Professor Neil Denari has been appointed interim chair of the UCLA Department of Architecture and Urban Design. On July 1, Denari succeeded professor Hitoshi Abe, whose leadership guided the department since 2007. In addition, associate professor Heather Roberge has been appointed to replace Denari as the interim vice chair.
Denari has served on the faculty at UCLA since 2002. He is principal of NMDA, Neil M. Denari Architects Inc., where he works on building projects in North America, Europe and Asia. His numerous accolades include the American Institute of Architects 2011 Los Angeles AIA Gold Medal, as well as the 2008 Architecture Award from the Academy of Arts and Letters. His work has been included in exhibitions that have included the solo shows “Fast Forward” at the Museum of the City of New York, “Architects’ Work: HL23” at Syracuse University, and “The Artless Drawing” at Ace Gallery Los Angeles. His work is included in the permanent collection of eight major museums around the world.
Denari lectures worldwide and has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia and UC Berkeley, among other schools, and he was director of the Southern California Institute of Architecture, or SCI-Arc, from 1997-2002. He is the author of two bestselling books: “Interrupted Projections” (Toto, Ltd., 1996) and “Gyroscopic Horizons” (Princeton Architectural Press, 1999). Denari studied at the University of Houston, where he received B.A. in architecture in 1980, and Harvard University, where he earned a masters degree in architecture in 1982.
Roberge has served on the faculty at UCLA since 2002. She is principal designer and founder of Murmur: Architecture and Environments. Her academic research investigates the spatial, structural, and atmospheric potential of digital technologies on the theory and practice of building.
Roberge’s work has been published in A+U, Praxis, Metropolis, I.D., Wallpaper, Architectural Record, Log, 306090, Form Magazine, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, and has been exhibited in group shows in the U.S. and abroad. In recognition of her distinctive work, she was selected for the 2016 Emerging Voices Program by the Architectural League of New York. In 2015, her installation for the SCI-Arc Gallery, “En Pointe,” was awarded an AIA design merit award. In 2011 Murmur’s proposal for the Succulent House received an AIA Next LA design merit award. The Vortex House was nominated for the 2014 Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize for Emerging Architecture. Her forthcoming book, “Fabricating Plasticity: The Art and Technology of Design with Aluminum,” will be published by Routledge.
Roberge has previously taught at Washington University in St. Louis, the Knowlton School at Ohio State University, Pratt Institute and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She earned a master’s degree in architecture degree from Ohio State.
