Skip to main content
Faircloth Billie BarberMcMurry Professor 2018_Photo KieranTimberlake
Billie Faircloth (Photo by KieranTimberlake)

UT’s College of Architecture and Design has named Billie Faircloth, a partner at KieranTimberlake, its 2018 BarberMcMurry Professor.

As the BarberMcMurry Professor, Faircloth is teaching an interdisciplinary design studio made up of students from all three schools in the college: architecture, interior architecture, and landscape architecture. Facilitating the studio is Scottie McDaniel, adjunct assistant professor of landscape architecture, and shaping the discussion is Stephanie Carlisle, environmental researcher at KieranTimberlake and lecturer in urban ecology at PennDesign.

“I’m looking forward to working with students at the College of Architecture and Design and exploring design agency at the interface of architecture, ecology, and materials,” Faircloth said.

Faircloth’s students are studying the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cherokee National Forest and their relationships with the rivers, forests, and lakes that surround them. Their research is taking them into the national park for overnight camping trips, sessions with park officials, and investigation of the history and composition of the land.

The students will propose designs for three sites, including a Center for Ecological Interpretation and Land Use History, an extraction site for building materials, and a material processing site.

Previously, Faircloth taught at the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.

At KieranTimberlake, Faircloth leads a group of professionals in diverse fields, including environmental management, chemical physics, materials science, and architecture, to “foster collaboration between disciplines, trades, academies, and industries,” according to KieranTimberlake’s website.

Since 2013, the BarberMcMurry Endowed Professorship has promoted design excellence through teaching by an internationally recognized architect.

The professorship is the result of a $1 million endowment given by Blanche Barber and architects at BarberMcMurry Architects, an East Tennessee architecture and design firm. Previous BarberMcMurry Professors have included Lawrence Scarpa of Brooks + Scarpa in Los Angeles in 2013 and Wendell Burnette of Wendell Burnette Architects in Phoenix in 2015.

To learn more about the College of Architecture and Design, visit archdesign.utk.edu

CONTACT:

Amanda F. Johnson 865-974-6401, amandajohnson@utk.edu)