PAUL GOLDBERGER – Paul Goldberger, who The Huffington Post has called “the leading figure in architecture criticism,” is now a Contributing Editor at Vanity Fair. From 1997 through 2011 he served as the Architecture Critic for The New Yorker, where he wrote the magazine’s celebrated “Sky Line” column. He also holds the Joseph Urban Chair in Design and Architecture at The New School in New York City. He was formerly Dean of the Parsons School of Design, a division of The New School. He began his career at The New York Times, where in 1984 his architecture criticism was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, the highest award in journalism. In 2012 he received the Vincent Scully Prize from the National Building Museum in recognition of the influence his writing has had on the public’s understanding of architecture. He is the author of several books, most recently Why Architecture Matters, published by Yale University Press; Building Up and Tearing Down, a collection of his articles from The New Yorker; and Christo and Jeanne-Claude, published by Taschen. He is now at work on a full-length biography of the architect Frank Gehry, to be published by Alfred A. Knopf. He lectures around the country on the subject of architecture, design, historic preservation and cities. He is a graduate of Yale University, and is a trustee of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. He resides in New York City.
SHIGERU BAN – Shigeru Ban is an accomplished Japanese and international architect. He has become one of the forerunning Japanese architects who embrace the combination of Western and Eastern building forms and methods. Ban is most famous now for his innovative work with paper and cardboard tubing as a material for building construction. He was the first architect in Japan to construct a building primarily out of paper, with his paper house and required special approval for his building to pass Japan’s building code. Ban is attracted to using paper because it is low cost, recyclable, low-tech and replaceable. The last aspect of Ban’s influences is his humanitarianism and his attraction to ecological architecture. Ban’s work with paper and other materials is heavily based on its sustainability and because it produces very little waste. As a result of this, Ban’s DIY refugee shelters (used in Japan after the Kobe earthquake, in Turkey, Rwanda and around the world) are very popular and effective for low-cost disaster relief housing.
TOM KUNDIG, FAIA – Tom Kundig is one of the most celebrated architects in North America. He has received some of the USA’s highest design awards—a National Design Award in Architecture Design from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, and an Academy Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which recognizes creative individuals whose work is characterized by a strong personal direction. In addition, he work has been recognized with six National AIA Honor Awards, seven National AIA Housing Awards, and dozens of other design awards. In 2011, Kundig was included in The Wallpaper* 150, Wallpaper’s list of the 150 people who have most influenced, inspired and improved the way we live, work and travel over the last 15 years. Kundig’s work has been the subject of two monographs published by Princeton Architectural Press, Tom Kundig Houses 2, (released in 2011), and, Tom Kundig Houses, (released in 2006). In 2012, Kundig was inducted into the Interior Design Hall of Fame.
JULIE VANDENBERG SNOW, FAIA – Julie Snow leads a studio-based practice in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The diverse scale and type of work is joined by a common exploration of material and detail. The studio’s interest in pragmatic and critical programmatic reflection results in innovative designs that expand our understanding of architectural performance. Design strategies engage issues of how architecture performs within each project’s, social, cultural and economic context.
In addition to her studio, Julie has held several visiting professor positions including the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, University of Arkansas, University of Maryland, and Washington University, St. Louis. After teaching at the University of Minnesota College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, she received the Ralph Rapson Award for Distinguished Teaching. Julie also recently received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award.
JULIUS NATTERER, PROF. HON. EPFL – Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne and chair of Timber Construction at IBOIS from 1978 – 2004
European structural engineer Julius Natterer is one of the world’s foremost authorities on timber construction. A teacher, author, designer and timber structure. Natterer is a leading exponent of originality and innovation in timber design. He argues for a synthesis between optimized and rationalized construction and architectural expression.
As an engineer, Julius Natterer has worked with numerous architects to produce innovative and daring designs in wood ranging from giant two-way truss systems which need minimal vertical support to soaring skylit roofs supported by poetic umbrella-like posts. He has received many distinctions and awards for his design work. Lately he received the Schweighofer Prize 2005 for his “Lebenswerk als Wegbereiter des modernen Holzbaus”.
Natterer is Professor Emeritus at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology EPFL in Lausanne. He has written numerous technical and academic articles on timber construction. The authoritative book Timber Design and Construction Source Book has been translated into several languages.
Aside from the University task, he organized from 1992 till 2004 the master course on timber structures. He participated in many conferences, seminars and post courses as well as in the WTCE in Lausanne, Beaux Arts in Paris, CSU – Fort Collins, Vienna, Lumsa – Roma etc.
Julius Natterer studied civil engineering at the Technical University in Munich. He had an engineering office in Germany, still Bois Consult, a little office in Etoy – Switzerland and is contributing to different research and development programs as consultant.
HENRY BEER, IDSA, FSEGD – Henry Beer has been involved in the planning, design and branding of retail environments, downtowns, shopping centers and entertainment venues for over forty years.
He began his career at the Office of Charles and Ray Eames where he was involved in a variety of furniture, exhibition, film and graphics initiatives. It was at the Eames Office in the late sixties that he met Richard Foy. The two later combined to form Communication Arts in Boulder in 1973 and were instrumental in the development and design of the Pearl Street Mall. The exceptional success of that project brought their fledgling office to the attention of James Rouse, Chairman and founder of the eponymous Rouse Company who at the time was developing some of America’s most innovative and design intensive retail projects.
From that beginning, CommArts was engaged by virtually every large scale retail developer in the United States. The firm pioneered an all-inclusive approach to the design of elective places—a portfolio of two and three dimensional (and now digital) design services in what is now referred to as Environmental Branding, in which every aspect of a place is designed to ensure that in addition to the functional aspects, it also connects emotionally with the visitor, the resident and the shopper.
Henry and his colleagues have completed over eight hundred projects for clients nationwide and globally. CommArts is now Stantec ViBE (Visions, Brands, Experiences), a part of Stantec, a 12,000 person Canadian based engineering and architecture consultancy.
Henry has been published in numerous professional and public interest magazines and journals. He has been a keynote lecturer, frequent speaker and writer on design and business at universities, professional schools and national conferences including the Urban Land Institute, American Institute of Architects and the International Council of Shopping Centers. Henry has appeared on CBS, NBC and was heard on National Public Radio and Smart Cities discussing issues related to design and culture. He has won numerous national design awards and has served on frequent design juries including the AIA National Honor Awards and the NEA National Design Awards Committee.
MAX UNDERWOOD, AIA – Max Underwood is an architect and President’s Professor at Arizona State University. His scholarship and creative activities intertwine the art of teaching with the realities of exemplary design and architectural practice. Building upon his experience working with the visionary designers Charles and Ray Eames, and subsequent graduate work at Princeton University – he has continually researched and placed his students in many of the leading design, business, film and architectural practices around the world.
Given the success of many of these students, Max’s influential impact as a teacher has not gone unnoticed by his academic and professional peers. Internationally, he is held in the highest esteem as a lecturer, writer, Smithsonian study tour leader, and award winning Teacher’s Teacher. His numerous awards include the prestigious ACSA National Distinguished Professor Award, the Arizona AIA Educator Award and three National AIA Honor Awards for his teaching innovations. He is currently working on a book on Silence.
W. GEOFF GJERTSON, AIA – W. Geoff Gjertson, AIA is an architect and Professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He currently teaches Professional Practice as well as third and graduate level Architectural Design. He is the co-director of the Building Institute, a “hands-on” design/build program which serves the community by having students in collaboration with contractors build market-rate, sustainably-designed homes in at-risk neighborhoods. Three houses so far have followed in the footsteps of the BeauSoleil Louisiana Solar Home, an award-winning 2009 Solar Decathlon house. He is currently working on book about the projects and the sociological effects of design/build on a community.
Professor Gjertson has practiced architecture since 1994 and is licensed in the state of Louisiana. His award winning work has been published in professional and academic Journals such as Architectural Record, the Journal of Architectural Education, the Journal of Interior Design, and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture proceedings. As a furniture-maker and musician, Geoff finds inspiration in many diverse areas.