9.8.2014
The semester's kick-off exhibition, Thomas A. Spain: A Retrospective concludes this Friday, September 12 with a reception with the Artist in the Irvin Korach Gallery following a lecture, "Thoughts on Thomas Spain's Drawings," by Jorge L. Hernandez in Glasgow Hall at 6:00 p.m.  

Thomas A. Spain has been teaching at the University of Miami’s School of Architecture for 48 years. His enormous talent and unwavering devotion to teaching design and drawing has left an indelible impact on the students he has taught over the past two generations. The drawings of Rome on display constitute a small sample of the architect’s work generated through numerous yearly visits to the eternal city with his students.

In addition to his formidable talent, Spain is a key donor for the annual School of Architecture Golf Tournament at the Biltmore Hotel to benefit the Tom Spain Rome Program Endowment which provides scholarships for the Rome program. This program has helped many architecture students visit Italy and discover the hidden treasures of Rome, Venice and Florence. In the past five years, he has helped raise $210,000 for the scholarships. Spain plans to retire at the end of the academic year but his legacy will continue through the endowment.

Allan Shulman’s firm Shulman + Associates (S+A) received five design awards from the Florida Association of Architects in 2014, for the following projects: Opa Locka Airport Hangar 102, Baumann Cosmetic & Research Institute, North Beach Tactical Revitalization, the Billboard Building, and the Miami Center for Architecture & Design (with Forbes Architects, AOR). Along with the Perez Art Museum Miami, S+A’s design for the redevelopment of Lincoln Theatre was the winner of the 2014 Urban Land Institute Vision Award Project of the Year. Three new juice bars designed by S+A for Jugofresh have opened recently in Wynwood, Coral Gables and South Beach. His book Building Bacardi: Architecture, Art & Identity has been accepted for publication in Spring 2016 by Rizzoli.

Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk was awarded with the Women in Architecture Award from Architectural Record and the Arts & Culture Award from the Coral Gables Community Foundation.

Biscayne Times featured one of many designs for a new public park in Wynwood funded by Metro1 Properties and organized by DawnTown Executive Director and SoA faculty, Joachim Perez. Other participating faculty included Allan Shulman and visiting critic, Terence Riley.

Katherine Wheeler is currently in London on a Research Support Grant from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art doing work on her next book, which looks at the development of the working drawing in the late nineteenth century. 

The first year students started the semester by documenting buildings in Coral Gables. The drawings will be published, with the support of Mr. Ramon Trias (City of Coral Gables Planning and Zoning Director), as a Manual of the Architecture of Coral Gables. The buildings being drawn and documented include: City Hall, Books & Books, The Biltmore, The Venetian Pool and The Merrick House. This effort has been coordinated by Jorge Hernandez (Design Studios Coordinator), Teofilo Victoria (Theory) and Adib Cure (Drawing Coordinator).  

This week Oscar Machado (Director of Second Year Design Studio), Alex Adams, (Second Year Design Faculty) and Emma May (M.Arch '15), are leading the annual Seaside Urbanism Immersion. Seventy-five UM SoA graduate and undergraduate students from the professional degree, as well as the Urban Design, and Real Estate Development + Urbanism programs will engage in a weekend of study, walking tours, and an ongoing seminar in Seaside, Rosemary and Alys Beach from Thursday, September 11, to Sunday, September 14. Through overnight stays in the Seaside residences, as well as opportunities to engage in analysis and drawing, as well as conversations with the town founders, architects, developers, real estate agents, traffic engineers, and faculty, students will experience the origins and evolution of the New Urbanism movement, which itself is fundamental to the development of Smart Growth and LEED-ND. Designed in the early 1980's by Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company, with projects by numerous school faculty as well as architects from across the globe, Seaside has been the subject of countless articles, books, documentaries and even the setting for fiction and film. The weekend represents a unique opportunity for students to experience both the place and the people instrumental in the creation of Seaside and its related townscapes, an event that School alumni have consistently rated among their most transformative experiences.

The AIAS would like student volunteer helpers for the upcoming Homecoming Barbecue this Halloween. If interested in participating and/or to purchase a UMiami AIAS t-shirt (now on sale), email um.aias2014@gmail.com. 

September 9 Alpha Rho Chi's first general meeting. Glasgow Hall, 5:00 p.m. For more information, contact Avleigh Du.

September 12 USGBC student organization meeting. SoA Courtyard, 1:30 p.m. For more information, contact Smitha Vasan.

August 25 - September 12 Thomas A. Spain: A Retrospective exhibition. Korach Gallery, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. On September 12, a reception with the artist will be held in the Gallery following a lecture "Thoughts on Thomas Spain's Drawings" by Jorge L. Hernandez. Glasgow Hall, 6:00 p.m.

September 17 First all-school monthly 'Pizza with the Dean' meeting. Korach Gallery, 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. Nader Tehrani of NADAAA who is launching the SoA Agenda Lecture Series - Call to Order later in the evening will attend for a short interview. RSVP sign-in sheet located in the office of Academic Services.

September 17 SoA Agenda - Call to Order: "Allusive Figures," lecture by Nader Tehrani of NADAAA. Glasgow Hall, 6:30 p.m.

September 18 Places and Spaces: Mapping Science exhibit and lecture on “Creative Visualization and Data Art” by Manuel Lima, Senior UX Design Lead at Microsoft Bing and founder of VisualComplexity.com. Glasgow Hall, 6:00 p.m.

September 24 High Noon - Faculty Lunchtime Lecture: “Global Healthcare,” by Jose Gelabert-Navia. Rinker Classroom, 12:15 p.m.

September 27 AIAS will broadcast a live Revit Workshop. For more information, email um.aias2014@gmail.com. Media Lab, Building 48, Room 330, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

September 29 Places and Spaces: Mapping Science combined lecture by Adib Cure and Carie Penabad, and Christopher Mader, Director of Software Engineering, UM Center for Computational Science. Glasgow Hall, 6:00 p.m.