Architect Michael Rotondi to Present Lecture on Feb. 25 in Little Rock

Photo Submitted

Pacoima Neighborhood City Hall in Los Angeles. (Photography by Lane Barden)

Michael Rotondi will present a lecture titled “Hybrid of Extremes” on Tuesday, Feb. 25, at the Arkansas Arts Center, 501 E. 9th St., in Little Rock. The lecture will begin at 6 p.m. in the center’s Lecture Hall, following a 5:30 p.m. reception.

This lecture is part of the Architecture and Design Network’s 2013-2014 Art of Architecture lecture series.

Recognized as an innovative architect and educator, he has practiced and taught architecture for 30 years. He has always been based in Los Angeles, co-founding two international practices, first as a partner of Morphosis (1975-1991) and then RoTo Architects (1991-present). He was a co-founder and, for 10 years (1987-1997), the second director of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). He is currently on the Board of Trustees and a Distinguished Faculty there.

His research and work as a trans-disciplinary educator-practitioner has given him the insights that are essential to an open-minded approach to envisioning new directions, solving complex problems at any scale (object-building-city), working with a diversity of people in unique ways, many of whom are at the frontiers of their particular fields, and testing ideas in real time. Projects range from contemplative and cultural, to commercial and civic.   

He works as a practitioner, an educator, education consultant, and an organizational meta-planner. Among his many awards are the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Architecture, received in 1992, and the Gold Medal from the Los Angeles Chapter of The American Institute of Architects for his contributions as a Practitioner and Educator, received in 2009. The works have been published widely, and he has lectured and taught throughout the world, for many years.

Rotondi is this year’s John G. Williams Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

The 2013-14 Art of Architecture lecture series is sponsored by the Architecture and Design Network, a non-profit organization, with support from the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, the Arkansas Arts Center and the Fay Jones School of Architecture.

The lecture is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact ardenetwork@icloud.com.