Archinect - Features

An Interview with Frank Gehry, Who Turns 90 Today, Upon Receiving the Neutra Award for Professional Excellence

2019-02-28T12:34:00-05:00

Over the course of his career, Frank Gehry, who turns 90 today, has become a household name, achieving a level of architectural stardom rivaled by few, if any. Honoring this impressive legacy, Cal Poly Pomona’s Department of Architecture recognized Gehry earlier this month with the Richard Neutra Award for Professional Excellence, the school’s annual award which is given to an architect for their dedication to the research and development of new environments in everyday life.

Each year Archinect publishes a conversation between Orhan Ayyüce and the winner of the award. Recent years have included published interviews with Tadao Ando, Guy Nordenson, Enrique Norten, and Carme Pinós.

A Conversation with Guy Nordenson, Recipient of the 2017 Richard Neutra Award

2017-12-14T11:19:00-05:00

On October 9th Guy Nordenson was presented with the 2017 Richard Neutra Award for Professional Excellence from the Cal Poly Pomona Department of Architecture. Established in honor of Richard Neutra's architectural legacy, the medal recognizes individuals for their dedication to the research and development of new environments in everyday life. Nordenson joins the award's esteemed roster of recipients, which includes Carme Pinós, Tadao Ando, Enrique Norten, Michael Rotondi, and Thom Mayne.

A few hours before Nordenson received the award, Archinect's Orhan Ayyüce had a chance to meet with him at the historic Neutra VDL House. His unique position as a highly creative and visionary structural engineer led to this conversation.

How to Inject Poetry into Architecture: Carme Pinós in Conversation with Orhan Ayyüce

2017-01-10T13:28:00-05:00

Can architecture be both poetic and serve the needs of the people who use it? That’s the question that orients this conversation between Orhan Ayyuce and Carme Pinós, the award-winning Spanish architect. Conducted at the former home of the famed architect Richard Neutra—what is now the Neutra VDL Studio and Residences—the discussion was occasioned by a lecture Pinós delivered at Cal Poly Pomona, upon her acceptance of the 2016 Neutra Award for Professional Excellence.

Michael Rotondi Opens Up About the Faith Propelling His Life and Work

2017-01-05T11:05:00-05:00

"It’s a practice rather than a religion, but the practice is essentially living by principles and then meditation," states Michael Rotondi. "It’s Buddhism without beliefs, I guess would be a way to look at it."

Tadao Ando Interview: 20 Minutes with a Master

2012-04-23T20:10:00-04:00

I can easily point to Tadao Ando's work as one of my earliest sources of inspiration, pulling me toward a life embedded in architecture. The powerful simplicity of his forms has always seemed to me, to represent an understanding far greater than that of the built environment alone. A few weeks ago, we had a rare opportunity to meet and talk with the master, thanks to a generous offer from Cal Poly Pomona and Axel Schmitzberger, during Ando's brief visit to Los Angeles to collect his 2012 Richard Neutra Award. So, Orhan, Alex, Kaori and I headed out to Neutra's VDL House in Silver Lake, on a chilly afternoon in late March, for a brief, yet memorable, chat.