Alert: Plaza Building Is Closed
The Plaza Building will be closed through at least Dec. 6 because of a water line break and expected repairs. The Health Center, located in the building, will only offer Telehealth until further notice. Please check the Auraria Campus website for updates.
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Erik Sommerfeld
Associate Professor, Director of Graduate Studies, Director of Design Build Certificate Programs and Initiatives
- College of Architecture and Planning
Email Address:erik.sommerfeld@ucdenver.edu
Primary Phone:303-315-0008
Colorado Building Workshop Website
Erik “Rick” Sommerfeld is an Architect, Associate Professor, and the Director of ColoradoBuildingWorkshop, the design-build program at the University of Colorado Denver. Since founding ColoradoBuildingWorkshop in 2009, Rick has worked with his students to design and build projects for not-for-profits and government agencies focused on the environment, arts, and education. These structures are often located in sensitive remote environments requiring innovative design strategies.
His pedagogical vision for design build is heavily focused on integrated project delivery. This requires students to work closely with clients, engineers, and consultants at the earliest stages of design, testing their ideas against contextual and programmatic constraints.
Courses
MOST RECENT COURSES
- Design Studio IV
- Advanced Design Studio (Design Build Bluff)
- Maintaining Quality Managing Risk
- Single Source Project Delivery
- History Native American Architecture (Design Build Bluff)
- Construction in Design Build (Design Build Bluff)
- Design in the Landscape
Areas of Expertise
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Innovative use of common building materials reimagined through labor-intensive construction techniques Challenging the conventions around traditional building assemblies and their relationship to the building Collaborative design process explored through the academic design-build modelEducation, Licensure & Certifications
DEGREES HELD
- BENVD University of Colorado Boulder ’97
- MARCH University of Colorado Denver ‘01