas) will clarify why and how the city grew up on the banks of the San Antonio River. See an array of historic buildings that illustrates how saving and appropriately reusing sound structures is the right thing to do in this era of diminishing natural resources and rising construction costs.

Join local AIA members in this walking tour which includes a copy of the AIA Architectural Guidebook Traditions and Visions: San Antonio Architecture.

Optional Event: Requires Registration $30

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Evaluate the role of waterfront, particularly rivers, in the evolution of a city's design and architecture.
  2. Assess the use of historic preservation techniques as a way to protect the environment and protect significant landmarks.
  3. Recognize the place that gardens and other landscaping options have in enhancing historic architecture.
  4. Discuss the role of attractive walking venues for reducing traffic and encouraging urban development.

TAGS: Historic Preservation, Historic Landmarks, Walking Paths, Sustainability, Landscaping, Gardens, Comprehensive Planning, Parks and Open Space

Continuing Education Credits:
AIA LU 1.0 unit (SCUPS11E01)

Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 2:30 PM–5:00 PM
Trinity University Campus Tour

Located in the culturally rich city of San Antonio, Trinity University is one of the nation's top private universities. With 2,600 talented undergraduate and graduate students, the university is known for its stimulating, resourceful, and collaborative environment—in the classroom, on campus, and around the world. Trinity’s campus, its fourth since the university’s founding in 1869, is situated on a hill overlooking the downtown skyline. Virtually all of its campus facilities have been built since 1952—resulting in a distinctive mid-century, vernacular architecture in a very pedestrian-friendly, walkable setting. From that date through about 1985, all of its campus buildings were the result of the design efforts of the local architectural firm of Ford, Powell, & Carson headed by the renowned regional architect, the late O'Neil Ford. More recent facilities have been designed by Robert A. M. Stern, Kell-Munoz and Einhorn, Yaffee and Prescott. The current campus of about 2,200,000 gross square feet of building space sits on about 117 acres, part of which is included in the Monte Vista Historic District. Trinity has been ranked as the top regional, masters-granting comprehensive university in the West by US News for each of the past 19 years in a row. In its most recent rankings, US News gave Trinity a #1 ranking under 'Great Schools, Great Prices'.

Optional Event: Requires Registration $35

Learning Outcomes:

  1. Recognize the strategies that help make a campus pedestrian friendly and that promote walking.
  2. Review the effects on a campus of a predominant architectural style that now must be considered when adding facilities.
  3. Evaluate how being part of an historic district affects campus decision making about its physical presence in a community.
  4. Discuss the benefits a strong sense of place has on the rankings of an institution.

TAGS: Private Liberal Arts, Urban Campus

Continuing Education Credits:
AIA LU 2.0 units (SCUPS11T02)