Dean's Journal
On Thursday, March 9, I joined Andrew Clements, Girard Kinney [B.Arch. '78], and Paul Crews [B.Arch. '65] at the Kerbey Lane Cafe on Guadalupe for lunch. We discussed ways that the architecture community could help advance regional rail systems and the Envision Central Texas vision.
Later in the day, I met with Institute of Classical Archaeology director Joe Carter, Assistant Professor Hope Hasbrouck, and Senior Lecturer Steve Ross. We discussed ways that our historic preservation, architecture, and landscape architecture programs could be reengaged in the Institute's activities. Dr. Carter is especially interested in building conservation and landscape planning assistance for their National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos in Ukraine. The planning and development of this ancient Greek colony founded in the fifth century B.C. on the northern Black Sea coast in Crimea are being supported by the Packard Humanities Institute.
On Friday and Saturday, March 10 and 11, the School's Advisory Council met. Led by chair Susan Benz [B.Arch. '84], we focused on strategic planning and fundraising activities. The School focused on six funding priorities to sustain our reputation for excellence. These include: increasing student support to recruit and retain the best graduate students; enhancing our School lecture series; funding for faculty research and travel; additional resources to produce first class exhibitions such as our forthcoming fall 2006 Venice Biennale exhibit on reconstructing the Gulf Coast; funding to sustain the Dallas urban laboratory, our exciting new initiative in support of our Urban Design program; and our continued participation in the national Solar Decathlon competition.
Associate Professor Dean Almy reviewed the recent Urban Land Institute Gerald Hines Urban Design Competition, along with students Jesse Pyeatt and Gail Trachtenberg from our internal competition 1st prize-winning team and Eli Pearson from the team that took the honorable mention at the national competition. He summarized how our involvement is being enhanced by the Cogburn Family Foundation support. Visiting Associate Professor Sergio Palleroni and architecture graduate student Barbara Brown described several of the activities being supported in part by our Luce Foundation grant. Professor Palleroni's work will be featured in a forthcoming PBS/BBC series, narrated by Brad Pitt. Graduate students Jessie Hager and Travis Greig previewed the second edition of the student publication ISSUE:, sponsored by part by the Advisory Council and Friends of Architecture.
A highlight of the Advisory Council meeting was a reception in the Miriam Lutcher Stark Library in the Main Building, a trip to the top of the Tower, and dinner in the Architecture and Planning Library in Battle Hall on Friday night.
On Sunday, March 19, I flew to Boston. The next day I taught (with Dr. Dan Perlman of Brandeis University) the second "Practical Ecology for Planners and Designers" course at the Lincoln Institute. This year, we focused more on the lessons provided by Hurricane Katrina. I used the Gulf Coast maps produced by EDAW as part of our ongoing effort to identify hazard areas.
On Tuesday, I attended a Hill Country Conservancy Board meeting, then taught my class. That evening, I had dinner with our first Master of Landscape Architecture graduating class.
—Fritz Steiner
Events
LECTURE
Monday, March 27
Sarah Williams Goldhagen
Architecture Critic, New Republic
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Goldsmith 3.120, 5:00 p.m.
Lecture: "Kold House, Kool Cities"
The lecture will examine the successes and failures of Rem Koolhaas' architecture and urbanism. Sarah Williams Goldhagen has taught at the Harvard Design School for 10 years (and before that, for one year at Austin) and is currently the architecture critic for the New Republic. She is the author of Louis Kahn's Situated Modernism (Yale UP) and co-editor of Anxious Modernisms: Experimentation in Postwar Architectural Culture (MIT UP). She has also written numerous articles for scholarly and mainstream journals and lectures nationally and internationally.
Detail of spindles, Drayton Hall, Charleston, South Carolina.
LECTURE
Thursday, April 6
Richard Wolbers
Associate Professor, Coordinator of Science, and Adjunct Paintings Conservator
Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation
Jahn Lecture Series in Historic Preservation
Calhoun 100, 5:00 p.m.
Reception in the University's Materials Lab
(West Mall Building 3.100) following lecture.
Lecture: "Three Case Histories of the Analysis, Conservation, and Presentation of Historic and Decorative Building Materials"
How does the analysis of painting and decorative materials impact the interpretation and presentation of our built environment? Richard Wolbers will explore this intriguing topic using projects from across time and the world including the eighteenth century Drayton Hall in Charleston, South Carolina (noted as one of the finest examples of Georgian Palladian architecture in America); Doris Duke's 1937 seasonal estate, Shangri La, in Oahu, Hawaii (considered one of Hawaii's most architecturally significant homes); and the fourth century Roman settlement of Ahmeida, at the Dakhla Oasis in Egypt.
Texas Hillel, The Topfer Center for Jewish Life, designed by alterstudio.
SYMPOSIUM
Friday, April 7
"BOOKS & BUILDINGS" SYMPOSIUM: ALTERSTUDIO
Texas Hillel, The Topfer Center for Jewish Life
Texas Hillel, 2105 San Antonio Street, Austin
1:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Please join us on April 7, 2006, when the "Books & Buildings" Symposium Series takes a look at the new Texas Hillel Topfer Center for Jewish Life--a new building by alterstudio architects, LLP. The symposium, one in a series initiated in the fall of 2001 by Dean Fritz Steiner, will be an extraordinary event as three internationally renowned practitioners of architecture gather to discuss a building that, despite being designed for a modest budget, is grand in its aspiration to accommodate a powerful and challenging program on a busy campus site.
Esteemed guest critics Merrill Elam, Carlos Jimenez, and Stanley Saitowitz will lend their expertise to a discussion about the building and its implications for its constituent communities and beyond, with a response by Kevin Alter, principal of alterstudio architects LLP.
Reservations are not required. Please plan to arrive early to assure a seat.
Visit the "Books & Buildings" website at: http://www.soa.utexas.edu/events/books/ or alterstudio at http://www.alterstudio.net/ for additional photos and more information about the symposium and guest critics.
EXHIBIT
April 10-28
2x2: Hoidn Wang Partner and David Heymann Architect
Mebane Gallery, Goldsmith Hall
Opening Gallery Talk, April 10, 5:00 p.m.
Reception following talk.
UT SolarD SNAP House.
EXHIBIT
Through May 20
Get into the SNAP House:
the 2005 UTsolarD 'super nifty action package'
Architecture & Planning Library
Battle Hall 200
"Get into the SNAP House: the 2005 UTsolarD 'super nifty action package'" is now on view in the Architecture & Planning Library through the end of the spring semester. This exhibit, featuring information panels, models, and a documentary video, was prepared by the 2005 School of Architecture Solar Decathlon Team, with Michael Garrison, Elizabeth Alford, and Samantha Randall as faculty advisors. The Architecture & Planning Library hours are listed at: http://www.lib.utexas.edu/about/hours/apl.html.
CENTER FORUMS
The Center for American Architecture and Design hosts a Friday Forum Series from 12:00 to 1:30 in the Center's Battle Hall Conference Room (room 101).
Throughout the fall and spring semesters, faculty, visitors, and graduate students at the School of Architecture offer their latest work up for freewheeling discussion and debate, with subjects varying from architectural practice, design, design theory, to the arts, planning, and the politics and economics of development.
The idea is for faculty and students to meet in an informal atmosphere to debate and freely discuss topics "hot" on the minds of the speakers. Visit the Center website (http://www.utexas.edu/architecture/center/lunch_forums) for updates. The remaining spring 2006 schedule includes:
The Friday Forum is also webcast live from http://www.utexas.edu/architecture/center/lunch_forums, and you are invited to call in live with questions or comments during the discussion at 512-471-9890.
Anthony Maddaloni, untitled, 2006, Cyanotype.
EXHIBIT
February 1 - August 4
Into the Light:
A Sampler of Alternative
Photographic Processes
Visual Resources Collection
Sutton 3.128 (Monday-Friday, 8-5)
The exhibit "Into the Light: A Sampler of Alternative Photographic Processes" presents work produced by way of alternative means in the Photo Union Darkroom, a facility available to all currently enrolled architecture students for a nominal fee. Pinhole, Cyanotypes, and Polaroid transfer prints represented in this exhibit serve to illustrate that in this age of digital perfection, there is a growing body of individuals returning to historical methods to hand-craft photographic images. Alternative photographic processes, such as the ones represented in this exhibit, result in unique and compelling images.
CareerAlliance '06 -- March 28, 29, & 30
With a robust job market for graduating students, The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture's annual career event, CareerAlliance '06, promises to be the most exciting ever! Employers from around the country will come to campus to hold first-round screening interviews for both full-time graduates and summer interns from a full compliment of students representing all of our academic programs. More than 370 student résumés are currently uploaded into the Career Service Office's on-line database, CareerSource, giving employers a chance to screen and preview student résumés prior to coming to campus. Already, more than 30 firms from around the United States have secured reservations to participate!
CareerAlliance is designed to maximize the fit between students and employers in advance. Students prepare and electronically submit interview materials to employers, including résumés and work samples that the employer can review in advance. Employers can then elect to visit with selected students on campus in pre-arranged interviews. Interviews will be held in the well-appointed Ford Career Center located in the McCombs School of Business and at D.K. Royal Memorial Stadium.
New this year is the opportunity for firms to be identified as Career Services Partners. The Career Services Office is pleased to announce Corgan of Dallas, Nelsen Architects of Phoenix and Austin and their Executive Vice President and Texas Managing Director Philip Crisara [B.Arch. '85], and Curtis Windham Architecture of Houston as the featured partners this month.
For more information, please contact Kris Vetter at 512-471-6114 or kmvetter@mail.utexas.edu.
Envisioning Dallas Symposium
May 2, 2006, Dallas Arboretum
The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture will host its third annual "Future of Texas City-Regions Symposium," Envisioning Dallas: From Triangle to Trinity on Tuesday, May 2, 2006, at the Dallas Arboretum. This year, we will gather together local civic leaders as well as local, regional, and national experts in three key areas—transportation, open space/recreation, and livability—to discuss the implications of future growth on this important Texas city-region. Key speakers will include Gail Thomas, representing the Trinity Trust; Karl Zavitkovsky, Director, Economic Development, City of Dallas; and Robert Decherd, Belo Corporation.
The Envisioning Dallas symposium is part of an exciting new initiative to establish the Dallas Urban Laboratory, a UT-Austin led urban design workshop in Dallas in the spring of 2007. The Dallas Urban Laboratory will bring the University's faculty and students to Dallas each spring and summer to conduct design explorations and local research into such large urban design issues as the relationship between our health and the built environment, affordable housing, and expanding mass transit. Students in the spring studio will also have the opportunity to co-op half-time with local partner firms.
Symposium attendees may receive four AIA Health, Safety and Welfare Continuing Education credits for attendance.
To register for this symposium and learn more about the Dallas Urban Laboratory or how you can become a partner firm, please visit our website at http://www.utexas.edu/architecture/events/envisioningdallas/.
Faculty Scholarship and Awards
Guest House, designed by Miró Rivera Architects and 2006 AIA Austin Honor Award winner.
Miró Rivera Architects [principals are Associate Professor Juan Miró and Miguel Rivera] was selected for the 2006 Firm Achievement Award by the Austin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The firm was honored at the organization's annual gala, held February 25 at the City of Austin Seaholm Power Plant.
The Firm Achievement Award is the highest honor that AIA Austin can bestow on an architecture firm for outstanding contributions to the community and the profession and for producing distinguished architecture.
Miró Rivera Architects also received two design awards. The Honor Award, the top design award of the evening, was given for the "Guest House." The firm also received a Merit Award for the "Pedestrian Bridge."
Former UT-Austin School of Architecture Dean and principal architect at Page Southerland Page, Lawrence Speck, praised both principals' active roles in the community and the firm's history of award-winning design. He wrote, "They [Miró Rivera Architects] are making a real impact on our own community in Austin and their principals are becoming real leaders and advocates for architectural and urban design excellence."
Stephen Sharpe, editor of Texas Architect, wrote, "...the creative team of Miró and Miguel Rivera consistently produces architecture of distinction...."
Dan Shipley [B.Arch. '79], FAIA, one of the three jurors of the competition remarked that the Guest House "is a very complete piece of work, everything that it sets out to do, it accomplishes...it is a beautiful project."
Pool House, designed by Miró Rivera Architects and featured in the book Rooms Outside the House.
Associate Professor Juan Miró and Miró Rivera Architects were featured in the book Rooms Outside the House, the latest publication from author James Grayson Trulove. Two of Miró Rivera Architects' projects, "Pool House" and the "Wine Cellar," are covered at length. The book presents an innovative range of building types for rooms and freestanding structures that will extend the living space of a home.
For recent pictures of Miró Rivera Architects' projects visit: http://www.mirorivera.com.
Lecturer Kate Holliday presented a paper titled "The Curtain Wall Metaphor in the Work of Ralph Walker" for the session, "The Principle of Dress: Theories of the Textile in Art History," at the annual meeting of the College Art Association in Boston in February. Dr. Holliday used Gottfried Semper's "principle of dress" to reconceptualize Walker's design for the Irving Trust Building at 1 Wall Street in New York (1929-31), arguing that the building's multiple textilic metaphors constituted a strategy for creating what Walker termed "humanism" in the dense urban fabric of New York.
On February 24, Lecturer Nik Nikolov attended the 2006 International Forum at Harvard University. This year's conference was titled "Rebuilding Lives in Humanitarian Crises" and was hosted at the Harvard University's Gutman Library. Mr. Nikolov represented the UT-Austin School of Architecture at discussions with Dr. Myron Belfer, Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and seconded to the World Health Organization; Daniel Toole, Director of Office of Emergency Programmes for UNICEF; Dr. Dana Burde, Salzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Columbia University; and Karim Thomas, head of Strategy and Policy Office of Afghan President Hamid Karzai; among others.
Beacon Hill Project, designed by vir.mueller architects. Photograph provided by Pankaj Gupta.
Lecturers Christine Mueller and Pankaj Gupta's "Beacon Hill Project" just received a 2006 Design Award from the Boston Society of Architects. It will be exhibited and published in the Awards Issue of Architecture Boston. The project was also just published in the March 2006 issue of Better Interiors, a design magazine in India.
In addition to Ms. Mueller and Mr. Gupta, Brian Hagood [B.Arch '05] and fourth-year architecture student Neil Patel were members of the project team.
The November 8, 2005, online edition of The Beacon Hill Times (http://www.beaconhilltimes.com/archive/news_db/20051108/20051108.html)
features the project in an article by Colleen Walsh: "To infuse the desired light into the space, they stripped down the dark central stairwell, turning it into a source of illumination for the home. Vir Gupta said they needed something 'really warm and rich' in order to 'use the skylight in a powerful way to illuminate the interior.' A solid mahogany frame that encased a steel and bronze screen provided the answer. By removing the walls and enclosing the stairs in the mesh-like screen, Vir Gupta said the stairwell became that 'unifying element for the whole apartment. By day the bronze projects out the light that is falling from the sky light, at night it glows with these recessed floor lights in the base,' he said."
For more on the Beacon Hill Project and other work by vir.mueller architects, visit their website at: http://www.virmueller.com.
Alumni Events & Updates
NEW AIA FELLOWS ELECTED
Two alumni, along with four other Texans and 80 other architects from around the nation, were elected AIA Fellows by the 2006 Jury of Fellows on February 1.
Mell Lawrence [B.Arch. '81] of Mell Lawrence Architects, Austin (http://www.architecturalpolka.com), and Bob Shemwell [M.Arch. '86] of Overland Partners Architects (http://www.overlandpartners.com/), San Antonio, will be invested in the College of Fellows on June 8 at the AIA National Convention and Expo in Los Angeles.
The Fellowship program was developed to elevate those architects who have made a significant contribution to architecture and society and who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession. Election to fellowship not only recognizes the achievements of architects as individuals, but also their significant contribution to architecture and society on a national level. Out of a total AIA membership of nearly 78,000, there are fewer than 2,500 distinguished with the honor of fellowship.
APA NETWORKING RECEPTION
This year's national American Planning Association convention will be held in San Antonio. Even if you are not attending the APA convention, you are invited to attend a reception at Aldaco's restaurant on Monday, April 24. The reception will bring University of Texas at Austin alumni, faculty, and students together with local friends and distinguished planners. The event is a fantastic opportunity to catch up with old friends, meet potential interns, employees and fellow planners, and hear about the amazing progress of the UT-Austin Community and Regional Planning Program from Dean Steiner and members of the CRP faculty.
The networking reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., and complimentary trolley service to the event will be available at the Marriott Rivercenter Hotel beginning at 5:15 p.m. If you would like to RSVP or have questions regarding the event, please contact Stephanie Palmer at 512-471-0617 or stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu.
CLASS OF 1956 REUNION
On Thursday, April 27, and Friday, April 28, the Class of 1956 will reunite on The University of Texas at Austin campus to celebrate a 50-year class reunion. The Texas Exes have planned two days of events and tributes, including a visit to the School of Architecture for our alumni on Thursday, April 27. Following lunch at the Texas Union, alumni from the Class of 1956 will be welcomed at Goldsmith Hall for tours of the School of Architecture's facilities, including the Materials and Preservation Labs; a special display at the Alexander Architectural Archives; and, pending confirmation, a talk by Alex Caragonne about the School of Architecture's Texas Rangers era.
If you have questions about the reunion, please contact Stephanie Palmer at 512-471-0617 or stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu. For details regarding the entire schedule of events, visit the Texas Exes website at http://www.texasexes.org, or contact Erin Campbell at 1-800-594-3938.
All-Class Reunion Re-Cap
On Saturday, March 4, the School of Architecture hosted the third annual All-Class Reunion. In addition to former classmates, the event brought together friends and family of Professor Francisco "Paco" Arumí-Noé, for a special tribute. The evening included the announcement of plans for a design competition for a memorial sundial in honor of Paco. For more information on this competition, contact Lecturer Dason Whitsett at dasonw@gmail.com. In addition, Peter Pfeiffer, FAIA [M.Arch. '83] revealed the School's plans to establish the Francisco Arumí-Noé Graduate Fellowship in Sustainable Design by announcing a lead contribution from his firm, Barley & Pfeiffer Architects. We would like to thank all of those individuals who have generously contributed to the fellowship! For more information about how you can contribute, contact Kris Vetter at kmvetter@mail.utexas.edu or 512-471-6114.
Chuck Posas [B.Arch. '83], Peter Pfeiffer, [M.Arch. '83] Montgomery Howard [B.Arch. '83], and Alan Barley [B.Arch. '85]. Photograph by Gian Calaci.
Susan Benz [B.Arch. '84] and Anibal Figueroa [M.Arch. '84] Photograph by Gian Calaci.
Ed Wallace [B.Arch. '70, UTSoA Assistant Dean from 1979 to 1985] and Betty Dickson. Photograph by Gian Calaci.
Bridgette Beinecke [B.S.A.S. '73, B.Arch. '77] and Professor Richard Swallow. Photograph by Gian Calaci.
Student News
The Community and Regional Planning Program is proud to announce that second-year CRP student Maggie McGehee was selected to participate in the Eno Transportation Foundation's 2006 Leadership Development Conference in Washington, D.C., May 22-26. This all-expense-paid conference will expose Ms. McGehee to the nation's leading transportation policy players and give her a first-hand view of how transportation policy is developed and implemented in the United States. Only the best and the brightest are selected for this program, so the School wishes to congratulate Ms. McGehee and celebrate her success.
Work from Nik Nikolov's Advanced Design studio was featured at SXSW 2006.
Studio CINETEX (Advanced Design, spring 2006, Lecturer Nik Nikolov) made their modest, but notable contribution to the recent South by Southwest (SXSW) Music, Film, and Interactive Festival in Austin. On March 10, the Buzznet multimedia opening party at the Red Bull House (http://www.redbullhouse.com) featured films created by Studio Cinetex members Justin Gesch, Paulina Lagos, Karyssa Halstead, Roman Falcon, Brent Northington, and Jill Reinecke. The films were projected using interactive environments with technology provided by PlayMotion.
Joshua Kendle, a fourth-year undergraduate architecture student was awarded the Dallas CSI Foundation Scholarship for the 2005-06 year. He was one of five recipients and will be presented his $1500 scholarship check and recognition certificate in conjunction with an awards program at UT-Austin this spring.
Friends of Architecture
Linda Pace Residence in San Antonio. Photo by Paul Bardagjy.
This weekend, Friends of Architecture will be presenting a sold out "Contemporary San Antonio" tour that will include visits to amazing private homes, the sustainably designed Lucifer Lighting factory, and a private tour of the San Antonio Museum of Art.
If you missed this tour, you'll want to be sure to join our Modernist's tour of France and Switzerland June 21-July 1 or travel with us to Michoacán, Mexico, in August. For information on these tours or Friends of Architecture membership, contact contact FOA Director Stephanie Palmer at 512-471-0617 or stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu, or visit us online at http://web.austin.utexas.edu/architecture/outreach/foa/
main.html.
LEED Workshop offered at UT-Austin
LEED certified project case study: Interface Showroom and Offices, Atlanta, Georgia, 2004. Photograph by Gittel Price.
Attention alumni! The UT-Austin School of Architecture Materials Lab and Career Service Office are offering a special invitation to alumni to return to the UT-Austin campus on April 24 to attend a full-day technical review workshop for LEED accreditation. We are providing advanced notice because spots will fill up quickly during registration in March.
This intensive, full-day workshop will deliver an in-depth review of the technical requirements of the LEED-New Building rating system and the tools and information needed to incorporate green building practices into your projects. This course will provide case studies of successful strategies for earning LEED credits and achieving project certification. The Technical Review Workshops are highly recommended for those preparing for the LEED Professional Accreditation Exam (http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=69&).
For more information, please contact Materials Lab Director Tara Carlisle at 512-232-5915 or Stephanie Palmer at 512-471-0617 or stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu.
Contacts
UT-Austin School of Architecture website, arch.utexas.edu
Architecture and Planning Student Council + AIA Students website, http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/apscaias/
(area code 512)
Dean's Office, 471-1922, fax 471-0716
Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs, Jeanne Crawford, 471-0109, jcraw@mail.utexas.edu
Assistant Dean for Development, Kris Muñoz Vetter, 471-6114, kmvetter@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
Publications Editor, Pamela Peters, 471-0154, p.peters@mail.utexas.edu
Friends of Architecture Director and Alumni Coordinator, Stephanie Palmer, 471-0617, stephanie.palmer@mail.utexas.edu
Career Placement Director, Sheila Balog, 471-1333, sheila.balog@mail.utexas.edu
Director of Photography, Charlotte Pickett, c.pickett@mail.utexas.edu
Architecture and Planning Library, http://www.lib.utexas.edu/apl/index.html, 495-4620
Mailing Address
The School of Architecture
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station B7500
Austin, TX 78712-0222
