School Notes: School of Architecture
March/April 2015

Alumnus wins Driehaus Prize

David M. Schwarz ’74MArch, chairman of the Yale School of Architecture Dean’s Council and CEO and president of David M. Schwarz Architects, has been named the 2015 recipient of the Richard H. Driehaus Prize at the University of Notre Dame. Established in 2003, the $200,000 prize is presented annually to an architect whose work “embodies the highest ideals of traditional and classical architecture in contemporary society, and creates a positive cultural, environmental, and artistic impact.” “David Schwarz has done as much as any architect today to bring traditional architecture into public view,” said Paul Goldberger ’72, a member of the Driehaus Prize jury. “His work has a remarkable range that encompasses arenas, schools, concert halls, apartment houses, a major league baseball park, a hospital, libraries, museums, small-town streetscapes, and a vibrant urban square.” Five of the previous 12 Driehaus Prize laureates are Yale alumni: Thomas H. Beeby ’65MArch (2013), adjunct professor of architecture and former dean at the school; Robert A. M. Stern ’65MArch (2011), dean of the school; Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk ’74MArch and Andrés Duany ’74MArch (2008); Jaquelin T. Robertson ’55, ’61MArch (2007); and Allan Greenberg ’65MArch (2006).

Revitalizing housing in Mexico

Tatiana Bilbao, the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor of Architectural Design, is leading an advanced studio on urban renewal titled Diversification: How to Reintegrate Abandoned Social Housing Complexes in Different Areas of Mexico. The course explores poorly planned housing developments built in the mid-1970s that are increasingly being abandoned. Students will travel to Mexico to meet with academic experts, architects, and urban authorities. They will then analyze the sites and seek ways to rehabilitate, reintegrate, and revitalize them. Major support for this studio comes from Mexico’s National Institute for Social Housing, thanks to the efforts of Carlos Zedillo ’06, ’10MArch. The studio is cotaught by Andrei Harwell ’06MArch. Bilbao established her own studio in Mexico City in 2004 and, in partnership with Derek Dellekamp, Arturo Ortiz, and Michel Rojkind, created an urban research center concerned with public space in the Mexican capital.