Not only is the new Pikes Peak Visitor Center under construction and scheduled to open next summer, but the Broadmoor Manitou and Pikes Peak Cog Railroad is currently under complete reconstruction. This unique railroad winds up Pikes Peak allowing visitors to enjoy the spectacular views. If you are curious about this project, check out this informative video from Trains magazine.
Brain Calhoun, Principal-in-Charge for the Chinook Trail Middle School project, will be speaking at this year’s EDspaces national conference about the design of this innovative school. Joining Brian will be the school’s Principal, Tom Andrew. The Chinook Trail Middle School incorporated project-based learning, design thinking, and playful biophilic elements to offer an exceptional education experience.
RTA is excited to be involved in the expansion of the Catalyst Campus in downtown Colorado Springs. This small project involves renovating an existing antique store into a contemporary office with updated color, signage, and exterior landscaping.
Welcome to Beyond the Blueprints, where we get to know RTA staff beyond their work lives. Join us in discovering the passions and interests of our amazing team!
You have several unique interests from painting to physics – where did they start?
It goes back to my childhood in Russia - my father was an architect, and when I was very small, I liked to look at his drawings and the models in his office. I thought I saw how things fit together. I don’t know how much I really understood, but it was fun. My Grandfather was a math teacher, and whenever I was bored, I would ask him to give me a problem to solve. That’s where my passion for math comes from.
Natalia painting in college, photo by Michael Smetanin
I hear you dabble in painting – tell me about your painting experience?
Of course, I’ve been messing with crayons, like most of kids do, but it stuck, and I went to an afterschool art program for kids and teenagers where I did painting and drawing and a bit of sculpture. Later, I was a member of and art club in Chicago. I loved it. If you went to a sketch session, it was both challenging and relaxing, the poses change quickly, first ones for 30 seconds, then one, five, twenty, minutes, all the way to an hour. The pace immerses you in the process of seeing and capturing what you see in same flow. In high school I painted watercolor but later switched to oil.
How would you describe your painting style?
I would describe my arts style as something between abstract and realistic – like an impressionist. I like to express what I see, it’s not really an expression of my ideas as much as just a picture of what I see. I try to focus on painting from my feelings more, you know, but I like the problem solving it involves.
Some of Natalia's Paintings
What degrees do you have?
I was considering studying art in a community college, but physics and math were also interesting to me so I studied that instead. In Russia, I got my undergrad degree in physics and Master in Applied Mathematics, then I had a chance to study in the United States. In the United States I earned a PH.D. in Chemical Engineering - it’s a very broad field where you learn a lot about the theory behind the inner workings of engineering as opposed to the applications. Even though my degree was in engineering, all the work I did after graduation was in the applied and computational mathematics. I worked in that field for a while but found that it was very hard to compete for tenure-track positions in math with a degree in engineering. Eventually I found a way to combine my interest in art, design and mathematics when I got a master’s degree in Architecture – it was like coming back to my childhood, I guess.
City of Krasnoyarsk in Russia, where Natalia grew up
Wow! That’s a lot of degrees! What did you do with the degrees now?
I still help my friends with their research projects. One project, with a friend in Moscow, explores the propagation of a laser light through the atmosphere. Essentially, there are lots of fluctuations in the atmosphere, and when you send a laser of light through it, the laser beam becomes scattered. We are studying how it gets scattered and how to probe the atmosphere to see when it’s easiest to pass a signal through. Another research project, with a friend in Israel, is quite theoretical – we are trying to analyze mathematical models for turbulence from the point of view of information theory.
Presentation poster from one of Natalia's research projects.
What does research look like for these topics? Are you conducting experiments?
Mostly I work with equations that describe physical models. I either write computer codes that solve the equations or adapt a specialized software, then I run computer simulations. Even when you have a code ready, to use it you need to understand the parameters, how to select and adjust them, and how they affect the physics and the quality of solution. This needs not only patience, but also experience, which I am trying to pass to younger folks who are going to replace me in these projects.
Do you have any plans for another degree or continued learning?
I would like to study more and do more different things - but I can’t afford another degree and another career in terms of lifespan. The good thing is that I don’t have to go to school to study, that there are still plenty to learn at my current job, and that there are opportunities my current field.
We have recipes for how to do things, and then there are solutions beyond the recipes. I would love a chance to develop new techniques, tools and designs, and – if I am really lucky - to pull-in the ties from beyond. For instance, I am fascinated by the mystery or art. When and how, a functional design, like a building, becomes an art? Some aesthetical principles have been understood and can be learned and used, some still to be discovered, but there will be something uncatchable, something that makes art art. This is what I want to catch.
RTA is excited to share that the Fairview High School Renovations project, completed with Adolfson & Peterson Construction in 2019, has been honored by Engineering News-Record Mountain States with a K-12 Award of Merit. The 107,000 sf renovation for the Boulder Valley School District updated the 1970’s era-building to reorganize classrooms, add a gym, revamp the admin offices and incorporate a modern auditorium. The renovations were carried out through multiple phase construction to avoid disrupting the academic year. The renovated building now serves over 2,000 students.
Chinook Trails Middle School was recently featured in Education Snapshots, with a full photo tour of the facility. The article explores the design and innovation of the building, which was completed in 2019.
Check out the photo tour here.
The Parker Adventist Hospital MOB recently celebrated its topping out. The construction team, client representatives, and design team members, including Kevin Gould, RTA Architect’s principal in charge and Dr. Howard Ellis of MED Development were on site to sign the beam and unfurl the flag. The building will accommodate multiple medical practices and expanded services for the Parker community.
The project is slated for completion in 2021. Learn more here
The Lake City Community School is months away from completion! During a recent site visit, Construction Administrator Darren Rouse got a great bird’s eye view of the progress using his drone. The footage he captured highlights the renovated facility and stunning views. The Lake City school will serve over a hundred students upon completion. We are excited to be bringing this project to a close!
Click here to learn more about how the school will provide a safer and improved learning environment for students.
Last July we celebrated the grand opening a one-of-a-kind building, The Adaptive Sports Center’s Kelsey Wright Building in Crested Butte, CO. Check out the video tour below to see ASC show off their cutting-edge facility which hosts programming and specialized equipment fitting for adaptive sports activities ranging from skiing and snowboarding in the winter to mountain biking and rock climbing in the summer. The building was named in honor of one of the program’s earliest participants, Kelsey Wright, an avid skier who fought mitochondrial disease.
Executive Director, Chris Hensley stated, “Kelsey inspired all of us to do our best and help others live their lives to the fullest. The building that RTA created will keep Kelsey’s spirit alive by helping us to do just that.” Chris Read, Program Director of the Adaptive Sports Center noted the building is “the best piece of equipment we have ever had.” The facility now serves nearly 10,000 participants a year.
Kelsey’s family noted, “We are thrilled with the great success of the Kelsey Wright Building. It took an army of caring and dedicated people to achieve such a dream…We know that Kelsey would have been so pleased to see others have this new adventure with the Adaptive Sports Center.”
RTA has been honored to be a part of this amazing mission. Congratulation on your one-year anniversary, Adaptive Sports Center!
Click here for more details about this great project.
ASC Kelsey Wright Building Video Tour from Adaptive Sports Center on Vimeo.
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