Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP) has announced architect, urban planner, and academic Jose Castillo as its next Department of Architecture Chair. Castillo, the co-founder of the Mexico City-based studio a|911, has taught previously at UPenn, Tulane University, the University of New Mexico, and Harvard GSD and joins the faculty in Ithaca as a full Professor beginning this summer before the start of the fall academic term. 

"Professor Castillo's expertise spans design research, practice, and pedagogy, inspiring imagination and actualizing transformation from the architectural to urban scale," AAP Dean J. Meejin Yoon said in a statement. "Connecting the many forces that shape our cities and built environments, Castillo's multidisciplinary approach to real-world challenges from climate change to infrastructure to social housing brings a breadth of knowledge and experience, as well as a global, humanistic perspective, to the department and college."

Castillo added, "I look forward to joining Cornell AAP and working with faculty, students, staff as well as the broader university community to contribute to expanding architecture's sense of agency and address the contemporary challenges of the discipline."