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Contents

1-3 4-8 9-14 15-20 21-23 24-32 33-37 38-45

Charrette

Le Jardin The Stoa

Brandevoort Studio Greece Studio India Studio

Le Salon

Letter from ex-dean Lykoudis Interview with Dean Polyzoides

Il Bosco Sketch

Le PochĂŠ

History of Charrette

Charrette

Le Salon

Le Jardin

Beyond the School of Architecture

Le Jardin is a garden: a place where the variety of the bigger natural world is sampled and carefully arranged to be studied and enjoyed. In this section, we seek to welcome you into the magazine with a diverse selection of what architectural related happenings are going on in the broader Notre Dame community, the Academia, and various fields of practice.

Charrette â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the student-led, student-designed, and studentedited magazine of the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture â&#x20AC;&#x201D; serves as a platform for showcasing student experiences, design research, and writing. By bringing the unique Notre Dame student perspective to broad architectural themes, Charrette acts as a catalyst for mindful exposition and theory for contributors and readers alike. Above all, the magazine cultivates a community for intellectual growth by connecting students, alumni, and faculty and fostering a dialogue with the wider academic and architectural world.

The Stoa

In our home

In Greek, a Stoa refers to a covered walkway or portico, commonly for public use with a safe, enveloping, and protective atmosphere. In the Walsh Family Hall of Architecture, the Stoa is the common space for numerous events, classes, and conversations. Thus, in this section we aim to capture the studios, lectures, and events in the School of Architecture.

Le Salon

Interview and discussion

Le Salon is a place for a cup of tea and lively interaction with people: interviews, conversations, discussions, and panels with guests, alumni, peers, and neighbours. Meetings occur for enjoyment and sharing of thoughts. Intellectual discussions are served, and genuine curiosity is encouraged.

Il Bosco

Raw, lively expressions

Il Bosco is the italian word for the woods. The bosco is often the most mysterious and wild part of the italian villa typology. It is raw, it is often unrefined, but it is full of fresh air, excitement, and energy. It is where new ideas keep spurring out like green leaves in the spring.

Charrette

Le Salon

Welcome First Year Students Sydney Heim, BArch

Sydney Heim, BArch

“I’ve known since middle school that I wanted to pursue a career in architecture. The thing that attracted me most to the Notre Dame program was the sense of community inherently present at the university. When I visited Walsh Family Hall, I couldn’t help but smile as I bore witness to the vibrant culture amongst the architecture students. It was something I knew I wanted to be a part of. And, of course, the Rome Studies Program was just the cherry on top. I’ve always wanted to travel the world and witness firsthand the beauty of a foreign country. Notre Dame gave me the opportunity to do something that I’d only dreamed of. I hope to gain an exemplary education (which I have no doubt I will being where I am) as well as develop bonds and learn skills that will stay with me long after I leave the Notre Dame School of Architecture studio.”

Christian Johnson, MArch

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Charrette

Le Salon

Listening to our International Students Sydney Heim, BArch

Sydney Heim, BArch

Christian Johnson, MArch

Charrette

Le Salon

The

History of the

Charrette

“At that moment Claude, who was backing up, was almost run over by a small handcart, that two very bearded fellows led at a gallop. It was from this cart that the big night of work got its name; and for the past eight days, students, stifled by the low paid jobs of the 112 outside, repeated the cry: “Oh! that I am en Charrette! “As soon as it appeared, a clamor burst. It was a quarter to nine, one had just enough time to get to school.” —L’œuvre, Émile Zola

Charrette

collaboration and communication between different roles (the landscape architect, structural engineer, construction manager, etc.) were becoming even more important than ever. As a result of collaboration being an imperative to success, the way of performing a “Charrette” evolved. Instead of the individual struggle of the sleepless, stressful series of nights that encompassed the final project deadlines at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the charrette became a group endeavour.

Le Salon

“A huge stampede emptied the room; everyone went out its chassis, in the middle of the bends; those who wanted to insist on finishing a detail, were jostled, carried away. In less than five minutes, everyone’s chassis were stacked in the car, and the two bearded fellows, the last new from the workshop, harnessed themselves like beasts, ran at a run; while the flow others roared and pushed from behind. This was a lock failure, the two courses crossed in a torrential crash, the invaded, flooded street of this screaming rush.”

This quote, taken from L’œuvre by Émile Zola, a story about an artist at the Ecole des-Beaux Arts, describes “en Charrette,”the chaos that ensues near the deadline of a project. This all- too- familiar rush of activity comes when deadlines loom for both architects and architecture students alike; between extra working hours and sleepless nights, the days leading up to a project deadline isare the most exciting, yet exhausting, part of the design world. This experience, the rush of creativity and excitement at the final moments before a deadline, actually harkens back to our architectural ancestors at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, :a Paris-based fine-arts school that was influential in the academic development of architecture during the 19th century. Often gGiven a task on a short deadline, the design students at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts began to call their last-ditch efforts at creating the perfect project a “charrette”. “Charrette”, which is French for the word “cart” or “chariot”, referred to the cart that was wheeled in to collect the students’ projects on deadline day. Even as the projects were being collected, students would frantically run alongside the cart in order to try to get in the last touches to their project (an image symbolic of our own perfectionistic attitudes and our un-mastered practice of knowing when to tell ourselves :, “it’s time to stop”). Taking a step back from this rush, this unhealthy practice of long hours and sleepless nights, we can look at how the use of the term “charrette” has evolved. Prior to the end of the 19th century, architects were seen as the “master builders”; they were responsible for both the design and the construction of a building. However, nearing the turn of the 20th century, during the second industrial revolution, the world saw an expansion in building technology and construction methods. This led to greater specialization in the construction field, meaning the role of the architect was no longer seen as the “master builder,” but rather a cog in the wheel for the creation of large-scale projects. Greater specialization of roles meant that

Today in the professional world of architecture, a charrette is considered a “coming together” of all stakeholders on a project.

This meeting is done in a timely manner that solves as many problems as possible, for the best possible outcome, synthesizing using various professional and personal perspectives of different people. Moule & Polyzoides (the firm of Dean Polyzoides), for example, adoptsuses thea charrette to bring together planners, architects, engineers, public officials, and citizens alike in order to address problems in all aspects of design, over the course of a week. This version of the charrette still employs the fast-paced, creative explosion of the BeauxArts charrette, without the sleep deprivation and stress. By bringing together stakeholders and moving at an intense pace for the beginning of the project, the time-limited creative process, Cherrette, promotes collaboration and effective problem-solving result from the time-limited creative process. In many universities today, the traditional term of the charrette still holds true; schools such as Rice University and the University of Virginia call the last week before the deadline a charrette. Here at the University of Notre Dame, a charrette is known among its students as a quick sketch of

Charrette

Le Salon

Charrette

practice of knowing when to tell ourselves :, “it’s time to stop”). Taking a step back from this rush, this unhealthy practice of long hours and sleepless nights, we can look at how the use of the term “charrette” has evolved. Prior to the end of the 19th century, architects were seen as the “master builders”; they were responsible for both the design and the construction of a building. However, nearing the turn of the 20th century, during the second industrial revolution, the world saw an expansion in building technology and construction methods. This led to greater specialization in the construction field, meaning the role of the architect was no longer seen as the “master builder,” but rather a cog in the wheel for the creation of large-scale projects. Greater specialization of roles meant that collaboration and communication between different roles (the landscape architect, structural engineer, construction manager, etc.) were becoming even more important than ever. As a result of collaboration being an imperative to success, the way of performing a “Charrette” evolved. Instead of the individual struggle of the sleepless, stressful series of nights that encompassed the final project deadlines at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, the charrette became a group endeavour.

Charrette

Le Salon

BEYOND THE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE Making the most of your Notre Dame education

Macartan Commers 5th year BArch One of the main reasons I made the decision to attend Notre Dame four years ago was that I knew I would be able to receive a well-rounded education. I had not yet decided to go all in on the architecture program; in fact, I really did not know much at all about it before visiting campus in the spring of 2016. I had numerous academic interests coming into college, which is the case for most of the bright and talented students here, and I have been able to further these interests in a number of ways over the years. Our major is synonymous with long hours of work that leave little time for pursuits outside of architecture. However, if you are willing to load up your schedule a little bit and take a few extra credits each semester, it is actually quite easy to pick up a minor or a concentration. There are also other creative ways to do this, such as using required classes to your benefit. I took the six credits of Italian that the School of Architecture requires, added a few Italian language and culture classes, and turned it into a minor. Just because a course doesn’t exist at our school, it doesn’t mean that you can’t seek out different ways to further your education. The real estate minor was only offered at the start of the 2019 fall semester -- not during my first three years here. I have, however, been able to participate in real estate related activities since my first year. I joined the real estate club early on and was able to participate in a case competition in the spring of my first year that included a final presentation in Chicago. 16

Charrette

Notre Dame has now not only created the Minor in Real Estate, but also the Fitzgerald Institute for Real Estate, which offers a multitude of ways to get involved in the industry. I am looking forward to taking more real estate-focused classes in the upcoming academic year. I will also be serving as an officer for the Real Estate Club of Notre Dame-- another great on-campus resource for all things real estate in both the classroom and the professional world. I was fortunate enough to spend a summer abroad in New Zealand to take an asset management class offered by the Civil Engineering Department and to do a research internship at the University of Auckland. This three-week course is one of many interdisciplinary course options that count toward the real estate minor. I was able to study both the architectural history of the country as well as understand the underlying impacts and considerations of its infrastructure. There are a variety of opportunities, beyond the many that the School of Architecture offers, that contribute to the holistic education needed for success in the profession. I encourage students still early on in their college experience to explore how the many offerings of our great university can enhance their educational experience.

Charrette

Le Salon

Fifth-year Greece Studio

The seaside town of Mati was settled shortly after the second World War in the late 1940s and 50s within a densely forested area of the Attic peninsula. The town was nearly destroyed by wildfires that ravaged the area in the summer of 2018;. The town was settled shortly after the second world war in the late 1940s and 50s within a densely forested area of the Attic peninsula. The fire that spread took over 100 lives and all but destroyed the town. This fifth-year design studio focused on developing a master plan that would use lessons learned in California and similar other places that embrace principles of fire-resistant urbanism, architecture and landscape. Looking forward, the students would explore a vision that would contribute to the visualization of Matiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s renewal by providing a sense of place, resilience and accessibility. Fall 2019

Charrette

Le Salon

Charrette

Professor

Michael Lykoudis

Students

Jillian Ahern Katarzyna Baczynska William Marsh Diana Neacsu Austin Proehl Andrew Seago Zhuofei Tang Alessandra Turi Amali Wijesekera

Guest Jurors

Stephanie Bothwell Tiffany Gulick Leon Krier Meghan Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Hara Giorgos Panetsos Thomas Norman Rajkovich

Visiting Critic

Stefanos Polyzoides

Charrette

Childhood in Athens

Interview Dean Polyzoides In the same way that this demonstration issue introduces the personality, philosophies, goals, and values of the new “Charrette” magazine, our interview with Stefanos Polyzoides presents the new Dean of the School of Architecture to its community. We spoke to Dean Polyzoides about his personal life, his public role, and his plans for the future. This interview follows the Dean through his childhood in Greece, accompanies him through his years of learning and activism at Princeton, explores the genesis of New Urbanism and its wider implications, and arrives at the University of Notre Dame, where we ask, simply: “Why here? Why now?”

Charrette Magazine (CM): “To start, we’d like to ask about your experience growing up. How did the built environment in your hometown influence you as an architect, and did you have any particular favorite buildings or spaces?” Stefanos Polyzoides (SP): “The world war and occupation of Greece took place between 1941 and 1945, and then from 1945 to 1949 there was a very brutal civil war. By 1950, with 80% unemployment, the entire country was just completely destroyed. Over that brutal decade, there were more than 300,000 people who died of war- inflicted violence in a country of 7 million. The civil war started in Athens, and as the communists were driven out of the capital city, they continued their fight in the mountains and the countryside. As the conflict intensified, more and more people from the provinces decided to seek the safety of the capital city. After the end of a decade of war, with wide- spread hunger and poverty everywhere, people continued to move to Athens in search of work. In about fifteen years, the city grew from 1.25 million to 2.5 million people. This is the place i grew up in. The first king of Greece was German: King Otto, the son of Ludwig the Mad of Bavaria, who was an extraordinary patron of architecture. Otto arrived in Greece in 1829 and in the next ten years engaged the three greatest German architects of the 19th century: Schinkel, von Klenze, and von Gärtner. These architects ended up coming to Greece, and designing half a dozen spectacular civic projects, very few of which were built. But they invited back to Germany a whole generation of Greek students who eventually returned to Athens to practice. This went on for three generations. This process of education resulted in the building of a very beautiful neoclassical city of two and three-story townhouses, public squares, civic buildings, commercial districts, covering over

five or six square miles. When the civil war started, the people pouring into Athens had no place to stay. So the way that was invented to actually regenerate the economy and house them was to tear down the townhouses and to build six- and seven-story apartment buildings in their place. Within twenty years, this magnificent traditional city was completely flattened. With all of the new buildings, built on the same streets and blocks, designed by mostly civil engineers in a stripped down, undistinguished modernist style. I was a ten years old kid in 1955. I attended the only American school in the city that did not have classes on Saturdays, so every weekend I stood on the balcony of the second story of my house, and looked out across the street at the house of my piano teacher. My mother had sent me to her to learn how to play. Every time i had a lesson, I came through this beautiful Neoclassical door, into a well- formed hallway with patterned black and white marble floors, magnificent marble stairs, incredible iron railings, and at least a 20 foot ceiling. The second floor living room at the top of the stairs was large, ornate, and formally furnished. In its furthest corner was the grand piano used for my lessons. The place seemed like a museum to me. Not too long after I begun my lessons, the house was sold, was shuttered and some months later it the process of its demolition begun. I spent every Saturday watching this magnificent stone mountain just coming down floor by floor, eventually all the way down to the ground. And then people began to build a building of an entirely different kind. First the foundations and then the thin concrete Corbusian frame of a high- rise Maison Domino. The robust neoclassical house was replace by a monstrous characterless building three times as big, and totally characterless. Once in a while my father would say at the dinner table, “I can’t stand these matchboxes. I can’t stand these matchboxes that pretend to be architecture.” At age ten, sitting at that balcony, i began to think to myself, “Why would they do this? What can i do about it? I had figured out there was something wrong

Charrette

Le Salon

Beginnings

Architecture School Experience CM: How would you describe your time in architecture school? SP: I was in school at Princeton between 1965 and 1972, during the Vietnam War. The School of Architecture was badly shaken by the political activism of the students. Most of us felt the deepest despair and pessimism about anything possibly being done about the deep injustices and violence reigning around us. Particularly after 1968, when Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were killed. It was a tragic and extraordinary time, and, therefore, education was not on most people’s mind.. Students were so angry that they refused to go to class. They demanded that the more traditional form of education in place e replaced. Students made their own courses and run their own studios. And in the end, who suffered? The students, of course. Because architecture cannot be learned without serious instruction. It is rare that one may learn hoe to be an architect by oneself. I was very lucky that there were three or four brilliant professors in the school, who resisted downward spiral of destruction of the program. Michael Graves was one of them. I was a teaching assistant assigned to him. Every Monday, I would go to his office and receive a little piece of paper from him with the names of books to check out from the Art

Charrette

Library. One day his note had three names written on it, “Ledoux, Boullee, Durand.” The three great French architects-- Classicists-of the late eighteenth century. I had no idea what these words meant, and I did not ask any questions. I found the books and took them to the check out desk. Before the librarian stamped the return date on the little card at the back of each book, , I noticed that the last time the books had been checked out was in 1921. For fifty plus years, they had not circulated. No professor or student had been interested in the ideas and projects of these most prominent classical architects. That should tell you everything about when the resurgence of traditionalism emerged in this country. I missed it by a handful of years. . I had a couple of very interesting teachers, Hanno Weber and Lance Brown, who introduced us to the concept of the traditional city. They looked at it from the point of view of preservation. And resistance to the crimes that were then being committed towards poor and mostly African American people in directing freeways and urban renewal demolition through their neighborhoods. In the process of living during these politically extreme times, many Princeton architecture students became heavily radicalized. The school supported a group of us passively, to set up a participatory design workshop, The People’s Workshop, in what was then the Black ghetto of the the City of New Brunswick, New Jersey. We did a number of interesting housing, day care and clinic projects working with the deeply suffering people living in this neighborhood. While we learned a lot and were able to understand what it meant for architecture to be in the service of all people, this educational experiment did not last long. After our class graduated in 1972, the School and the University abandoned the People’s Workshop and the students turned to more conventional education pursuits. I’m telling you all of this because every education, even a deeply flawed one, if taken to heart, can provide a significant direction to a student’s life. While my studio instruction was disastrous, course offerings were rich and

inspiring. History and theory was taught in four memorable courses by the last generation of classically- trained architects. They resonated with my experiences growing up in a homeland so central to the definition and evolution of world architecture. Then there was my introduction to the activist side of planning and urbanism. And finally, there was my contact with Michael Graves, who after his white modernist period, began to teach a contextual version of architecture based on precedent and urban disposition. These three experiences, became the seeds that drove my life as an architect forward. It is important that you don’t think of my experiences as being the ones that you should follow. Instead, and as you are going through this school, you must discern which are the two, three or four architectural seeds, the kind of inspiration that will launch your architectural and professional lives. And then follow its course.

Forming New Urbanism Founding the Congress of New Urbanism CM: What led you to co-found the Congress of New Urbanism, and how were you able to start such a movement? SP: What is the way to ensure that something that you believe in strongly can remain a force beyond your lifetime? It is to generate institutions by working with your peers. When an institution is formed, its influence spreads immediately beyond its framers; if important beyond narrow individual interests, an institution is adopted by many in the world, its influence a force beyond the course of individual lives. What happened in the trajectory of my life was that the intense pain that followed the final destruction of the neighborhood i grew up in, and the outrage i felt at the injustices of Urban Renewal as i experienced them in the US (portions of South Bend are still demolished and not yet reconstructed), needed to

find a reformist outlet. By the 1980’s and while teaching at USC, it had already become clear to me that the idea of architecture as the design of autonomous and fashionable objects was an aesthetic, social, environmental and economic dead end. Architecture had to be something more profound. Based on the diverse cultures of humanity, and the many places where people had settled in the world, architecture had to be the building block for constructing the human habitat as a whole. For structuring human life on earth by assembling towns and cities and establishin gheir relationship with nature. The Congress for the New Urbanism was established under this generational awareness. My partner and wife Liz Moule and I sought out like minded colleagues and set out to establish the terms of our professional engagement with the world. There were initially four more founders, Liz Platter Zyberk, Andres Duany, Peter Calthorpe and Dan Solomon. Together we established the basic terms and scope of a regenerated discipline of urbanism: the region; teh neighborhood, district and corridor; the block, the lot and the building. We argued that the role of architecture was in generating an urban fabric, a public realm and the reigning in of consuming nature to produce sprawl. We saw urbanism as operating along a complex intensity transect from nature to metropolitan centers. We established a relationship with many other professions critical to the form, function and management of cities. We eventually put together a charter, established it further in writing, and then dedicated ourselves to like-minded practices. Often using the charrette as the favorite process for engaging hte public. Like all vital ideas, the New Urbanism was adopted, first by dozens of colleagues, then by hundreds, then thousands and finally by too many people to count. Thirty years after the founding of the CNU, urbanism is firmly established as a discipline and a key ingredient of design and at all scales. Here’s the question for all of you: What is vital to your generation, at this moment in time?

Charrette

Le Salon

about this rough metamorphosis. I didn’t know exactly what. But i was decided to find out. Every day being bused to school on the edge of the city, i would watch the traditional city being demolished, and the new, ugly and chaotic city being built. It was not very clear to a kid of my age what exactly was going on; It took me ten, maybe fifteen more years of schooling, and then at least ten more years as an architect to realize what cultural crime had been perpetrated in Athens between 1945 and 1975. And to then dedicate my life to reclaiming the idea of architecture as design in balance between building, the city and nature.

Bringing “New” Urbanist perspectives to Notre Dame CM : Why is New Urbanism called ‘New’ Urbanism? SP: I think the answer is both substantive and political. Urbanism refers to a process and detailed form of urbanisation that has existed for a long time now. It is rooted in a tradition of more than 2,500 years of designing and building livable and durable cities in high balance with nature. The New Urbanism is new, because it is immersed in the social and technical dimensions of the society we live in and accommodates its life in every detail: its means of mobility, its informational and utility networks, its social conventions, its diverse cultures, its functional needs. Every last aspect of our contemporary existence is served by this new urbanism. While it would be familiar to Hausmann or Vauban, in its details it is unique to us. The word ‘new’ was also chosen to attract the attention of our colleagues and have them approach it with a heightened degree of curiosity. And also in order to shake the intellectual ground that the architectural opposition was standing on. Projecting the word new to mean constantly renewed, while its current, common use is to mean ‘from scratch’. CM: Should we therefore be referring to our architecture as ‘New’ Architecture as well? SP: My experience has been that through

Charrette

a classical education, one can learn how to design buildings and places in the most integrated and inventive way possible. Deep awareness of the history, theory, technology, environmental and social dimensions of architecture, result in form invention that interprets and transforms received form knowledge into notable new objects and places. Contextual specificity further enhances the uniqueness of this architecture. In that sense, the words ‘new architecture’ are rightfully paired here in describing new traditional projects. It just happens to be a definition of newness different from that used by others. In that it thrives on cultural continuity and place- definition. Using the word traditional is just a moniker for describing the kind of architecture that is focused on our discipline’s original purposes: structuring human life through by the design of buildings; using these buildings to constantly reconfigure the form of cities and deploying cities to secure life in balance with nature, of which we are a part.

Social Responsibilities of an Architect Listening to the Community CM: Would you expand upon the idea of listening to your community and how that ties in to the principles of New Urbanism? How do you build as an architect, and how should we, as students, practice designing for varying communities now so that we’re ready to do it as professionals?” SP: You have to see yourselves as architects who are thoughtful, first and foremost. Understanding that your work is not about your interests alone, but also affects the lives of all others that come into contact with it. You have to think of yourselves as constantly acting in the service of our society and of humanity. You need to get to know our society in its diversity and complexity and have a clear sense on how you are going to

best operate within it. To be an excellent listener, you need to have the skill to decipher the words that you are hearing in all of their variety. If you’re working with a Black community in Ohio, a Japanese-American community in Oregon or Hawaii, a Latino community in California or a White community in rural Louisiana, you will be engaged with people that have different understandings, different needs and use different words to describe them. You must be completely prepared to listen to what they are all telling you, before you can exercise your design and planning ideas on their behalf. This is a matter of both skill and empathy. Almost like an old- fashioned family doctor, you must understand what they are telling you, in order to imagine and then dispense remedies. The words you are hearing should also be balanced by what people don’t know. It is a major responsibility of an architect/ urbanist to dispense information and knowledge about how the built environment effects people’s lives. Advising them on how they can seek ways to improve their way of life and the state of their neighborhood and city. Architects are not in the business of building alone. They also act in nurturing the ways in which people can improve their lot, without giving up their culture or their interests. Whatever an architect’s formal interests are, whether one is a classicist or a modernist, practice is not about imposing normative preconceptions upon a diverse society. Understanding the circumstances and settings of each project is a good place to begin. Over the centuries, culture, climate, resources, needs, expectations have combined to deliver buildings and places of great variety and beauty. A classical City Hall is not the same in Paris, New York or Los Angeles. A residential street is not the same in Santa Barbara, Santa Fe or Savannah. We need to become expert at discovering the subtle differences that render our world a marvel of complexity and variety again, as it was before 1945. Understanding Boundaries

CM: What’s the limit of the architect, and what’s the responsibility? We have all these social responsibilities, but then we also have to collaborate with other people, so is there a boundary that we have to recognize?”

Le Salon

What needs to be done about it in the next 10 or 20 years? How does our society lget there faster and more consequentially? As architects and as citizens, how do we build a better city, a better country, a regenerated nature ? That is what your generation will eventually have to address for the rest of us. By building the institutions that focus on your common concerns. And spread the ideas that can address these concerns decisively

SP: I will give you some examples of boundaries that the work of architects needs to operate within. Sometimes our architecture can be loud, but at other times it should remain quiet. Sometimes we need to lead and at other times we need to follow. Sometimes we need to interpret cultures we are unfamiliar with, and others not. Loud and Quiet: On occasion an architect can claim that they know they are justified to be proposing a grand and appropriate building. At other times, they can do a building and say {whispering}, ‘I’m doing this so quietly I don’t want anybody to know.’ Not because what has been done is questionable, but because it does not need to be known as being of a particular author. A city can be like a lake on a beautiful calm day. Throwing a pebble into it, can disturb the perfectly clear water. Following and Leading: During charrettes, there always has to be one person who acts as its leader. This kind of leading has nothing to do with exercising power over others.. All complex design, both urban and architectural, is about establishing and projecting ideas with uncertain prospects for ultimate success. In the very constrained week- long schedule of a charrette, all kinds of ideas with uncertain consequences must be discussed and sometimes tested. Leading and following become two faces of the coin: resolving team design opportunities and conflicts in the most time- efficient way.. Sometimes, a leader imposes a point of view, or a direction. At other times, the best idea or point of view comes from an unexpected source. A traffic engineer for example, suggesting a brilliant solution for designing a street and block that generates a terminated vista site as the location of a major new public budding. At that point the leader becomes a follower, accepting the best point of view on a given subject, whoever may have been its source.

Charrette

The Balance Between Doing and Thinking CM: In a previous interview, you mentioned that you wished to encourage the SoA to

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engage more with real-world practices as well as various schools and departments within Notre Dame. Could you talk more about the balance between architecture as a tangible practice and architecture as an abstracted theoretical study? SP: I’m not advocating the practical over the theoretical or the other way around. You are in school in order to discover your place in this discipline and profession. One of the tragedies of architecture, unlike medicine or law is that it does not currently possess a discernible body of precedent. What we are assembling in this school is such a body, which as in the past, has both a theoretical and an empirical dimension. Learning about one in terms of the other is the most balanced way of discovering architecture and eventually becoming an expert academic and professional practitioner of it. In the process, it is very important to become immersed in history, to think about theory, technology, sociology and psychology and to touch all kinds perspectives and the particular knowledge that helps you frame your work from different enlightening perspectives. There is a tendency in Academia to limit ourselves to abstraction, to focus on subjects that are marginally relevant. A thesis on the design of corners in the work of Mies Van de Rohe is not exactly important, in a world burdened with crises of all kinds. You should be focusing on subjects that are far more relevant, which move the world in a certain direction that provides intelligent relief from burdens. And doing so with the utmost respect for inquiry, for the imaginative rethinking of old ideas and the bold entertaining of new ones. At the same time, we must insist that as practicing architects, as academics, as entrepreneurs, as politicians, however we direct our lives in possession of an architecture degree, we act with integrity and with effectiveness. Ideating, writing, designing, building are miracles happening every day in and around our lives. I often pause while writing a few cogent pages or producing a beautiful

fast architectural sketch and think “my god, where did that come from?” Often i marvel when in the presence of a completed building, at the thought of it having emerged from the seed of a tiny drawing, or a set of paper documents of small size. Being asked to act as an expert architect, you have to be at home in the presence of a blank sheet of paper, or a hyper- complicated urban setting. There is no doubt about it, to be a good architect, your mind must be balanced between thinking and doing. Absolutely balanced. On Reading and Books CM: What books influenced you the most? Would you recommend a few books for students to read? SP: It is not a matter of which three books may have changed one’s life, or even naming the three books that one considers most important in a profession or on a specific subject. It is more a question of how one chooses to navigate the infinite seas of knowledge effectively. A long time ago, Liz Moule and I decided to start collecting and reading two kinds of books. Those that we know would enrich our knowledge and understanding of architecture and urbanism as we have defined it already and pursued for decades. And others that we imagine could test the limits of our tolerance of extraneous ideas about it. We started gathering this latter set of books, through the recommendations of colleagues and friends and through traveling all over the US and the world. Every book in both collections in our 8,000 volume library is essential to our understanding of ourselves. We have not read them all cover to cover, but we know exactly why they are in our possession. There is a good reason why they are all resting comfortably on the shelves, ready to be consulted as the opportunity arises. For an architect, knowing where to look for book evidence is by far more important than fetishizing the importance of any singular book source. I am looking forward to taking Ingrid

Rowland’s class on Vitruvius this semester. I have read Vitruvius, but it was a long time ago. I am curious to understand how relevant his writings are to me today. Every time I walk through Rome, I feel like I am seeing it for the first time. Every time i hold a significant book in my hands, it feels like I have never read it before. In both cases, it is because it is us who are constantly changing in our capacity to fully appreciate what cities, buildings and books are imparting to us. So, please seek a reason for collecting and reading the kinds of books that are central to your interests, and never imagine that you have exhausted the ways in which they may someday change the course of your life.

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Importing and Exporting: In an open and interconnected world, ideas travel more rapidly than there is time to consider their validity or their longevity. How ideas emanating in one nation are applied to another has long been the subject of debate. In an ideal world, every culture everywhere may get the opportunity to self regulate and to generate an environment appropriate to its needs and ambitions. Throughout history, this has not been a very common occurrence. In the rough and tumble of political and economic domination, architectural ideas have typically been imposed as a sign of progress or prosperity. As for instance, in the case of colonial powers building all over their possessions, in ways that delivered models of livability and new identity which have proven resilient beyond political independence. As in the work of Luyens in Dehli, for example. And then there is the thoughtless importation of the culture of commercial exploitation by individuals, institutions and states in the developing world. Inviting development in a homogenizing, globalizing aesthetic that erases their native identity. You shouldn’t be crossing the boundary where self-promotion and the opportunity to impose your work, become more important than the work itself and its ability to represent the lives of your clients and their community. And then, there are some things that architects should never limit themselves on: The ambition to learn. The humbleness to talk to others and consider their views at all times. The obligation to teach. The passion to serve. The urgency to undo injustice. Unfortunately, in our profession, we often have it in reverse; with obligations taking second place to self-promotion, to starchitecture. It is vitally important for your generation to try to practice and serve in a more self-conscious and giving way.

Coming to Notre Dame Why Now? Why Here? CM: You have such a wide range of experiences and practices in different aspects of academia. How did all of this lead you to Notre Dame? Why now? Why specifically the University of Notre Dame?” SP: Our School is a place where the faculty is in general agreement about what they teach, how they teach it, and what they expect their students to be eventually capable of doing with these lessons, once they find themselves practicing in the world. You are a part of this unique school. Its ideology is firm, but allows its students the freedom and time to understand it and to embrace it. You are being taught under a classical curriculum that instructs you in the trajectory of architecture from the beginning of time to today. And imparts respect for all traditions, classical and vernacular, western and those of the rest of the world. There is an expectation here, that school graduates will be eventually engaged in the service of people and societies worldwide, and with the same dedication as the teaching that was imparted to them here. This is not the way that architecture is being taught in most of the rest of the country

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A Tour of the Library of Dean Polyzoides vii

“Everywhere you go, you should be buying a book. You should think about what that book means to you after your visit, and go back and see it, after one year, two years, and trying to understand what that means to you with new eyes.” —Dean Polyzoides

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Architects before we are architects Architects after we become architects “We read about those architects because they are contemporary, because we are practicing together.” Featuring: The Elemental by Alejandro Aravena, books by/about

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Landscape Architecture “Because you can not know the city without knowing nature.”

China, Japan, India, Malaysia, and other places

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The Middle East - Morocco, Egypt, Israel...

Spain

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Urbanism

viii France, Italy, and Greece “...the place where I grew up, and which I care about in special

Louis Khan, Robert Venturi, Post Modernism Architects, Aldo Rossi...

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Featuring: The complete work of Le Corbusier and Alvar Alto

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emotional ways, because they are places that are familiar to me, deeply.”

Western Europe, Northern Europe, and Southern Europe

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pedagogy, as there is no tradition without renewal; and to introduce the kinds of structural changes that can elevate the school to the pinnacle of American architectural education. One of the great things to accomplish under my leadership would be to energize the faculty to work more cooperatively in support of some fundamental new academic initiatives: Recasting the graduate program to include a rethinking the grad school in a radical way, including making Rome more important, or finding ways to study the rest of the country more extensively-- knowing the rest of our country better as students of architecture. Institutions and initiatives are forever, and the more we structure ourselves within the school and within the society, the better we are going to get there, thinking about what we can do to serve our country and our world, not ourselves. For me, seeing the school continue on the path it set itself for another 30 years is a personal ambition and a societal ambition that I aspire to serve. I’m not talking about architectural tradition, I’m talking about all traditions, social, political, etc.. Every generation brings its own understanding and its own way of doing things. And I think that end, for me, is the idea of turning the school outwards and trying to refine this pedagogy, and attract others to see this pedagogy as being an appropriate model for American education in general. In other words, to take what has done and to expand it to the country and the world, to present it as something not to be bought, locked, stocked, and borrowed, but to be considered on its merits as a way out of the current issues of architectural education. Advice for Young Architects CM: What are the most important lessons you hope students will have learned after 5 years of education at Notre Dame? SP: You can not imagine that having a license and working in an office is going to solve your

life’s problems as an architect. You need to think of your future as involving the taking of many different kinds of professional steps through a great variety of experiences. The most important dimension of this life’s journey is your ability to assess where you are at any point in time. Who you are, what you are doing, and how you are moving through the universe. And please don’t be passive. Very soon, you are going to be the teachers, so you need to bring yourself to that level, and exceed it. We are teaching you because we are hoping fervently that you are going to exceed us. We are counting on the fact that you are going to do better than what we are; that is why we are doing what we are doing.

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and the world. In the post-war era, and little by little, teaching architecture based on the Classical tradition was diminished and eventually abandoned. It was replaced by a method that encourages students to engage in a perpetual search for new forms. Unprecedented forms, based on high technology, the total rejection of precedent, and the maximizing of personal expression. The essential links between architectural, urban and ecological design have also been severed, each topical area eventually becoming a separate university department, offering its subject matter in isolated and incomplete ways. This is the reason why Architecture has become so disconnected from its historical role as the carrier of meaning for institutions, communities and states and is now typically present in the same sleek form everywhere. Independent of climate, culture or location, the building traditions of the world have been devastated one design and one development at a time at a time. Fashion rules, meaning is barely decipherable and permanence and resilience are eclipsed in the interest of short term fame and fortune. Conserving nature, assembling beautiful cities and designing buildings that represent common values have virtually disappeared from the for thirty years now. As a result, place and cultural identity are in deep recession. The world’s cities are in a state of chaos and nature is under assault almost everywhere on the planet. A very small group American Schools of Architecture, with Notre Dame in the lead, stand resolute against this worldwide urban and environmental crisis. I’m seventy-four years old, and I sought the Deanship not as a new career, but as a way to join in on the struggle to save the world by design. That can only be done through education, not so much through practice, which is highly constrained by the limitations of each commission. I am deeply honored and very excited to have been given the opportunity to lead the school. My goals at the point of departure are three. To safeguard the accomplishments of the school over the last generation; to seek the renewal of its

The Role of the University in South Bend: Challenges and Solutions CM: What do you see as the School of Architecture’s duty to the greater city of South Bend, given that there are a number of social issues present that are deeply rooted in the built environment and the architecture of the city? SP: You cannot have a great university without a first-class downtown. You cannot have a first-class downtown without a prosperous city as a whole. ... Considering the needs that South Bend has, both in the neighborhoods and in the center, I think we should all be advocates within the university in our own way. As caring people, and as caring on behalf of this university, we should be engaged at all times, to see to it that the city benefits from our presence, because we ... know how to build that place up for the benefit of everybody else, and it is a fantastic opportunity to illustrate what architecture is today. How do we do it? I’m going to be presenting a ten-year program to the university. It could be done, for instance, through courses. It could be done through a studio, which is indirect but valuable-- or direct, like a building-a-house-over-the-summer

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