SU School of Architecture and University Trustee collaborate on housing initiative

SU School of Architecture and University Trustee collaborate on housing initiativeJanuary 31, 2007Mary Kate O’Brienmcobrien@syr.edu

The Syracuse University School of Architecture, in partnership with SU Trustee and alumna Judith Greenberg Seinfeld ’56 (right), is introducing a new three-year initiative that offers students the opportunity to learn about housing design options and commercial forms of development as they define our culture and revitalize our urban centers. The Seinfeld Housing Initiative will employ a case-study model, with a different building type and location selected each year as a specific focus.

Visiting Architect Julie Eizenberg, founder and principal of Koning Eizenberg Architecture in Santa Monica, Calif., will teach the studio in collaboration with SU architecture faculty member Julia Czerniak, winner of the Connective Corridor Design competition, along with the firm Field Operation.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have the support of Judy Seinfeld in making this program possible. It enables us to bring outstanding practitioners such as Julie Eizenberg to the school,” says Mark Robbins, dean of the School of Architecture. “The resulting projects will address the issue of housing, the obstacles to its production and the mechanisms by which innovative strategies can be employed. We expect the work to be of broad appeal across the real estate and architecture communities.”

“I am thrilled to be spearheading this initiative with Dean Robbins,” says Seinfeld. “Syracuse University is a superb school, and the city itself has great potential for revitalization. It is my hope that this program will help generate a productive dialogue between architects and those in the development, finance and real estate fields, which will ultimately benefit not only the school, but the larger community as well.” Seinfeld is an alumna, SU Trustee and a principal with Heritage Management Co., a private, family-owned real estate firm based in Ridgewood, N.J.

The intention of the three-year initiative is to provide students with a greater awareness of the interdependence of architecture and the marketplace in a range of sites and housing types. At the completion of the project, a book will be published documenting the work between students and developers, finance and real estate experts, and designers. The program seeks to bring together the most enlightened thinking from these realms to educate future generations of architects and designers.

According to SU Chancellor and President Nancy Cantor, “Without Judy’s vision and generosity, this initiative — which perfectly embodies the work we hope to inspire through Scholarship in Action — would not have been possible.”

For more information, contact Mary Kate O’Brien, communications manager for the School of Architecture, at (315) 443-2388 or mcobrien@syr.edu.