January 20, 2004
Contact: Ray Ladd
(805) 756-7432, rladd@calpoly.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Winter-Spring Hearst Lecture Series Is 'Phenomenal'
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- "Phenomenal" is the theme of the Winter-Spring Hearst Lecture Series presented by Cal Poly's College of Architecture and Environmental Design beginning Friday (Jan. 23).
Speakers will include award-winning San Diego architect Teddy Cruz on Friday, authors Allison Arieff and Bryan Burkhart Feb. 6, and New York architect Brian Messana Feb. 27. An additional speaker scheduled for April 2 is yet to be announced. All lectures in the free, public series will be at 4 p.m. on Fridays in the Rotunda (Room 213) of Cal Poly's Business Building.
"The lecture series is called 'Phenomenal' as a nod to this phenomenal group of speakers and a reference to the experiential aspect of architecture referred to as phenomenology," said Professor Laura Joines-Novotny, coordinator of the series.
"Our lead-off lecturer, Teddy Cruz, is a very passionate, artistic architect. Cruz could be called an architect of unification, redefining our ideas about the architecture and life differences on both sides of the United States-Mexico border."
Cruz, who will speak Friday on "Breaking Architectural Barriers," earned a bachelor's degree in architecture at Cal Poly and a master's from Harvard. The Guatemalan native, an assistant professor of architecture at Woodbury University's San Diego campus, is well-known for his knowledge of bicultural issues. Joines-Novotny said a reflection of Cruz's philosophy is his office motto: "WIMBY," or "Welcome In My Back Yard."
Through his architecture firm, Estudio Teddy Cruz, he has won numerous awards from the American Institute of Architects, including Best Overall Design for the Housing Corridors on Imperial Avenue in San Diego.
Arieff and Burkhart will speak Feb. 6 on "Prefab: The Future is Now." The pair co-authored a book, "Prefab," in which they documented more than 30 prefabricated residential projects, mostly from Europe, that combine practicality and good design. They also wrote the books "Trailer Travel: A Visual History of Mobile America" and "Airstream."
Arieff is editor-in-chief at Dwell magazine. Burkhart is a graphic designer and the founder of the publishing firm Modernhouse Design & Editorial. Both are considered influential in the art of modern architecture.
Feb. 27 speaker Messana is a partner in the New York firm of Messana & O'Rorke and a 1989 Cal Poly architecture graduate. His firm has completed a diverse body of work, including showrooms, galleries and commercial spaces, and is now working on three residential projects and a restaurant-lounge in Madrid.
The Hearst Lecture Series brings internationally respected design professionals to Cal Poly to speak, visit classrooms and critique student design projects. The series is supported by a grant from the Hearst Foundation. For more information, call the College of Architecture and Environmental Design at (805) 756-1311.
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