core.form-ula

We at core.form-ula are pleased to announce that Evan Douglis will be the new Dean at the School of Architecture at RPI.  We are very excited for Evan and look forward to working with him in the near future.  With this decision, we feel RPI has made an incredible move to secure their position as an excellent design school.  Please read the public announcements from both RPI and Pratt.

To:      The Rensselaer Community
From:    Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D.
President
Professor of Physics
Professor of Engineering Sciences
Date:    May 14, 2009
Subject: Appointment of the Dean of Architecture

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Evan Douglis as Dean of the
School of Architecture. Mr. Douglis will join Rensselaer on August 1,
2009.

Mr. Douglis is currently the Chair of the Undergraduate Department in
the School of Architecture at Pratt Institute. Prior to his appointment
at Pratt, he served as Assistant Associate Professor at Columbia
University, the Director of Columbia University’s Architecture
Galleries, and as a Visiting Professor at The Cooper Union. Mr. Douglis
has also taught at various programs both nationally and internationally,
including the International University at Cataluyna, Barcelona, Spain;
Hubei Fine Arts Institute in Wuhan, China; SCI-Arc Southern California
Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles; and The Central Academy of
Fine Arts in Beijing.

As the Dean of Architecture at Rensselaer, Mr. Douglis will be
responsible for leading the School of Architecture into a higher
position of national and international prominence through the pursuit of
excellence in undergraduate and graduate educational programs and
research. Mr. Douglis is expected to continue the development of
interdisciplinary initiatives, as well as the appointment, promotion,
and development of a diverse world-class faculty and staff.

Mr. Douglis is the principal of Evan Douglis Studio, an internationally
renowned architecture and interdisciplinary design firm focused on
innovative and contemporary design. The firm is recognized for research
utilizing digital design and fabrication technology and new, diverse
building components for gallery installations and commercial
projects. Mr. Douglis’ work encompasses the role of smart building
materials in sustainable design, the function and use of modular
building components, and the relationship between functional structure
and ornament.

His work has been included in the publications Sign as Surface; INDEX
Architecture; The State of Architecture at the Beginning of the 21st
Century; the 2004 ARCHILAB Exhibition Catalog titled Naked City; and the
2005 Phaidon publication titled 10×10_2.  In 2007, his work was
showcased in the competition catalogue Distinguishing Digital
Architecture: 6th Far Eastern International Digital Architectural Design
Award and Brick: the book, a publication that features the latest in
brick design. His work also has appeared in the books FURNISH: Furniture
and Interior Design for the 21st Century and Architecture Now 5. His
book Autogenic Structures was released in December 2008.

Mr. Douglis earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture in 1983 from
The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture at The Cooper Union and his
Master of Architecture Degree from Harvard University’s Graduate School
of Design.

He was awarded a Distinguished Professorship in Design from The City
College of New York in 2008, and was selected as a participant and
exhibitor in the 2004 ARCHILAB International Conference in Orleans,
France. His firm was one of ten international firms selected by
Architectural Record as part of its December 2005 Design Vanguard
Competition profile.

Mr. Douglis received a 2005 Design Merit Award in the International
FEIDAD Competition, and he was a finalist nominee for the 2006 North
American James Beard Foundation Restaurant Design Awards. In 2006 he
received the ACADIA Award for Emerging Digital Practice and was a
selected fellow in the EKWC European Ceramic Work Centre’s Brick Project
Residency Program at the European Ceramic Work Centre in Hertogenbosch,
Netherlands. His project fLORA-flex was exhibited in the recent
Rotterdam Biennale 2007, which illustrated the future of the brick as
beautiful, rounded modular tiles.

Mr. Douglis is a thoughtful, energetic, personable, and widely
experienced leader.  He brings an outstanding combination of successful
teaching, scholarship, research, professional practice, academic
leadership, and creative vision to Rensselaer at a time when we are
moving boldly into new fields that will be critically important in the
21st century.

Let me also take this opportunity to express my appreciation and to
personally thank Mr. Mark Mistur for serving as the Acting Dean of the
School of Architecture. He will return to his academic position as an
Associate Professor in the School of Architecture.

Please join me in thanking Mr. Mistur and in welcoming Mr. Evan Douglis
to our community.

Pratt Institute News Release:

It is with distinct pleasure and sincere regret that I am writing to inform you that Undergraduate Architecture Chair Evan Douglis will be leaving the School of Architecture. Professor Douglis has been appointed Dean of the School of Architecture at Rennselear Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.

For all of us who have had the privilege of working or studying with Evan, this extraordinary honor probably comes as no surprise. Evan is uniquely gifted as an architect and designer, far-reaching in his vision and creativity and inspiring as a leader. He has built upon the legacy of strong leadership and teaching in the B. Arch program, and continued its transformation into one of the most select and highly regarded architecture programs in the nation. He has brought extraordinary talent to the teaching ranks, and he has educated a generation of students at Pratt who will distinguish themselves in the years to come. He brought together diverse and distinct voices and built a community inspired by a love of architecture and a belief in a better, more ethical, world. He leaves his program in an extremely strong position, poised for even greater success.

As part of the transition in leadership I am also pleased to announce that Assistant Chair Lonn Combs has agreed to serve as Acting Chair of the B. Arch program for the next year. Lonn has served as Assistant Chair for two years, and enjoys the confidence and respect of faculty and students. He will serve in this capacity in a crucial period of time for the program, as the next year will be an accreditation year, and our continued support for him will be essential. In the coming months I will be appointing an Acting Assistant Chair to replace Lonn and working with faculty to begin the search process for the permanent Chair.

I know I speak for all faculty and students in both welcoming Lonn and offering Evan our congratulations and our heartfelt thanks for his exceptional service. Evan will be deeply missed and very difficult to replace. However, he is embarking on another, important phase of his career, where I am sure he will enjoy immense success. We will miss him, but we all wish him the very best.

Tom Hanrahan, Dean

Pratt School of Architecture

Popularity: 16% [?]