‘Defective Brick’ designer to lecture at SU Nov. 10

‘Defective Brick’ designer to lecture at SU Nov. 10November 02, 2004Amy Schmitzaemehrin@syr.edu

Galia Solomonoff, the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor of Architectural Design at Yale University, will lecture at Syracuse University’s School of Architecture, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in Room 108 of Slocum Hall. The lecture, titled “The Urban Complex,” is free and open to the public.

Solomonoff is the principal of OpenOffice, a studio for architectural projects that seek to incorporate influence and dialogue from sources outside the architectural field. Her “Defective Brick” received a National Endowment for the Arts grant and was exhibited at Artist’s Space in 2000. The model dwelling explored the notion of imperfection and seriality using “defective” or non-standard building materials. For the project, Solomonoff handcrafted 900 bricks from fifteen irregular unit prototypes, which she then combined to create a set of spatial possibilities.

Solomonoff has earned the McKim Prize for Excellence in Design, the highest honor award given by Columbia University. She has worked in Rotterdam with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture and Rem Koolhaas in the planning and development of large-scale urban projects. In New York, she was also the project designer for Bernard Tschumi Architects. She has taught at Rhode Island School of Design and currently is on the faculty of the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Her projects, including Marcaccio Loft, have been featured in The New York Times and Interior Design Magazine.

Solomonoff holds a B.S. from City College and a M. Arch. from Columbia University.