Matt Fajkus MArch ’05 Firm Awarded 2023 Design Award of Merit from AIA Austin
Matt Fajkus’ MArch ’05 practice, Matt Fajkus Architecture, has been awarded a 2023 Design Award of Merit by AIA Austin for their Filtered Frame Dock. The award was presented to the team at the AIA Austin Design Awards Celebration on May 17, 2023. The award presentation included a video with images and commentary from the judges. Watch the video on the AIA Austin YouTube channel.
The dock’s design has also been recognized with awards from the Society of Registered Architects New York, Residential Design Architecture Awards, Builder’s Choice Awards, and Architecture Masterprize.
Follow Matt Fajkus Architecture on Instagram and Facebook.
posted November, 2023
Five Alumni Elevated to ASLA Council of Fellows – Class of 2023
Five GSD alumni have been elevated by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) as fellows for their exceptional contributions to the landscape architecture profession and society at large. Election to the ASLA Council of Fellows is among the highest honors the ASLA bestows on members and is based on their “works, leadership and management, knowledge, and service.” ASLA formally recognized its 2023 Class of Fellows during the annual conference in Minneapolis on Saturday, October 28th.
- Taewook Cha MLA ’98
- Kenneth Francis MLA ’05
- Kathryn Kennen MLA ’05
- Willett Moss MLA ’97
- Kirt A. Rieder MLA ’94
For the full list of 2023 Fellows, visit the ASLA website.
posted November, 2023
Sarah Cowles MLA ’05 and Ben Hackenberger MLA ’20 Firm Ruderal Featured in Landscape Architecture Magazine
Ruderal, a design firm founded by Sarah Cowles MLA ’05, with landscape architect Ben Hackenberger MLA ’20, was featured in the April Issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine.
The article, written by Jessica Bridger MLA ’09, describes the context of Ruderal’s studio and field practice in the country of Georgia, from gardens and master planning to the planting plan for the Tbilisi Urban Forest: “As Cowles adventures further into the wild, wild west of Georgia’s landscape-driven international development, Ruderal gets deeper in the reality on the ground, in all its tourism-driven, developer-funded, NGO-engaged mix of terrible and glorious. Many designers avoid this unglamorous, common reality of actual development and global practice, losing the world to stay in the confines of the safe, and dream of idealized projects. In contrast, Cowles is out on the range, getting things done.”
Ruderal was founded by Cowles in 2019 to support and train a new generation of landscape architects in the Caucasus. Based in Tbilisi, the firm pursues a wide range of projects in the Black Sea region and Central Asia as well as in Europe and the United States.
Follow RUDERAL: @_ruderal_
Follow Ben Hackenberger: @bhackenberger
posted July, 2023
Six GSD Alumni Elevated to AIA Fellows 2023
Six GSD alumni and faculty have been elevated by the 2023 Jury of Fellows from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) to its prestigious College of Fellows. The honor recognizes architects who have “achieved a standard of excellence in the profession and made a significant contribution to architecture and society on a national level.”
The GSD congratulates:
- J. Richard Alsop MDes ’01
- Dan Brunn MArch ’05
- Jason R. Chandler MArch ’93
- Martin R. Primmer MArch ’93
- Robert V. Reis MArch ’82
- Angela Ward Hyatt MArch ’94
For the full list of 2023 Fellows, visit the AIA website.
posted March, 2023
Three Alumni Named as The Architectural League’s Annual Emerging Voices Award Winners 2022
Three Alumni have been named in The Architectural League’s annual Emerging Voices Awards. This award spotlights North American individuals and firms with distinct design voices that have the potential to influence the disciplines of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design. The jury reviews significant bodies of realized work and considers accomplishments within design and academia.
The work of each Emerging Voice represents the best of its kind and addresses larger issues within architecture, landscape, and the built environment.
Congratulations to:
Alumni Council Member Paola Aguirre Serrano MAUD ’11 , Borderless Studio
Alumni Council Member Sekou Cooke MArch ’14 , sekou cooke STUDIO
Daniel Adams MAR ’05, Landing Studio
Visit here for the full list of 2022 Awardees.
posted February, 2022
Sarah Cowles MLA ’05 and Ben Hackenberger MLA ’20 firm Ruderal awarded the Landezine International Landscape Special Jury Award 2021
Ruderal, a design firm founded by Sarah Cowles MLA ’05, with landscape architect Ben Hackenberger MLA ’20, has won the Landezine International Landscape Awards Special Jury Award for their project “Arsenal Oasis”. This is a public landscape in Tbilisi, the capital of the Republic of Georgia. The jury recognized the project for its “newfound and unique roughness reflects a relevant dialogue between what was, what is, and the suggestion of what ought to be. The project addresses wider spatial issues in Tbilisi and will hopefully act as a catalyst to spark positive change regarding neglected areas in the city.” Ruderal was founded by Cowles in 2019 to support a new generation of landscape architects in the Caucasus. Based in Tbilisi, the firm pursues a wide variety of projects in the Black Sea region and Central Asia as well as in Europe and the United States.
Follow RUDERAL: @_ruderal_
Follow Sarah Cowles: @ditch_daily
Follow Ben Hackenberger: @bhackenberger
posted December, 2021
Dan Brunn MArch ’05 Featured on the Cover of Los Angeles Times LifeStyle Section
Architect Dan Brunn MArch ’05 modernist home known as the “Bridge House” is built over a little-known natural stream in Los Angeles. As reported in the LA Times: “Hidden in Mid-Wilshire is an enchanting eight-street enclave called Brookside. True to its name, the tree-lined community is set apart by the flowing water feature that runs from the Hollywood Hills through the neighborhood and out to Ballona Creek. While most of the classical homes in this neighborhood celebrate the creek with garden features and backyard bridges, architect Dan Brunn chose to do something radically different. ”
Brunn was inspired by the long motor court at Breakers, the Vanderbilt family’s waterfront home in Newport, R.I. He would honor nature by building a home that made full use of the water, the sun and the land.
Read the full article
posted February, 2020
Kenneth Francis MLA ’05 Featured on the cover of Landscape Architecture Magazine
Kenneth Francis MLA ’05, partner of Surroundings based in Santa Fe, NM is featured on the cover of Landscape Architecture Magazine for November 2019.
The November issue of Landscape Architecture Magazine features the studio’s Luz del Dia residence! The project achieved a LEED Platinum rating partially due to our innovations with stormwater. This shot on the cover of LAM shows a heritage variety apple tree and an ephemeral pool that captures roof runoff, which slowly percolates down into a cistern for the landscape.
Check out the Instagram post here!
Check out the November issue here!
posted November, 2019
Iván Pérez-Rosselló MArch ’05 of Entos Design Receives a 2019 AIA Dallas Chapter Unbuilt Design Award
Iván Pérez-Rosselló MArch II ’05, as Senior Designer of Entos Design, received a 2019 AIA Dallas Chapter Unbuilt Design Award for the project named Second Shadow. Entos Design is a leading Architectural and Interiors design firm in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
Second Shadow revitalizes the entrance of a corporate building, seamlessly integrating an elegant glass triangle assembly into the existing cut wedge entry. The new design invests the entrance with a strong identity that builds upon natural elements and emphasizes the dynamic interplay between light and shadow. The distinctive shadow cast by the triangle assembly draws attention to the passage of time by using the physical space to accentuate change throughout the day.
Located by Katy Trail, the entry is passed by numerous pedestrians in addition to everyone working in the building. The deceptively simple design is a minimally invasive renovation that capitalizes upon the existing space for the maximum impact. The project has the potential to be a trailblazer for transforming the local area into a point of interest in Dallas.
posted October, 2019
Benita Cooper MArch ’05 Receives Minority Business Leader Award, Honored by New Jersey Senate
Benita Cooper MArch ’05, founder of Philadelphia and Haddonfield based firm Benita Cooper Design (BCD), is the recipient of a 2019 Minority Business Leader Award from the Philadelphia Business Journal. Now in its eleventh year, the awards honored 25 business and community leaders from a diverse range of fields and backgrounds.
“I was so honored to be nominated for something so prestigious. To be chosen by a journal that’s part of a national network, it’s got a certain level of prestige. It’s huge. I’ve been thinking a lot about what that means. I think of it in terms of the three words: minority, business and leader,” Cooper told The Haddonfield Sun.
Cooper was also recently honored by the New Jersey Senate with a Joint Ceremonial Resolution Certificate, issued by Senator Jim Beach, Assemblyman Louis Greenwald, and Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, and signed by others. The Certificate, which described Cooper as a “woman of strong character and fortitude” with a “meritorious record of excellence within all the spheres of her life and work,” was presented to Cooper at the Minority Business Leader Awards Ceremony in August.
In addition to her work with BCD, Cooper is the Founder and President of The Best Day of My Life So Far, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering older adults through storytelling and active listening. On November 8, 2019, the nonprofit is hosting a 10th anniversary storytelling celebration in Philadelphia. Learn more on Facebook and the The Best Day of My Life So Far website.
Photo credit: Susan Ulep Photography
posted September, 2019
Hotel by Shangwen Chiu Kennedy MArch/MLAUD ’05, supported by Chloé Lauer MUP ’04, is the First Hospitality Project in the World to be WELL Certified
Designed and owned by Shangwen Chiu Kennedy MArch/MLAUD ’05, the Inn at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA, is the first hospitality project in the world to be recognized with WELL Certification, which it achieved at the Platinum level. Chiu Kennedy worked with WELL consultant Chloé Lauer MUP ’04 on the certification process. The WELL Building Standard is “a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of the built environment that impact human health and wellbeing, through air, water, nourishment, light, fitness, comfort, and mind.”
“As an urban designer, property developer and entrepreneur, I’m committed to creating sustainable housing-community living environments that enhance the quality of life and well-being of their occupants,” said Chiu Kennedy in a recent article. “When we purchased the Inn at Moonlight Beach [in 2016], knowing that it would require a major remodel, I jumped at the opportunity to implement the standard on this property. It was then a surprise to learn that no other hotels had yet pursued the standard in earnest. Apparently someone needed to lead the way.”
“One of the most exciting aspects of the project is how many people will be exposed to the WELL Standard via the Inn,” said Lauer. “When people stay at the Inn, they immediately experience an ‘exhale.’ There is a sense of peace and serenity that is palpable throughout the site, and guests wonder what created that experience. WELL is a foundational element, to be sure, and something that the Innkeepers and Owner are sure to point out as they welcome guests and show them the property.”
Chiu Kennedy and Lauer met at the GSD in Professor Alex Krieger’s China studio (fall 2003) and later became closer friends while both living and working in San Francisco. They studied together to become WELL APs in 2016 and worked closely with The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) on a custom scorecard for the project as the hospitality vertical was not yet established.
Image provided.
posted August, 2019
Book by Alexander Robinson MLA ’05, “The Spoils of Dust: Reinventing the Lake that Made Los Angeles,” Reviewed in Science Journal “Nature”
A new book by Alexander Robinson MLA ’05, The Spoils of Dust: Reinventing the Lake that Made Los Angeles, looks at the many lives of Owens Lake. Recipient of a 2018 Graham Foundation Grant for Individuals as well as a 2018 Foundation for Landscape Studies, David R. Coffin Publication Grant, the book was recently reviewed by science journal Nature. “Robinson makes a convincing case that massive human developments need not always result in decimation,” writes Amy Maxmen in her review.
Robinson is an Assistant Professor in the USC Landscape Architecture & Urbanism program, an Affiliate of both the Spatial Sciences Institute and Wrigley Institute of Environmental Studies, and principal of the Office of Outdoor Research/LMLab in Los Angeles, California.
Learn more about The Spoils of Dust.
Read the Nature review.
Image courtesy of the Office of Outdoor Research (oOR).
posted November, 2018
Dan Brunn, AIA, MArch’05 Recognized as California Home + Design’s 2018 Emerging Designer
Dan Brunn, AIA, MArch’05 Principal of Dan Brunn Architecture, has been recognized as California Home + Design’s 2018 Emerging Designer. Brunn has also recently received awards for his design of the flagship store for Road to Awe (RtA) from the Los Angeles Business Council’s 48th Los Angeles Architectural Awards in the Retail & Restaurants category, as well as the first Coffee For Sasquatch location from the Retail Design Institute’s International Store Design Competition for Excellence in Design and Execution. Since 2005, Dan Brunn Architecture has been developing award-winning commercial and residential projects that utilize a signature minimalist aesthetic to create provocative spatial choreography and harmonize light with volume.
Image courtesy of Brandon Shigeta.
posted June, 2018
Marianna Athanasiadou MArch ’05 Among 40 Most Promising and Emerging Young Architects and Designers
The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design have announced the selection of this year’s most promising and emerging design talents in Europe for 2017. Among the 40 architects is, Marianna Athanasiadou MArch ’05, current principal/partner of the office Schema architecture & engineering in Athens, Greece.
THE PROGRAM “EUROPE 40 UNDER 40 is initiated by The European Center as a bi- annual program to spotlight and identify the next generation of architects and designers who will impact future living and working environments, cities, and rural areas. The program is open to all young architects, landscape architects, urban planners, industrial designers, graphic designers, fashion and textile designers currently under the age of 40, working independently / in a firm / on a specific project as the lead designer.
For the full press release here.
posted May, 2018
Alumni Receive 2018 Graham Foundation Grants for Exhibitions, Publications, Research
Fifteen designers, artists, historians, and others from the GSD alumni community have been selected to receive 2018 Graham Foundation Grants. Announced on April 5, the Graham Foundation’s 2018 Grants to Individuals present $534,850 in new grants to support 74 projects by 111 individuals and collaborators who are “engaging original ideas that advance our understanding of the designed environment,” the Foundation writes.
Alumni projects include exhibitions, publications, and research. Among the winners are GSD faculty Zeina Koreitem MDes ’16 and John May MArch ’02, who received a grant for the exhibition “Under Present Conditions,” produced through their Los Angeles-based firm, MILLIØNS. (“Under Present Conditions” will be on view at the A+D Museum in Los Angeles from January 11 through April 26, 2019.)
The funded projects were selected from over 600 proposals and represent a diverse group of individuals and collectives, including architects, artists, choreographers, historians, and filmmakers who hail from around the world.
Other GSD alumni awardees include:
Eric Bunge MArch ’96
Mimi Hoang GSD ’98
Kenny Cupers PhD ’10
Rami El Samahy MArch ’00
Michael Kubo MArch ’06
Alexander Robinson MLA ’05
Neyran Turan DDes ’09
Bradley Cantrell MLA ’03
Marielsa Castro Vizcarra MDes ’17
Brian Goldstein PhD ’13
Ana Maria Leon Crespo MDes ’01
Sun-Young Park MArch ’08/PhD ’14
Sara Zewde MLA ’15
Read the full list of 2018 Graham Foundation Grants to Individuals via the Graham Foundation’s announcement.
Image: MILLIØNS (Zeina Koreitem & John May), Collectives II, 2016–. Courtesy of the artists.
posted April, 2018
Alumni Honored with 2017-18 ACSA Architectural Education Awards
Six GSD alumni have been honored with 2017-2018 Architectural Education Awards for their outstanding work as architectural educators. They will be celebrated in March at the 106th ACSA Annual Meeting in Denver. In addition, GSD Professor Jorge Silvetti received the Topaz Medallion for Excellence in Architectural Education this year.
ACSA/AIA Practice & Leadership Award
Renee Cheng AB ’85, MArch ’89, University of Minnesota, Professional Practice Class
Distinguished Professor
Renee Cheng AB ’85, MArch ’89, University of Minnesota
John Ronan MArch ‘91, Illinois Institute of Technology
ACSA Collaborative Practice Award
Aziza Chaouni GSD ’05, University of Toronto, “Let’s Talk”
ACSA Faculty Design Award
Jonathan Rule MArch ’08 with Ana Morcillo Pallares, University of Michigan, MUDEM
JAE Best Article Award Design as Scholarship
Jacob Wayne Mans MDes ’16, “Scaling for Non-Expert Production,” University of Minnesota
Clare Robinson MArch ’01, “Scholarship of Design Architecture in Support of Citizenry,” University of Arizona
posted February, 2018
Brennan Cox MLA ’05 and Sara Peschel MLA ’99 Firm Shortlisted in Harvey Milk Memorial and Plaza Design Competition
Groundworks Office, led by partners Brennan Cox MLA ’05 and Sara Peschel MLA ’99, has been shortlisted as one of three finalists for the Harvey Milk Memorial and Plaza Design Competition. Located in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood, the plaza was dedicated in 1985 as a place to honor politician and human rights leader Harvey Milk. The Memorial and Plaza Design Competition was launched in the spring of 2017 by the Friends of Harvey Milk in collaboration with SF MTA’s accessibility and elevator improvement project. Groundworks Office’s design proposes lifting the plaza towards street level through a complete reorganization of the Muni Station in order to create an “inspiring, vibrant and heroic public space.”
Learn more about the project, view renderings, and give feedback on the competition’s website.
Image courtesy of Groundworks Office.
posted September, 2017
GSD Alumni Honored with 2017 Progressive Architecture Awards
The work of Harvard University Graduate School of Design alumni was recently recognized with 2017 Progressive Architecture Awards from Architect magazine. The jury, which included GSD alumna Jennifer Bonner MArch ’09, was tasked with finding the best examples of works that “represent design that pushes the envelope, novel methods of representation, and an exploration of humble building types that can make peoples’ lives better.” Winning projects from firms led by GSD alumni include:
AWARDS
Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center
New York
REX, led by Joshua Prince-Ramus MArch ’96
Menil Drawing Institute
Houston
Johnston Marklee, led by Sharon Johnston MArch ’95 and Mark Lee MArch ’95
CITATIONS
Bloomberg Center
New York
Morphosis Architects, led by Thom Mayne MArch ’78
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Mask House
Ithaca, N.Y.
WOJR, led by William O’Brien MArch ’05
True North
Detroit
EC3, led by Edwin Chan MArch ’85
New Hampshire Retreat
Bethlehem, N.H.
NADAAA, led by Nader Tehrani MAUD ’91 in collaboration with partners Katherine Faulkner MArch ’93 and Daniel Gallagher MArch ’91
Image courtesy of Architect magazine.
posted March, 2017
Michael Kubo MArch ’06, Jonathan Lott MArch ’05, and Colleagues at Collective- LOK win Times Square Valentine Heart Design Competition
Michael Kubo MArch ’06, Harvard Graduate School of Design design critic in architecture Jonathan Lott MArch ’05, and colleagues at Collective–LOK will be adding an element of intimacy and intrigue to New York’s Times Square this Valentine’s Day. Over the past eight years, the Times Square Alliance has held an annual Times Square Valentine Heart Design competition, curated by The Center for Architecture. The competition invites architecture and design firms to submit proposals for a “romantic public art installation” in Times Square, hooked to Valentine’s Day. Collective–LOK was named this year’s winner with Heart of Hearts, which presents a ringed arrangement of nine golden, mirrored, heart-shaped panels, each 10 feet in height. Heart of Hearts will be revealed on February 9 and remain on view through March 6 at Father Duffy Square, between 46th and 47th Streets.
January 2016
posted December, 2016
Shannon Bassett MAUD ’05 Presents at 102nd Annual ACSA Meeting
Shannon Bassett MAUD ’05 has had her paper accepted for publication and presentation at the 102nd Annual ACSA Meeting: GLOBALIZING ARCHITECTURE. The meeting will be held April 10-12, 2014 in Miami Beach, FL. Entitled “Designing The Village Tapestry-New Architectural Agency(ies) of Community Building and Design,” Shannon will present during the session, “Realizing the Right to the City: Architectural Methodologies as Agents of Change,” based on a design grant which she conducted for the City of Bradenton Redevelopment Agency in Bradenton, Florida. Additionally, she continues to serve as an elected board member for the International Association for China Planning.
December 2013
posted December, 2016
Dan Brunn MArch ’05 Recognized by Los Angeles Business Council and Architectural Awards Jury
Dan Brunn MArch ’05 and his Los Angeles-based firm Dan Brunn Architecture, was recognized by the Los Angeles Business Council and the Architectural Awards Jury as a winner in the Housing category for the 45th Annual Los Angeles Architectural Awards for his design on the Flip Flop house. Located on a beachfront lot in Venice, CA, the 5,700-square-foot house plays with a sense of duality on multiple design levels, as its name suggests.
July 2015
posted December, 2016
Alexander Robinson ASLA MLA ’05 named 2015-2016 Rome Prize Fellow
The American Academy in Rome announced that Alexander Robinson ASLA MLA ’05 was honored as a 2015-2016 Rome Prize fellow. The Rome Prize, which provides significant time, research materials, and studio space at the academy’s recently restored Villa Aurelia in Rome, has long been a coveted honor. Described as “life changing” and “transformative” by the 1997–1998 fellow Mary Margaret Jones, FASLA, it is also a way of benchmarking where and how the concerns of landscape architecture converge with currents in the arts and humanities. Along with a cohort of musicians, writers, artists, scholars, and architects, the new landscape fellows will live and work in Rome for six months to a year.
April 2015
posted December, 2016
Geoffrey von Oeyen MArch ’05 Named a Winner of the 2014 Architectural League Prize
Geoffrey von Oeyen MArch ’05 of the Los Angeles-based firm, Geoffrey von Oeyen Design, was one of six winners of the 2014 Architectural League Prize for young architects and designers. The prize recognizes provocative and exemplary work and provides a public outlet for the exchange of their ideas.
May 2014
posted December, 2016
Stacey Pennington MUP ’05 featured in the New York Times
Stacey Pennington MUP ’05 was featured in the New York Times article “Beer Garden Lays Down Roots for a Technology Hub” for the Makers Quarter project in San Diego for which she serves as master planer: ” ‘We were not just going to jump into building buildings right away and just expect people to come and things magically come together,’ said Ms. Pennington, who founded the urban planning and design firm SLP Urban Planning. ‘We had this ongoing vision for how the neighborhood would develop and transform.’ ”
July 2016
posted December, 2016
