Teddy Cruz

Teddy Cruz

Teddy Cruz is an architect and 'activist'. He is recognized internationally for his urban research of the Tijuana-San Diego border, advancing border immigrant neighborhoods as sites of cultural production, from which he rethinks urban policy, affordable housing and civic infrastructure. His investigation of this geography of conflict has inspired a practice and pedagogy that emerges from the particularities of this bicultural territory and the integration of theoretical research, pedagogy and design production. His practice and research convene knowledge from across the fields of architecture and urbanism, environmental and social practice, political theory and urban policy, visual arts and public culture, and mediate the interface between top-down institutions (governments, universities, foundations), and bottom-up socio-economic, cultural and environmental intelligence embedded in communities. His project, "Earning From Tijuana" reframes where designers and architects might look for innovation....
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Bryan Bell

Bryan Bell

Bryan Bell is a current Professor of Architecture at the NC State College of Design. He is also the founder of Design Corps, who's mission is to to provide the benefits of architecture to those traditionally un-served by the profession in order to create a positive change within communities. Design Corps utilizes design advocacy and education to help communities shape their environments and address their social, economic, and environmental challenges. Bell's current focus is on public interest design, which he describes as a needs-driven practice that "puts creative abilities to practical use to improve communities." He has revolutionized public interest design using interdisciplinary and innovative protocols, procedures, and economic models to adapt to the changing nature of clients and economic conditions....
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Michael Rock

Michael Rock

Michael Rock is a graphic designer, professor at Yale School of Art and founding partner and creative director of 2x4. He has written the book Multiple Signatures and recently wrote an article for the New York Times entitled, The Accidental Power of Design. Michael Rock received his BA in Humanities from Union in 1981 before receiving his MFA in Graphic Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. Micheal founded 2x4, a design firm based in New York City. He is currently the director of the Graphic Architecture Project at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Michael is the recipient of the 1999 Rome Prize in Design, and was awarded the National Design Award in 2006. In his portrait of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the Illinois Institute of Technology, Rock uses thousands of tiny pictograms depicting various student activities to make up the facial features of van der Rohe. This is just one example of how Rock challenged accepted...
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