As a native of Argentina, Mr. Colasuonno brings to architecture a multi-cultural background. He has studied and practiced architecture in South America as well as in the United States. He believes that our physical environment can be understood as the three-dimensional becoming of our culture. It is within this framework that we can look at architecture as a fundamental force in defining men as individuals in a particular culture.
He also believes that a rational approach to architectural theory is of fundamental importance to respond to the postulates of cultural relativism and obscurantism. His concern for solid theoretical foundations motivated his interest in philosophy and in particular his participation as a visiting scholar in the U.C.L.A. Graduate Department of Philosophy which is one of the most distinguished centers in this country of empiricism and analytic philosophy.
As an educator, his primary goal has always been to challenge young minds to be curious about their world, to understand architecture in all of its implications; and, in general, to be able to develop a critical cultural stand. As a practitioner, he perceives the role of his studio to be a center for the application of concerns about the environment and the world in general through the design of specific projects.
Professional Registration: Architect, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Education: M. Arch [California State Polytechnic Univ., 1981, Pomona, CA]
Diploma of Arch [Univ. of Bs. As. Argentina-- School of Arch, 1977]
Ms. Hatch is both an architect and an educator. She is concerned about the process of education in general, and architectural education specifically. She is committed to the notion that creative and mental growth in people flourish in supportive yet demanding academic environments where curiosity and risk-taking are encouraged, where knowledge and basic skills of the profession are broadened and expanded upon, and where ideas (both new and old) are rigorously challenged and discussed. As a practicing architect, she believes that architecture is of profound meaning to society as a communicator of cultural norms and values which can be observed for both contemporary and historical cultures.
Professional Registration: Architect, State of California
Education: M. Arch [Harvard-- GSD, 1977, Cambridge, Mass.]
B. S. Design [Univ. of Michigan-- College of Arch. and Design, 1965]