Robert Somol
Encyclopedia
Robert E. Somol Jr. is an architectural theorist
currently serving as the Director of the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago
.
(1982), a J.D. from Harvard Law School
, and a Ph.D. in the history of culture from the University of Chicago
(1997).
, he has taught design and theory at Princeton University
, UCLA, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Rice University
, Columbia University
, the University of Michigan, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design
.
to Wired
, focus on modernism and its modes of repetition, the emergence of the diagram in postwar architecture, landscape and interior urbanism, and the criticism of contemporary architectural practices and pedagogy.
He was a guest editor for volume five of the contemporary architecture journal Log
and served as a member of the editorial board of ANY magazine, which explored the cultural role of architecture and its relationships to other disciplines. He is also a member of the Research Board of the Berlage Institute
in Rotterdam
.
Somol as well presented an academic paper at the Holcim Forum for Sustainable Construction 2007, which was organised by the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
.
architecture firm P XS. He is the co-designer of "off-use," an award-winning studio and residence in Los Angeles (2002) that, according to his obtuse cryptology, "combines the speculative discipline of modernism with the material excesses of mass culture."
Architectural theory
Architectural theory is the act of thinking, discussing, or most importantly writing about architecture. Architectural theory is taught in most architecture schools and is practiced by the world's leading architects. Some forms that architecture theory takes are the lecture or dialogue, the...
currently serving as the Director of the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago
University of Illinois at Chicago
The University of Illinois at Chicago, or UIC, is a state-funded public research university located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, near the Chicago Loop...
.
Education
He holds an A.B. from Brown UniversityBrown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
(1982), a J.D. from Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, and a Ph.D. in the history of culture from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
(1997).
Academic career
Previously a professor in the Knowlton School of Architecture at the Ohio State UniversityOhio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
, he has taught design and theory at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, UCLA, the University of Illinois at Chicago, Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
, Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, the University of Michigan, and the Harvard Graduate School of Design
Harvard Graduate School of Design
The Harvard Graduate School of Design is a graduate school at Harvard University offering degrees in Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Urban Planning and Design.-History:...
.
Writing
Somol is also an author and a contributor to several publications. His writings, which have appeared in publications ranging from AssemblageAssemblage (journal)
Assemblage was "a critical journal of architecture and design culture" published by MIT Press from 1986 to 2000. Forty-one issues were published in total. It is full-text searchable on JSTOR....
to Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, focus on modernism and its modes of repetition, the emergence of the diagram in postwar architecture, landscape and interior urbanism, and the criticism of contemporary architectural practices and pedagogy.
He was a guest editor for volume five of the contemporary architecture journal Log
Log (journal)
Log is a magazine of architecture and urbanism that has been published by the Anyone Corporation since 2003, and is edited by Cynthia Davidson...
and served as a member of the editorial board of ANY magazine, which explored the cultural role of architecture and its relationships to other disciplines. He is also a member of the Research Board of the Berlage Institute
Berlage Institute
The Berlage Institute was founded in 1990 as an independent postgraduate school of architecture in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Named after the Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage, the Berlage has an international student population and teaching staff....
in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
.
Somol as well presented an academic paper at the Holcim Forum for Sustainable Construction 2007, which was organised by the Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction
The Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction is a non-profit organization. Its goal is to raise awareness to the role that architecture, engineering, urban planning and construction have in achieving a sustainable built future...
.
Design
Somol was formerly a principal at the Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
architecture firm P XS. He is the co-designer of "off-use," an award-winning studio and residence in Los Angeles (2002) that, according to his obtuse cryptology, "combines the speculative discipline of modernism with the material excesses of mass culture."
Books
- Nothing to Declare (essay collection, forthcoming)
- Autonomy and Ideology: Positioning an Avant-Garde in America (ed., 1997)
Journal Articles
- Somol, R.E. and Whiting, Sarah. "Notes around the Doppler Effect and Other Moods of Modernism." Perspecta 33 (2002): 72-77.
- Somol, R.E. "Green Dots 101." Hunch 11 (2007): 28-37.
- Somol, R.E. "12 Reasons to Get Back in Shape." In Content, edited by Office of Metropolitan Architecture. and Rem Koolhaas. Köln: Taschen, 2004.