2008 URBAN LAND INSTITUTE GERALD D. HINES STUDENT URBAN DESIGN COMPETITION

A team from The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture is one of this year's four finalists in the 2008 Urban Land Institute Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition (ULI).

"This [sixth annual] competition aims to give the next generation a better understanding of the challenges involved in urban design, and how the different elements–such as various land uses, public areas, and traffic patterns–all interact to influence how urban areas evolve over time," said competition jury chairman James J. Curtis III, principal, Bristol Group in San Francisco. “It’s a major part of ULI’s ongoing effort to draw the best and brightest young minds to our industry.” The competition has been funded in perpetuity through a $3 million endowment from real estate legend Gerald Hines.

This year's finalist team includes members from the graduate programs in Community and Regional Planning, Architecture, and Landscape Architecture. The team members are:

Alexander Kone, MSCRP program
Chad Gnant, M.Arch. program
Ji Zhou, MSCRP program
Michelle Slattery, MLA program
Shawn Strange, MSCRP program

Through the competition, interdisciplinary teams of students were challenged to create a design and development proposal for a portion of a 464-acre site, which is located in the undervalued Cedars neighborhood in Dallas. The development scheme from the UTSOA finalist team, “Cedars: Reconnect, Revitalize,” stitches together social, physical, and economic connections from an earlier era. Medium and low-rise uses traverse the spine connecting the Cedars DART stop with Old City Park. A diverse mix of families, artists, and professionals forms the core of a neighborhood already taking root. Central to the development theme is the proposed Natural Connections network of multi-modal and sustainable, “complete streets,” greenways, and open space.

One team member will go to Dallas on March 7 to visit the actual study site. This will enable each team to refine their original presentations before presenting to the ULI jury on April 3 in Dallas. The winning team will receive a prize of $50,000 and the other three teams will split $30,000.

The four finalists were selected from 96 entries from 29 universities in the United States and Canada. The other finalists include: University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning and two teams from the University of Pennsylvania School of Design.

SUPPORT UTSOA

FRIENDS OF ARCHITECTURE

Friends of Architecture is pleased to announce that Curtis & Windham Architects of Houston and Lucifer Lighting of San Antonio are the inaugural donors to our Corporate Silver Member level. We extend our sincere thanks to both firms for their generous support.

Curtis & Windham Architects is an award-winning, inter-disciplinary firm founded in 1992 by William Curtis [B.Arch. '81] and Russell Windham. In 2005, Sarah Newbery became a partner in the firm to further develop the integration of complimentary landscape design. Working from a foundation of traditional and classical architectural principles, the 30-person firm of architects, interior designers, and landscape architects seeks to integrate all aspects of design. To learn more about the work of Curtis & Windham Architects, please visit their website.

Just over a quarter century old, Lucifer Lighting (luciferlighting.com), is a family-run company widely recognized as a lighting innovator. The company develops high-end lighting fixtures favored by interior designers and architects throughout the world. Lucifer Lighting has been a longtime supporter of the School of Architecture, and CEO Gilbert Mathews serves on the School of Architecture Advisory Council as a life member.

For more information on joining Lucifer Lighting and Curtis & Windham as Corporate Silver Members of FOA, please contact Assistant Dean for Development, Julie Hooper at jhooper@austin.utexas.edu or 512.471.6114.

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.

COGBURN FAMILY FOUNDATION ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM PRIZES AWARDED

On February 26, sixty-five students, faculty, and community mentors enjoyed a festive dinner at the Campus Club in honor of this year's Urban Land Institute Gerald D. Hines Student Urban Design Competition entries. The Hines Competition is a graduate-level, annual competition that is intended to provide an interdisciplinary learning experience for real estate and design students in the United States and Canada. This year, ULI selected a 464-acre site study area immediately south of downtown Dallas. Nine interdisciplinary teams from UT Austin, working under the leadership of Professor Simon Atkinson and Associate Professor Dean Almy, submitted proposals to ULI.

The Cogburn Family Foundation generously supports our participation in the ULI national competition each year and sponsors our own internal prizes for the student teams and the annual dinner. Congratulations to this year's winners of the Cogburn Family Prize:

FIRST PLACE TEAM
Tom Cox, MLA program
Chris Emens, M.Arch. program
Doug Campbell, M.Arch. program
Khaled Alawadi, MSCRP program
Rob Corulla, MBA program

SECOND PLACE TEAM
Hyekyung Lee, MSUD program
Hwan Yong Kim, MSCRP program
Jongbum Kim, MSUD program
Allison Baker, MLA candidate
Jeff Ezell, MBA program

THIRD PLACE TEAM
Alex Kone, MSCRP program
Chad Gnant, M.Arch. program
Ji Zhou, MSCRP program
Michelle Slattery, MLA program
Shawn Strange, MSCRP program

We are extremely grateful to Betsy and Mike Cogburn and their family for this generous endowed prize.

Events

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

SUSTAINABLE URBANISM SYMPOSIUM

Tuesday and Wednesday, March 4-5
Goldsmith Hall 2.110 (Main Jury Room)

"Strategies for Greening the Metropolis"

Please join the Center for Sustainable Development on March 4 and 5 for the Sustainable Urbanism Symposium. The event will include a plenary talk from distinguished guest Andrew Jamison, as well as presentations by several UT graduate students who are studying the challenges and opportunities associated with creating more sustainable cities.

This event is free and open to the public. The schedule of events is as follows:

TUESDAY, MARCH 4

5:00 p.m. PLENARY TALK: Andrew Jamison, Aalborg University, Denmark
"Cultural Tensions in Sustainable Urbanism: Hubris, Habitus, and the Hybrid Imagination"

The quest for sustainable urban development has been filled with cultural tensions. Long-established modes of operation often contradict the ideas of "green" planners and city officials. Drawing on a conceptual model developed in the book Hubris and Hybrids: A Cultural History of Technology and Science (co-authored with Mikael Hard), Dr. Jamison will explore some of the underlying tensions in sustainable urbanism, with examples taken from Malmö, Sweden, touted as one of the greenest cities in Europe.

6:30 p.m. Reception with graduate student posters

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5

9:00 a.m. SESSION A: IMPLICATIONS OF URBAN SUSTAINABILITY POLICIES

Barbara Wilson, "Democratized Sustainability: Social Movements and the City"
Rebecca Webber, "Choosing Green: Diversity and the Importance of Equitable Public Policy in Green Incentive Programs"
Wil Srubar, "Communicating the Importance and Principles of Sustainability to Civil Engineers"

10:30 a.m. SESSION B: CREATING THE SUSTAINABLE METROPOLIS

Marcel Dulay, "Sustainability, Environment, and Quality of Life in U.S.-Mexican Cities as a Result of NAFTA?"
Elizabeth Walsh, "Green Growth for All? Social Justice Opportunities in 'Green' Urban Development"
Adam Roy, "The Role of Public/Private Partnership in the Diffusion of Sustainability: A Seaholm Power Plant Case Study"

Sponsored by the UT Center for Sustainable Development. For more information, contact Andy Karvonen at karvonen@mail.utexas.edu.

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

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). Upcoming speakers include:

• February 29, Steve Windhager, Director of Landscape Restoration Program, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center,
  "The Sustainable Sites Initiative"
• March 21, Jana McCann, Principal, ROMA Design Group,
  "The Downtown Austin Plan"
• March 28, Greg LeRoy, Executive Director, Good Jobs First

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)

"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' 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, cataloged, and digitized by the school's Visual Resources Collection (VRC). The selection of images in this exhibit represents a small sampling of images selected from the group that are 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.

FACULTY SCHOLARSHIP AND AWARDS

The Giornale dell'Architettura (Turin, Italy), edited by the distinguished scholar Carlo Olmo, and published by Allemandi, has invited Associate Professor Danilo Udovicki-Selb to join the editorial board, after four years as their U.S. correspondent. The periodical was started five years ago and has quickly acquired notoriety, expanding into other diverse publications, including Giornale dell'Arte.

Danilo's first article for the periodical was on Tadao Ando's Fort Worth Art Museum that appeared in the Giornale's second issue. He has since covered mostly new museums and reappraisals of older ones, including Zaha Hadid's Contemporary Art Center (CAC) in Cincinnati; Daniel Libeskind's Denver Museum of Art (DAM); the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York by the Japanese architectural firm SAANA; the Metropolitan Museum's addition by SOM, Classical Antiquity rooms; the first Sustainable Art Museum in Grand Rapids; and the Seattle New Museum of Art.

Professor Sinclair Black, FAIA, was selected to be a plenary speaker at the XVI Congress for New Urbanism that is occurring in Austin, Texas, April 2-6. Sinclair will be joining other featured speakers, including Peter Calthorpe, Henry Cisneros, Robert Caro, and Austin Mayor Will Wynn to discuss topics such as sustainable growth, urban infill, transit-oriented development, and the importance of incorporating public spaces in the creation of vital, new communities. Sinclair has a long history with Austin and has been involved in some of the city's most transforming projects, such as the Great Streets Master Plan, the AMLI Mixed-Use Development/Second Street Retail District, and the Austin Creeks Plan.

As a result of his sustainable and innovative urban design work, Sinclair has been honored with the 2008 CNU Athena Medal. Previously awarded to Denise Scott Brown and Robert Stern, Sinclair will officially receive this award along with Allan Jacobs, the author of Great Streets, during the Wednesday plenary session, titled "Austin's Past and Future: Green and Growing." This session is open to the public and will be held in Meeting Room 9 in the Austin Convention Center, 500 East Cesar Chavez Street, Wednesday, April 2, 5:30-7:00 p.m.

An illustrated story highlighting a treehouse platform designed and built for filmmaker Richard Linklater by Senior Lecturer Steve Ross and UTSOA alum Jack Sanders [M.Arch. '05] has been published in volume 5 of the literary journal, A Public Space. The journal is edited and was founded by Brigid Hughes. Hughes was previous executive editor of A Paris Review, a position she assumed after the death of George Plimpton.

Ross and Linklater have also formed a new partnership, Design Build Alliance, a private, not-for-profit design-build development firm focusing on low income housing in Austin. Currently in design development phase of its first single family residence, the firm also includes Sanders, as well as architect Lucy Begg (Cambridge University, UC-Berkeley, and Auburn's Rural Studio), and undergraduate student, Nina Wilson.

London-based industry trend-spotting firm, The Future Laboratory, and publishers of Viewpoint magazine, have identified Austin as one of the world's leading cities, and Ross as one of the principal practitioners, in the emerging trend of creating "mash-up culture." Practitioners of mash-up culture take typically unrelated concepts, media, industries, disciplines, and materials and re-contextualize them into new organic wholes. Research results will be made available for a fee to Future Laboratory clients, as well as highlighted in Viewpoint magazine.

Professor Larry Speck with PageSoutherlandPage,recently won two national Brick in Architecture Design Awards--a Gold Award for a mixed-use project for Christ Church Cathedral in Houston and a Bronze Award for the Alumni Center at Oklahoma State University. The Christ Church Cathedral project also recently won the 2008 Houston Urban Land Institute Award of Distinction for excellence in Urban Design.

ALUMNI NEWS

2008 AIA FELLOWS

Willis C. Winters [B.Arch. '80] and Robert Harris [M.Arch. '92] have been elected American Institute of Architecture (AIA) Fellows by the 2008 Jury of Fellows. Winters, Assistant Director, City of Dallas Park and Recreation Department, was nominated by AIA Dallas in the category of "advancing the science and art of planning and building by advancing the standards of architectural education, training, and practice." Robert Harris, Lake|Flato Architects, was nominated by AIA San Antonio in the category of "promoting the aesthetic, scientific, and practical efficiency of the profession through design, urban design, or preservation."

From a membership of more than 81,000, the AIA has fewer than 2,600 members distinguished in fellowship, which requires at least 10 years of membership and significant architectural contributions on a national level. They will be honored at an investiture ceremony at Boston's Old South Church on Friday, May 16, during the 2008 AIA National Convention.

ALUMNI UPDATES

As part of Women's History Month, St. Mary's University in San Antonio is mounting an exhibit of Audrey Brians' [B.Arch. '56] architecture work, artwork, photography, and writing during the month of March, beginning Wednesday, March 5, with a reception between 4:00 and 5:30 p.m. It will be held in the art museum/gallery.

Christy Seals [M.Arch. '97], Marla Smith [M.Arch. '96] and their firm, Loop Design, are featured in the Austin American-Statesman's Green Building Journal blog by Geoff and Simone Leavenworth, in which they chronicle the construction of their green, energy-efficient home.

Loop Design's "Micro-Hacienda" project is sustainable, built from native materials and reminiscent of the architecture of San Miguel de Allende in Central Mexico, the qualities the clients are looking for in their new home. The 1,900-square-foot house is oriented around a courtyard with outdoor porches on both levels. Inwardly focused, the house creates a realm of its own, where living spaces flow from inside to outside, and porches act as spaces of both retreat and prospect.

Kathryn Holliday's book, Leopold Eidlitz: Architecture and Idealism in the Gilded Age, was just published by W. W. Norton & Company. It is the first critical examination of the work of New York architect, Leopold Eidlitz, America's first Jewish architect, founding member of the American Institute of Architects, and the first American to define a modern organic architecture; this book reveals his formidable influence. The book stems from her dissertation, "Leopold Eidlitz and the Architecture of Nineteenth-century America." Kathryn graduated in 2003 with a Ph.D. in Architectural History.

W. Brian Keith [M.Arch. '95], AIA-AICP, was advanced to Associate Principal of James, Harwick + Partners, Inc. JH+P are a 50+ person architecture and planning firm, practicing nationally from its base in Dallas. The firm's primary practice involves mixed-use, residential communities along with urban design and planning.

As Director of the Urban Design and Planning Studio, Brian is responsible for urban design, master planning, and conceptual design. His professional experience is centered around creating livable communities, mixed-use redevelopments, urban spaces, and essentially whole communities/neighborhoods through the integration of a variety of housing typologies, community uses, and transit. His project experience includes a wide range of project types, ranging from housing, retail, government, to institutional projects all related to place-making.

Brian graduated in 1988 from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Environmental Design in Architecture and in 1995 with a Master of Architecture from The University of Texas at Austin. He has practiced architecture and planning in both Texas and his home state of North Carolina and is a Certified Planner (AICP). He joined the JH+P staff in 2002. He is on the City of Dallas Historic Landmark Commission and was Dallas Young Architect of the Year in 2004.

"Lord of the Wind," a life-size bronze of a peregrine falcon by architect/sculptor, Bob Coffee, FAIA [B.Arch '61], was installed and dedicated at the Chicos Mountains Visitor Center in Big Bend National Park on February 6. The statue celebrates the peregrine falcon, the world's fastest bird, which nests in Big Bend's rugged cliffs and canyons. The work is a gift from "The Friends of Big Bend" to the National Park.

Sales from "The Animals of Big Bend," a wildlife bronze series sculpted by Coffee, have raised close to $20,000 for projects in the park since 2000. At its January meeting, the Texas Society of Sculptors designated Coffee to be its new president.

Visit Bob Coffee's website to see more of his bronze sculptures or see the 8-3-06 edition of eNews.

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 and 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!

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
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Dean's Office
512.471.1922, fax 512.471.0716

Center for American Architecture and Design
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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

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

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

Events Coordinator
Barbara Terrell, bdt@mail.utexas.edu, 512.471.8187

Materials Lab
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Visual Resources Collection
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Webmaster
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UTSOA Mailing Address
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School of Architecture
1 University Station B7500
Austin, TX 78712-0222