Archinect - Features

Fostering Civic Engagement in Architecture School With Jeanine Centuori, Director of Woodbury’s ACE Center

2022-02-23T10:46:00-05:00

How can architecture schools better engage with the communities surrounding them? For faculty and students at Woodbury School of Architecture, the words civic engagement are more than just umbrella terms used as curriculum aides for student learning. Instead, they are pillars to facilitate ongoing discourse and action towards helping underserved communities in Southern California. Through architecture, design, non-profit work, and business initiatives, the school's Agency for Civic Engagement (ACE) program uses a multidisciplinary approach to designing for the public.

ACE stemmed from an idea led by a group of dedicated Woodbury faculty members. What began as a visionary project has become an essential public interest program. To learn more about ACE's history and the community-driven projects born out of the program, I spoke with its Director, Jeanine Centuori, FAIA. During our conversation, we also discussed public art and its relationship to architecture, the importance of exposi...

It's a Great Time to Invest in the Maintenance of Public Lands

2020-07-27T13:11:00-04:00

Last month, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly to pass an amended version of the Great American Outdoors Act (S.3422), legislation originally introduced in the House of Representatives under a different name by the recently departed, legendary Congressman John Lewis. The bill — which passed in the House last and will now head to the desk of the president for his signature into law — would secure $900 million annually in permanent, dedicated funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, as well as money to tackle the $12 billion backlog of deferred maintenance for our National Parks, National Forests and other public lands. According to advocacy group Preservation Action, about 43% of the backlog includes valuable historic structures, too.

Public Architects: Ric Abramson, Urban Design and Architecture Studio Manager for the City of West Hollywood

2020-03-02T12:30:00-05:00

We hear quite a bit about corporate and boutique architecture practices, but what about the public sector?

Although the vast majority of the architectural work that takes place in the United States happens through private sector practices, there exists a strong and vibrant group of public sector architects who help guide the design of private architecture projects while also working to bring impactful government programs into being across the American built environment. These architects work quietly, often in administrative roles, but always in a way that serves to apply and codify design expertise to best suit the interests of the American public.

One such architect is Ric Abramson, FAIA. Abramson was recently selected to head the City of West Hollywood's Urban Design & Architecture Studio, a division that exerts significant influence across the small-but-mighty Southern California city. Archinect caught up with Abramson to discuss the outlines of his new role, some of the urban d...

Architecture Critics Shrug Over Trump's Classicizing Executive Order

2020-02-20T11:36:00-05:00

Over the last week, critics from across the country have begun weighing in on the proposed “Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” executive order, an initiative crafted by the National Civic Art Society for President Donald Trump that would impose a “classical architectural style” on many of the nation’s federal buildings.

The order, which also proposes to eliminate the influence of professional architects, planners, and artists over the design review process for federal buildings that cost more than $50 million, has been generally panned by architects, critics, professional organizations, and other associated groups alike, including by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA), The Architecture Lobby, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA), and several others.

To help make sense of the debate, Archinect has collected some of the critical responses to the in...

Touring some of the world's most attractive public housing projects

2016-08-09T09:24:00-04:00

Can affordable public housing be beautiful? It’s a question that for years was answered with indifference.

Screen/Print #36: Harvard Design Magazine's "Well, Well, Well"

2015-08-14T10:32:00-04:00

“Well, Well, Well”, the fortieth issue from the Harvard Design Magazine, explores the tricky business of designing for health, and provokes considerations on the flip-side of neglecting to do so.