2015 Mayfield Lecture to Feature Famous Architects
The Fairmont State University Architecture Program will present the Mayfield Lecture 2015, featuring a world-renowned team, Keith and Marie Zawistowski.
The event will begin with a reception at 6 p.m. following with the lecture at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 17, in Room 305 of the Engineering Technology Building on the main campus. The lecture topic will be Architectural Education & Practice in the Academy. The event is presented in partnership with American Institute of Architects West Virginia and is generously supported by the West Virginia Foundation for Architecture.
The first Mayfield Lecture of the 2015-2016 academic year is named in honor of the late Jeff Mayfield, who was an Assistant Professor of Architecture in the Department of Technology from 2001 until his death in 2003. Mayfield graduated from Morgantown High School in 1988. He received an Associate Specialized Technology degree from the Pittsburgh Technical Institute in 1990 and a Bachelor of Science degree in architectural and civil engineering technology from Fairmont State in 1995. He received his Master of Architecture degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1999.
He was a past president of the Fairmont chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineering and the American Institute of Architectural Students. He served as chair for the Fairmont Historical Landmark Commission. He was a member of the Epsilon Pi Tau and Vocation Industrial Clubs of America.
Keith Zawistowski, AIA, NCARB, GC, was born in New Jersey and studied architecture at Virginia Tech. Marie Zawistowski, Architecte DPLG, was born in Paris, France, and studied architecture at the Ecole d’Architecture Paris Malaquais. They met at Auburn University’s Rural Studio while working as students with Architect Sambo Mockbee to design and build a charity house for Lucy Harris and her family. In 2005, they received a Graham Foundation Grant for “Traditions of Today and Tomorrow” their study of traditional building practices in Ghana, West Africa. They have since married and established OnSite Architecture to continue their collaboration, making buildings, which are deeply rooted in the unique identity of people and place. By working from within the context of their projects, the Zawistowskis strive to make buildings which are economically, culturally and environmentally sensitive.
From 2008 to 2015 Keith and Marie served as Professors of Practice on the faculty at Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture + Design, where they co-taught Professional Practice, Building Analysis, Building Assemblies and the design/buildLAB which they co-founded. The design/buildLAB, an initiative on OnSite Architecture, is a project-based experiential learning program focused on the research, development and implementation of innovative construction methods and architectural designs. Students collaborate with local communities and industry experts to conceive and realize built works of architecture that are both educational and charitable in nature. The aspirations of the program are simultaneously to reinforce the knowledge and skills necessary to the students’ successful and meaningful practice of architecture and to support development efforts in distressed communities by enriching the quality of their built environment.
In 2009, OnSite received a Design Excellence Award from the Virginia Society American Institute of Architects for their design and construction of the Arritt Farm House. In 2011 Keith and Marie received the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards’ Grand Prize for the Creative Integration of Practice and Education in the Academy for their Professional Practice course “Designing Practice,” they were featured in Architect Magazine’s AIA Voices, and their design/buildLAB students received both a Design Excellence Award from the Virginia Society American Institute of Architects and a Design Award from the National Wood Products Council for the Covington Farmers Market project.
In 2012 Keith and Marie were listed among “the top 100 individuals and teams working at the intersection of design and service” by Public Interest Design and the design/buildLAB's Masonic Amphitheatre was featured in Metropolis Magazine and named Building of the Year by American-Architects.com. In 2013 Keith and Marie were recognized by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture with their inaugural Design/Build Education Award for “best practices in design/build education.” Also in 2013, the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects recognized Keith with the Award for Distinguished Achievement and Marie with Society Honors “for their extraordinary joint efforts to advance the art and science of architecture.” In 2014 OnSite was named a laureate of French AJAP (young architects award) and the design/buildLAB was recognized with awards from Azure Magazine and Architizer. Marie and Keith are also recipients of the prestigious “Prix Françoise Abella” from the French Beaux Arts Academy.
ArchitectureMayfield LectureKeith and Marie ZawistowskiCollege of Science and Technology
