Lecture: Julie VandenBerg Snow, FAIA

January 16, 2013 Time: 6:00pm Location: Gin D. Wong, FAIA Conference Center 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 o how architecture performs within each project’s social, cultural and economic context. The practice has been recognized with numerous awards including the AIA Honor Award, Holcim North American Bronze Award, Progressive Architecture Design Award, the Chicago Athenaeumas American and International Architecture Awards, Architect Magazine Annual Design Review, the Design Distinction Award from ID magazine, several Business Week/Architectural Record Awards and several US General Services Administration Design Excellence Awards. The studio’s work has appeared in many professional journals, nationally and internationally, as well as in several surveys of architecture. The work of the studio was exhibited at the Chicago Architectural Foundation; and in 2005 Princeton Architectural Press published the first monograph on the studio’s work in its series on emerging designers from around the world. Julie recently received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Architectural Award. The award read, “The architecture of Julie VandenBerg Snow might be characterized as invention within convention. That is not to say that her work is conventional but to recognize that, within a rigorous underpinning, she and her studio make the marvelous happen. Elegance is balanced by pragmatism – she is a ballerina who can dance in work boots. Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, ‘Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.’ The work of Julie VandenBerg Snow does this.” Julie Snow 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. The Nancy M. and Edward D. Fox Urban Design Critic endowment provides funds for the annual appointment of a visiting urban design critic at the School. The critic is responsible for teaching and research in the area of urban design and the role of the business community in the development of cities. The critic incorporates the complimentary roles of architects, urban designers and financial partners in city building. Snow will be teaching a graduate studio at the School of Architecture this semester. Lectures are free and open to the public. They are located in the Gin D. Wong, FAIA Conference Center, Harris Hall, on the University Park campus. No reservations are required. Parking is available on campus at Gate 1 off Exposition Blvd. USC School of Architecture