Kim Tanzer was my critic for Design Studio 5 (for half of it anyway...it was an 8wk split with William Tilson). She introduced us to the concept of designing for universal accessibility--and in doing so, she revealed her humanity.

Professor Tanzer stood out as a true advocate for the students of the school. She seemed concerned foremost with creating an environment that was conducive to the student's total well being, and supportive of their growth.

Professor Tanzer actively encouraged good work habits and stressed the importance of time management. She was the only critic that I had at UF who required students to leave studio by 11pm the night before the jury--and the fact that we were actually coherent during the reviews allowed us to perform better and take more away from the experience.

Within the studio, she never pushed a personal view point on us. Our D5 project was based in Florida's landscape, and she evenhandedly introduced notions of mimicry and alterity, allowing us to develop our own positions, and ultimately our own voices.

Bravo to UVa. Great choice.

Well said AP.

as i said on the news post, this is good news for UVa and more bad news for UF... UF has now lost 3 important long time professors in the last month or two...

my response as posted in the news:

That's one way to look at it Phil...and of course I agree that having these 3 professors leave is a significant loss for UF, but I think that speaks to how amazing the program at the School is. The fact that a few of their talented professors are finding themselves in positions of leadership elsewhere reflects well on UF.

Also, I'm confident that even given the UF SoA's recent leadership change, the School will continue to have a stellar undergraduate program, at the very least. (some of my confidence comes from having just received the latest issue of Architrave, UF's student work publication...things are looking great, especially in the lower division studios).

UT Austin deployed(?) the Texas Rangers (including John Hejduk and Colin Rowe) a generation ago, and that had a serious impact on architectural education across the country.

just a thought.

AP has written beautifully about her. My thesis really began with a paper I wrote for Kim's theory class while we where in UF's Vicenza program. She helped me think and write for the first time about informal contexts.

I also was in one of her theory seminars working on what would eventually become The Green Braid, Towards an Architecture of Ecology Economy and Equity.

Her dedication, intellect, and compassion are a continuous inspiration.

Congratulations UVA!

Tanzer was my professor for core 2 studio and I would echo Aaron and Quilian's comments.

I'd also add that I very much appreciated her multi-disciplinary approach. She encouraged students to look toward other fields or personal experiences to inform their process and design. While a lot of professors like to pay lip service to that kind of thing, she was one of the rare ones to make it happen in a meaningful way. I remember her leading us on a trudge through a swamp, taking us to watch the bats emerge from the bat house at dusk, and taking us (on a Friday evening, no less, when she probably had better things she could have done) to the UF observatory for some star gazing.