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Innovative Architect Hitoshi Abe Appointed Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture and Urban Design

Christopher Waterman, dean of the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture, announced today the appointment of Hitoshi Abe as professor and chair of the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design, effective April 1, 2007.

“Hitoshi Abe is one of the accomplished architects of the current generation and brings a remarkable record of design innovation and educational leadership to the Department of Architecture and Urban Design,” Waterman said. “Hitoshi’s combination of intellectual acuity and creativity will make him not only an excellent addition to our faculty but also a role model for our students. His vision for engaging our program in a wider and deeper conversation with the evolving international profession of architecture is truly exciting.”

Since 1992, when Abe won first prize in the Miyagi Stadium Competition, he has maintained an active international design practice based in Sendai, Japan, as well as a schedule of lecturing and publishing which place him among the leaders in his field. Known for work that is spatially complex and structurally innovative, the work of Atelier Hitoshi Abe has been published internationally and received numerous awards in Japan, including 2003 Architectural Institute of Japan Award for Reihoku Community Hall, 2001 Building Contractors Society Award for Miyagi Stadium, 1999 Yoshioka Award for Yomiuri Miyagi Guest house, and 2003 Business Week and Architectural Record Award for Sekii Ladies Clinic. A monograph Hitoshi Abe Flicker (TOTO) available in English and Japanese accompanied an exhibition “Body: Hitoshi Abe” at the Gallery MA in Tokyo in 2005.

Principal of his own firm, Abe earned his M. Arch from SCI-Arc in Los Angeles in 1988 and his PhD from Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan in 1993. He worked with Coop Himmelblau in Los Angeles from 1988- 1992 before founding Atelier Hitoshi Abe in 1993. Some of Abe's key projects located in Japan include the Miyagi Water Tower in Shiroishi, the Neige Lune Fleur restaurant in Sendai, the n-house of Tokyo, the Matsushima Yacht House, the Michinoku Folklore Museum in Kurikoma, and Miyagi Stadium in Rifu.

“With his commitment to excellence in education and his standing in the new frontiers of his field,” said interim chair Diane Favro, “Hitoshi constantly seeks unique solutions and new modes of expression for the projects he undertakes. He is well-known for his interest in the interaction of the spectator and landscape, and the impact architecture has on the human experience.”

While each project has its own programmatic map — restaurant interior, factory, office building, and museum, the exhibition will present Abe’s exploration of how matter and technique affect each other. This format will allow viewers to understand and appreciate his design process through the methodologies used. “Body: Hitoshi Abe” will provide visitors with an in depth knowledge of how contemporary architecture issues are conceived, produced and executed to stimulate inventive new work.

Abe has had a decade-long distinguished career as leader in education which began at the Tohoku Institute of Technology (Sendai, Japan) where he has taught since 1994, he has lectured at Nagoya University, Kyusyu University, the Miyagi National college of Technology, and was recently the Friedman Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. At Tohoku, Abe served as Professor in charge of the Architecture and Urban Design Laboratory and Director of the Architectural Design Education Committee, where he established an international network of architectural training, offering workshops and exchange programs with foreign universities.

“I look forward to joining the School of the Arts and Architecture at UCLA,” said Abe. “The Department of Architecture and Urban Design has exceptionally talented students and a truly distinguished faculty. Together we will redefine the future of architectural education within a rigorous research institution like UCLA. Dean Waterman, outgoing chair Sylvia Lavin and interim chair Diane Favro have offered me a great challenge and opportunity.”

From April 25 - June 6, 2007, the department will host the exhibition “Body: Hitoshi Abe” at Perloff Gallery which focuses on a selection of six architectural projects designed by Atelier Hitoshi Abe from 1993 – 2004. The six projects represented in the exhibition include restaurant Neige Lune Fleur/S-Shinpei (MRP, 1999), Reihoku Community Hall (KAP, 2002), SHU-MAI (KTH, 2004), Sasaki Office Factory for Prosthetics (SOB, 2004), the restaurant Aoba-tei (AIP, 2005) and SSM (2005).

About the Department of Architecture and Urban Design

The UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design pursues issues confronting contemporary architecture and urbanism through a B.A. in architectural studies and four different graduate degree programs offering two professional degrees (Master of Architecture I and II) as well as the M.A. and Ph.D. in architecture. The primary focus on advanced design is accompanied by concentrations in technology and critical studies of architectural culture.

The department was the recipient of the 52nd annual Progressive Architecture Award for L.A. Now: Volume Three, a massive research and design study led by professor and 2006 Pritzker Award recipient Thom Mayne and his UCLA students. The Progressive Architecture award — which recognizes unbuilt projects demonstrating overall design excellence and innovation — is considered by leading architects and critics to be an influential bellwether of emerging architectural design trends and talents. The award for L.A. Now: Volume Three was
unprecedented in that it was the first time it was given to a university and to only one recipient rather than to several. L.A. Now: Volume Three and Four (UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design) was published in June 2006.

The department has a stellar faculty of practicing architects and scholars. Department faculty include Dana Cuff, Neil Denari, David Erdman, Diane Favro, Craig Hodgetts, Jurg Lang, Sylvia Lavin, Mark Lee, Robin Liggett, Greg Lynn, Mark Mack, Barton Myers, Jason Payne, George Rand, Ben Refuerzo, Dagmar Richter and Richard Weinstein.

Faculty members have received major awards and commissions. Six faculty members and graduates were invited to participate in the 9th International Venice Architecture Biennale, Metamorph, in 2004. UCLA architecture students represented the United States in the First International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam in 2003 and in the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2000. Crib Sheets: Notes on the Contemporary Architectural Conversation - a contemporary primer of 22 buzzwords that capture a moment in architecture - was produced by the department and was published last fall by Monacelli Press. Thought Matters, student work from the 2004-05 Research Studios, was published in January 2006.

Representative alumni include Rebecca Binder, recipient of an American Institute of Architects National Honor Award and the City of Los Angeles Mayor's Award; Frederick Fisher, recipient of the Brendan Gill Award from the Municipal Arts Society of New York for the design of the P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center; Hsin-Ming Fung, co-founder of Hodgetts + Fung Design and Architecture, whose projects include the award-winning temporary Towell Library at UCLA and the renovation and restoration of the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood; (Hank) Koning and (Julie) Eizenberg, recognized for their groundbreaking work in housing and community-based projects and recipients of American Institute of Architects (AIA) honor awards; John Ruble, principal of Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners, recipient of the 2006 AIA Architecture Firm Award, whose projects include the United States Embassy and Tegel Harbor in Berlin; Patrick Tighe, principal of Tighe Architecture, recipient of the 2006 National American Institute of Architects Award and a 2006 Rome Prize; Billie Tsien, founding partner of Tod Williams Billie Tsien and Associates, whose projects include the award-winning American Museum of Folk Art, New York City; and Tom Wiscombe, principal of Emergent, recipient of a 2004 American Architecture Award for 2300 Live Oak, Los Angeles.