TCAUP Updates

Monica Ponce de Leon Appointed New Dean

2008-04-29T13:17:00.004-04:00

In review and discussion with the Board of Regents Personnel, Compensation and Governance Committee, and pending Regents' approval, President Mary Sue Coleman and Provost Teresa A. Sullivan are pleased to announce the appointment of Monica Ponce de Leon as the next Dean of the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, effective September 1, 2008.

Monica Ponce de Leon is Professor of Architecture and the Director of the Digital Lab at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She is also a Principal in Office dA, an internationally known design practice that she launched with Nader Tehrani in Boston in 1991. The firm's synthesis of research and design has led to a remarkable body of work that has been widely published and exhibited and has won numerous honors. Professor Ponce de Leon's work addresses the critical importance of digital production to the future of the profession and the re-establishment of the architect's role in the construction industry. Through her strong commitment to teaching and her successful practice she has proven her ability to link the profession and the academy.

Professor Ponce de Leon received a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1989 from the University of Miami and the Master of Architecture in Urban Design degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1991.

She joined the Harvard Graduate School of Design faculty in 1996, following appointments on the faculties of University of Miami, Northeastern University, and Georgia Institute of Technology. She has held visiting professorships at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the Rhode Island School of Design. She has received honors from the Architectural League of New York (Emerging Voices, 2003, and Young Architects Award, 1997) and the American Academy of Arts and Letters (Award in Architecture, 2002). Her practice has received over 30 design awards, among which are the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award (2007), the AIA/LA Design Award (Helios House, 2007), the I.D. Magazine Award: Environment (2007) and the AIA/ALA Library Building Award (2007) for the Fleet Library at the Rhode Island School of Design, and ten Progressive Architecture Awards. Most recently Office dA was awarded the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment?s (COTE) Top Ten Green Projects for 2008 for the Macallen Building in Boston.

Among her authored works are numerous articles in U.S. and international publications on topics ranging from Latin American architecture to eco-tourism to public infrastructure for the tropics.

She has given more than 60 invited lectures and symposia and conference presentations. Between 1991 and 2007, her work has been referenced in over 200 publications world-wide about design. She has curated exhibitions, the most recent in 2005 on "The City of Aleppo: The Veronica Ridge Green Prize in Urban Design," and she has had numerous solo exhibitions in New York, Providence RI, Atlanta, Princeton NJ, Cambridge MA, and elsewhere. She has received grants for research on design, including implications of digital fabrication in relationship to conventional construction practices in the U.S. and invention of new construction systems for unique conditions of the Galapagos Islands, and for archival research in Latin American architecture and landscape architecture.

The portfolio of Monica Ponce de Leon's firm, Office dA, includes institutional, residential, commercial, housing, governmental, industrial design and urban design projects all over the world. Among the more recent are the Fleet Library at Rhode Island School of Design, the Tongxian Arts Center in Beijing, Helios House/Rebranding of a Gas Station in Los Angeles, an Intergenerational Housing Center for the City of Chicago, a dynamic low-cost housing for the Elemental program in Chile, the first LEED certified large residential project in Boston and a border station between the U.S. and Canada.

President Coleman and Provost Sullivan are extremely pleased that Professor Ponce de Leon is assuming the leadership of the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning (TCAUP). Because she is recognized as a leader in the field of design, she will infuse the College with energy and currency in architecture and urban planning. We are confident of her ability to articulate a vision for TCAUP that will position it as a leader in architecture and design education and practice on such important issues as sustainability, digital technologies, diversity and social consciousness. We expect that she will forge relationships with other schools and colleges, and will serve as an ambassador to our alumni and other constituents. The appointment of Monica Ponce de Leon will be a significant milestone in the positioning of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan in the academic and professional world.

U-M Reception at 2008 AIA Convention in Boston, May 16, 2008

2008-04-29T13:00:00.000-04:00

Friday, May 16, 2008 (note new date)
5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

at Cambridge Seven Associates, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, 617.492.7000

Reconnect with your classmates, celebrate the elevation of new fellows Marc L'Italien, FAIA, B.S.'84 and Gordon R. Carrier, FAIA, B.S.'79, M.Arch'81, toast our outgoing dean, Doug Kelbaugh and meet his successor, Monica Ponce De Leon at the Michigan Reception.

Please plan to attend, whether or not you are attending the convention. We hope our many urban planning and urban design alumni in the Boston area will join us too. Let us know who and how many will be attending. You are welcome to bring your spouse, a colleague, or friends and family. Contact Janice Harvey at 734.764.1340 or send an email to href="mailto:jrharvey@umich.edu">
jrharvey@umich.edu.

Detroit Community Design Center Lecturer Position

2008-04-28T11:00:00.000-04:00

The Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning in conjunction with Hamilton Anderson Associates is sponsoring a pilot project to expose school-aged students from under represented populations to the architecture profession through coursework and outreach activities. Residing at the Detroit Community Design Center, the lecturer selected for this position will work with the Center Director and Taubman College faculty and staff to develop and implement activities during the fall term 2008 and winter term 2009.

Responsibilities: teach/assist in teaching courses and the preparation of instructional materials that introduce uninitiated high school students to the study and practice of architecture. This will include, but is not limited to:

A. Directing an integrated design studio where students work both collaboratively and individually in an open environment with professionals, educators, invited guests and each other to produce architectural ideas, drawings, models and projects to be determined by the program director
B. Creating professional, academic and architectural tours that provide students with the opportunity to meet and engage the academic and professional community, as well as expand their knowledge of both the education (university), production (office) and the product (buildings) of the architect
C. Developing supportive and tutorial ties between the students with professionals, academics and/or college students through the implementation of visiting lectures, discussions, etc.
D. Assist with the selection of seminar topics, materials and speakers, provide support services in the planning and execution of educational exercises, and coordinate with TCAUP staff on administrative issues.

The program is especially interested in candidates whose background will permit them to assume a leadership role in all aspects of program development and community outreach. Therefore, preference will be given to candidates with significant experience in community-oriented programs, working with K-12 students, diverse student populations and/or with students traditionally under-represented in the field of architecture.

Minimum Qualifications:
Professional degree in architecture (M. Arch or B.Arch-5yr) ; professional practice experience; knowledge of both current educational paradigms and standard business procedures; desire to work with a diverse student population; ability to work both under direction and independently.

Desired Qualifications:
In addition to the minimum qualifications the candidate would demonstrate previous successful studio teaching experience, especially in the discipline of architecture; experience working with K-12 students; substantive knowledge of Detroit, its architectural landscape and community.

To be considered for review please send the following items directly to the search committee at the address listed below.

curriculum vitae
statement of interest
edited portfolio which contains no more than 8 single sided pages and is no larger than 9X12

Search Committee
Architecture Program
2000 Bonisteel Blvd.
2150 Art & Architecture
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2069

TCAUP Team Wins EPA P3 Competition

2008-04-28T10:58:00.001-04:00

We've got a winning team in this year's EPA P3 competition!

The Mada Biofuels team lead by student Doug Kolozsvari and faculty advisor Gavin Shatkin had received a grant to fund its effort to compete for the EPA P3 Award. The team studied developing biofuels from plant materials (Jatropha curcas) in Madagascar.

TCAUP Has a Second Winning Team in the EPA P3

2008-04-28T10:57:00.000-04:00

The team, the UP 634 Dustbusters, will use the award from EPA to implement some of their vegetation strategies to address the problem of particulate pollution in Southwest Detroit. This student team is headed by Larissa Larsen and advised by Eric Dueweke. Congratulations to Will Brodnax, Mark Hansford, Tyler Kinley, Carolyn Pivirotto, Shiply Singh, Jeff Storrar, Benjamin Stupka, Erin Thoresen, Jon VanDerZee.

Andrew Herscher Awarded Human Rights Fellowship

2008-04-28T10:56:00.001-04:00

Taubman College's own Andrew Herscher has been awarded a Human Rights Fellowship by the U-M Center for International and Comparative Studies (CICS).

Among other fellowship duties, Andrew will teach a course on culture and human rights as part of the international studies minor in W2008 and give a public lecture on his work.

Craig Wilkins Wins Two Awards

2008-04-28T10:46:00.000-04:00

Each year, the Eric Hoffer Award for books presents the Montaigne Medal to the most thought-provoking title(s). These are books that either illuminate, progress, or redirect thought. The Montaigne Medal is given in honor of the great French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, who influenced people such as William Shakespeare, René Descartes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Eric Hoffer. The Montaigne Medal was awarded to Taubman College Lecture Craig L. Wilkins for his book, The Aesthetics of Equity published by University of Minnesota press.

The editors of Travelers' Tales Winners of the Second Annual Solas Awards for Best Travel Story of the Year were announced February 29, 2008. Craig was awarded the Bronze Certificate for "A San Francisco Treat". His article fell under the category of best account of a shopping, bargaining, or haggling experience in a market, bazaar, outlet, or mall, anywhere in the world.

Lydia Soo Named Fellow at U-M's Department of Comparative Literature's Global Ethnic Literatures

2008-04-28T10:45:00.001-04:00

Taubman College Associate Professor of Architecture Lydia Soo has been named a 2008-09 Fellow at U-M's Department of Comparative Literature's Global Ethnic Literatures Seminar. (GELS)

The purpose of the Global Ethnic Literatures Seminar is to encourage the study of ethnic literature, art, music, and culture at the global level.

Lydia's project investigates the earliest written and visual sources for non-European buildings. Known to British architects during the second half of the 17th century, they contributed to a radically new understanding of architecture as a phenomenon relative to place and custom, challenging the traditional notion of the classical style as universal and absolute.

Caroline Constant Has Been Named Helmut F. Stern Professor

2008-04-28T10:42:00.000-04:00

Taubman College Professor of Architecture Caroline Constant has been named the Helmut F. Stern Professor and faculty fellow at U-M's Institute for the Humanities.

The project for which she was selected is titled "The Modern Architectural Landscape." This study examines disciplinary intersections between architecture and landscape architecture in contemporary western design practices and the historic antecedents of this phenomenon. It challenges prevalent interpretations of the modern architectural project by foregrounding its social and cultural foundations in landscape.

The Institute for the Humanities awards annual fellowships to faculty and graduate students to support research projects they will pursue during the upcoming academic year.

Ann Arbor and U-M Push Envelope with Self-sustainable Streetlight

2008-04-28T09:30:00.001-04:00

Ann Arbor's newest streetlight is one of those things that make normal people turn their heads and say, 'What the hell?'

The city recently installed a new streetlight at the Packard Road entrance to Buhr Park that is entirely self-sufficient on wind and solar energy. The device is catching local attention with its built-in solar panels and wind turbine set atop the pole.

The off-the-grid light is the product of a partnership between the city and the University of Michigan’s Sustainable Design Research Laboratory. It was installed at the Buhr Park entrance because the city needed more light there and because it would be visible to the public driving past the 39-acre park on the city's east side.

The turbine and solar panels charge batteries that feed energy to the induction light at night. The light has no electrodes or electrical connections to the lamp because the power is transferred via electromagnetic fields. The light has a very long life expectancy, and is expected to last 22 years.

The self-sustaining streetlight boasts a 400-watt wind generator and two 50-watt solar panels used to charge two 12-volt batteries with 100 amp-hours of storage. The induction light uses 70 watts of electricity at 24 volts.

Writer: Jon Zemke, CONCENTRATE, 5/7/2008

Robinson’s Design for MUP/MUD Student Lounge Among AIA Award Winners

2008-04-28T09:26:00.002-04:00

The American Institute of Architects Michigan presented plaques for architectural excellence to the owners and architects of 13 buildings at its annual Celebration of Architecture on May 2. Ninety-eight projects were entered in the competition and they were sent off to Omaha, Nebraska for judgement.

Two of the thirteen award winning designs come out of an architect/student collaboration. The lead architect for MUD/MUP Student Lounge at the A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture & Urban Planning in Ann Arbor is B. Neal Robinson, AIA. Students from both the architecture and urban planning program built the 400 square foot room out of reclaimed material using sustainable principles.

Taubman College's Work at the U-M Detroit Center

2008-04-28T08:37:00.000-04:00

Bianca Harris, a student at Martin Luther King High School in Detroit, has fueled her interest for architecture at the U-M Detroit Design Center's after-school program. The program is a partnership of U-M’s Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning lead by our own Craig L. Wilkins and Eric Dueweke. See the write up in the Spring 2008 issue of Michigan Alumnus.

Download the article (PDF, 500k)

URP Receives Seven-Year Reaccreditation

2008-04-28T08:33:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to our Urban and Regional Planning program for receiving a seven year re-accreditation - the maximum length possible!

Our hats are off to them for this resounding vote of confidence.

Opening Reception: Architecture of Objects Exhibition

2008-04-23T11:03:00.002-04:00

Friday, 25 April 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm, Duderstadt Center Gallery
The Architecture of Objects Design Studio is a cross disciplinary course led by TCAUP and A&D Professor Shaun Jackson. The studio explores the intersections between designing, making and materials, and the results include beautifully crafted furniture, lighting and object designs. Work from the course has been featured in Interiors and Metropolis magazines and has been exhibited at NEOCON in Chicago. The exhibition runs through May 1st.

Ivory Coast Video Documentary by Muhsana Ali

2008-04-21T10:05:00.004-04:00

Guest reviewer Muhsana Ali showed a 30 minute video documentary on her artwork in Ivory Coast, Africa with youth gangs. Muhsana is an artist and has exhibited work worldwide as is currently a client for the Senegal Studio with Coleman Jordan's graduate class.

Muhsana Ali, General Secretary of Portes et Passages (USA/Senegal) Ms. Ali is a professional visual artist and Senior Board Member, Secretary General, Co-Founder and Visionary behind Portes et Passages du Retour Association. President and Co-Founder of the U.S. based sister-association, non-profit organization, Doors and Passageways of Return Foundation, founded in 2000. Ali practices art for social change - her mediums include painting, sculpture, installation and interactive art, video production. Ali is the recipient of a Pew Fellowship in the Arts and a Fulbright Fellowship.

Ply Architecture's office highlighted on Dwell Daily

2008-04-21T08:40:00.002-04:00

Associate Professor Craig Borum and Assistant Professor Karl Daubmann, principals of PLY Architecture, have their Kerrytown office addition written up on Dwell Daily/Dwell Blog.

Danielle Bober wins Compassion in Action Award

2008-04-16T08:24:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to MUP student Danielle Bober for winning this one-time award! It was presented to her by the Dalai Lama for her work in poverty.

It is one of three $5000 awards for work by a U-M student in poverty, environment or health.

The presentation was at the 2008 Wege public lecture on Sustainability at 2 pm, Sunday, April 20 at Crisler Arena.

TCAUP Work/Play Winners

2008-04-02T13:22:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to the winners and thank yous to the many other participants from our college!

Taubman College was very well represented among the winning contestants in the Work/Play competition:

"C-ing Energy" - First Prize
Scott Curry, Graduate urban planning student
Larissa Larsen, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning

"WorkPlay Ground" - First Prize
Adam Constantino, Undergraduate architecture student
Ai Kawashima, Undergraduate architecture student
Michael Jen, Undergraduate architecture student

"The Hub" - Honorable Mention
Nicholas Senske, Doctoral student in architecture

"Fire & Ice" - Honorable Mention
Shaun Jackson, Associate Professor of Architecture
Richard Tursky, Graduate architecture student
Amanda Winn, Undergraduate architecture student

The intention of five north campus deans, who sponsored the competition, is that the two teams that shared first place will work together to to combine their ideas into a scheme that will be built.

Danielle Bober wins Ginsberg Award

2008-03-31T13:15:00.004-04:00

Each year, the Ginsberg Awards recognize members of our University community who have committed themselves to community service and social action. We are pleased to announce that this year's winners include Urban Planning student, Danielle Bober, from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

We invite all members of the University of Michigan community to join us at a ceremony honoring this year's honorees. The ceremony will be held on Friday, April 11, from 4:00-6:00 PM in the Pendleton Room of the Michigan Union and will feature light appetizers. This event is free of charge, and no RSVP is necessary. For more information, please contact Kelly McKenzie.

Final Reviews schedule

2008-03-31T08:47:00.004-04:00

The winter 2008 Final Reviews schedule has been posted.

Craig Wilkins at Shaman Drum April 8

2008-03-28T08:42:00.001-04:00

The release of Craig Wilkins new book, "The Aesthetics of Equity: Notes on Race, Space, Architecture, and Music," was celebrated at the Shaman Drum Bookshop on Tuesday, April 8th with a wine and cheese reception.

Architecture is often thought to be a diary of a society, filled with symbolic representations of specific cultural moments. However, as Craig L. Wilkins observes, that diary includes far too few narratives of the diverse cultures in U.S. society. Wilkins states that the discipline of architecture has a resistance to African Americans at every level, from the startlingly small number of architecture students to the paltry number of registered architects in the United States today.

Working to understand how ideologies are formed, transmitted, and embedded in the built environment, Wilkins deconstructs how the marginalization of African Americans is authorized within the field of architecture. He then outlines how activist forms of expression shape and sustain communities, fashioning an architectural theory around the site of environmental conflict constructed by hip-hop culture.

Wilkins places his concerns in a historical context, and also offers practical solutions to address them. In doing so, he reveals new possibilities for an architecture that acknowledges its current shortcomings and replies to the needs of multicultural constituencies.

Craig L. Wilkins, a registered architect, teaches architecture and urban planning at the University of Michigan.

Mary-Ann Ray's projects in Los Angeles

2008-03-28T08:40:00.001-04:00

Centennial Professor of Practice Mary-Ann Ray is principal of the Los Angeles firm Studio Works with Robert Mangurian. The firm’s project for the Armenian Cultural Foundation Youth Center broke ground in Glendale, California in March. And two Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) projects designed by Studio Works, the Lexington Primary School in Silverlake and the West Adams Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, opened last fall. West Adams Prep is the largest school built by the LAUSD as a part of their new building campaign, and it is being used as a model inner city public school and has received several million dollars of private funding through the efforts of not for profit organization Mentor L.A.

Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli

2008-03-28T08:39:00.001-04:00

Mary-Ann Ray and Studio Works are working in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Technology in the Humanities at the University of Virginia which has received a grant to produce a GSI based interactive digital archive of their work done at Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli. It will be one of the first geographically based archives of its kind and will set a new standard for archaeological projects. “Redrawing Hadrian’s Villa, Rewriting Caochangdi” Perspecta 37: Revisiting the Architects Grand Tour is an article that will appear in the Yale Architectural Journal.

Urban Rural Conundrums

2008-03-28T08:35:00.002-04:00

Urban Rural Conundrums – Caochangdi Beijing, Urban Village is an upcoming book from Timezone 8 publishers in Beijing that will include the contributions of almost 20 TCAUP students who worked with Mary-Ann Ray during May and June of 2007 in Beijing and in a seminar during the Fall of 2007. An exhibition assembled in collaboration with Ai Weiwei, titled “Traveling Landscape” appeared in the Aedes Land Gallery in Berlin during January and February and included a series of 21 large scale books containing the contributions of TCAUP students who worked in Beijing during May and June of 2007. Ray delivered a lecture titled, “Off Center Center City Conundrums” at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in February.

Fellows Exhibition in the Architecture Gallery

2008-03-25T14:18:00.008-04:00

The 2008 Fellows Exhibition opened on Friday, March 28. The works of Blaine Brownell, Visiting Professor in Sustainable Design; Pablo R. Garcia, the William Muschenheim Fellow; and Tsz Yan Ng, the Walter B.Sanders Fellow are on display in the Architecture Gallery at the A + A Building. A reception and talk were given to celebrate the opening. The exhibit will be through April 15.