University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

The Clarkson Visiting Chair recognizes excellence in scholarship and professional practice and is made possible by the generous support of Will and Nan Clarkson. The Department of Architecture at the University at Buffalo is pleased to announce Anne Lacaton as the 2012-2013 Clarkson Chair in Architecture. Anne Lacaton and Jean Philippe Vassal created the Paris based office Lacaton & Vassal in 1989. Their approach to architecture and urban planning is tied to the concept of inhabiting in a broad sense; with attention paid to the site, the surrounding landscape, and the idea that we always build upon the existing. Their work searches for efficiency, achieved through the project’s organization and optimized through its constructive systems with the aim of producing the most generous spaces possible. The practice has received several awards, among them the Grand Prix National d’Architecture in 2008 and the International Fellowship of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2009.