APLA Faculty Member Pushes Students to Challenge their Own Arguments

by Kate Mazade

Graduate Architecture Chair David Shanks is helping the School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture (APLA) move into a more research-focused future.

David Shanks
David Shanks

Shanks, who was recently promoted to Associate Professor with tenure, has taught at APLA since 2023 and is spearheading the new Master of Science in Architecture (MSA) degree program that focuses on mass timber design.

By integrating high-level inquiry into the studio environment, Shanks is preparing students to move beyond professional baseline expectations and become leaders in an increasingly specialized industry.

Shanks’ teaching philosophy centers on “critical interrogation”—prompting students to challenge and test their own ideas to make them stronger and more defensible.

Three men work at desks with laptops. One man stands and looks at a screen while two others are seated and focused on their computers. Large windows are in the background.
Shanks believes the strength of APLA’s programs lie in the integration of research and teaching.

“I want us to not resort to platitudes or take certain arguments as given,” he said. “We can come up with experiments to strengthen our cases.”

In his Fall Research Methods and Spring Capstone courses in the graduate program, students follow academic publication processes, developing prototypes to bolster arguments and then disseminating their research in conference settings. He views the program as a flywheel to accelerate the work currently being conducted by the Auburn Mass Timber Collaborative (AMTC).

Beyond the classroom, Shanks leads interdisciplinary projects that bridge architecture, material science and engineering. He is currently wrapping up production on a portable pavilion that showcases bio-based construction materials—supported by the Alabama Research and Development Enhancement Fund (ARDEF) and HudsonAlpha.

Two men sit at a table with papers, a laptop, and small architectural models, appearing focused on their work in a classroom setting.
Over the last year, Shanks oversaw the design and construction of a mobile pavilion made of bio-based materials.
Four men stand and converse in a woodworking shop, surrounded by tools, machinery, and stacks of wood.
Alongside other mass timber researchers, Shanks is heading the new Master of Science in Architecture program.
A man speaks while seated in a classroom, gesturing with his hand, as three other adults listen. Architectural drawings and a model are visible in the background.
Shanks teaches both graduate and undergraduate courses in APLA.

That project—which is a collaboration between the College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC) and the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment (CFWE) —was a building block for a new $160 million grant that was awarded in July by the National Science Foundation to a group led by the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. Known as the BRIDGES Engine, the 10-year project will investigate bio-based products that utilize Alabama’s agricultural resources. Within it, Shanks will research how local grasses can be used for insulation and develop protective coatings to improve the durability of mass timber.

Four people in a classroom discuss architectural drawings and models displayed on a wall. Two stand and gesture toward the plans while two sit and observe.
Shanks challenges students to be critical of the status quo and investigate their own ideas.

Shanks credits Auburn for allowing him to integrate his research and teaching in a way that has both a strong local impact and a broader implication through a butterfly effect of people.

“The research is about supporting local economies, but I hope we can bring our expertise to a wider context by sending graduates into the world,” he said.

See more in:
Auburn Mass Timber Collaborative (AMTC), Faculty Collaboration, Faculty Recognition, Mass Timber, Research

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David Shanks