2014 Mary Kihl Award Recipient

After receiving a BA degree in Art History from Colby College (‘63), Stephen Weeks served in the US Navy then earned a B.Arch with High Distinction from the University of Minnesota (‘73). Professor Weeks joined the Architecture faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1979 where he taught Building Materials and Construction Methods, seminars in Masonry Design and the Building Production Process and both graduate and undergraduate Design studios. He won a 1985 Progressive Architecture research award for his study on Preferences in Dwelling Design, sponsored by the McKnight Foundation, evaluating Minnesota’s first development of energy-efficient construction techniques (1985).

Prof. Weeks’ research projects in building design, innovative construction materials and assembly methods include a study to apply Swedish factory crafted housing systems to Minnesota’s home-building industry (1992), electronic content editor for the first three CD-ROM editions for the classic reference text, Architectural Graphics Standards (1997-2001), and sustainable building material evaluation techniques for Hennepin County and the Department of Natural Resources (1997), He was the designer of several houses applying experimental solid structural panel construction and exterior insulation methods with colleagues for the Wilder Foundation (2003-2006); and is producing time-lapse documentation of the construction of three designs for the University of Minnesota by Frank Gehry, Antoine Predock and Steven Holl, as interactive technology-enhanced web-learning tools. In 2011, he was a Co-Chair of the 11th North American Masonry Conference and Co-Editor of its Proceedings.

From 2000 until his retirement in 2010, he served as Department Co-Head and then Director of Graduate Studies, where he directed the development of the Master of Science in Architecture Research degrees in Sustainable Design, Metropolitan Design and Heritage Preservation. Elected to the ARCC Board in 2002, he became Treasurer of in 2003, serving until 2011. In 2013, he began service on the MN Department of Education, Public Library Accessibility and Improvements Review Committee evaluating proposals for general renovation or expansion of an existing library building, new construction, and accessibility projects.


More information about the Mary Kihl Distinguished Service Award