A year after the School of Architecture (formerly known as the School of Architecture at Taliesin) announced it would be closing, then wouldn’t, and then ultimately departed Taliesin for Cosanti in Arizona in June of 2020, a permanent dean has been selected.
The school has revealed Stephanie Lin will replace dean Chris Lasch, who took up the role of president after previous president Aaron Betsky departed to lead the School of Architecture + Design at Virginia Tech. Lasch will remain president of the School of Architecture while Lin takes on the dean position.
The New York-based Lin is currently the principal of Brooklyn’s Present Forms and a co-founder of the design collective Office III along with Sean Canty and Ryan Golenberg; together, the group completed the Governors Island Welcome Center in New York City in 2017 and were finalists in MoMA’s Young Architects Program (YAP) the same year.
Lin, who received her bachelor’s in architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and her Master of Architecture AP from the Harvard Graduate School of Design, has previously taught at UC Berkeley, Pratt Institute, and Columbia University GSAPP, according to the School of Architecture. Prior to her placement as dean, Lin most recently taught at the Cooper Union as an assistant professor adjunct. The school noted in its release that:
Stephanie’s work has been exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY), Storefront for Art and Architecture (New York, NY), The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (New York, NY), A+D Architecture and Design Museum (Los Angeles, CA), cneai= (Paris, France), as well as at a number of universities.
From Lin’s past work in openness, form, voids, and the ethereal DIY qualities of Present Forms’ standalone installations, it seems her appointment is a fitting continuation of the school’s hands-on ethos that traditionally saw students construct their own shelters in the Sonoran Desert.
At the time of writing, the school has not made public when Lin will officially take over as dean; AN has reached out for comment and will update this article accordingly.
