Kenneth Schwartz
Professor of Architecture, Michael Sacks Chair in Civic Engagement and Social Entrepreneurship, Director of Phyllis Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking
- New Orleans LA UNITED STATES
- Tulane School of Architecture
Kenneth Schwartz's research explores the connection between design excellence in architecture with civic engagement and social innovation.
Social
Biography
Under Schwartz’s leadership, the School of Architecture became one of the nation’s leading programs focusing on engagement, applied research and tangible contributions to community well-being. The school also became the academic home for the interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (SISE).
The Tulane School of Architecture is one of the most visible units of Tulane University in creating a national model of innovative and empathetic pedagogy, working in close partnership with neighborhood and nonprofit organizations throughout New Orleans and beyond. As dean, Schwartz guided the growth of the Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design, the School of Architecture’s applied urban research and outreach program that provides design services to communities who are consistently underserved in the field.
Previously, Schwartz was on the faculty at the University of Virginia for 24 years where he served as the architecture department chair and School of Architecture associate dean for academics. In 2003, he won the UVA Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award – considered one of the highest honors bestowed upon faculty at that institution, with only one awarded university-wide each year.
As a founding principal of CP+D (Community Planning + Design) and Schwartz-Kinnard, Architects, he won four national design competitions exploring the constructive force that progressive urbanism and architecture can play in rebuilding cities. His own practice has focused on community design for public sector clients, with emphasis on the integration of land use and transportation planning to create more livable and pedestrian-friendly development. He has won four national design competitions or awards for projects in Cincinnati, Baltimore, Charlottesville and Chattanooga.
Areas of Expertise
Education
Cornell University
M.Arch.
Architecture and Urban Design
Cornell University
B.Arch.
Media Appearances
Faculty explain importance of student evaluations
Tulane Hullabaloo online
2018-04-25
“They’re very valuable as tools for both deans and chairs, the people who review these and the faculty members themselves because each of us looks at these to try to find out where are the strengths, where are the areas that might benefit from additional attention and focus,” Dean and Professor of Architecture Kenneth Schwartz said...
Update: Brandon Surtain starts new chapter at Tulane
The Advocate online
2017-06-03
Schwartz emailed The Advocate saying he wanted to discuss the possibility of Surtain entering Tulane's graduate program in architecture.
"He expressed interest in pursuing an MFA, but it is possible to pursue one’s art while also securing a professional degree in architecture," Schwartz wrote. "In fact, we have two faculty members who are very accomplished architects and also great painters (Professor Errol Barron FAIA and Associate Professor Tiffany Lin) … both are active and important faculty members at the Tulane School of Architecture"...
After Katrina, Tulane's Architecture School Became A Community Builder
NPR online
2015-08-06
Dean Kenneth Schwartz, who arrived at the school about seven years ago, says it's fair to describe what happened after Katrina as a pivot.
"Yeah, it certainly was," he says. "We are not the only school of architecture that cares about these issues, but our students get their hands dirty. They actually get involved in real ways with real problems"...
Tulane School of Architecture student thesis projects exhibition, 'Provocations', opens
NOLA online
2014-05-14
The opening reception on May 9, hosted by the school's Favrot Professor and Dean Kenneth Schwartz, FAIA, also featured two guest speakers: Merrill Elam, AIA, principal of Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects; and Adam Yarinksy, FIA, LEED, AP, principal, Architecture Research Office...