{"id":3954,"date":"2014-02-14T12:34:42","date_gmt":"2014-02-14T16:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=3954"},"modified":"2023-02-13T10:03:48","modified_gmt":"2023-02-13T14:03:48","slug":"new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"New Arcus Center at Kalamazoo College Attracting Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Arcus<\/a>Wood is used in one way or another on just about every home or building, from frame to trim, from siding to roof, and to finely crafted accents. But chances are you\u2019ve never seen a building with log \u201cbricks\u201d laid with their circular ends showing, not stacked lengthwise, as you\u2019d see on a typical log home.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s about to change.<\/p>\n

Construction crews are busy at Kalamazoo College\u2019s newest building, the Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership<\/a>, applying a one-of-a-kind cordwood masonry skin to this one-of-a-kind 10,000-square-foot building on the corner of Academy and Monroe streets designed by Chicago-based architectural firm Studio Gang Architects.<\/p>\n

The wood is northern white cedar, and comes from a commercial forest in Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula, says Av Mulder, foreman for Burggrabe B and B Masonry out of Belding, Mich.<\/p>\n

Mulder and his masons receive logs that have been cured and cut to size by the building\u2019s construction management firm, Miller-Davis in Kalamazoo. They then form the logs in place with a special mortar that sets slowly to minimize shrinking and cracking.<\/p>\n

\"Placing<\/a>The end result is a seemingly random, yet intelligently designed, pattern that Mulder calls \u201ca peak and valley effect.\u201d The construction technique has been employed on barns and sheds in Northern Michigan and Canada for generations. But it\u2019s believed to be the first time that a commercial building in the United States has been built with this type of facade.<\/p>\n

Mulder stopped short of estimating how many individual \u201cbricks\u201d might be placed, but did say about 100 cords of wood would be used.<\/p>\n

Masons attended a two-day workshop to learn how to apply the cordwood masonry. According to Mulder, a mason since 1971, neither he nor the other masons had ever worked with this technique before. He said his crew must always think about what size log to place next, in order to keep their placement fluid looking. Where the walls of the building bend and curve, masons have to customize the logs even further, making certain their angles correspond to the walls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t like laying a line down and building a wall,\u201d Mulder says. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like working with fieldstone, but you can trim fieldstone. This is all eyeball, always thinking, especially around the windows. It\u2019s like nothing I\u2019ve ever worked on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Work has been hampered by the harsh winter the region has endured, but Mulder forecasts that the log-laying could be complete by April.<\/p>\n

\"Arcus<\/a>\u201cCordwood masonry is an old construction technique that has been updated for a modern building,\u201d says Paul Manstrom, Kalamazoo College associate vice president for Facilities Management. \u201cThe students, faculty, staff, and visitors who use the building will find that it\u2019s both inspired by and suited to learning and social justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Manstrom, the building is slated for a summertime completion and will be ready for classes in Sept. 2014. The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership will hold its With\/Out Borders<\/a> conference in the new structure in September.<\/p>\n

The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership was created through an endowment from the Arcus Foundation<\/a>. Construction of the Center\u2019s new building is funded through a gift from Jon Stryker, K alumnus (Class of 1982), trustee, and Arcus Foundation founder.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wood is used in one way or another on just about every home or building, from frame to trim, from siding to roof, and to finely crafted accents. But chances are you\u2019ve never seen a building with log \u201cbricks\u201d laid with their circular ends showing, not stacked lengthwise, as you\u2019d see on a typical log […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":3955,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[235],"tags":[99,20],"post_formats":[],"class_list":["post-3954","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-institutional-announcements","tag-facilities","tag-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"\r\nNew Arcus Center at Kalamazoo College Attracting Attention - News and Events<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wood is used in one way or another on just about every home or building, from frame to trim, from siding to roof, and to finely crafted accents. But\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Arcus Center at Kalamazoo College Attracting Attention - News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Wood is used in one way or another on just about every home or building, from frame to trim, from siding to roof, and to finely crafted accents. But\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News and Events\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KalamazooCollege\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-02-14T16:34:42+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-13T14:03:48+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1536\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Andy Brown\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@kcollege\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Andy Brown\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/\",\"name\":\"New Arcus Center at Kalamazoo College Attracting Attention - News and Events\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-02-14T16:34:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-13T14:03:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166\"},\"description\":\"Wood is used in one way or another on just about every home or building, from frame to trim, from siding to roof, and to finely crafted accents. But\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg\",\"width\":\"2048\",\"height\":\"1536\",\"caption\":\"Facade of Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"New Arcus Center at Kalamazoo College Attracting Attention\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/\",\"name\":\"News and Events\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166\",\"name\":\"Andy Brown\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a85189587f7af74a5efd2cb4233df125?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a85189587f7af74a5efd2cb4233df125?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Andy Brown\"},\"description\":\"As the Director of News and Social Media, Andy shares the stories that distinguish Kalamazoo College through social media, the Web and the news media. Contact him at abrown@kzoo.edu.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/contact-us\/\"]}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"New Arcus Center at Kalamazoo College Attracting Attention - News and Events","description":"Wood is used in one way or another on just about every home or building, from frame to trim, from siding to roof, and to finely crafted accents. But","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"New Arcus Center at Kalamazoo College Attracting Attention - News and Events","og_description":"Wood is used in one way or another on just about every home or building, from frame to trim, from siding to roof, and to finely crafted accents. But","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/","og_site_name":"News and Events","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KalamazooCollege","article_published_time":"2014-02-14T16:34:42+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-02-13T14:03:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"2048","height":"1536","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Andy Brown","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@kcollege","twitter_site":"@kcollege","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Andy Brown","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/","name":"New Arcus Center at Kalamazoo College Attracting Attention - News and Events","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg","datePublished":"2014-02-14T16:34:42+00:00","dateModified":"2023-02-13T14:03:48+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166"},"description":"Wood is used in one way or another on just about every home or building, from frame to trim, from siding to roof, and to finely crafted accents. But","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg","width":"2048","height":"1536","caption":"Facade of Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"New Arcus Center at Kalamazoo College Attracting Attention"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/","name":"News and Events","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8b54e37c984840c05e9ec797b6616166","name":"Andy Brown","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a85189587f7af74a5efd2cb4233df125?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a85189587f7af74a5efd2cb4233df125?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Andy Brown"},"description":"As the Director of News and Social Media, Andy shares the stories that distinguish Kalamazoo College through social media, the Web and the news media. Contact him at abrown@kzoo.edu.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/contact-us\/"]}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Andy Brown","author_link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/author\/abrown\/"},"guten_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",2048,1536,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10-300x225.jpg",300,225,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg","2048","1536",false],"large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10-1024x768.jpg",600,450,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",1536,1152,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",2048,1536,false],"ab-block-post-grid-landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",533,400,false],"ab-block-post-grid-square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",600,450,false],"pl-blogpost-landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",533,400,false],"pl-blogpost-square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",600,450,false],"guten_post_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",1067,800,false],"guten_post_layout_portrait_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",1200,900,false],"guten_post_layout_square_large":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",1200,900,false],"guten_post_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",533,400,false],"guten_post_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",600,450,false],"guten_post_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",600,450,false],"campus-posts-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",300,225,false],"gform-image-choice-sm":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",300,225,false],"gform-image-choice-md":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",400,300,false],"gform-image-choice-lg":["https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg",600,450,false]},"category_info":"<a aria-label=\"archive of category Institutional Announcements\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/category\/institutional-announcements\/\" rel=\"category tag\">Institutional Announcements<\/a>","tags_info":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/facilities\/\" rel=\"tag\">facilities<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/tag\/social-justice\/\" rel=\"tag\">social justice<\/a>","social_share_info":"<a data-share=\"facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/\" class=\"pl-facebook-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-facebook-f\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/\" class=\"pl-twiiter-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a><a data-share=\"linkedin\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/shareArticle?url=https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/new-arcus-center-at-kalamazoo-college-attracting-attention\/\" class=\"pl-linkedin-share social-share-default pl-social-share\" target=\"_blank\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin-in\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/a>","wordExcerpt_info":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3955 size-medium\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-10-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership exterior siding\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a>Wood is used in one way or another on just about every home or building, from frame to trim, from siding to roof, and to finely crafted accents. But chances are you\u2019ve never seen a building with log \u201cbricks\u201d laid with their circular ends showing, not stacked lengthwise, as you\u2019d see on a typical log home.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s about to change.<\/p>\n<p>Construction crews are busy at Kalamazoo College\u2019s newest building, the <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.kzoo.edu\/csjl\/\">Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership<\/a>, applying a one-of-a-kind cordwood masonry skin to this one-of-a-kind 10,000-square-foot building on the corner of Academy and Monroe streets designed by Chicago-based architectural firm Studio Gang Architects.<\/p>\n<p>The wood is northern white cedar, and comes from a commercial forest in Michigan\u2019s Upper Peninsula, says Av Mulder, foreman for Burggrabe B and B Masonry out of Belding, Mich.<\/p>\n<p>Mulder and his masons receive logs that have been cured and cut to size by the building\u2019s construction management firm, Miller-Davis in Kalamazoo. They then form the logs in place with a special mortar that sets slowly to minimize shrinking and cracking.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-61.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3961 size-medium\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-61-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Placing logs for Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership siding\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a>The end result is a seemingly random, yet intelligently designed, pattern that Mulder calls \u201ca peak and valley effect.\u201d The construction technique has been employed on barns and sheds in Northern Michigan and Canada for generations. But it\u2019s believed to be the first time that a commercial building in the United States has been built with this type of facade.<\/p>\n<p>Mulder stopped short of estimating how many individual \u201cbricks\u201d might be placed, but did say about 100 cords of wood would be used.<\/p>\n<p>Masons attended a two-day workshop to learn how to apply the cordwood masonry. According to Mulder, a mason since 1971, neither he nor the other masons had ever worked with this technique before. He said his crew must always think about what size log to place next, in order to keep their placement fluid looking. Where the walls of the building bend and curve, masons have to customize the logs even further, making certain their angles correspond to the walls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis isn\u2019t like laying a line down and building a wall,\u201d Mulder says. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of like working with fieldstone, but you can trim fieldstone. This is all eyeball, always thinking, especially around the windows. It\u2019s like nothing I\u2019ve ever worked on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Work has been hampered by the harsh winter the region has endured, but Mulder forecasts that the log-laying could be complete by April.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-111.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3963 size-medium\" src=\"\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/files\/2014\/02\/rcus-Logs-111-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership exterior under construction\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a>\u201cCordwood masonry is an old construction technique that has been updated for a modern building,\u201d says Paul Manstrom, Kalamazoo College associate vice president for Facilities Management. \u201cThe students, faculty, staff, and visitors who use the building will find that it\u2019s both inspired by and suited to learning and social justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Manstrom, the building is slated for a summertime completion and will be ready for classes in Sept. 2014. The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership will hold its <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.kzoo.edu\/csjl\/withoutborders\/\">With\/Out Borders<\/a> conference in the new structure in September.<\/p>\n<p>The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership was created through an endowment from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.arcusfoundation.org\/\">Arcus Foundation<\/a>. Construction of the Center\u2019s new building is funded through a gift from Jon Stryker, K alumnus (Class of 1982), trustee, and Arcus Foundation founder.<\/p>\n","comment_info":"No Comments","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3954","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/147"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3954"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3954\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19072,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3954\/revisions\/19072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3954"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3954"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3954"},{"taxonomy":"post_format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_formats?post=3954"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}