SUPPORT UTSOA

ROGER FULLINGTON FELLOWSHIP IN ARCHITECTURE

The School of Architecture has received a very special gift from Dallasite Roger Fullington. Through a bequest made in his will, Mr. Fullington is endowing the Roger Fullington Fellowship in Architecture with a generous gift of $150,000. When funded, the endowment will provide permanent support for the recruitment and retention of outstanding graduate students in the school's first professional degree program in architecture and will honor the legacy of Mr. Fullington's passion for architecture.

Roger Fullington, a native Texan, received his BA from The University of Texas at Austin. As a founding member of the UT Press Advisory Council, Mr. Fullington endowed The Roger Fullington Series in Architecture at the Press in 2000 to support the publication of books on architecture. To date, the endowment has helped to publish: Return to the Center: Culture, Public Space, and City-Building in a Global Era; The Hacienda in Mexico; Cinema Houston: From Nickelodeon to Megaplex; and most recently, Hal Box's Think Like an Architect.

We extend our sincere thanks to Mr. Fullington for providing much needed graduate student support to the School of Architecture through a planned gift.

There are many avenues for supporting the School of Architecture, and planned giving is one of those paths. If you are interested in opportunities to secure your family's future while leaving a legacy for the school, please contact Assistant Dean for Development, Julie Hooper at 512-471-6114 or jhooper@austin.utexas.edu. You can also learn more about planned giving opportunities at the university by visiting our website.

FRIENDS OF ARCHITECTURE

FOA's "Palm Springs Mid-Century Modernism" tour was a huge success. Led by Associate Dean Louise Harpman and Assistant Dean Jeff Evelyn, tour attendees spent two sunny days visiting a wonderful array of architectural landmarks in Palm Springs, including Frey House II and the Twin Palms Sinatra Estate. We wish to extend a very special thanks to Emily Summers, Steve Nash, Julie and Robert Taubman, Bill Edwards, Pamela Smallwood, and Nate Eudaly and the Dallas Architecture Forum for their generosity in supporting the Palm Springs tour.

Make your reservations now for FOA's upcoming tour to Seattle on July 17-20, 2008. Professor Larry Speck will serve as our guide for a walking tour of vibrant and lively downtown Seattle. Seattle has become a hotbed of contemporary architectural activity with new buildings by international stars like Holl, Koolhaas, and Gehry, along with extraordinary local firms such as Miller/Hull and LMN Architects. And Seattle's delightful waterfront makes it one of the most spectacular natural settings of any city. Spaces are filling quickly--don't miss out on this great opportunity!

For a calendar of tours, reservations, and membership details, visit Friends of Architecture.

Events

For the latest updates, check out the online UTSOA Calendar.

"BOOKS & BUILDINGS" SYMPOSIUM

A special Books & Buildings event recognizing four books and five authors from the school will take place on Tuesday, February 19, from 4-6:30 p.m. in the Harry Ransom Center’s Prothro Theatre.

Authors/books being recognized are:

• Hal Box, Think Like an Architect
  Guest Commentator: Reed Kroloff
  Director, Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum


• Dean Almy, Center: On Landscape Urbanism
  Guest Commentator: Carol Burns
  Principal, Taylor & Burns Architects


• Richard Cleary, Bridges
  Guest Commentator: Eric Delony
  Former Head, Historic American Engineering Record and noted Historic Preservationist


• Kent Butler and Fritz Steiner,
  Planning and Urban Design Standards, Student Edition
  Guest Commentator: Forster Ndubisi
  Department Head, Department of Landscape Architecture & Urban Planning, Texas A&M University

For more information, call 512.471.1922. Nearest parking: Dobie Garage, 21st & Whitis Streets

CrossThinking: RESILIENCE Symposium

Friday, February 22, 1:30-5:30 and 6:30-9:00 p.m. (including dinner)
Saturday, February 23, 8:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Flawn Academic Center, Fourth Floor Atrium
http://soa.utexas.edu/events/resilience/

CrossThinking gives all of us the opportunity to think about topics that have a tangential effect on our work and our lives - it's not about architecture, it's about all of those things that come into play at one time or another and change the way we think. CrossThinking gives new resources to draw upon, it is designed to facilitate "architects as Renaissance thinkers." And, it provides 8 hours of outstanding continuing education credits that are thought provoking, stimulating, entertaining, and enlightening.

CrossThinking: RESILIENCE will include:

• A discussion of microbial resistance to antibiotics with Dr. Patrick Davis
• A conversation about the ability of the Russian people to overcome major sociological changes with Dr. Brenda Vallance
• Insight into how children learn to read and how their development is impacted by Dr. Wesley Hoover
• An update on how the Gulf Coast is recovering from Katrina by Associate Professor Nichole Wiedemann
• A wide ranging discussion of a philosopher's approach to resilience by Dr. Tara Smith
• A review of the ability of landscapes to evolve and endure by Dr. Michael Holleran
• The resilience of economies by Dr. Stephen Tomlinson

This event is further enriched by limiting the participants to 25, so that the dialogue and interactions are intimate and immediate. Come sit across the table from the speaker, participate in the conversations, and stimulate your intellect! In addition, each year we enjoy our dinner speaker in a special location. This year we are pleased to announce that our dinner will be at Clayton Morgan's penthouse. Clayton is one of Austin's most talented interior designers and his penthouse is truly amazing.

Don't delay, visit our website to enroll now!

EXHIBIT

February 11 through March 21
Mebane Gallery
Goldsmith Hall

"Lessons from Rome:
The Work of Robert Venturi, Tod Williams, Thomas Phifer, and Paul Lewis"

Curated by Assistant Professor Smilja Milovanovic-Bertram.

Exhibit made possible through a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts.

LECTURE

Monday, February 25
Goldsmith Hall 3.120, 5:00 p.m.

Joan Busquets
Spain
Sponsored by the Dallas Urban Lab

LECTURE

Wednesday, March 19
Goldsmith Hall 3.120, 5:00 p.m.

Shannon Nichol
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd.
Seattle, Washington
Sponsored by the Kamrath Lectureship

Shannon Nichol's site-specific landscape designs can be found in cities throughout the world. Shannon's clear, distinct concepts have inspired and unified complex, interdisciplinary projects, from rooftop parks to neighborhood masterplans. Her work has been widely recognized for its fluent relationship with distinctive architectural contexts and for incorporating high intensities of use into fluidly cohesive environments.

Shannon is a founding partner of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. Recent examples of Shannon's work as Design Partner may be found in such projects as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation campus, Chicago's Lurie Garden at Millennium Park, Boston's North End Parks, and the McCaw Hall Opera House in Seattle.

LECTURE

Monday, March 24
Goldsmith Hall 3.120, 5:00 p.m.

Liat Margolis & Alexander Robinson
Cambridge
Sponsored by the Jessen Lectureship

EXHIBIT

March 24 through April 25
Mebane Gallery
Goldsmith Hall

"AD Stenger: Houses"

LECTURE

Monday, March 31
Goldsmith Hall 3.120, 5:00 p.m.

Marcelo Ferraz
Brazil
Sponsored by the O'Neil Ford Chair

LECTURE

Wednesday, April 2
Goldsmith Hall 3.120, 5:00 p.m.

Milton Braga
Brazil
Sponsored by the O'Neil Ford Chair

LECTURE

Monday, April 7
Goldsmith Hall 3.120, 5:00 p.m.

Eero Koivisto
Sweden
Sponsored by the Swedish Excellence Endowment

LECTURE

Monday, April 14
Goldsmith Hall 3.120, 5:00 p.m.

Antoine Picon
Cambridge
Sponsored by the Herbert Greene Lectureship

LECTURE

Wednesday, April 23
Goldsmith Hall 3.120, 5:00 p.m.

Petra Blaisse
The Netherlands
Sponsored by the Brightman York Lectureship

CENTER LUNCH FORUM SERIES

The Center for American Architecture and Design hosts a Friday Lunch Forum Series from 12:00 to 1:30 in the Battle Hall Conference Room (room 101).

The aim of the series is for faculty and students to meet in an informal atmosphere to debate topics and to share ideas about history, practice, theory, and new directions for architecture. Forum topics/titles are confirmed a week prior to each forum date. Visit the Center web site for updates. The spring 2008 schedule includes:

• February 29, Werner Lang
• March 21, Larry Speck
• April 4, Mirka Benes
• April 19, Keenan Smith

The Friday Forum is also webcast live (visit the Center's web site), and you are invited to call in live with questions or comments during the discussion at 512.471.9890.

CITY FORUM SERIES

City Forum is an urban issues speaker series hosted by the School's Community and Regional Planning Program. The bi-monthly program features discussions of contemporary urban issues with national and local perspectives. During the spring of 2008, the program will be held on selected Fridays from 12:00 noon until 1:30 p.m. in the Texas Union Board of Directors Room, 4.118 (on Guadalupe Street between 22nd & 24th Streets).

• February 15, Hector Uribe,
  Government Relations Consultant and Attorney,
  "Ruropolitan Government: Seeking Legislative Authority To Empower Texas Counties To Plan Growth"

Texas counties are considered an extension of state government and unlike incorporated communities, lack ordinance-making powers, including the power to zone. A notable exception is the south Texas county of Zapata, which borders the Rio Grande River. Despite repeated legislative failures by the Texas Association of Counties to obtain ordinance-making powers for all Texas counties, Zapata decided to seek the authority on its own, and over the past three regular sessions of the Texas legislature, it has succeeded in persuading the members of the legislature to empower the county to enact ordinances, including the power to regulate growth within the county through zoning. How did one, small county succeed legislatively where a statewide association had failed?

Hector Uribe began his career as a civil rights lawyer over 34 years ago. He went on to serve in the Texas House and Senate, where he was a champion of farm workers, students, the elderly, and the environment. His broad knowledge and experience in law and government, his business management know-how, and his interests in the arts and theater provide him an expansive foundation to participate in public policy discussions and decision making. A native of Brownsville, Hector raised his three youngest children in Austin and has been a full-time Austinite for over 10 years.

The City Forum schedule is available at: http://www.utcityforum.org. For more information on the City Forum Speaker Series or to be added to the email list, contact Anna Glover at glover16@yahoo.com.

EXHIBIT

February 1, 2008, through August 15, 2008
Visual Resources Collection
Sutton Hall 3.128 (Monday-Friday, 8-5)
Opening Reception:
Thursday, February 14, 3 - 5 p.m.

"Landscape Architecture's History:
Marrying Research and Teaching through the Camera's Eye"

During the course of her academic career, Professor Mirka Beneš has documented a wide range of landscapes and supporting materials such as rare prints, maps, drawings, and written documents. From Professor Beneš's extensive slide collection, a group of almost 8,000 teaching slides--used in support of her two lecture courses in the history and theories of landscape architecture--were selected and, over the past 16 months, in collaboration with Professor Beneš, the slides have been cataloged and digitized by the School of Architecture's Visual Resources Collection (VRC). The selection of images in this exhibit represents a small sampling of images selected from the group of almost 8,000 that are, due to the generosity of Professor Beneš, available for use by the university community as part of the VRC's online Image Collection.

Mirka Beneš is Associate Professor in the School of Architecture, The University of Texas at Austin, which she joined in 2006. Her teaching covers the whole history of landscape architecture and gardens, and she publishes on Baroque Rome, Italian and French gardens, agrarian landscapes, and modernist landscape architecture. From 1988 to 2005, she taught at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, latterly as Associate Professor.

FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP AND AWARDS

An article by CRP Assistant Professor and Center for Sustainable Development Director Elizabeth Mueller appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Planning Association. The article, "Reversing the Tide: Will State and Local Governments House the Poor as Federal Direct Subsidies Decline?," was co-authored with Alex Schwartz of the New School and is part of a special issue of the journal on the future of housing policy edited by George Galster. Based on a review of existing evidence on how state and local governments target resources for housing over which they have control, the authors argue that local decision making is unlikely to benefit the poor. To reach the poor, it makes more sense to focus on changes to federal programs and on passage of the proposed National Housing Trust Fund.

Assistant Professor Ulrich Dangel's exhibit "Baukunst: Contemporary Architecture in Vorarlberg, Austria" is on display at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte this month. He presented a lecture on the exhibit at the UNCC College of Architecture on February 13.

A ~FAST Tex grant for the current 2007-08 academic year was awarded to lecturer Nik Nikolov. The grant will support graduate student Melissa Eckerman to assist in the development of an immersive real-time virtual environment. The project's deliverable is intended to serve as a design development and visualization tool in the School of Architecture. Nik Nikolov was also among the recipients of ~FAST Tex grants from the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment for the 2006-07 academic year.

Assistant Professor Billie Faircloth has received a grant for the publication project titled Architecture and Plastic from The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. Professor Faircloth's project systematically collects the relationship between plastic materials and architecture, exposing the history, theory, and technology associated with a material that is notoriously difficult to decipher and systematically summarize.

Associate Professor Chris Long also has received a Graham Foundation grant. He received a $5,600 grant to research his new book project on the German-American designer Kem Weber, titled Kem Weber and Modern Design in Southern California.

Assistant Professor Bjorn Sletto's GIS class project was featured in the February 13, 2008, edition of The Daily Texan in an article titled "Students Help Town Built on Former Landfill."

From the Texan article by Lauren Winchester:

UT students and faculty are helping a neighborhood in the Dominican Republic that is overflowing with sewage. Bjorn Sletto [...] and his team of researchers are planning a trip to Santo Domingo during spring break to present their findings on the flooding problem and lack of sewers in the Los Platanitos neighborhood.

Sletto's research team includes all 10 graduate students in his applied geographical information systems class, a course that uses software to produce digital maps linked with databases. The team traveled to Santo Domingo in January to document the conditions of Los Platanitos.

The team puts emphasis on working relationships with community members, who assess the problems and propose cheap and practical solutions, Sletto said. "It is never a good idea to try to impose solutions on a poor neighborhood, because they might be inappropriate, impractical or not supported by the local people, so in the end they won't work," he said.

The students' flights to Santo Domingo were funded by the School of Architecture, the LBJ School of Public Affairs, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Department of Geography.

ALUMNI NEWS

ALUMNI UPDATES

Scott Glazebrook [M.Arch. '97] recently left MW Steele Group, Inc., as the San Diego firm celebrated its 25th anniversary. After eight years at the company, Scott left to form his own practice, Open Architecture Workshop.

Brian Carlson, AIA [M.Arch, '98], and Will Wood, AIA [B.Arch. '96, BSAE '96], have recently been named Associates at McKinney Architects, Inc. Will Wood has been with the firm 10 years and is a talented designer and manager. In addition to spearheading the firm's conversion to Revit, his current work runs the gamut from a small artist studio to a $36M chilling station for the University of Texas. Brian Carlson has been with McKinney Architects for seven years. He has championed the firm's push for sustainable projects, as demonstrated by the Robbs Run Residence, a 5-star Green Building home. He is also a leader in the architectural community as Chair of AIA Austin's Design Awards program.

IN MEMORIAM

Wilson K.S. Chu [B.Arch. '67], age 66, a UT alumni, and retired architect, passed away on January 3, 2008. He is survived by his beloved wife of 42 years, Georgina; sons, Louis and Jackson; daughters, Gina and Joann; grandchildren, Matt, Cassidy, Gaby, and Katy; brother, Leon; sister, Mary; and many nieces and nephews.

James Robert Koch [B.Arch. '80], born September 19, 1952, in San Antonio, Texas, died at his home in Austin on January 14, at the age of 55. Jimmy, as he was known by family and friends, graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1970 and served in the Navy from 1971 to 1975 in Vietnam. After his service ended, he enrolled in The University of Texas at Austin and graduated from the School of Architecture. Jimmy was an architect for Pfluger and Associates for many years. Among his many architectural drawings were Coker United Methodist Church in northern San Antonio, Hutto High School and LaVernia Middle and High School in LaVernia, Texas. Additionally, he was the president of Hutto Lion's Club. He was preceded in death by his parents, Martha and Olen John Koch. He is survived by his sister, Mary Catherine Koch Ferencak and her husband, Joe; and many other family members. Donations can be made to the Lion's Club of Hutto and or the American Heart Association in his memory. You may sign the online guestbook at missionparks.com under the obituary section.

ALUMNI CONNECTIONS

The School of Architecture is continuing its effort to find (and maintain) the most accurate contact information for all of our alumni. From young alumni receptions to 50-year reunions, and everything in between, we hope you will stay in touch. Would you like to mentor a student? Do you need to hire a fellow Longhorn? Looking for networking or continuing education opportunities? We can help, but we need to know how to reach you!

Alumni may update their records, contact preferences, and search for fellow graduates by logging on to the University's online alumni directory.

Thanks for helping us improve our relationship with you. We look forward to hearing from you!

STAFF CHANGES

The School of Architecture says goodbye to Stephanie Palmer, whose last day was February 8. Stephanie worked with us for over six years and directed Friends of Architecture and alumni relations for the school. We appreciate Stephanie's commitment to our alumni, supporters, faculty, and students and wish her well in her new endeavors. If you need assistance with FOA or alumni related matters, please contact either Amy Martin, Development Associate, at amartin@austin.utexas.edu or Julie Hooper, Assistant Dean for Development, at jhooper@austin.utexas.edu.

DEAN'S REFLECTIONS:
FOA'S "PALM SPRINGS MID-CENTURY MODERNISM" TOUR

Light varies from place to place. Desert regions, in particular, possess atmospheric qualities that produce special values of light through the day. The diamond California light in Desert Springs did not disappoint participants of a Friends of Architecture (FOA) tour this past weekend.

With 31 others, I visited a galaxy of mid-century modern buildings. FOA organized "Palm Springs Mid-Century Modernism" with the Dallas Architecture Forum. Associate Dean Louise Harpman, Assistant Dean Jeff Evelyn, and Dallas Architecture Forum Director Nate Eudaly directed the tour.

Palm Springs provided much to learn about and to see. I learned more about several Southern California modernists; two--William F. Cody (1916-1978) and E. Stewart Williams (1909-2005)--of whom were from my hometown of Dayton, Ohio. Williams received his architectural education at Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania. His work displays the influence of his Penn mentor Paul Cret (our campus architect from 1930 to 1945) in its formal organization and refined use of materials. Williams also designed the Palm Springs Art Museum.

I also learned about the father-son team of George and Roger Alexander, Los Angeles developers who did much to advance modernism on a grand scale in Palm Springs. As the city grew after World War II as an oasis for the Hollywood elite and the wealthy throughout the nation, the Alexanders built mass market homes for lower and middle income families. Some 2,500 architect-designed homes in the modern idiom resulted.

Our Saturday, February 9, tour guide Robert Imber explained that most of the three-bedroom Alexander houses were identical in plan. However, considerable diversity in design was created by rotating the houses on their lots and by varying their rooflines.

"Pay attention to the elevations," Robert Imber directed us. "You'll see a pattern--from left to right or right to left--parking, breezeway, windows, wall. Then, in your mind's eye rotate one of those houses clockwise 90 degrees and you'll discover the houses with street-facing front doors are the same as those with a side-entry front door in the breezeway."

The Alexanders also experimented with prefab housing. In 1961-62, they commissioned architects Donald Wexler and Richard Harrison to design seven experimental steel houses. Supported by U.S. Steel, the project was initially heralded as a success. However, the rising price of steel doomed the wide-spread application of the innovative design. A highlight of the tour occurred at one of the recently renovated small steel houses when we were met by architect Donald Wexler who explained the project's conception and execution.

Sadly, the Alexanders were killed in a 1965 plane crash and their innovative involvement of architects in housing design for ordinary people was cut short. Still, there is much to learn from the efforts of the likes of Wexler, who Robert Imber observed, possessed "power of his gentleness."

We also visited the homes of the rich and famous, including Frank Sinatra's 1947 E. Stewart Williams designed house that doubled as a recording studio. Throughout the tour, the light was kind to us, and we saw much. As day became night, the desert cooled but conversations remained lively as we reflected on what we had seen.

We met Eric Ellenbogen, the present owner of the Sinatra house, who restored it and the exquisite Abernathy house. Williams also designed the Palm Springs Art Museum, where director Steve Nash gave FOA members a private tour of the museum and the Julius Shulman exhibit.

CONTACTS

In this fast-paced world, there's a lot of news to keep up with. We know you are doing great things, and we rely on you to tell us your story. Students, faculty, and staff may send updates to eNews editor Pamela Peters at p.peters@mail.utexas.edu. Alumni, please send your news and contact updates to Amy Martin at amartin@austin.utexas.edu.

UT-Austin School of Architecture
soa.utexas.edu

Dean's Office
512.471.1922, fax 512.471.0716

Center for American Architecture and Design
christinewong@mail.utexas.edu, 512-471-9890

Center for Sustainable Development
teresacarr@mail.utexas.edu, 512.475.7995

Assistant Dean for Development
Julie Hooper, jhooper@austin.utexas.edu, 512.471.6114

Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs
Jeanne Crawford, jcraw@mail.utexas.edu, 512.471.0109

Graduate Program Coordinator
Rosemin Gopaul, gopaul@austin.utexas.edu, 512.471.0134

Publications Editor
Pamela Peters, p.peters@mail.utexas.edu, 512.471.0154

Director, Career Services Center
Carrie O'Malley, carrie.omalley@austin.utexas.edu, 512.471.1333

Materials Lab
http://soa.utexas.edu/matlab, 512.232.5969

Architecture and Planning Library
www.lib.utexas.edu/apl/, 512.495.4620

Webmaster
Christopher Rankin, crankin@mail.utexas.edu, 512.495.4620

UTSOA Mailing Address
The University of Texas at Austin
School of Architecture
1 University Station B7500
Austin, TX 78712-0222