Architect Hadrian Predock Selected to Lead USC School of Architecture Undergraduate Program

CONTACT: Allison Engel 213/740-1927 allison.engel@usc.edu

Award-winning architect and educator Hadrian Predock has been chosen to serve as the next director of undergraduate programs at the University of Southern California School of Architecture. Predock, who founded notable Venice, California, firm Predock Frane Architects with John Frane in 2000, is known for pushing the boundaries of the discipline through site-specific projects and installations that incorporate art and architecture.

Predock’s work, which includes innovative approaches to design for cultural institutions, housing and retail projects, as well as art installations and furniture, has been honored with numerous awards, including AIA Design Awards and inclusion in the Venice Biennale and other world-class exhibitions. On three occasions he has been awarded the AIA’s top design award, the AIA Honor Award.

Notable work includes the Getty Center’s new Family Room; a contemplation space, Acqua Alta, that used thousands of nearly invisible filaments to evoke water patterns; and a new twist on urban infill housing, Habitat 15. In 2004, Predock was part of the Architectural League’s Emerging Voices series.

He received his B. Arch. from the University of New Mexico and his M.Arch. from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

Prior to joining USC, Predock was on the faculty at UCLA’s Department of Architecture and Urban Design, where he taught design studios for many years. He has also taught at Tulane University and The University of California, Berkeley.

Qingyun Ma, dean of the USC School of Architecture, said: “Hadrian, with his voice in design education, leadership in practice and advocacy for creative culture, will not only enhance the school’s mission but also experiment with new paradigms in the undergraduate degree program and renewed integration with practice.”

Gail Peter Borden, discipline head of architecture and director of graduate architecture at USC, said: “Hadrian is an exceptional educator and architect whose rigorous and thoughtful demeanor will bring intensity and distinction to our programs. I look forward to working closely with him to continue our best traditions and accelerate the long legacy of USCs dedication to critical practice. It marks the beginning of a new era for this already strong program.”

Predock will begin his new post in Fall 2014. He succeeds Alice Kimm, FAIA, who held the directorship for four years, and returns to full-time teaching and research.

“I’m thrilled and excited,” said Predock. “This is an exciting time as architecture pulls out of the recession, and I’m looking forward to helping position the school in larger conversations about where the profession is going.”

The USC School of Architecture, which began as a university department in 1916, was the first accredited school of architecture in Southern California. Its 3,000 graduates include two Pritzker Prize winners, Frank Gehry ’54 and Thom Mayne ’69, and an array of other important figures who are advancing modernism, prefabrication, sustainability and innovative urban design.

The school offers bachelor’s degrees in architecture, architectural studies and landscape architecture, and both master’s degrees and certificates in architecture, building science, heritage conservation and landscape architecture. A Ph.D. in architecture also is offered.