Aylin Nazli, M.Arch. student and host of Rice Architecture's podcast "Tête-à-Tête", spoke with Danny Samuels, professor in the practice at Rice Architecture and co-director of Rice Construct, and Rose Wilkowski, M.Arch. student and Rice Construct assistant, about housing density and how the recent projects of Rice Construct impact Houston's residential growth. Samuels shares his perspective on why housing in Houston is a critical issue. Wilkowski discusses why she became involved in Danny's course and the value of the skills that she acquired. Listen to this episode of "Tête-à-Tête", by clicking here.
Danny Marc Samuels, FAIA, is a Professor in the Practice of Architecture and the Co-director of Rice Construct (formerly known as Rice Building Workshop). After apprenticing with Guillermo Jullian de la Fuente in Paris and Venice, he founded, with partners John J. Casbarian and Robert H. Timme, the design firm, Taft Architects, in 1973. The work of this Houston-based office has received over 60 major design awards, and has appeared in over 200 articles in books and journals worldwide. Samuels, with his partners, has lectured at over 100 professional and educational forums, nationally and internationally. Together they are recipients of the Houston AIA Educator Award and the Houston AIA Firm Award. Samuels is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and in 1991 was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.
Samuels' (and former Associate Director Nonya Grenader's) work with students through the Rice Building Workshop has resulted in a stream of realized projects: over the past twenty years, more than six hundred students have designed and built projects at various scales in the community -- from exhibit venues in Houston museums to affordable housing at Project Row Houses in Houston's Third Ward. The Workshop received the 2004 NCARB Prize for the "Integration of Practice and Education" from the National Council of Registration Boards and the "Collaborative Practice Award" in 2005 from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. In 2015/16, the RBW collaboration with Project Row Houses was the subject of exhibitions at Harvard GSD, AIA NY, and the Cooper Hewitt Museum, as well as the book Core Houses.
Rose Wilkowski is a current Master of Architecture student who received her Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from the University of Texas at Austin in 2013. Prior to attending Rice, she worked at Rottet Studio in New York City as a project designer. She is currently the Rice Construct assistant.
Aylin Nazli is a current Master of Architecture student. She received her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2015. She worked as an intern architect at Cooper Carry in Atlanta for two years before attending Rice. She is currently director and host of the newly developed Rice Architecture "Tête-à-Tête" Podcast Series.