Monday, August 30, 2010

2010 TSA Award for Outstanding Educational Contributions: John Casbarian, FAIA

John Casbarian, FAIA

A member of the faculty of the Rice University School of Architecture since 1973, John Casbarian, FAIA, will receive the 2010 TSA Award for Outstanding Educational Contributions in Honor of Edward J. Romieniec FAIA during the TSA Convention in San Antonio, Oct. 14-16.

Legendary among his students as a mentor, hero, and friend, Casbarian has taught at the graduate and undergraduate levels and served as associate dean and dean for the Rice School of Architecture, along with lecturing throughout the country and abroad.

In 2002, Casbarian founded, and continues to direct, the Rice School of Architecture in Paris (RSAP), Rice's first and only satellite campus abroad. In addition, he has been largely responsible for overseeing and directing the undergraduate curriculum into one of the strongest accredited five-year Bachelor of Architecture degree programs in the nation and has overseen the growth of the School's hallmark internship program, the Preceptorship Program.

Casbarian and students during a semester abroad for the RSAP program

A nomination letter from one of Casbarian's colleagues states: "Given his numerous responsibilities, John is never too busy to thoughtfully respond to students, past and present. He understands the importance of nurturing future architects at the earliest point in their career. He conveys his passion for architectural education in a manner that is instructive and eloquent."

Casbarian received a BA and BArch from Rice University and an MFA in Design from the California Institute of the Arts. After apprenticing with Cesar Pelli and Craig Hodgetts, in Los Angeles, he founded Taft Architects with partners with Danny Samuels, FAIA, and the late Robert H. Timme, FAIA, in 1972. Casbarian is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome.

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