School of Architecture
The University of Texas at Austin
eNews
Dean's Journal |
New York City, 2001. Photograph by Fritz Steiner. |
Dean's Journal The School experienced several changes during the holiday break. Thomas Phifer of New York City joins us this spring as our Ruth Carter Stevenson Chair. Associate Professor Kent Butler assumed the responsibilities of Associate Dean for Research and Operations from Associate Professor Bob Paterson in December. Kent will also direct the Community and Regional Planning Program. |
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Over the break, I read Paul Goldberger’s Up From Zero: Politics, Architecture, and the Rebuilding of New York and Daniel Libeskind’s Breaking Ground and recommend them both. These well-written books address arguably the most important rebuilding effort in our nation of our time. Although the December 26 tsunami certainly resulted in more widespread destruction, the 9/11 attacks loom large with the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site at center stage. Up From Zero is as much about politics and planning as architecture. Goldberger proposes that the Ground Zero planning process represents a new era in urban planning, somewhere between Jane Jacobs’ advocacy for transparency and democracy and Robert Moses’ bigger-is-better approach. |
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These books helped prepare me for the Flight 93 Memorial Competition. I am part of a team that includes Visiting Professor Lynn Miller, Lecturer Jason Kentner, and University of Kentucky assistant professor of architecture Karen Lewis. Lynn and Jason know the western Pennsylvania region well and brought considerable knowledge to the project. Jason and Karen amazed me with their ability to paint with PhotoShop. We submitted our design, along with 949 other entrants, on January 11. During the break, I worked on several Austin and Dallas planning activities. I serve on the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts Site Design Committee, chaired by School Advisory Council member Howard Rachofsky. On January 12, I met with Advisory Council member Deedie Rose and site plan consultant Kevin Sloan in Dallas about the status of the project. On January 14, I met with City of Austin Councilman Brewster McCracken, City of Austin Urban Design Officer Jana McCann [B.Arch. '80], and several other city officials about Austin’s proposed commercial design guidelines, currently among the weakest in the region and the nation. The proposed guidelines seek to improve the design of individual buildings, mitigate the urban heat island, and address land use practices that contribute to traffic problems, and those that result in suburban sprawl and air pollution. Councilman McCracken views these proposed guidelines as a means to implement portions of the Envision Central Texas (ECT) vision. I continue to work with ECT implementation both through the executive committee and as co-chair of the land use and transportation integration committee. On January 14, Austin Mayor Will Wynn proposed an “Envision Central Texas” city bond election in 2006 to further realize the ECT vision (http://www.envisioncentraltexas.org/). Specifically, this proposed bond would focus on open space acquisition and urban infrastructure improvement. This week, the break concluded and the spring semester commenced. I met my “Environmental Readings” seminar class for the first time on Tuesday, January 18. In the seminar, we will explore the interrelationships between the green thread in American literature and the environmental design arts. Yesterday, Associate Deans Louise Harpman and Kevin Alter and I had dinner with the student government leaders. We discussed the activities for the coming semester. The students exhibited considerable enthusiasm for forthcoming events, as well as their classes and studios. |
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--Fritz Steiner |
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Events |
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LECTURE LECTURE |
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EXHIBIT The exhibit showcases black and white pinhole photographs taken by students in Lecturer Russell Krepart's fall 2004 Vertical Studio. The photos were printed in the School of Architecture's Photo Union Darkroom (http://web.austin.utexas.edu/architecture/facilities/sutton/vrc/photo.html) by class participants. The pinhole cameras constructed by the students will also be displayed. |
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The Future of Texas City-Regions Symposium |
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On Thursday, March 3, the School of Architecture will host its second annual symposium, The Future of Texas City-Regions. This year's forum, "Designing for Health," will build on the success of our first symposium in a discussion of one the most pressing questions of the new millennium: "As our cities grow into major metropolitan regions, how do we plan for the future of Texas?" Last year's thought-provoking discussion drew the attention of more than 200 business and community leaders, architects, planners, and conservationists from across the state. "Designing for Health" will specifically examine the mark that the first urban century is leaving on the physical health and well-being of Texans. |
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Scholarship and Awards |
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| Lecturers Pankaj Vir Gupta and Christine Mueller were among 10 awardees selected nationally this year by the AIA Board Knowledge Committee for a 2004-05 AIA Pilot Project on University Research. Their work on the exhibition "The Introduction of Modernism in India" will be featured in an upcoming publication of all the successful submissions, and the School will receive a check for $4,000 to support the final development and production of the work. The project is currently being exhibited in Arizona and is scheduled to travel to other universities during 2005. From a September 21, 2004 article by Elizabeth Gawlik in The Daily Texan: Golconde was one of the first modern buildings to address the issue of sustainable design. "The environment is one of the main concerns," Gupta said. "All water is recycled. There is no air-conditioning." The dormitory's roof is covered in pieces of ceramic bowls and plates, used to reflect the sun off the building to keep it cool. Since the building was constructed during World War II, architects had to take into account shortages of metal, wood and other materials. "They created a foundry right on the site, so they could melt down used pots and pans and recast the metal as screws, door handles or even lamps," Gupta said. For their academic research on the architecture of Golconde, the project team has received grant awards from: The Foundation for World Education, the Center for American Architecture and Design, The George Nakashima Foundation for Peace, and The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts. |  "Interior corridor of Golconde - a dormitory for the Sri Auroindo Ashram, Pondicherry, India. Designed by Antonin Raymond and George Nakashima in 1935, and completed in 1942, the building is the earliest example of cast-in-place concrete in India." |
C2C Competition Awards |
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Associate Professor Vincent Snyder has returned from Rice University School of Architecture, where he was a Visiting Professor of Design last fall. |
 Above: C2C Competition fourth place winning entry, professional category, by Vincent Snyder and Douglas Oliver. |
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Above: Robery Gay's C2C Competition fourth place winning entry, student category. |
Alumni Update |
Mike McCall [M.Arch. '80], McCall Design Group, is pleased to announce the recognition of their entry in the National AIDS Memorial Design Competition as an "Entry of Note." The submission was selected as one of seven "Entries of Note" out of approximately 200 submissions. The selected designs were showcased at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco from January 17-21. Visit the McCall Design Group website (http://www.mccalldesign.com) for more information. |
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Above: National AIDS Memorial Design Competition entry; site: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California; project team: Max Gunawan and Mike McCall, McCall Design Group; image courtesy of McCall Design Group. |
We encourage all alumni to share news with us by submitting updates to alumni coordinator Stephanie Palmer at stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu. In addition, if you know of other alumni who may not be receiving this, or other SOA publications, please forward their information to Stephanie or encourage those alums to contact her. |
| All-Class Reunion Save the date! On March 5, 2005, the School of Architecture will host its second annual All-Class Reunion. The reunion will be held following the University's annual "Explore UT" open house. In addition, special activities will be held in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Class of 1985. Robert Tobias, Gregory Thomas, and other 1985 alumni are organizing this 20-year celebration. Details on all events on the March 5 weekend will be mailed to alumni soon. In the meantime, we encourage all alumni to mark their calendars, pass the date along to fellow alumni, and touch base with Stephanie Palmer at 512-471-0617 or stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu to update contact information. |
EDAW Gift |
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Friends of Architecture -- Roma! |
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Contacts Architecture and Planning Student Council + American Institute of Architecture Dean’s Office, 471-1922, FAX 471-0716 Career Placement Director, Sheila Balog, 471-1333, sheila.balog@mail.utexas.edu Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs, Jeanne Crawford, 471-0109, jcraw@mail.utexas.edu Graduate Program Coordinator, Rosemin Gopaul, 471-0134, gopaul@mail.utexas.edu Center for American Architecture and Design, 471-9890, christinewong@mail.utexas.edu Center for Sustainable Development, 475-8013, utcsd@mail.utexas.edu Assistant Dean for Development, Kris Muñoz Vetter, 471-6114, kmvetter@mail.utexas.edu Publications Editor, Pamela Peters, 471-0154, p.peters@mail.utexas.edu Friends of Architecture Director, Stephanie Palmer, 471-0617, stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu Director of Photography, Charlotte Pickett, c.pickett@mail.utexas.edu Architecture and Planning Library, 495-4620 Mailing Address “Unless otherwise noted, all photographs by Charlotte Pickett, Director of Photography, School of Architecture. |
Newning - The Olympic Village, Sydney, Australia; master planning project