Faculty

The architecture curriculum is anchored by the School's tradition of supporting a faculty that seeks to balance academic and professional interests. The School has a strong core of full-time academic faculty who teach a range of courses, from design studio to specialized courses in their fields. They also maintain an active program of research and creative work that informs their teaching and involves students. The School also draws faculty from among the research fellows associated with CDes's research and design centers. This strengthens the connection between research, design, and current public concerns, especially in technology and metropolitan design. A large percentage of the School's faculty members are architects who practice in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Bringing experience and expertise as practitioners into an academic context, they teach design studios, drawing courses, theory, and computer methods. Faculty members come from a wide range of nations in addition to the United States, including Australia, Belgium, China, Columbia, Egypt, Germany, Greece, India, Iran, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Taiwan, and Uruguay. The plurality of viewpoints and approaches to the discipline and practice of architecture introduced to the program by the faculty shape the curriculum.

Through a generous endowment, the Cass Gilbert Fund, the School of Architecture is able to invite practicing professionals and scholars from outside the region to participate in the program as visiting critics, lecturers, and faculty members. Many also conduct special seminars and workshops with faculty and students. This enables the School to involve faculty and practitioners with diverse points of view in its programs.

Visiting faculty have included Kenneth Frampton, Diogo Burnay, Richard Kroeker, Enrique Lastra, and Michael Sorkin. Lecturers and workshops, sponsored by Cass Gilbert funds and by the CDes lecture series, have been given by Edward Allen, Shigeru Ban, Christine Binswager, Constantin Boym, Tom Buresh, James Carpenter, Beatriz Colomina, Brad Cloepfil, Robert Friedman, Douglas Garafalo, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Steven Holl, Vincent James and Jennifer Yoos, Jean Nouvel, Patricia Patkau, Cesar Pelli, Antoine Predock, Michael Pyatok, Michael Sorkin, and Paolo Tombesi.