Mission
The Center for American Architecture and Design seeks to provide scholars, practitioners, students, and others with opportunities to examine contemporary and historical issues in architecture and other related design disciplines, to collect resources on architecture and make them available to scholars and researchers, and to increase public awareness and appreciation of architecture, the most public form of art.
Founded in 1982 with a focus on regional architecture, the Center now expands its scope to include the investigation of fundamental issues of design that are integral to our understanding of architecture. The impact of architecture and design transcends political boundaries and the complexity of economic realities and social conditions are facts that produce interrelatedness and interdependence. By establishing the Center as the locus of discussion for fundamental issues that affect the architecture and design of the Americas, we hope to bring together scholars, the design profession, and the public.
In addition to providing a forum for discussion, the Center strives to coalesce support for scholars who conduct research and articulate the nature of architectural and related design disciplines in the Americas for the benefit of others--practicing architects, urban planners, landscape architects, designers from other fields, and a growing body of individuals who seek a sensitive treatment of the built world that surrounds them. We endeavor to continually respond to the fundamental issues facing architecture. By stimulating a sense of what has been, is now, and should be for the future, the Center hopes to influence the quality of landscape, urban spaces, and design.
The Center regularly stages national symposia, publishes the CENTER, Centerline, and O'Neil Ford Monograph and Duograph book series, and supports independent research and scholarship in architecture and design. The Center also sponsors exhibitions, books, seminars, films, bi-weekly forums during the fall and spring semesters, and lectures to raise public awareness of the possibilities for economic growth and enhanced human welfare posed by higher design standards.
The goals of the Center for American Architecture and Design are wide and are designed to ensure that important subjects receive the attention of scholars, theoreticians, and practitioners, while providing the public with opportunities to discover and share the findings that the Center's efforts produce. Projects of the Center are supported entirely by grants and gifts from foundations, individuals, and businesses. The Center has garnered financial support from such major insistutions as the Graham Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts, the Annenberg Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, in addition to receiving gifts from private individuals.
The Center is located in Battle Hall Room 105 on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. Michael Benedikt is the Director, Kevin Alter is the Associate Director, Christine Wong serves as Production Editor, and Leora Visotzky serves as Center Associate. The Center can be reached by phone at +1 512-471-9890, fax at +1 512-471-7033, or e-mail at CAAD@austin.utexas.edu
