KU professor draws international attention with innovative building design

LAWRENCE -- A design professor in the School of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Kansas found one of his projects in the international spotlight twice this spring.

Peter Pran has seen the Telenor Fornebu Headquarters in Oslo, Norway, featured recently in both Metropolis and Architectural Record. Soon a story also will be published in Architectural Review, a European industry magazine.

John Gaunt, dean of architecture and urban design, said the exposure was a feat rarely achieved.

"It's very difficult to have architectural work published in major industry publications," he said. "There aren't many in this country, and each will normally feature a couple of buildings. Architects who have become household names are seen often, but it takes a combination of brilliance and persistence to have much work published."

Pran served as the design principal in charge and design leader on the Scandinavian telecommunications giant's project, which was a joint venture by NBBJ, a Seattle-based architectural firm, and two collaborating Norwegian firms, HUS and PKA.

For Telenor, Pran's design team came up with a 2 million-square-foot building to accommodate the needs of about 7,000 employees. The structure sits on the shore of the Oslofjord on the former site of the Oslo international airport.

The building is notable, according to one of the publications, because of its "progressive officing." Telenor's employees have no fixed stations or offices but work from cell phones and laptops almost anywhere within the building. That design plan gives the company the leeway to easily expand or adapt to technological advances, and it creates an open and democratic working atmosphere for all.

Pran maintains a connection with NBBJ in addition to his full-time teaching duties at KU, and he says his "real world" experiences give him an added ability to share useful information with his students.

He now is working on a 65-story structure in Singapore and a 200,000-square-foot office in Oslo.

"I share everything with my students," he said. "I share the problems and difficulties as well as client relationships. I try to prepare them for working life."

Gaunt, who was a colleague of Pran's at an architectural firm for about 10 years, said Pran's presence among the faculty of the architecture program has benefited the students immensely.

"While we have many fine teachers on this faculty, it's valuable to have someone who has actually designed many built works -- especially works that are acknowledged by publication in international journals," Gaunt said. "He has been a teacher in many architectural schools, and I believe it's fair of me to say he is an inspirational teacher."

Pran first came to KU in 1997 as the Rose Morgan distinguished visiting professor of architecture in the School of Architecture and Urban Design.

He said he couldn't be happier being at KU.

"I absolutely love it here," Pran said. "This is a tremendous school of architecture and urban design."