News

October 30 & 31, 2023

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 2023 Advanced Building Skins Conference and Expo in Bern, Switzerland. His contribution is about Post Occupancy Monitoring experiences and results in the context of user behavior in buildings. 
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October 2023

Jörg Rügemer visits the 18th Venice Biennale: The Laboratory of the Future, curated by architect, academic, and novelist Lesley Lokko. How would our world look like if we invest all the energy that flows into useless wars and fights for more power into a better and more just world....? 

October 12 & 13, 2023

Jörg Rügemer is an invited speaker at the 2023 AIA Custom Residential Architects Network CRAN symposium in Salt Lake City, Utah. On Thursday, he speaks about his experiences with Accessory Dwelling Units as a possible model of Utah urban and suburban densification.

Jörg also moderates the Friday morning session with Architect Tom Kundig, who talks about his work and most recent projects within the symposium's context topic of Living and Building in the West.

July 2023

Together with a group of young Park City High School graduates, Jörg Rügemer embarks on an educational scuba-diving living aboard trip to the Indo-Pacific ocean. Besides having a lot of fun, the group explored and learned about oceanic habitats and human's severe impact on the fragile ocean plant and fish life, followed by many discussions about possible solutions. 

April 13, 2023

Jörg Rügemer is invited to speak at the 2023 Bond Multi Event in San Diego, California, which is a professional forum for Leading Multifamily Architects. His presentation titled: Where the Couch Potato makes Sense - The Passive House covers important design principles to achieve Passive House performance in larger-scale housing and institutional projects.

March 23, 2023

Part of the Kunga ADU Design+Build Team presents the project's development, design, construction, and final Post-Occupancy performance at the 2023 Intermountain Sustainability Summit at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Jörg Rügemer is the founding director of the program between 2016 - 2020 and the Kunga Accessory Dwelling Unit is the first building that emerged from the new program.

November 2022

The groundbreaking of Studio 125 in Park City in November 2022 is closely followed by the installation of the formwork for footings and foundation walls before an unexpectedly snow-heavy end of the year slows the project down for the winter. After an incredibly harsh 2022-2023 winter, construction progressed through the summer and fall, with framing starting after the winter 2023/24. Similar to its neighboring 125 Haus, Studio 125 is a passive-to-active research case study project for maximum energy efficiency at a reasonable construction cost. Upon completion, the project will make the case for suburban densification as one possible solution to the ongoing housing crisis in the Salt Lake City and Park City metropolitan areas. Studio 125 is constructed in a fully design-build delivery, therefore ensuring the desired high aesthetic and required high-performance quality.

September 2022

After 3 years of careful design and integrated development, the 127 Haus construction started in The Colony in Park City in the fall of 2022. Due to its challenging location at 8,800' elevation, a relatively short summer and fall building window will stretch the project's construction phase well into 2024. As of fall 2023, footings, foundations, and backfill have been installed, with the 12" thick under-slab insulation going in to ensure a thermal-bridge-free thermal building envelope, and the framing is underway.

May 2022

The Barn Haus Site Net Zero and the Kunga ADU high-performance approach are presented at the 2022, 6th biennial Residential Building Design & Construction Conference  RBDCC in State College, PA. 

March 2022

Jörg Rügemer receives the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture 2022 ACSA Design Build Award for founding, directing, and instructing the Design+Build Salt Lake Program, specifically the Kunga ADU, which was designed and constructed with students of the School of Architecture, University of Utah, between summer 2019 and fall 2020.
The ACSA Design Build Award award recognizes projects that demonstrate how faculty, students, and schools work to realize design-build projects.
The Kunga ADU Design + Build

February 2022

The Barn Haus in Holladay is featured in the January/February 2022 issue of Builder Magazine:
German architect combines sustainability with agricultural influence in UtahThe Barn Haus by Atelier Jörg Rügemer aims to show that resilient, sustainable buildings can be developed within market-rate budgets. By Symone Strong.
Barn Haus featured in Builder Magazine

September 2021

The Barn Haus in Holladay is included in the 2021 Design Arts Utah Show, starting September 2021 in Salt Lake City. Selected by Juror Ms. Antionette Carroll, who is the Founder, President, and CEO of Creative Reaction Lab in St. Louis, Missouri, the award is dedicated to the promotion of excellence in the diverse fields of design in Utah. For the online exhibit, please click the button below:
Design Arts Utah 2021 - The Barn House

August 2021

Jörg Rügemer visits the 17th Venice Architectural Biennale: How Will We Live Together, curated by architect and scholar Haskim Sarkis.

April 08 & 09, 2021

The Barn Haus and the Field of Dreams EcoCommunity projects are presented at the 2021 International ARCC (Architectural Research Centers Consortium) Conference: PERFORMATIVE ENVIRONMENTS in Virtual Tucson, AZ.  

January 29, 2021

Jörg Rügemer receives the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture 2021 ACSA Collaborative Practice Award for the Field of Dreams EcoCommunity project. The award honors best practices in university-based and community-engaged programs, in which faculty, students, and neighborhood citizens are valued equally and that aim to address issues of social injustice through design.
Field of Dreams EcoCommunity

October 16, 2020

The Kunga Accessory Dwelling Unit receives the 2020 AIA Utah Design Merit Award for the successful finalization of the second ADU ever permitted and built within the Salt Lake City jurisdiction.
Design+Build Salt Lake.org

March 18-19, 2020 (cancelled due to Covid-19 Pandemic)

During the 11th Annual Intermountain Sustainability Summit at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, Jörg Rügemer and his Design+Build Salt Lake Student Team will present and discuss the design and construction of the program's first build project, which is the 650 SF Accessory Dwelling Unit Kunga Project for a Tibetan refugee family currently under construction...
Design+Build Salt Lake.org

March 04-05, 2020

Jörg Rügemer presents at the 2020 Residential Building Design & Construction Conference in State College, PA. His presentation is on Lesson's Learned when developing
affordable high-performance housing for a non-profit client.

February 12 - 28, 2020

Jörg Rügemer is invited to present his recent scope of work and his efforts to combine professional practice, scholarship and education for a just built environment at the Stuckeman School of Architecture at Pennsylvania State University, at the University of Maryland's School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and at the University of Arizona's College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture. 

December 06-10, 2019

Jörg Rügemer met for a 5-day workshop with Partners of Aster Impact in Zagreb, Croatia, and with the mayor and officials of the nearby City of Krizevci, to present and discuss the most recent development and research of the Aster Eco Farm and Village, a carbon neutral town development in rural Croatia. The team also visited the site for this future development.

October 2019

Chaired by Carie Penabad, Assoc. AIA, Associate Dean and Director of the Bachelor of Architecture program at the University of Miami and Principal at Cúre & Penabad, and juried by Katherine Schwennsen, FAIA, Professor and Director of Clemson University’s School of Architecture, Anne Schopf, FAIA, Partner at Mahlum, and Kang Kiang, AIA, Managing Principal at Mark Cavagnero Associates , Field of Dreams EcoCommunity receives the 2019 AIA Utah Merit Design Award. Award ceremony will be on October 25, 2019 at the AIA Utah HQ in downtown Salt Lake City.

September 06 - October 18, 2019

Salt Lake City's Slim House winning competition scheme has been selected by juror Gail Anderson, Creative Director of Visual Arts Press at the School of Visual Arts, New York, for inclusion in the 2019 Design Arts Utah exhibition. The exhibition will be open to the public from September 06 to 20, with a formal reception and celebration on September 20 from 6 to 9 pm. Location is the Rio Gallery on 300 S. Rio Grande (355 West), Salt Lake City, Utah.
Salt Lake Tribune Article about Design Arts Utah

March 21-22, 2019

During the 10th Annual Intermountain Sustainability Summit at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, Jörg Rügemer presented and discussed challenges and chances anticipated during the design and construction of the first Field of Dreams EcoCommunity units in Kearns, Utah, which are a comprehensive overhaul of the typical Habitat for Humanity code-standard home in Salt Lake City.

October 2018

During a first, investigative research trip to Carrega Liguria and Gangi, Sicily, Italy, AJR explored the potential to re-transform deteriorated, traditional tower houses into occupyable living space. The overall goal of such intervention will be to create a resilient case study example, to revitalize villages on the decline, which is a common phenomena among mountain villages in Italy and many other places.
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October 1, 2018

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 13th Conference on Advanced Building Skins in Bern, Switzerland, where he is also a Session Chair for the C1 - Public Policies and Funding session. His presentation is on Funding for Home Ownership for Low-Income Demographics.
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September 14, 2018

After 3 years of careful site planning, community outreach, rezoning and intense building design and energy optimization, the construction of the first two units of the Field of Dreams EcoCommunity started in summer 2017. These units will now be dedicated to its families, which marks an important milestone in the overall development of the project. Thereafter, there are 18 more to be build...

September 10-21, 2018

Field of Dreams EcoCommunity has been selected by juror Christine Gaspar, Executive Director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a New York-based nonprofit, for inclusion in the 2018 Design Arts Utah exhibition. The exhibition will be open to the public from September 10 to October 19, with a formal reception and celebration on September 21st from 6 to 9 pm. Location is the Rio Gallery on 300 S. Rio Grande (355 West), Salt Lake City, Utah.

September 01-06, 2018

20 graduate students of the School of Architecture, University of Utah, together with Professors Rügemer and Tobler, explore Havana, the capital of Cuba, for potential final graduate master project programs and sites for the upcoming spring 2019 semester. The highly explorative journey will be documented in an upcoming exhibition at the School of Architecture.

June 11, 2018

Concept and progress of the Field of Dreams EcoCommunity Unit 9 & 10 is covered on local KSL TV. Both units will be dedicated on September 14, 2018.
Watch KSL TV Coverage

April 2018

Jörg Rügemer receives the 
Alta Sustainability Leadership Award
for the Sustainability Community Partnership with Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity: The Field of Dreams EcoCommunity. University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.

March 5, 2018

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 12th International Conference on Design Principles & Practices in Barcelona, Spain. His presentation is on the design principles and strategies of the Field of Dreams EcoCommunity.

March 2018

Groundbreaking of the Barn House in Holladay, which will become Atelier Jörg Rügemer's first Site Zero Energy building.

November 20, 2017

AJR wins Salt Lake City's Home Innovation Competition with the Slim House proposal on a challenging, roughly 30' wide, south-facing lot on the West Side of Salt Lake's downtown.
Deseret News Coverage Building Salt Lake Coverage Fox 13 Coverage

October 14, 2017

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 2017 Bond Custom - Meetings Forums for Principal Architects in La Jolla, California. Titled: Stay Hot and Be Cool for Less, his presentation 
is on the Passive to Active House design principles.

October 3, 2017

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 12th Conference on Advanced Building Skins in Bern, Switzerland. His presentation is on Affordable and Cost-Effective High Performance Housing. 
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March 17, 2017

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 2017 Intermountain Sustainability Summit at Weber State University, Utah. His presentation is on the urban and community planning component of the Field of Dreams EcoCommunity.

March 9, 2017

Jörg Rügemer lectures at the Department of Architecture at the University of Eugene. His presentation is on his professional practice at the intersection of research, education, and community engagement.

September 2016

Trefoil Ranch Girl Scout Cabins receive the Timber City Finalist Award in the Private House XS Category. The project is on display at the National Building Museum, Washington, DC., from 09/2016 - 09/2017.

September 2016

'Girl Scouts of Utah Summer Cabins // University of Utah School of Architecture' featured on Architizer.com
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March 2016

The Girl Scouts Utah Summer Cabins are an Architizer A+ Award Finalist in the Typology Category: Residential Private House XS category.

September 10, 2015

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 31st International Passive Low Energy in Architecture PLEA Conference in Bologna, Italy. His presentation is on the Girl Scouts of Utah's Interlocking Cross-Laminated Timber Cabins.
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Summer 2015

The Girl Scouts of Utah Cabins receive the following awards:

2015 Wood Design Regional Excellence Award, Oakland, CA

Celebrating Excellence in Wood Structures: 2014-15 North American Wood Design Award, Canadian Wood Council, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 

April 21, 2015

Jörg Rügemer participates in and speaks at the ArchitekTour 2015 Annual National Polish Workshop in Walbrzych, Poland. His presentation is titled: Architectural Strategies towards a Better Built Environment, his workshop students explore urban connections between the Ksiaz Castle and Walbrzych itself. 

January 30, 2015

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 4th AIARG All Ireland Architecture Research Group Conference in Dublin, Ireland, on The Girl Scouts of Utah’s Interlocking Cross Laminated Summer Cabins.

January 23, 2015

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 11th International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic and Social Sustainability in Copenhagen, Denmark, about Project:ARCHITECURE. 
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January 15, 2015

Jörg Rügemer is an invited speaker at the Institute for the Theory of Architecture, School of Architecture, University of Technology in Karlsruhe, Germany - KIT. His talk is titled Gehry Ghost.

April  30, 2014

Jörg Rügemer is an invited speaker at the Department for Architecture at the University of Applied Sciences in Cologne, Germany. He lectures on Tiny Houses.

April 29, 2014

Jörg Rügemer is an invited speaker at the Hafen University in Hamburg, Germany. He addresses the challenges of an architect when designing his or her own house in a presentation titled: Das Haus des Architekten (The architect's House).

April  26, 2014

Jörg Rügemer speaks at the 18th International Passive House Conference in Aachen, Germany, on The Potential for Passive House Development at Market Rate.

April 11, 2014

Jörg Rügemer and Erin Carraher are invited to present on the Girl Scout Cabins in Utah and receive the following prestigious ACSA awards at the 102nd ACSA Annual Meeting in Miami Beach, Florida:

• Collaborative Practice Award
• Diversity Achievement Award

April 10, 2014

Jörg Rügemer is an invited speaker at the School of Architecture at Florida International's University. He presents on High Performance Architecture at Market Rate Cost.

April 15, 2013

Jörg Rügemer delivers an invited speech at the School of Architecture, Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. 
He presents on Linking Housing, Work and Services in Contemporary Architecture.

April 09, 2013

Jörg Rügemer is an invited speaker at the Mountain Town Speaker Series in Park City, Utah. His talk is on Green Design with Altitude - Cost-Effective High Performance Homes.

December 07, 2011

Jörg Rügemer is an invited speaker to the 2011 Energy Forum in Bressanone (Brixen) in Italy. His talk is titled Architectural Design for Energy-Efficient and Cost-Effective Buildings in Cold Climate Zones.
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