Archinect - Features

'Leadership Is Not Linear': A Conversation with Mary Anne Alabanza Akers, the New Dean of Cal Poly Pomona's College of Environmental Design

2023-03-27T10:00:00-04:00

The fabric of architectural academia is changing. As leadership turnover is more apparent than ever before, I wondered if the demands of an academic leader have outgrown the stereotypical "profile" of what qualifies a dean or department chair. Is there room for deans to lead and make changes beyond their bureaucratic administrative duties? How much experience is enough experience to be "qualified to lead?"

I discussed these questions when I got the opportunity to connect with Cal Poly Pomona's new dean for their College of Environmental Design, Mary Anne Alabanza Akers. She joins the institution after heading Morgan State University's School of Architecture + Planning as its dean for 14 years. Not only has Akers served at a prominent HBCU — she was also its founding dean.

During our conversation, for our latest Dean's List series, we unpacked her childhood in the Philippines, her journey to attending school and working in the United States, her commitment to academia, and what it ...

Fellow Fellows: Ranitri Weerasuriya, the 2018 Goodman Fellow at GSAPP

2019-10-25T13:00:00-04:00

Fellow Fellows is a series that focuses on the increasingly important role fellowships play in architecture academia today. These prestigious academic positions can bring forth a fantastic blend of practice, research, and pedagogical cross-pollination, often within a tight time frame. They also, by definition, represent temporary, open-ended, and ultimately precarious employment for aspiring young designers and academics. Fellow Fellows aims to understand what these positions offer for both the fellows themselves and the discipline at large by presenting their work and experiences through an in-depth interview. Fellow Fellows is about bringing attention and inquiry to the otherwise maddening pace of academia, while also presenting a broad view of the exceptional and breakthrough work being done by people navigating the early parts of their careers.

This week, we talk to Ranitri Weerasuriya, the 2018-2019 Percival and Naomi Goodman Fellow from Columbia University Graduate School of ...

Charlottesville-Based VMDO Sustains the Idea of a Teaching Firm

2019-02-06T09:53:00-05:00

Over the past few years, the field has received a growing amount of attention that has highlighted long standing labor issues within the architecture industry, ranging from unsustainable pay models to unwelcoming work environments. Looking for an alternative, the Architecture Lobby created the Just Design Initiative, which recognizes fair labor practices in architecture. Beginning with nominations submitted by employees, and followed by an evaluation process, the team looked at practices that can serve as models of a new status quo within the profession. Archinect has teamed up with the Just Design crew to profile firms across the country that meet the initiative's standards. Whether it is a family-friendly work schedule or a health coverage plan that goes above and beyond, the series spotlights practices that honor the basic rights of their employees and can serve as exemplary models of what should become standard for the field.

Has Educational Complacency Diminished Today's Discourse?

2018-08-23T11:22:00-04:00

Complacency is the enemy of progress and Architecture, as a whole, is built on progress. The progress of thought, progress of conversations and progress of objection. Architecture is not a search for truth, but instead, as a discipline, it is a collection of studies, inquiries, and expertise into an expanding field of knowledge. The discipline of Architecture is one that grows, progresses, and builds upon itself just as its buildings build upon eras of decades past. And yet, the voices of yesterday have been anxiously overcompensating for their diminishing relevance, fading into mere echoes by fearfully retreating to the false comfort of a broken record discipline—one where progress is stifled and treated as insolent. The suppression of progress has not gone unnoticed and as the imposed stagnancy solidifies, conversations turn against those imposing it, demanding a return to the discipline of Architecture.

SoapBox: Pedagogy

2017-12-06T13:15:00-05:00

Soapbox is a weekly series delivering a curated set of lectures, talks and symposia concerning contemporary themes but explored through the archives of lectures past and present. With the plethora of lectures, talks, symposia and panels occurring world wide on a daily basis, how can we begin to keep up and if not, find them once they are gone? Soapbox looks to assemble a selection of recent, archived and outlier lectures surrounding a given theme. Soapbox looks to curate this never-ending library of ideas into an engaging and diverse list of thoughts and provocations. Soapbox is just that, a collection aimed at discovering the occasional needle in a haystack.

Deans List: Amidst Many Moves, Signy Svalastoga and Andrew Stone Discuss the Future for the Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design

2017-11-30T09:00:00-05:00

For this Deans List feature, we spoke to Andrew Stone, Head of the Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design at London Metropolitan University, and Signy Svalastoga, who is Head of Architecture, about how they continue to nurture the school’s philosophy, their impressive staff members and just what the future holds for the ‘Aldgate Bauhaus.’

Deans List: Milton Curry shares his vision for the future of the USC School of Architecture

2017-10-05T11:45:00-04:00

For this edition of the Deans List we spoke with incoming dean Milton Curry at the University of Southern California. Dean Curry told us about his vision for the school, what it means to be a citizen architect and the commitment of architecture thinking to public good.

MITHUN designs 125-foot-tall Sustainability Treehouse in West Virginia

2017-08-02T12:16:00-04:00

Built on the arborous slopes of the 10,600-acre Summit Bechtel Reserve in Mount Hope, West Virginia, the Sustainability Treehouse stands as a beacon of outdoor adventure, environmental stewardship, and high-performance design, as design architect MITHUN describes. The Seattle- and San Francisco-based practice worked alongside executive architect/architect of record BNIM and developer Trinity Works to bring the public educational facility to life for the Boy Scouts of America. In 2014, the project was named an AIA COTE Top Ten Green Project.

"The future belongs to Woodbury": an interview with Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter, the University's brand new Dean

2017-07-13T12:00:00-04:00

For this installment of Deans List we talk to Ingalill Wahlroos-Ritter, one month after starting her new post as Dean of the School of Architecture at Woodbury University, about the importance of economic diversity and the school's commitment to egalitarian and practical education.

At UCLA's Year-End Reviews, a Diversity of Impressive Student Work Makes for a Loud 'Rumble'

2017-06-28T13:29:00-04:00

As summer begins and the academic year comes to a close, all the rooms and narrow corridors of UCLA’s Perloff Hall are overflowing with models and drawings, celebrating the hard work of the students with the annual exhibition-style event, Rumble.

Letters of acceptance are in and the Archinect community is here to help!

2017-03-29T10:42:00-04:00

It’s that time of year again, when architectural hopefuls sit anxiously on their front step waiting for the mail or more likely, at their computers refreshing their inbox. And while many may have thought the difficult part was turning in the applications, they are probably figuring out by now, that making a decision on which program to accept can be just as taxing.

What's Wrong with Academia? On Alternative Schools of Architecture

2017-03-09T12:17:00-05:00

Over the course of the last few years, debate around the form of architectural education has reached new levels of popularity, illustrated by the proliferation of reflexive initiatives, conferences and publications around artistic and architectural education as well as through the emergence of new experimental models.

Frank Gehry, Steven Holl, Liz Diller, Rem Koolhaas and Others Share Crucial Moments in Their Education

2016-09-30T12:19:00-04:00

What is the role of education in shaping a visionary architect? Several contemporary architects reflect on how the environment, curriculum, and tangential opportunities of their formal learning influenced and shaped their design sensibility.

7 famous architectural dropouts and autodidacts

2016-09-09T11:11:00-04:00

Don’t tell the architectural students with six figures of debt, but that education of theirs might not be entirely necessary—especially when one looks at the ranks of famous architectural dropouts and autodidacts. These accomplished designers either didn’t complete their formal education or simply forged their own path by virtue of teaching themselves how to design. No matter how they dodged formal education, all of these figures pursued a passionate love of their field.

Working Life: Does Taliesin’s collaborative and pedagogical domesticity suit the 21st century?

2016-08-10T12:45:00-04:00

Founded at a time when Frank Lloyd Wright was floundering financially, Taliesin’s blend of education and site-bound intimacy has created a custom domesticity. As the site for the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, Taliesin combines both passion and white-knuckled acumen, teaching its student inhabitants to thrive with scarce resources and a generous community.

Brexit vote was due to "a loss of identity more than anything else" – op-ed by Alan Penn, Dean of the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment

2016-07-30T06:19:00-04:00

As an architect and an optimist, I am hopeful that the chaos in Britain triggered by the Brexit referendum may be accompanied by yet another great age of creative invention.

Student Works: This house made of trash teaches a lesson in green housekeeping

2014-08-04T10:10:00-04:00

The Waste House at the University of Brighton's Faculty of Arts is stated to be the UK's first permanently built home made of over 85% discarded materials, including 20,000 toothbrushes, 2,000 carpet tiles, and 4,000 plastic DVD cases. But its focus on student involvement in realizing the house is also worth noting. The project leader, BBM Architects' Director and University of Brighton Senior Lecturer Duncan Baker-Brown, collaborated with a total of 253 undergraduate students, apprentices, and volunteers in the designing and constructing of the Waste House. As students experimented with new applications for these everyday materials, they also learned that it doesn't just have to end up in a landfill.

On the ground: USC Blue Tape showcases student work as barometer of California architecture

2014-05-23T14:28:00-04:00

Tucked in at the edge of USC’s campus, along downtown Los Angeles' Exposition Boulevard, stands Southern California's first accredited architecture program, which has spent the past year celebrating its centennial class of students with a variety of school events. At the resolution of the academic year is USC School of Architecture's Blue Tape, a two-day climactic event showcasing work from throughout the year, across all disciplines and student levels.

Prototyping: Tiny House Design Workshop

2014-02-27T16:13:00-05:00

Workshops can open up architectural education to those beyond the university community, rolling theory and practice into concentrated and productive sessions. Prototyping, a new feature series on Archinect, will highlight some of the more ambitious and intriguing workshops out there, to show how they're being put together and what they produce.

ShowCase: Archaeological Pavilion by kadawittfeldarchitektur

2014-02-07T09:39:00-05:00

ShowCase is an on-going feature series on Archinect, presenting exciting new work from designers representing all creative fields and all geographies.

We are always accepting nominations for upcoming ShowCase features - if you would like to suggest a project, please send us a message.

ShowCase: Abedian School of Architecture by CRAB Studio

2014-01-10T10:02:00-05:00

ShowCase is an on-going feature series on Archinect, presenting exciting new work from designers representing all creative fields and all geographies.

We are always accepting nominations for upcoming ShowCase features - if you would like to suggest a project, please send us a message.

7 Lessons from the 3rd International Architectural Education Summit

2013-10-07T10:45:00-04:00

Just over a year ago, the Architectural Review published “Alternative Routes for Architecture”, calling for a drastic reinterpretation of architectural education in the face of rigid institutions and extreme financial strains. Certainly this demand is older than a year -- as we allow technology to knit information more thickly into our cultural fabric, we question the nature of education at large as having a physical place and hierarchy, through systems such as MOOCs or mobile workspaces. Add prohibitively high costs, followed by debt and depressing unemployment rates, and the architect is getting fit to reconstitute itself as newly relevant and multi-faceted professional.

Student Works: Fallen Star

2012-09-05T10:00:00-04:00

“Fallen Star” is an installation set between biomimetics, interaction, and perception. It is the final working prototype of the Architectural Association (AA) DLAB Visiting School which took place in AA London and AA Hooke Park during July 23 – August 5, 2012.

CONTOURS: The Divisions that Bind Us

2012-01-16T20:28:00-05:00

As if the narratives and infographics of Occupy weren’t loud enough by now, Catherine Rampell, an economics reporter for The New York Times, decided to bang the drum a little louder by writing “Want a Job? Go to College, and Don’t Major in Architecture”.

A Conversation with Michael Woo

2011-04-07T20:02:59-04:00

By Orhan Ayyüce

Michael Woo is the dean of California Polytechnic University, Pomona the College of Environmental Design which contains departments of Architecture, Art, Landscape Architecture, Urban and Regional Planning, and the John T. Lyle Center for Regenerative Studies. He is a familiar name in Southern California. Mr. Woo has served in Los Angeles City Council and ran for the mayor's office in 1993 as the Democratic candidate, losing by a small margin to Republican candidate and businessman Richard Riordan. A planner by education, Mr. Woo is a unique dean for a design school with the background of an established politician and, to a degree, an environmental activist. I sat down with him last December in his office and had this conversation.