Profile:

An environmental psychologist, Craig Zimring is professor of architecture and of psychology at Georgia Tech.

In his teaching, writing, consulting and research he has developed methods, procedures and concepts for the evaluation of buildings, including computer tools. He has developed both overall theories and methods of building evaluation and performed specialized studies of issues such as wayfinding, security and stress. He has also performed comprehensive studies of building types such as healthcare facilities, jails and prisons, courthouses and embassies. He has particularly focused on how social, organizational and behavioral information can be incorporated into design and decision-making at a variety of scales, from the freshman design studio to the $4.5 billion California Prison development program and the $10 billion US Courthouse construction program, focusing on organizationally responsive architecture.

To achieve these ends he has worked in the design studio, lectured to facility mangers, written in the popular and professional press, served as consultant and directed research projects for AT&T, US Dept. of State, US Department of Transportation, Ministry of Education of France, US General Services Administration, California Department of General Services and many others and served on the board of several professional organizations including the Environmental Design Research Association, the Justice Facilities Research Program Research Board, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Building Bridges Program and the National Academy of Sciences Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment.

Research:

Developing Building Evaluation Assessment Tools and Methods.

The US General Services Administration (GSA) (with Godfried Augenbroe, Sonit Bafna, Ruth Dalton, Russell Gentry, John Peponis and Jean Wineman). This project is unusual in that it considers both the technical performance of building systems such as energy systems, structures and facades and organizational performance indicators such as user surveys, communications and layout. The project will create a technical performance toolkit, allowing federal managers to establish goals for building performance along with specific tools and methods for assessing performance of mechanical systems, structural systems, facades and other elements. The project will also assess federal office design, focusing on how high-performance offices are configured and used. The project will also allow Georgia Tech and GSA to become the first US member of the CIB Thematic Network on Performance Based Buildings (PeBBu), the leading international organization on performance-based buildings.

Creating a comprehensive database and web site of federal courts.

With the creation of new judgeships, heightened security requirements and crumbling asbestos-filled buildings, the Federal Government has embarked on the largest non-military construction program since the Second World War, spending over $10 Billion on new Federal Courthouses or major additions in 160 US cities. PhD Program faculty member Craig Zimring and Architecture Program faculty member Thanos Economou, working with Research Associate Mallika Bose, Visiting Scholar Gerald Thacker and PhD students Debayjoti Pati and Anjali Joseph, have been awarded $237,000 from the US General Services Administration and the Administrative Office of the US Courts for phase I of a project to create a CD-ROM and website that document the 40 completed courthouses. These tools will allow users to virtually navigate through the buildings, seeing courtrooms and public spaces, view plans and descriptions and read and hear user comments.

Courses

Arch 4330

Architectural Programming & Evaluation

This is a project-oriented course aimed at developing theories and practical skills in architectural programming and evaluation. It will examine current debates and provide hands-on experience in costing, developing space allocation, developing programming and evaluation questionnaires, conducting interviews and focus group meetings, choosing strategic design alternatives and preparing documents.