Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi to Present 'In Site/Insight' Lecture Online on Oct. 19

Rendering courtesy of Weiss/Manfredi

A master plan for the La Brea Tar Pits and Museum in Los Angeles.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi will present a virtual lecture at 4 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, as part of the fall lecture series in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. Weiss and Manfredi are the co-founders of Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism based in New York City. Weiss is also the Graham Chair Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania; Manfredi is also a senior design critic at Harvard University.

Named one of North America's "Emerging Voices" by the Architectural League of New York, Weiss/Manfredi has been recognized with the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture and the New York AIA Gold Medal. Additional honors include the Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and, most recently, the 2020 Thomas Jefferson Gold Medal in recognition of the firm's significant contribution to culture and education.

The Fay Jones School's fall lecture series focuses on issues of equity and justice in the built environment. The series is presented in collaboration with Places Journal, an internationally respected online journal of architecture, landscape architecture and urbanism, and the University of Arkansas Office for Diversity and Inclusion. The series is also made possible in part by a gift from Ken and Liz Allen of Fayetteville, part of an overall set of commitments the Allens have made to the school's programs and initiatives in diversity, equity and inclusion.

Registration for the entire lecture series is available on Zoom.

In their lecture, "In Site/Insight," Weiss and Manfredi will discuss how their firm is at the forefront of architectural design practices that are redefining the relationship between landscape, architecture, infrastructure and art. The firm's projects are noted for clarity of vision, bold and iconic forms, and material innovation.

Weiss/Manfredi is perhaps best known for its expansive landscape projects, such as the Olympic Sculpture Park at the Seattle Art Museum, which joins an outdoor sculpture gallery and a beach across a challenging remediated post-industrial site — a scheme that garnered many awards. The firm is currently at work on the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India, the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale University, a museum expansion for the Artis-Naples Arts Center in Florida, and a master plan for the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

In 2017, Weiss was honored with the Women in Architecture Design Leader Award by Architectural Record. She was recently honored with the 2020 Distinguished Alumnae Award for recognition of her achievements in Architecture from the University of Virginia. She received her Master of Architecture at Yale University and her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Virginia. At Yale, she won the American Institute of Architects Scholastic Award and the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill Traveling Fellowship.

Weiss has taught design studios at Harvard University, Yale University and Cornell University. She has been a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania's Penn School of Design since 1991. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a National Academy of Design inductee.

Manfredi was born in Trieste, Italy, and grew up in Rome. He completed his undergraduate education in the United States and received his Master of Architecture at Cornell University, where he studied with Colin Rowe. He won the Paris Prize, was a Cornell Fellow and was awarded an Eidlitz Fellowship.

Manfredi has taught design studios at Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies, Cornell University and, most recently, Harvard University.

He is a founding board member of the Van Alen Institute, is currently a board member for the Storefront for Art and Architecture, and has been a member of the Advisory Council of Cornell's College of Architecture, Art and Planning. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and was recently inducted into the National Academy of Design.

The school is pursuing continuing education credits for this lecture through the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects.

This virtual lecture is open to the public. For details on watching the lecture, please visit the Fay Jones School's lecture page. To register for the entire lecture series, complete this form on Zoom. 

For more information, contact 479-575-4704 or fayjones.uark.edu.