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YOUNG JAPANESE ARCHITECTS, CONSIDERED TO BE MOST ORIGINAL AND PROMISING OF A NEW GENERATION OF JAPANESE PRACTITIONERS, TO LEAD OFF FALL LECTURE PROGRAM AT SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Tokyo’s Kazuyo Sejima + Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA Ltd., Selected Recently To Design The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; Will Present Recent Works At 8 September Lecture
8 August 2003…Los Angeles…University of Southern California (USC) School of Architecture Dean Robert H. Timme, FAIA, has announced the selection of young Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of Tokyo-based SANAA Ltd. as the 2003 Jon Adams Jerde, FAIA Visiting Design Professor[s] in Architecture. Sejima and Nishizawa will be introduced at a special presentation of their recent works on Monday, September 8, at 6 p.m. in the Gin D. Wong, FAIA Conference Center, Harris Hall, USC. Widely considered to be the most original and promising of a new generation of Japanese architects, Sejima and Nishizawa will teach a studio course with USC adjunct assistant professor Yo-ichiro Hakomori here this fall.
“There is a long-standing tradition at USC’s School of Architecture of introducing our students to gifted, young practitioners of the profession, those whose stars have just begun to rise worldwide,” explains Dean Robert H. Timme, FAIA. “The students share their ideas while experiencing the thinking and work of these young talents who are in that electric moment in their ascendancy. It always promises to be a rare and provocative interaction.”
. Already recognized and awarded in Japan and Europe, the firm is starting to become known in the United States. Recently SANAA has been selected for several high-profile projects; among them, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City; Center for Glass of the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio; and the Valencia Institute of Modern Art addition, Valencia, Spain. Among the firm’s completed projects are the Day-Care Center, Yokohama (2000); The O Museum, Nagano (1999); and The N Museum, Wakayama (1997), all in Japan.
Jerde Endowment Supports Visiting Design Professor Program
The endowed faculty position that honors USC alumnus Jon A. Jerde, FAIA “supports a visiting design studio faculty member whose teaching will focus on integration of and collaboration in urban design and architecture.” “These young architects’ exploration of the evanescent qualities of solid and void is the kind of transformative experience that speaks for a new generation,” explains Jon Jerde, chairman of The Jerde Partnership of Venice, CA. “Sejima and Nishizawa embody the spirit of this endowed faculty position.” The other architects who have been selected as Jerde visiting design professors have been Tadao Ando of Osaka, Japan; and Michael Maltzan and Steven Ehrlich of Los Angeles.
Sejima and Nishizawa To Speak at USC School of Architecture
The 8 September Sejima and Nishizawa lecture will be the first in the School’s fall series of programs, which is open to the public. Among other lecturers this fall will be Greg Brew of BMW Group/Designworks USA; Amadeo Petrilli, who will present “The Testament of Le Corbusier: The Project for the Hospital of Venice”, and Austrian architect Hans Hollein.
The University of Southern California School of Architecture is located in the heart of Los Angeles, a singular laboratory in which to study and understand urban conditions and their architectural implications. Under Dean Timme’s leadership, the School is committed to “shaping the students’ experiences so that they not only will perform well in the profession but, as well, will lead the discipline in new directions, sensing, responding to and helping to cause change in society.” Established in 1919, USC’s School of Architecture was the first in Southern California. Educational offerings include architecture, landscape architecture, building science and historic preservation at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Among its notable graduates are Frank O. Gehry, Jon Jerde and Thom Mayne.
8 August 2003
Contact: Judi Skalsky 310 459 6061 judiskalsky@earthlink.net++++++++++++++
LOS ANGELES' RALPH KNOWLES TO BE HONORED FOR HIS BREAKTHROUGH IDEAS, INCLUDING ZONING CONCEPT OF "SOLAR ENVELOPE', THAT IMPACT ENERGY AND LIFE QUALITY OF CITIES
American Solar Energy Society To Name Knowles A "Passive Solar Pioneer" for Research at USC That Has Become International Exemplar For Solar Access
16 June 2003, Los AngelesProfessor Emeritus Ralph Knowles, who has earned distinguished status as a teacher and researcher during his 40 years at the University of Southern California's (USC) School of Architecture, will be named "Passive Solar Pioneer" for his breakthrough research, including the "solar envelope", a zoning device that provides access to sunshine for energy and life quality in cities. Knowles' "solar envelope" has become the international exemplar for assuring solar access. According to the American Solar Energy Society, which will honor Knowles at its national annual meeting 21-26 June, his "foresight, innovative thinking and creativity" have opened doors for others who will follow "in the advancement of solar energy for the benefit of the global environment."
Knowles is known to have pioneered techniques of passive solar design long before the concept of sustainability was introduced. Passive solar energy heats and cools a building by natural non-mechanical means; it uses a building's location and form to gather sunshine for lighting and winter warmth and fresh air for ventilation.
Knowles' Education Approach Has Become A Model for Environmentalists
A fast-growing faction that advocates concern for environmental issues now uses his education approach as a model.
In a time of unprecedented global urbanization, 60 percent of the world's people are expected to occupy cities by 2030. In 1950, only New York contained ten million people. By 2015, there will be 21 cities of ten million or more, six of them over 20 million. To address these massive changes, Knowles has lectured and consulted widely on solar policy and design. He has advocated passive solar design as a means of energy conservation and life quality and his solar envelope is recognized universally as a critical zoning strategy supporting that goal.
The American Solar Energy Society, a national organization dedicated to advancing the use of solar energy for the benefit of U.S. citizens and the global environment, will present the award to Knowles at its "Solar 2003" meeting in Austin, Texas. The organization honors those in the passive field whose pioneering work set the stage for others to follow. Honorees must be true pioneers in the field. Their contributions must have been in the early stages of the creation and development of significant ideas, theories, and concepts.
Knowles Joins Honorees' List That Includes Earth Day Founder and Native Americans
Among the 24 honorees who have been named Passive Solar Pioneers since 1979 are Bruce Anderson, a founder of Earth Day (1990); Native Americans (1991), and John S. Reynolds for his work on courtyard housing (1997).
Ralph Knowles, the author of eight books and more than 50 articles, received the American Institute of Architects' Medal for Research, a Fulbright Teaching Fellowship, the American Collegiate Schools of Architecture's Distinguished Professor Award and National Endowment for the Arts' grant recognition, among other honors.
Currently, he teaches a lecture class called "Shelter" at USC's School of Architecture. The course is an examination of the aesthetics of buildings and settlements through close analysis of the way people have traditionally identified with their environments. His present research and writing focus on the ways traditionally valid adaptations to sun, wind and water can evolve into a modern design aesthetic for buildings and settlements.
Located in the heart of Los Angeles, University of Southern California's School of Architecture has become a singular laboratory in which to study and understand urban conditions and their architectural implications. Dean Robert H. Timme, FAIA, was chosen to head the School in January 1996. Under his leadership, the School is committed to "shaping the students' experience so that they not only will perform exceptionally well in the profession of architecture but, as well, will lead the discipline in new directions, sensing, responding to and helping to cause change in society." The USC School of Architecture was established in 1919, the first in Southern California.
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16 June 2003
Contact: Judi Skalsky 310 459 6061 judiskalsky@earthlink.net
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