GSAPP Conversations

Third-year M.Arch student Alexander van Odom speaks with Felecia Davis, Assistant Professor at the Stuckeman Center for Design and Computation in the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at Penn State and the director of the university’s computational textile lab (SOFTLAB@PSU), in advance of her lecture at the school on September 13, 2018.

They discuss the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of computational textile design and how her work has transformed concepts of how we communicate, socialize and use space.

“To work in conjunction with other people is super important as an architecture student. And maybe try some things that you think are related to architecture, but you aren’t quite sure how yet. Go out on a limb. There’s so many different phenomenon going on right now that I think belong to architecture, but we’re not quite sure how to grapple with them.”–Felecia Davis

Dean Amale Andraos speaks with Evan Sharp, co-founder and chief product officer of Pinterest and Columbia GSAPP alumnus, in advance of his lecture at the school on September 7, 2018.

They discuss how architectural thinking has informed Sharp’s practice as a designer and entrepreneur, and delve into the role of architects as image makers with the capability to shape dreams, and the importance of a more human centered approach to design and technology.

“I think architecture is ultimately about shelter, environment, and the human. In technology, it’s easy to forget sometimes who you’re building for, because you don’t see or interact with them. So having that body memory, that the point of all this is people, is really powerful. And that’s something I learned at GSAPP.”–Evan Sharp

Dean Amale Andraos speaks with Evan Sharp, co-founder and chief product officer of Pinterest and Columbia GSAPP alumnus, in advance of his lecture at the school on September 7, 2018.

They discuss how architectural thinking has informed Sharp’s practice as a designer and entrepreneur, and delve into the role of architects as image makers with the capability to shape dreams, and the importance of a more human centered approach to design and technology.

“I think architecture is ultimately about shelter, environment, and the human. In technology, it’s easy to forget sometimes who you’re building for, because you don’t see or interact with them. So having that body memory, that the point of all this is people, is really powerful. And that’s something I learned at GSAPP.”–Evan Sharp

Andrés Jaque, Associate Professor and Director of the Advanced Architectural Design (AAD) program at Columbia GSAPP, speaks with architect and designer Marco Ferrari, co-founder of Studio Folder. Ferrari visited the school on June 6, 2018 to present a lecture as part of the AAD program’s Arguments Lecture Series, which examines the frontlines of contemporary architecture practice.

Ferrari and Jaque discuss how cartography impacts not only the construction of space, but also the construction of reality. Ferrari also considers how Studio Folder’s exhibitions and design work question the accuracy of spatial mapping as a representation of the planet, and the role architects can play in rethinking ideas about borders.

“Borders are at the center of political discussions more and more these days. I think architecture and design should take a very precise role to demolish notions of borders in their entirety, and to operate a shift in the global consciousness about the complete obsolescence of these tools.” –Marco Ferrari

Andrés Jaque, Associate Professor and Director of the Advanced Architectural Design (AAD) program at Columbia GSAPP, speaks with architect and designer Marco Ferrari, co-founder of Studio Folder. Ferrari visited the school on June 6, 2018 to present a lecture as part of the AAD program’s Arguments Lecture Series, which examines the frontlines of contemporary architecture practice.

Ferrari and Jaque discuss how cartography impacts not only the construction of space, but also the construction of reality. Ferrari also considers how Studio Folder’s exhibitions and design work question the accuracy of spatial mapping as a representation of the planet, and the role architects can play in rethinking ideas about borders.

“Borders are at the center of political discussions more and more these days. I think architecture and design should take a very precise role to demolish notions of borders in their entirety, and to operate a shift in the global consciousness about the complete obsolescence of these tools.” –Marco Ferrari

Michelle Young ('12 MSUP) of Untapped Cities speaks with four recent members of the GSAPP Incubator: Mustafa Faruki ('10 M.Arch), Nile Greenberg ('16 M.Arch), Marcelo López-Dinardi ('13 MSCCCP), and Jieun Yang ('08 M.Arch). They discuss their experiences working at the Incubator over the past year, and the challenges and opportunities facing architecture students and practitioners within the current cultural and economic landscape.

Michelle Young ('12 MSUP) of Untapped Cities speaks with four recent members of the GSAPP Incubator: Mustafa Faruki ('10 M.Arch), Nile Greenberg ('16 M.Arch), Marcelo López-Dinardi ('13 MSCCCP), and Jieun Yang ('08 M.Arch). They discuss their experiences working at the Incubator over the past year, and the challenges and opportunities facing architecture students and practitioners within the current cultural and economic landscape.

In remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the student protests at Columbia University in May 1968, we are rebroadcasting our conversation from last March with architect and Columbia alumna Sharon Egretta Sutton ('73 M.Arch). Sutton spoke with Columbia GSAPP Associate Professor Mabel O. Wilson ('91 M.Arch) about the publication of her book, When Ivory Towers Were Black, which tells the story of how an unparalleled cohort of ethnic minority students earned degrees from Columbia University’s School of Architecture in the aftermath of '68, and during a time of fierce struggles to open the ivory tower to ethnic minority students.

"Social justice in this case is occurring on two levels: the one is opening up the elite professions to historically marginalized students; the other is using institutional resources to improve historically marginalized populations. And that has been my life agenda."

- Sharon Egretta Sutton

In remembrance of the 50th anniversary of the student protests at Columbia University in May 1968, we are rebroadcasting our conversation from last March with architect and Columbia alumna Sharon Egretta Sutton ('73 M.Arch). Sutton spoke with Columbia GSAPP Associate Professor Mabel O. Wilson ('91 M.Arch) about the publication of her book, When Ivory Towers Were Black, which tells the story of how an unparalleled cohort of ethnic minority students earned degrees from Columbia University’s School of Architecture in the aftermath of '68, and during a time of fierce struggles to open the ivory tower to ethnic minority students.

"Social justice in this case is occurring on two levels: the one is opening up the elite professions to historically marginalized students; the other is using institutional resources to improve historically marginalized populations. And that has been my life agenda."

- Sharon Egretta Sutton

Ayala Levin speaks in advance of her lecture on April 16, given as part of the Detlef Mertins annual series. Having completed her Ph.D. at GSAPP in 2015, Levin is now an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University’s Art History department. Her research focuses on architectural knowledge exchange, with an emphasis on urban planning projects in post-independence African states.

In this GSAPP Conversations Bonus Episode, Levin discusses how she came to research architecture and her introduction to the field at GSAPP. She touches on her Ph.D. research on construction projects by Israeli architects during the mid-20th century in postcolonial Africa, as well current research on American construction in contemporary Africa.

"In a sense, I needed to be grounded in an art discipline that has a public weight – much more than literature and the arts … architecture really shapes people’s lives, and people really do relate to architecture in every aspect of their being."

—Ayala Levin

More information on Ayala Levin at https://www.arthistory.northwestern.edu/people/faculty/ayala-levin.html

More information on her lecture at https://www.arch.columbia.edu/events/811-the-detlef-mertins-lecture-on-the-histories-of-modernity-ayala-levin