Rate My Professor Patrick Tripeny

Patrick Tripeny is a Professor of Architecture in the School of Architecture at the University of Utah, specializing in Architectural Structures. He teaches courses such as ARCH 2630 Design Foundations Workshop, ARCH 3310 Structures I, ARCH 4872 Building Technology in Architectural Design, ARCH 6310 Structures I, ARCH 6612 Comprehensive Building Technology I, and ARCH 6960 Special Topics. Born and raised in Wyoming, Tripeny studied architecture at the University of Notre Dame, where his aptitude in mathematics led to a concentration in structural engineering. During his junior year, he lived and studied classical architecture in Rome. Following his undergraduate studies, he held several architectural positions in California. A interest sparked by Buckminster Fuller's work prompted graduate studies at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, resulting in the development of a tension space frame system. Recognizing challenges in modeling space frames, he pursued further graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he created a computer algorithm for generating space frame structures drawing on generative grammar research by George Stiny and William Mitchell. There, he served as a teaching assistant for the undergraduate structures course.

Tripeny joined the University of Utah from Michigan to teach structures and design, working to integrate structural courses into the broader curriculum with a design-oriented rather than engineering-focused approach. His classroom innovations produced papers on pedagogy and fostered networks with fellow structures educators nationwide. He received the ACSA/AIAS New Faculty Teaching Award in 2001, which led to his involvement with the Parker/Ambrose Simplified Engineering textbook series published by John Wiley & Sons. Key publications include co-authorship of "Building Structures" (1993, with J.E. Ambrose), "Simplified Design of Concrete Structures" (2007), "Simplified Design of Wood Structures" (2009), and multiple editions of "Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders" (latest 2024, with J. Ambrose and S.S.B. Kuska). Additional works encompass "Guidelines for the Design of Double-Layer Grids" (1997), "Special Structures: Past, Present, and Future" (2002), and "Cable Net Structures in Mid-Twentieth Century Architecture" (2005 conference paper). His research focuses on architecture structures and morphology. He also earned the University of Utah Early Career Teaching Award and contributed a chapter on the University of Utah Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence (2023).