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Brandon Ro

Faculty Member

Professor Brandon Ro

Biography

"Design with Beauty, Defend the Authentic, Build for Time, Inspire the Spirit"

Assistant Professor Brandon Ro, AIA, NCARB is co-founder of the new professional degree in architecture at Utah Valley University (UVU) and has been instrumental in developing new curriculum for nearly half of the core coursework. He teaches architectural history and theory, three-dimensional representation, and traditional design. At UVU he renders service on the University Editorial Board and Faculty Senate for the College of Engineering & Technology. For the Architecture & Engineering Design department, he serves on a number of committees supporting the broader architecture program that includes NAAB accreditation, program development, student awards and publications, marketing, and student advising for architect licensing among others. He received post-professional Master of Architectural Studies degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and his professional Bachelor of Architecture degree from California State Polytechnic University Pomona.

As a strong advocate of improving the interconnectivity between architecture, culture, spirituality, ecology, and history, he helps bridge the gap between theory and practice through post-occupancy evaluation surveys focused on capturing the phenomenological experience of architecture. His theoretical works and research have been published in Arquitecturas del Sur (Chile), Carbon-Neutral Architectural Design, IEEE, Architectural Research Centers Consortium, Margenes Arquitectura (Spain), Ambiances Network (France), Environmental Design Research Association, and in the Journal of Comparative Theology at Harvard Divinity School.

Assistant Professor Ro is also an award-winning design professional with over 16 years of AEC industry experience and is a licensed architect in Utah. His design and research projects have been published, presented, and exhibited nationally and abroad. He has a proven record of projects that have been recognized with numerous awards and honors (70+) from organizations such as Walt Disney Imagineering, U.S. Green Building Council, American Institute of Architects, Alliance to Save Energy, American Planning Association, and Designer's Lighting Forum among others. Over the years his design philosophy has been influenced by observing the built environment through a phenomenological lens on multiple continents and studying under internationally recognized architects, such as Juhani Pallasmaa and Alberto Campo Baeza.

Teaching

ARC 3210

Architecture Studio IV, Spring 2024

ARC 4530

Culture and Behavior in Architecture, Spring 2024

Presentations

Ro, Brandon R (Presenter & Author), Translation/s: Annual Meeting of Mormon Scholars in the Humanities Conference, "Translating Sacred Architecture_ Exploring the Origins of Latter-day Saint Gendered Space", Utah State University , Logan, UT. (May 26, 2023)
Ro, Brandon R (Presenter & Author), Huffman, Hunter (Author Only), 2nd International Conference on Urban Experience + Design_ Ux+Design/2023, "Exploring the Urban Experience of Federal Architecture through Eye-Tracking Emulation Software", Tufts University, Boston, MA. (April 28, 2023)
Ro, Brandon R (Presenter & Author), Roots of Knowledge Speaker Series , "How to Read Sacred Architecture_ Reinterpreting Architectural Roots at Jerusalem, Rome, and Salt Lake", Fulton Library - Utah Valley University, Orem, UT. (November 17, 2022)
Ro, Brandon R (Presenter & Author), American Institute of Architects Central Utah Section Annual Dinner, "Homologizing Sacred Architecture", American Institute of Architects, Orem, UT. (November 10, 2022)
Ro, Brandon R (Presenter & Author), 2022 CAVAD Architecture Symposium – Imagination, Transcendence, and the Secular Age , "Beauty and Transcendence in Architecture_ Four Ideals for the Secular Age", California Baptist University, Riverside, CA. (October 21, 2022)
Ro, Brandon R (Presenter & Author), Monson, Paul (Presenter & Author), UVU President Astrid Tuminez Faculty Seminar, "Timeless Architecture for the Modern Age", Utah Valley University, Provo, UT. (September 21, 2022)

Scholarly/Creative Works

Ro, Brandon R, (2023) "Translating Sacred Architecture_ Exploring the Origins of Latter-day Saint Gendered Space" . Proceedings of Translation/s: 2023 Annual Meeting of Mormon Scholars in the Humanities Conference. https://www.mormonscholars.net/post/translation-s-2023-conference-program
Ro, Brandon R, (2022) "Blending the Subjective and Objective Realms of Sacred Architecture at the Pantheon_ Creating a Comparative Framework for Evaluating Transformative Experiences in Ritual Contexts" (Issue: 1, vol. 13). Religions. https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/13/1/75
Ro, Brandon , (2022) "Designing in Venice_ Contemplating Newness and Tradition on the Grand Canal" . Orem, UT: Utah Valley University Press. https://www.academia.edu/81513064/Designing_in_Venice_Contemplating_Newness_and_Tradition_on_the_Grand_Canal
Ro, Brandon R, (2022) "The Sacred and Profane_ Thoughts on Architectural Education and Pedagogy" (Issue: 17, vol. 13). Bologna: IN_BO: Ricerche e Progetti per il Territorio, la Città e l'Architettura. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2036-1602/14765
Ro, Brandon R, (2022) "Beauty and Transcendence in Architecture_ Four Ideals for the Secular Age" . Proceedings of the “Imagination, Transcendence, and the Secular Age” California Baptist University Architecture Symposium. https://cavad.calbaptist.edu/programs/architecture-symposium/#1671302247144-253cbd06-1b6a
Ro, Brandon R, (2022) "Theatrical and Spatial Modes of Presenting the Endowment Ritual in Latter-day Saint Temples" . IEEE: 2022 Intermountain Engineering, Technology and Computing. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9796937

Awards

Scholarship Excellence Award

Smith College of Engineering and Technology, Utah Valley University - March, 2023

Faculty Spot Award for Service

Smith College of Engineering and Technology, Utah Valley University - May, 2021