John Comazzi
Associate Professor of Architecture

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture

 

E-mail: jcomazzi@umn.edu

Telephone: 612.626.0501

Courses

• Design Fundamentals 2
• Graduate Design Studio
• Graduate Seminars

Biography

John Comazzi is an Associate Professor of Architecture in the College of Design at the University of Minnesota.  He received a B.S. in Architecture from the University of Virginia and both a M.Arch and M.S. in Architecture History and Theory from the University of Michigan.  He taught at the University of Michigan as a Lecturer in Architecture (1999-2006) before joining the University of Minnesota as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2006.

He has worked for architecture and planning firms in both the Washington D.C. area and Ann Arbor, Michigan and is a founding partner of W+C design, established in 2002.

His focus areas of research and writing consist of new forms of contested urbanism, the practice of architecture photography, design-build as a model for design education and the relationships between early childhood education and the design of active learning environments. 

Education

University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

• Master of Science in Architectural History and Theory, 1999
• Thesis: (re)Moving History: The Statue Park of Socialist Statuary in Budapest, Hungary

University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

• Master of Architecture, 1998, Master’s Thesis: From In-sight to In-site: Architecture as Optical Device

University of Virginia

• Bachelor of Science in Architecture 1993

Areas of Expertise

• Architecture Photography
• Design Pedagogy and Representation
• Active Learning Environments
• New forms of Critical Urbanism

Publications

“Hardly Stable and Never Complete,” in Surfacing Urbanisms, ACSA West Regional Proceedings, October 2006

“(re) Moving History: A Monumental Predicament in Budapest Hungary,” MONU-Magazine on Urbanism #5: Brutal Urbanism, Kassel Germany: University of Kassel, July, 2006.

“Passing the Time: Detroit’s Midway Urbanism,” in CityBuilding, J. Young, ed., Wayne State University Press, forthcoming

“Design through Making,” in Middle-Out, Michigan Architectural Papers, forthcoming

“Mies in Michigan,” with G. Wilkins & Anselmo Canfora, in The Art of Architecture, the Science of Architecture, ACSA National Conference Proceedings, March 2005

“The Spaces and Music of Ritual,” with Betty Anne Younker, in Research In Music Education International Conference Proceedings, Exeter, UK, April 2005

“Dancing Down the Grass,” with Betty Anne Younker, in Spirit, ACSA Central Regional Proceedings, October 2005

“Case Study Houses, Cleveland,” with PLY Architecture, l’architecture d’aujourd’hui, vol 353, “Standard”, July 2004

“Case Study House,” with Ply Architecture

OZ Magazine vol. 25 2003: Journal of the College of Architecture, Planning, and Design, Kansas State University.

“Casing the Joint: Residences,” by David Sokol.

Metropolis Magazine, October, 2002.  HOUSE: Case Study, Cleveland Competition Headline.

“Ply Architecture: Four’s Company,” by Kevin Lerner

Architectural Record Magazine, Archrecord2: For the Emerging Architect, August 2002

“Ply Architecture: Four’s Company,” archrecord2.com, Website, 2002.

“Future Loop: Teaching Feedback in the Design Studio” with Gretchen Wilkins

306090, Princeton Architectural Press, 2002.

“(re)Moving History: The Statue Park of Former Communist Statuary in Budapest, Hungary.”

ACSA West Central Regional Conference, September 2001, University of Kansas.

“Playing (with) Rope: The Practice of Alfred Hitchcock”

Dimensions volume thirteen: Journal of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning,

University of Michigan, 1999.

“Balthazar Korab: A Career of Seeing the City”

Dimensions 12: Journal of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, 1998