Walls of well-wishers line architecture seniors’ home stretch

Soon-to-be graduates in architecture and sustainable design celebrated the culmination of their education by showcasing projects that embody the many influences at the foundation of their rigorously earned bachelor’s degrees. An exhibition in The Gallery at Penn College through April 15 features the capstone output of 20 students, who gathered Friday with a network of mentors and champions comprised of faculty, family and friends. Alumni also were invited, and the reception was attended by some Architectural Technology Advisory Committee members and representatives of local architectural/design firms. After remarks from Geoffrey M. Campbell, department head and assistant professor of architecture; Ellyn A. Lester, assistant dean of construction and architectural technologies; and Michael J. Reed, vice president for academic affairs and provost, the mic passed to Naim N. Jabbour, assistant professor of architecture. “This is your night. It’s all about you,” he told the seniors, who have endured such challenges as the death of a colleague and the shifting sands of COVID-era instruction. Jabbour (himself about to graduate, with a design doctorate from Carnegie Mellon University) entreated them to hold dear their time with loved ones “because, as you know, change can happen at any moment.”

– Photos by Cindy Davis Meixel, writer/photo editor

Alejandro F. Huaman, of Dingmans Ferry, guides guests through his bank project.

A lineup of pure talent and potential – the soon-to-be-graduates take center stage at their exhibit.

David T. Hornak, of Spring Mills, shows his family the model for “Noche Verde,” a bohemian hostel in Barcelona, Spain, a project he worked on with two other seniors.

Addressing the students, Jabbour (at center with microphone) urges the students to “cherish this moment.”

Visitors discuss students’ explorations of a Guggenheim Museum in Helsinki.

Declan W. Gatchell, of Manchester, poses proudly by his modern art museum project.

Artistic exchange is bookended by gallery walls.

Penn College President Dr. Davie Jane Gilmour and her grandson, Beckett, enjoy a stroll through the gallery.

Reed, who will assume the Penn College presidency effective July 1, invokes a moment of silence for the students’ classmate, Ashley Gentile-Wing, who died in a March vehicle accident.

Complete with interior lights shining, “L’Hostal Del Raval,” a bohemian tower in Barcelona, Spain, was designed by Megan A. Bugbee, Geneseo, N.Y.; Marcie M. Harman, Nescopeck; and Jason R. Hollenbach, Reading.

Hollenbach enjoys the moment with his mother.

With the gallery lobby filled with work by two art faculty, food for the reception was moved into the main space. Rob A. Wozniak (in white shirt at right center), associate professor of architecture and planned August retiree, talks with a guest.