Dean's Journal
On November 10 and 11, Rick Joy and David Orr delivered powerful, back-to-back lectures. Both spoke with considerable passion to overflowing, standing room crowds. Tucson's Joy discussed the functional aspects and the spiritual experience of his architecture on November 10. He described the influence of the Sonoran desert on his work and discussed his design for a residence that he wanted "to exist on the landscape blending with the shadows which occur in actuality."
The next evening Oberlin's Paul Sears Chair David Orr noted that Hurricane Katrina provided a "teachable moment" for our nation. At this time, we have the opportunity to "reweave the human tapestry" through architecture, planning, landscape architecture, design, and engineering. He said that "there is a political economy of design" and that architects should engage politics.
On Monday, November 14, I hosted the monthly deans' lunch in the School. We discussed the tuition proposal currently under consideration by UT-Austin President Larry Faulkner. If approved, the School of Architecture will be granted differential tuition. These additional resources will be helpful. However, increased energy costs will limit these advances. If approved, the tuition increases will include an assessment of $150 per semester on a temporary basis for 2006-07 and 2007-08 for increased energy costs. This is a proposed maximum flat charge. If or when energy costs decline below projected levels, the flat rate tuition will be decreased accordingly.
That evening and again on November 21, I participated in the Austin Bond Election Advisory Committee. Our committee continues to shape a proposal for city council to fund park, open space, affordable housing, public and cultural facility, transportation, and drainage projects.
On Tuesday, November 15, I attended AIA Austin's lunch meeting at Green Pastures Restaurant. The featured speaker was Susan Szenasy, editor of Metropolis magazine. She spoke about architecture and design responses to "post Katrina urbanism." According to Ms. Szenasy, such urbanism needs to be "just and sustainable."
On Wednesday, November 16, Associate Dean Kent Butler, Professor Dan Leary, Assistant Dean Kris Muñoz Vetter, and I met with Peter Pfeiffer, AIA [M.Arch. '83], to discuss plans to honor our dear friend and colleague, Paco Arumí, whom we so suddenly lost in September. We are planning a public event on campus on March 4 in conjunction with our all-class reunion. I want to encourage you to visit our website at: http://www.utexas.edu/architecture/memorial/paco/ to post your thoughts and memories of Paco so we can incorporate them into our event. See "All-Class Reunion" announcement below for more details.
Over breakfast on Thursday morning, UT college and school deans interviewed Law School Dean Bill Powers, the single candidate to be the next University President. We discussed budgetary challenges, proposals for a core campus-wide undergraduate curriculum, and diversity. Overall, Dean Powers expressed considerable optimism about the University's future. Later in the day, I met with Associate Professor Dean Almy and David Knoll [MSCRP '04] about the Urban Land Institute Gerald Hines Urban Design Competition. Our teams will again receive generous support from the Cogburn Family Foundation as well as the local ULI Chapter.
On Friday, November 18, I attended Associate Professor Danilo Udovicki-Selb's lunch forum at the Center for American Architecture and Design. He discussed the architecture of sanitaria and spas in the former Soviet Union in the social and political context of the Communist 1920s and 1930s.
Later in the day I attended Berkeley's Walter Hood's lecture. He presented concepts about "hybrid landscapes" through projects from Charleston, South Carolina, to San Francisco. Professor Hood described the landscape design of the new de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. He discussed his collaboration with the museum's architects, Herzog and de Meuron, as well as artists such as Andy Goldsworthy and James Turrell. Afterwards, Professor Hood met students and faculty at a reception in the Mebane Gallery, where Hood Design's work is featured in the current "2x2" exhibition.
On Saturday, November 19, some 500 people participated in Envision Central Texas' State Highway 130 Summit. I helped organize the event, which was co-hosted with the Austin-San Antonio Corridor Council, at Texas Disposal System's Ranch near Creedmoor. The 49-mile corridor east of Austin is the state's largest infrastructure project. It will relieve traffic pressure on Interstate 35 and result in significant development opportunity. Speakers included Austin Mayor Will Wynn and State Representative Mike Kruse. KLRU's Tom Spencer moderated the event that featured Robert Grow, a founder of Envision Utah, as the keynote speaker. Mr. Grow noted that "most problems we face are because we think too short term and too small scale." Tom Spencer updated Winston Churchill's famous quote, "We shape our buildings and afterwards they shape us" to "We build our roads and afterwards they drive us crazy." A few of the potential next steps discussed at the summit include: the development of a corridor vision plan, the creation of a tool box of design concepts for local governments, and the establishment of a management district to guide development.
On Monday, November 21, Associate Dean Louise Harpman, Assistant Dean Jeanne Crawford, and I met with UT-Austin Vice Provost and Director of Admissions Bruce Walker and Associate Director of Admissions Susan Kearns about our undergraduate admissions trends. The School of Architecture's average SAT scores for entering undergraduates remain the highest on campus, an impressive record that we have held for over five years in a row. Our yield rate is the second highest on campus. Meanwhile, we are increasing the diversity of our student body. Vice Provost Walker discussed the required architecture essay and we all confirmed its value as part of the admissions process. After the meeting, Associate Dean Harpman and Assistant Dean Crawford invited our visitors to observe a first-year jury, then in progress.
That afternoon, I participated in Professors Michael Benedikt and Richard Swallow's studio reviews. Their students are designing a new Arts and Humanities Building on the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) campus. Students in two studios at the University of Texas at Arlington are also participating in the design, which is posed as a design ideas competition that will inform future development of what is a real project. Gary Cunningham and Steven Holl will be among the judges. As well as developing designs for the building itself, our students are identifying several problems with the overall UT Dallas campus and suggesting improvements for its planning and growth. Winners will be exhibited next year on the UTD campus.
On Tuesday morning, November 22, I participated in a video conference at the Applied Computational Engineering and Sciences Building with colleagues in Italy. Milan Polytechnic Associate Professor Danilo Palazzo organized this International Seminar on Innovative Practices in Environmental and Urban Design Education. I described my experiences with international exchanges as well as our School's international programs. Assistant Professor Smilja Milovanovic-Bertram and University of Cincinnati School of Planning faculty member Frank Russell also participated with several Italian professors and students.
On November 22, the deans met with UT-Austin President Larry Faulkner and Provost Sheldon Ekland-Olson about proposed tuition recommendations. Currently, the president is collecting comments on the proposal. The deans used the occasion to express our support for the proposal.
Later, I attended presentations by Assistant Professor Tracy McMillan's planning students. Her class is undertaking the same exercise as the Austin Bond Election Advisory Committee. The students are using health promotion and equity to determine proposed levels of funding for transportation, drainage, public facility, open space, and affordable housing projects. I found the students' analysis thorough and thoughtful.
After the Thanksgiving holiday, I flew to Idaho at the invitation of Boise State University President Bob Kustra. The university is considering the creation of a new community and regional planning degree and sought my advice. While in Boise, I also met with local developers, architects, and landscape architects about the rapid growth in the region. I was also interviewed by the local NPR station and had dinner with area mayors.
From Boise, I flew to Berkeley on November 29. With Penn Design Dean Gary Hack and Georgia Tech Professor Catherine Ross, I served as an external reviewer for the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of California-Berkeley. Such reviews provide good occasions to learn from the successes and challenges of another excellent academic program.
—Fritz Steiner
