The Brown Auditorium of the MFA,H was packed for the 2013 Sally Walsh lecture by Jeanne Gang. In collaboration with the Rice School of Architecture, the AIA Houston Chapter, and the Architecture Center Houston Foundation, Rice Design Alliance welcomed her on Tuesday, March 26. The event was followed by a private reception at the home of Karen Lantz and Andy Farkas.

This annual lecture is dedicated to the memory of distinguished Houston interior designer Sally Walsh, who is widely credited with bringing modern design to Houston. The lecture honors Walsh’s groundbreaking foray into modern design by bringing cutting edge designers to Houston. Jeanne Gang’s talk was entitled “Moving House” and covered the wide range of her firm’s design work.

Jeanne Gang at the Brown Auditorium.

Mary Beth Woiccak and Lonnie Hoogeboom.

A 2011 MacArthur Fellow, Gang is the founder and principal of Studio Gang architects, a Chicago-based firm made up of architects and designers who tackle pressing contemporary issues. Examples of the studio’s work include the construction of the Aqua Tower, an 82-story mixed-use high rise named the 2009 Emporis Skyscraper of the Year and SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio Community Center, a 16,800 square-foot foster care community on Chicago’s historically disenfranchised South Side.

Jeanne Gang and Sarah Whiting.

Raymond Brochstein and Jeanne Gang.

Donna Kacmar and Nonya Grenader.

Jeanne Gang, Stephen Fox, and Karen Lantz.

Troy Schaum.

Tina Waldon, Linda Sylvan, and Charles Browne.

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Who: Jeanne Gang, Principal and Founder, Studio Gang Architects, Chicago
What: 2013 Sally Walsh Lecture titled “Moving House”
When: Tuesday, March 26; 6 p.m. Reception in the Beck Building, 7 p.m. lecture at the Caroline Weiss Law Building, MFAH.
Where: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Brown Auditorium in the Caroline Wiess Law Building. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is located at 1001 Bissonnet (enter via the Main Street door). Additional parking at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is available until 7:00 p.m. for $6 in the museum garage located at the corner of Binz and Fannin Streets.

In collaboration with the Rice School of Architecture, the AIA Houston Chapter, and the Architecture Center Houston Foundation, we welcome Jeanne Gang to present the annual Sally Walsh lecture on Tuesday, March 26, at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

This annual lecture is dedicated to the memory of distinguished Houston interior designer Sally Walsh, who is widely credited with bringing modern design to Houston. The lecture honors Walsh’s groundbreaking foray into modern design by bringing cutting edge designers to Houston. This year’s lecturer is architect Jeanne Gang who will give a talk entitled “Moving House.”

A 2011 MacArthur Fellow, Gang is the founder and principal of Studio Gang architects, a Chicago-based firm made up of architects and designers who tackle pressing contemporary issues. Examples of the studio’s work include the construction of the Aqua Tower, an 82-story mixed-use high rise named the 2009 Emporis Skyscraper of the Year and SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio Community Center, a 16,800 square-foot foster care community on Chicago’s historically disenfranchised South Side.

Driven by visionary thinking, insatiable curiosity, and radical creativity, Gang has produced some of today’s most innovative and award-winning transformative architecture. Gang is motivated by the idea that local architecture can make a global impact. Her designs are rooted in both architectural form and idea-driven content, and she frequently utilizes multiple disciplines to reach a design solution.

A distinguished graduate of Harvard, Gang’s work has been applauded and exhibited widely, including the International Venice Biennale, MoMA, The National Building Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago.

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RDA’s fourth annual Spotlight Award is being given to the Chilean firm Pezo von Ellrichshausen. The international award, which recognizes exceptionally gifted architects in the early phase of their professional careers, carries a cash prize and invitation to lecture at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Led by Sofia von Ellrichshausen and Mauricio Pezo, Pezo von Ellrichshausen is an art and architecture studio that focuses largely on the power of geometric form, volumetric experiments, and conceptual simplicity.

Spotlight Committee Member and Harry K. & Albert K. Smith Professor of Architecture at Rice University John Casbarian said, “I was struck by the power of their bold abstract compositional forms which exist simultaneously in harmony and in contrast with the context. This tension, coupled with the inventive use of stark materials underscores the visual impact of their unique and simply stunning architecture.”

Founded in Concepción in 2002, the firm has been awarded at the IberoAmerican Biennial, the Chilean Architecture Biennial, and at The AR Awards for Emerging Architecture, among others. They teach regularly in Chile and have been visiting professors at universities in New York and Texas.

The public is invited to hear Pezo von Ellrichshausen lecture on Monday, November 12, 2012 at The MFA,H.

DATE: Monday, November 12, 2012
TIME: 7:00 p.m. (pre-lecture wine reception begins at 6 p.m. Reception is sponsored D.E. Harvey Builders. Please note that the reception will take place in the Beck Building across the street).
PLACE: Brown Auditorium, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston 1001 Bissonnet.
Additional parking is available until 7 p.m. for $6 in the museum garage located at the corner of Binz and Fannin Streets.
TICKETS: This event is free for RDA Members and students presenting identification. Tickets for non-members are not for sale yet but they will be $25 at the door, also those who join RDA that evening will receive a free ticket. Tickets are required for entry and will be distribute on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 6 p.m. the evening of the lecture. Seating is limited; attendees are encouraged to arrive early.

This event is made possible by support from: A & E – The Graphics Complex, Abel Design Group, Behringer Harvard, D. E. Harvey Builders, Haynes Whaley Associates, Inc., Mary Haus and Willard Holmes, Lonnie Hoogeboom and Betsy Strauch, Paradigm Consultants, Inc., Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc., TDIndustries, Inc., Transwestern, Turner Construction Company, Walter P Moore, the Corporate Members if the Rice Design Alliance, the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Texas of Commission on the Arts.

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What: RDA & RSA Spring Lecture Series
New Commons: Between Aesthetics and Engagement

The lecture series, curated by Rice Assistant Professor of Architecture, Neyran Turan, brings together architects and scholars who redefine the capacity of architectural aesthetics in engaging with the world.

Recent examples of architectural engagement frequently reduce the architect’s role to that of a problem solver. Offering an alternative to this role, this series will investigate new practices within architecture that showcase the architect as not merely a respondent, but as an active agent capable of building new ideas and languages as they relate to the city, the environment, and geography. By focusing on the work of these architects and thinkers, the series will establish a new commons – that is, a ground for forging new and more productive relationships between aesthetics and engagement.

The public and RDA Members are invited to hear the following speakers during the series:

Who:
Wednesday, January 16
Pedro Gadanho
Curator of Contemporary Architecture at the Museum of Modern Art, New York

Wednesday, January 23
Luis Callejas
Principal, LCLAOFFICE, Medellín, Colombia, and Cambridge, USA

Wednesday, February 6
David Gissen
Associate Professor, The California College of the Arts, San Francisco
Reception will be in the Beck Building

Tuesday, February 19
Xaveer de Geyter
Principal, XDGA Architects, Brussels, Belgium
Reception will be in the Beck Building

To purchase tickets, please click here.

Ticket information is as follows:

$20 – RDA or MFAH member
$15 – Senior Citizen 65 and older
$10 – Student (Student ID Required)
$35 – Non-RDA member

Single Tickets (upon availability, will be sold 30 minutes prior to the lecture):
$7 – RDA, MFAH members; Senior citizens 65 and older; Students with identification
$10 – Others

Where: Brown Auditorium, Caroline Weiss Law Building, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

When: Lectures starts at 7 p.m. with a pre-lecture reception at 6 p.m.

Special thanks to our reception sponsors The Office of James Burnett; CenterPoint Energy, Inc.; Cokinos, Bosien & Young; D. E. Harvey Builders; Haynes Whaley Associates, Inc.; PGAL; Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc.; Telios; Tellepsen Corporation; Trammell Crow Company; Walter P Moore; the Corporate Members of the Rice Design Alliance; the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

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In honor of the joint centennial of Rice University and the Rice School of Architecture, and Rice Design Alliance’s 40th anniversary, the fall 2012 lecture series will address the future of architectural education. Specifically, the series will discuss how architectural education negotiates its intellectual heritage alongside its unique ability to truly impact the world. The four lecturers will explore intersections between teaching, research, and professional practice, examining how education can shape future designers, and subsequently, the built environment itself.

The public and RDA members are invited to hear the following speakers during the series:

Wednesday, September 5
Michael Speaks
Dean of College of Design, University at Kentucky
Reception Sponsor: The OFIS

Wednesday, September 19
Alfredo Brillembourg
Caracas Urban Think Tank
Reception Sponsor: Vanguard Environments, Inc.

Wednesday, September 26
Jeffrey Schnapp
Director, metaLAB, Harvard University
Reception Sponsor: Austin Commercial / PageSoutherlandPage

Wednesday, October 3
Marc Angélil
Professor of Architecture, ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Reception Sponsor: Gensler

All lectures will be held at 7:00 p.m. in Brown Auditorium in The Museum of Fine Arts Caroline Wiess Law Building, each with a pre-lecture reception at 6:00 p.m. in the museum lobby. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is located at 1001 Bissonnet (enter via the Main Street door.) No guaranteed seating for ticket holders after 7:00 p.m. Additional parking is available until 7:00 p.m. for $6 in the museum garage located at the corner of Binz and Fannin Streets. To purchase series tickets in advance, please click here.

RDA will gladly make special accommodations for anyone needing assistance to attend a lecture. Please contact RDA directly, 713.348.4876. A minimum of two week’s notice is appreciated.

TICKET INFORMATION
Series Tickets:
$20 – RDA, MFAH members
$15 – Senior citizens 65 and older
$10 – Students with identification
$35 – Others

Single Tickets (upon availability, will be sold 30 minutes prior to the lecture):
$7 – RDA, MFAH members; Senior citizens 65 and older; Students with identification
$10 – Others

For more information, please visit our website, www.ricedesignalliance.org, or call the Rice Design Alliance, (713) 348-4876. As the lecture dates draw closer, tickets may be purchased in advance by visiting www.ricedesignalliance.org.

Many thanks to our generous sponsors: AGC Houston; ARC; Anslow Bryant Construction; Austin Commercial; Avadek; Builders West, Inc.; ccrd partners; Chamberlin Roofing & Waterproofing; Melinda Clark & Clark Trantham; Colliers International; Leo A Daly; Leslie Elkins Architecture; Fast Track Specialties, Inc; Fretz Construction Company; Gensler; HBL Architects; HOK; D. E. Harvey Builders; Haynes Whaley Associates, Inc.; Kendall/Heaton Associates; Kirksey; Dillon Kyle Architecture; The Mathis Group, Inc.; McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.; Miner-Dederick Construction, LLP ; Mission Constructors, Inc.; Office Pavilion; PageSoutherlandPage; Perkins+Will; Project Control Houston; Satterfield & Pontikes Construction, Inc.; The Southampton Group; TDIndustries, Inc.; Telios; TimberSIL of Texas; Vanguard Environments, Inc.; Walter P Moore; Windham Builders; Wylie Consulting Engineers; the Corporate Members of the Rice Design Alliance; the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Texas Commission on the Arts.

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What: Spotlight: The Rice Design Alliance Prize

Who: Pezo Von Ellrichshausen Architects

When: Monday, November 12, 7 pm (Please join us at 6 pm for a complimentary wine reception)

Where: Brown Auditorium, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Tickets: This event is free for RDA Members and students presenting identification. Tickets for non-members are $25, but those who join RDA that evening will receive a free ticket. Tickets are required for entry and will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 6 p.m. the evening of the lecture. Seating is limited; attendees are encouraged to arrive early.

This year’s prize winners from Concepcion, Chile will discuss their work. Spotlight Prize honorees must be within their first 15 years of professional practice, and are selected for their design excellence and promise of a great design future.

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What: NEXT: Four Takes on the Future of Architectural Education, Fall 2012 Lecture Series

Wednesday, September 5
Michael Speaks
Dean of College of Design, University at Kentucky

Wednesday, September 19
Alfredo Brillembourg
Caracas Urban Think Tank

Wednesday, September 26
Jeffrey Schnapp
Director, metaLAB, Harvard University

Wednesday, October 3
Marc Angélil
Professor of Architecture, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

When: Lectures will be held at 7p, with a pre-lecture reception starting at 6p.

Where: Brown Auditorium, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1001 Bissonnet.

Who: Currently, Marc Angèlil, Professor of Architecture, ETH Zurich, Switzerland will be here October 3.

On the occasion of the joint Centennial of Rice University and the Rice School of Architecture as well as RDA’s 40th anniversary, the Fall 2012 RDA lecture series will address the future of architectural education and its potential impact on design practice and the built environment. Lectures will be held on consecutive Wednesdays in September and October.

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Rice Design Alliance, in collaboration with the Rice School of Architecture, the AIA Houston Chapter, and the Architecture Center Houston Foundation, welcome Greg Lynn to present the annual Sally Walsh lecture on Tuesday, April 3.

This annual lecture is dedicated to the memory of distinguished Houston interior designer Sally Walsh, who is widely credited with bringing modern design to Houston. The lecture honors Walsh’s groundbreaking foray into modern design by bringing cutting edge designers to Houston. This year’s lecturer is Greg Lynn who will give a talk entitled “Surfaces Without Superficiality.”

Lynn is best known for introducing digital technology into the medium of design, and pioneering the fabrication of complex functional and ergonomic forms using innovative machinery. After receiving two undergraduate degrees from Miami University of Ohio, and a graduate degree in architecture from Princeton, Lynn’s career has spanned disciplines and garnered him much praise. Among others, Lynn has been named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most innovative people in the world for the 21st century in 2001, and received a fellowship from United States Artists in 2010.

His studio, Greg Lynn FORM, works within and among multiple fields, partnering with companies such as BMW, Boeing, Disney and Imaginary Forces. Along with architecture, Lynn himself is influenced by previous studies in philosophy and has been involved in combining the practices of “design and construction with the speculative, theoretical and experimental potentials of writing and teaching,” according to his website.

EVENT INFORMATION

What: The Sally Walsh Lecture
When: Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m., with a pre-lecture reception at 6 p.m.
Where: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Brown Auditorium in the Caroline Wiess Law Building. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, is located at 1001 Bissonnet (enter via the Main Street door). Additional parking at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is available until 7:00 p.m. for $6 in the museum garage located at the corner of Binz and Fannin Streets.

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Click here to purchase tickets. For more information, please call the Rice Design Alliance, (713) 348-4876.

FURNISH Space / Context / Object, RDA’s inaugural 2012 lecture series, will explore progressive ideas, technologies, and cultural forces affecting furniture design as interpreted by a variety of innovative designers from around the world. Specifically, this exploration examines the impact on the overall creative design process by looking at factors such as advancements in materials, overarching cultural shifts, and the intricacies of the manufacturing process itself.

The public and RDA members are invited to hear the following speakers during the series:

Wednesday, January 18
Mike Simonian of Mike & Maaike, San Francisco

Wednesday, January 25
Kenneth Cobonpue, The Philippines

Wednesday, February 1
Jurgen Bey, Rotterdam

All lectures will be held at 7:00 p.m. in Brown Auditorium in The Museum of Fine Arts Caroline Wiess Law Building, each with a pre-lecture reception at 6:00 p.m. in the museum lobby. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is located at 1001 Bissonnet (enter via the Main Street door.) No guaranteed seating for ticket holders after 7:00 p.m. Additional parking is available until 7:00 p.m. for $6 in the museum garage located at the corner of Binz and Fannin Streets.

RDA will gladly make special accommodations for anyone needing assistance to attend a lecture. Please contact RDA directly, 713.348.4876. A minimum of two week’s notice is appreciated.

TICKET INFORMATION
Series Tickets:
$20 – RDA, MFAH members
$15 – Senior citizens 65 and older
$10 – Students with identification
$35 – Others

Single Tickets (upon availability):
$7 – RDA, MFAH members; Senior citizens 65 and older; Students with identification
$15 – Others

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Mike and Maaike’s Windowseat Lounge Chair

Click here to purchase tickets. For more information, please call the Rice Design Alliance, (713) 348-4876.

FURNISH Space / Context / Object, RDA’s inaugural 2012 lecture series, will explore progressive ideas, technologies, and cultural forces affecting furniture design as interpreted by a variety of innovative designers from around the world. Specifically, this exploration examines the impact on the overall creative design process by looking at factors such as advancements in materials, overarching cultural shifts, and the intricacies of the manufacturing process itself.

The public and RDA members are invited to hear the following speakers during the series:

Wednesday, January 18
Mike Simonian of Mike & Maaike, San Francisco

Wednesday, January 25
Kenneth Cobonpue, The Philippines

Wednesday, February 1
Jurgen Bey, Rotterdam

All lectures will be held at 7:00 p.m. in Brown Auditorium in The Museum of Fine Arts Caroline Wiess Law Building, each with a pre-lecture reception at 6:00 p.m. in the museum lobby. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston is located at 1001 Bissonnet (enter via the Main Street door.) No guaranteed seating for ticket holders after 7:00 p.m. Additional parking is available until 7:00 p.m. for $6 in the museum garage located at the corner of Binz and Fannin Streets.

RDA will gladly make special accommodations for anyone needing assistance to attend a lecture. Please contact RDA directly, 713.348.4876. A minimum of two week’s notice is appreciated.

TICKET INFORMATION
Series Tickets:
$20 – RDA, MFAH members
$15 – Senior citizens 65 and older
$10 – Students with identification
$35 – Others

Single Tickets (upon availability):
$7 – RDA, MFAH members; Senior citizens 65 and older; Students with identification
$15 – Others

more >