BACKGROUND

Contact Glen

RESUMÉ MARCH 1, 2019

BIO

VISIONARY ARCHITECT CONFRONTED WITH REALITY. THE RENEGADE FOUNDING PROFESSOR OF SCI-ARC FOR 20 YEARS. BRANDED BY DAUGHTER LUCIA SMALL’S CULT FILM “MY FATHER THE GENIUS” APPEARING WORLD WIDE. A MOVIE ABOUT A GLIMPSE OF ARCHITECTURAL STRUGGLE IN A MELODRAMA OF KIDS AND WOMEN. YOUR MIDDLE CLASS JOCK OUT OF CONTROL WITH IDEALISM. DRAGGED TO MANAGUA NICARAGUA BY SCI-ARC GRADUATE ROGER LEWITES TO CREATE A LEGEND FOR THE LATE MAYOR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE AND ROGUE FREEDOM FIGHTER HERTY LEWITES. SCULPTURAL MONUMENTS OF SYMBOLIC PROGRESSIVE IMAGERY. CLIMAXED WITH THE CONCHA ACUSTICA THE SYMBOL OF NICARAGUA.

DEDICATED TO THE TASK OF PROPOSING REALISTIC, IDEALISTIC, GREEN, ARCHITECTURAL, URBAN DESIGNS THAT ARE SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS AND SENSUAL. CLAIMED THE HESITANT FATHER OF GREEN ARCHITECTURE. THE COULD BE VS THE NEXT PAID COMMISSION. THOUSANDS OF STORIES TO TELL FROM BEING A LACKEY TO RATTLING CAGES. HIT BLOG smallatlarge.com STRAIGHT FROM THE SOURCE THAT BLABBERS ABOUT BEING AN ARCHITECTURAL TALENT IN AN IMPERFECT WORLD.

BIOMORPHIC BIOSPHERE, GREEN MACHINE, TURF TOWN, TATAMI MATT HILLSIDE HOUSING, JUNGLE THEATER, 15 UP 15 DOWN, DOWNTOWN TROPOSPHERE.

INSPIRED STUDENTS AT LAWRENCE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, CAL POLY POMONA, SCI-ARC, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, ACADEMY OF ART SAN FRANCISCO.

AIA ARCHITECT REGISTERED IN CALIFORNIA AND OREGON WITH EYE POPING BUILDINGS THAT ARE USER FRIENDLY. UNDERGRADUATE ARCHITECTURE, UNIVERSITY OF OREGON, MENTORS, THE LATE ALVIN BOYARSKY OF AA FAME AND EARL MOURSUND. MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE, CRANBROOK ACADEMY OF ART, ELIEL SAARINEN SCHOLARSHIP. PARIS BIENNALE WITH GREEN MACHINE, JEAN NOUVEL IN CHARGE.

TRAVELED WORLD WIDE, TO EUROPE, JAPAN, ABU DHABI , NICARAGUA, SAN FRANCISCO, LA, NY, OREGON WITH A LOT TO SAY ABOUT PROJECTS TAKING THE BLOWS AND PRAISE FOR BEING DIRECT. COME FLY WITH ME.

SENTENCED TO JOSHUA TREE TO REGROUP, DOWNTOWN JOSHUA TREE CANOPY AND LIFE SPAN PEDESTRIAN BRIDGES, RESEARCH RETREAT ” JUMP START BIOMORPHIC OASIS ”

Resume:

Glen Howard Small, AIA Architect

Architectural Registration:California, Oregon,

Education:

Masters Of Architecture, Cranbrook Academy Of Art

  • Bloomfield Michigan, Eliel Saarinen Scholarship 1967
  • Mentor Glen Paulsen

Bachelor Of Architecture,

  • University Of Oregon 1961,
  • Eugene, Oregon
  • Mentors: Alvin Borarsky, Earl Moursund

Architectural Practice

Glen Howard Small AIA Architect: 1968-Present

Partners:

  • Miguel Flores Architect 1969-1971
  • Michael Rendler AIA Architect 1988-1991
  • Roger Lewites Architect 1999-2005 present
  • Carlos Ovalle Architect 2010-2014

Projects: Partial

  • Lee Scott & Alice Jones residence remodel and sound studio under construction. Flamingo Heights Yucca Valley CA 2019.
  • Todd fisher and Catherine Hickland Compound, Las Vegas Nevada, 2018 .
  • Casa Congo, eco surf complex, Astillero Nicaragua 2017.
  • Canopy and Pedestrian Bridges, Joshua Tree, California 2016.
  • Lotus Traveling Arena: eco traveling arena with multiple whole earth performances and exhibitions.2013 w/ Carlos Ovalle.
  • NEZUA eco resort,pacific ocean, Nicaragua.2012 w/ Roger Lewites.
  • Ecological Resort, Hotel, Yacht Club, Golf Club, Residential,Site planning.TDIC Abu Dhabi, 2007-2008.
  • Acoustical Shell, Managua Nicaragua,150,000 Audience Opening Night,Mayor of Managua, Nicaragua.2005 Built w/ Roger Lewites.
  • Monument and Plaza For Journalist Rotunda,Mayor Of Managua, Nicaragua, Winner of Municipal Competition.2004 Built w/Roger Lewites.
  • Fountain And Plaza For Simon Bolivar.Mayor of Managua, Nicaragua.2004 Built.
  • Master Plan For Cultural Center ,Lake Managua Frontage, Mayor of ManaguaNicaragua,2000 w/ Roger Lewites.
  • Town Master Plan plus two hotels, Peter Holstead. La Flor Casare, Nicaragua 1999 w/ Roger Lewites.
  • Subdivisions,Managua Nicaragua,1999-2004 3 built.
  • Residence, Glen Howard Small.Seal Rock Oregon,2000 Built.
  • Tri Art Gallery,Hwy 101 Waldport OR.1997 Built.
  • Allen and Rose Nelsen residence,Santa Monica, CA.built 1997.
  • Hafid Residence,Mulholland Dr LA CA,1990 built w/ Michael Rendler.
  • Condos, Grant Wada,Santa, Monica, CA,1988 built.
  • Palmdale Performing Arts Center,Palmdale CA,1985-1991 w/ Michael Rendler.
  • Numerous projects,Civic, Commercial, Religious, Multifamily, Residential and Planning,1967 – present.

Research, Partial

  • Downtown Troposphere: Sustainable generic solution for existing urban centers, under tensile greenhouse roof.2012 elov competition.
  • Infrastructure Competition LA. 15 Up And 15 Down Street doubling, raised pedestrian walkways, and solar envelope zoning green.2009 w/ Orhan Ayyuce.
  • Jungle Theater : Times Square international competition: sustainable tension canopy enclosure connection to exist and new development.1986.
  • Tatami Mat, Japan, Takenaka sponsored, High tech sustainable hillside suspended town with Tatami mat modular. 1983.
  • Turf Town 1982, Olympic West 1986, 15 up 15 down. 2009.
  • Solar zoning with sustainable functions and movement systems
  • Hong Kong Peak international competition for business club and residential:Cargo containers modular with sustainable appendages.
  • Green machine, Sustainable high tech, low income, vertical trailer park for Venice CA.: Received National Endowment grant and Federal Block grant for feasibility study. 1978-1980.
  • Detroit Stadium: mega stadium with skiing on the roof.1969.
  • Biomorphic Biosphere: Sustainable high tech city to replace LA. 1969-1977.
  • Vertical City Sustainable high tech city to replace Detroit. 1967.

Architectural Offices Associated, Partial

  • John Lautner, Los Angeles, California
  • Charles Blessing, Detroit City Planning
  • Anchen And Allen, San Francisco, California
  • Henrick Bull, San Francisco, California
  • Smith And Williams, South Pasadena, California
  • Velican and Layman Planning, Southfield, Michigan

Teaching:

  • Founding Professor, Sci-Arc Southern California Institute Of Architecture, Los Angeles CA.1972-1990
    Member of Core Board that operated the school, Member of Board of Directors;All Levels of Architectural Design Studio
  • Instructor, Lawrence Institute of Technology, Southwest Michigan 1965-1972 – All Levels of Architectural Design Studio
  • Assistant Professor, California State University at Pomona 1929-1972 – All Levels of Architectural Design Studio.
  • Academy Of Art University, San Francisco, Spring 2006 -Visiting Professor Visionary Charrette.
  • University Of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon Fall 2006,Visiting Professor, Design Studio, Lecture Class.
  • Academy Of Art University, San Francisco,Design studio and Lecture class Spring and Fall 2010.

Lecture Classes:

  • Natural Structures, Post And Beam, Truss, Space Frame, Polyhedra, Domes, Thin Shell, Folded Plate, Rib, Lattice, Tensile, Inflatable, Kinetic.
  • Futurists: Leonardo da Vinci, Buckminster Fuller, Archigram ,Future Studio, etc.
  • Urban Disaster, Infrastructure of Los Angeles, Water, Power, Garbage, Transportation, Housing Etc.
  • Architectural Rendering.

Lectures, Partial:

  • Cal Poly University, Pomona California
  • Academy Of Arts University, San Francisco
  • San Francisco Institute Of Architecture, San Francisco
  • University of California, Berkeley
  • Southern California Institute Of Architecture SCI-ARC
  • Eco Wave Conference, San Francisco and Berkeley
  • Bucknell University, Pennsylvania
  • AIA New York
  • AA London
  • Japan,
  • Laval, Canada
  • University of British Columbia

Exhibits, Partial

  • Biennale De Paris
  • Cypress College
  • Sci Arc, numerous
  • San Francisco Institute of Architecture
  • Assembly, Recovery Room LA
  • Walnut Creek City Museum, Ca.
  • Taylor Junction, Joshua tree Ca.

Publicity, Partial

  • Domus, Latin
  • Nueva Dario, Managua Nicaragua
  • Los Angeles Times
  • San Francisco Chronicle
  • Oregonian
  • Boston Globe
  • Detroit Free Press
  • Guardian, London
  • Kegyar, Magazine
  • A+U
  • Progressive Architecture
  • Dream Builders
  • Numerous Radio And TV Interviews
  • Referred to In numerous Architectural Books
  • Award Winning Documentary ” My Father The Genius” – Sundance Channel, Amazon, Netflix etc.
  • Hi-Desert Star ,Joshua Tree, CA.
  • Archinect
  • Architects Newspaper
  • Megastructures by Reynar Banham

References:

Ray Kappe FAIA
Founding Director SCI-ARC
310 459 7791
rkappe@verizon.net

Michael Sorkin, architect , educator, critic, world renowned
mdsorkin@gmail.com

Orhan Ayyuce,architect, educator, critic, graduate sci-arc
Orhan Ayyuce <oayyuce@yahoo.com>

Allen Nelson
Client (3 built projects)
310 880 3429
afnelson@roadrunner.com

Connections

blog: smallatlarge.com

e mail: glenhowardsmall@gmail.com

www.smallangstfilms.com/arch_gallery.html

phone 541 961 3792

Michael Sorkin recommendation

Michael Sorkinstudioa/ 180 Varick Street – Suite 1220 New York NY 10014 t/ 212.627.9120 w/sorkinstudio.come/sorkin@ting.net

May 15, 2012

To Whom It May Concern:

Glen Small is one of the true visionaries of American architecture and urbanism. For over four decades he has tirelessly – and fearlessly – pursued an architecture of formal originality and social purpose and he has been one of our great pioneers of sustainable design. His work is singular in its combination of practicality and expressive freedom and Small is revered for his dedication to principle, for his overwhelming sense of integrity, for his often solitary efforts to advance the common good.

I first came to know Glen Small’s work when he designed – and came close to building – his celebrated GreenMachine in Venice, California back in the 1970’s. This project both summarized – and exceeded – much that was in the air at the time. But Glen’s synthesis – which moved in the same ether as Archigram, Metabolism,Habitat, Bucky, Arcology – was unique. Instead of a heavy system of bespoke pods, he stacked a ready-made- the Airstream trailer – on a green-covered space-frame, located it on a city-owned lot, and was ready to build it at astonishingly low price. This was both speculative and very realistic (it was supported by grants from both the NEA and HUD) and embodied what is most central about serious architectural research, an ability to combine cause and effect, to channel dramatically expansive ideas into a prospect for life as it might actually be lived.

The Green Machine moved in a speculative environment that Glen Small had been imagining for years in his on-going Biomorphic Biosphere project, a planetary-scaled fantasy of urban form attuned to natural processand the gargantuan needs of an exponentially growing population and an ever more ravaged environment.

The project shows both the fertility of Small’s mind, the wonderful qualities of his hand, and his apt sense of the necessary magnitude of the fit between problem and solution. But – and this is crucial – it’s the pairing of the Biomorphic City with projects like the Green Machine and Turf Town that truly make Small exceptional.

Because of the precision with which these projects are understood and because of their signal virtues as spaces of habitation and as interventions in particular urban situations, the potentially risky totalizing of the larger vision is domesticated, rendered instructive rather than oppressive. It is particularly inspiring to me that Small continues tirelessly to both expand and refine this research as exemplified by his recent “Urban Troposhere” proposal and his vital presence at the scene of architecture’s struggle for a more sustainable environment in his on-going projects and widely-read blog.

At the end of the day, Glen Small’s commitment to the essentials of architecture in service to people, place, planet, and art dance in the foreground: Small has always built and done so delightfully and memorably. In recent years, he has constructed striking projects for public gatherings in Nicaragua and his enduring legacy of house and other work in California and Oregon continues to provide architects with inspirational models of both form and practice. Small is an architect who devoutly embraces the unity of mind and hand.

Because Glen Small is so valuable in his thinking, his making, and his passion, it is vital he be engaged in communicating all of this both to his peers and to the generations who must take over the great project of building the planet. His place is surely both in the studio, the site of artistic invention, and also in the academy, in a place where people gather to probe the prospects for the future and invent the means for getting there. Small’s commitment to teaching and to students is legendary and he inspires students because he retains his own fire to learn. Glen Small does have a well-known resistance to compromise but this is the product of principle and a belief in working for the best outcome. How inspiring to have a man of such spine, wisdom, and creativity at a school of architecture.

Proposal for academic research lab

VISIONARY URBAN RESEARCH LAB, GLEN HOWARD SMALL AIA ARCHITECT

AN URBAN PLANNING RESEARCH LAB DIRECTED BY GLEN HOWARD SMALL. THE ECO GREEN , BIOMORPHIC STRUCTURES, SOCIAL CONCERNS AND SENSUOUS SHAPES THAT I HAVE DEVOTED MY CAREER TO ARE NOW REALITY. I CAN SAY WITH ALL CONFIDENCE AND ASSURANCE BASED UPON FIFTY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE OF DEALING WITH PROGRESSIVE ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN THAT THE LAB WILL PRODUCE REVOLUTIONARY BUILD-ABLE PROJECTS. FOWARD THINKING BASED UPON HISTORICAL AND PRESENT DAY TECHNOLOGY . THE MASTER ARCHITECT ASSISTED BY BRIGHT INQUISITIVE STUDENT MINDS THAT COME AND GO OVER THE SEMESTERS WITH SOME PAID LAB ASSOCIATES. THE STUDENTS ASSISTING WOULD BE ENCOURAGED TO DEVELOP FRESH IDEAS TO ADVANCE THE PROJECTS AND BE GIVEN RECOGNITION FOR SO DOING. THE STUDENT COMPUTER SKILLS ALLOWS THIS TO HAPPEN SEDUCTIVELY WITH IN DEPTH SOLUTIONS.

AT SRC-ARC I DID PROJECTS LIKE THE GREEN MACHINE AND TURF TOWN, WHERE I SET THE PROJECT AND USED STUDENT ASSISTANTS, GETTING GREAT RESULTS. THE GREEN MACHINE RECEIVING A FEDERAL BLOCK GRANT AND NATIONAL ENDOWMENT OF THE ARTS GRANT.

I HAVE A BLOG smallatlarge.com THAT GETS 1500 HITS A DAY AND I RECEIVE AN E-MAIL ABOUT ONCE A MONTH INQUIRING TO STUDY WITH ME. FROM STUDENTS THAT ARE ON THE FRINGE AT OTHER UNIVERSITIES AND DO NOT FIT INTO THEIR INSTITUTIONS AND ARE INTERESTED IN PURSUING SOME AVANT GARDE ASPECTS OF DESIGN. THEY ARE ATTRACTED TO MY BIOMORPHIC SHAPES ,THEORIES, DIRECTNESS, AND CONCERNS.

THE LARGER PICTURE OF GREENING AND RESTORING THE EARTH MUST BE DOVETAILED TO UNIVERSAL SYSTEMS. THE EMPHASIS BEING TO BE SOCIALLY CONSCIOUS TO CONTRIBUTE IN A POSITIVE MANNER.

MY INTEREST IS TO REMODEL EXISTING CITIES LIKE LA SF AND NY WITH SYSTEMS THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED WORLD WIDE. MAKING A RATIONAL AND PLAUSIBLE USE OF THE OLD AND DEMONSTRATING THE EVOLUTION TO THE NEW. THIS SHOULD HAVE SIGNIFICANT APPEAL SINCE CITY REMODEL IS THE BUZZ OF THE PROFESSION. I CATEGORIZE MYSELF AS BEING IN THE VISIONARY WORLD AS WELL AS THE BUILT WORLD. THEY ARE COMPATIBLE WITH MY APPROACH. AT THE MOMENT I HAVE A DIRECTION I WANT TO PURSUE, BUT I AM NOT COGNIZANT OF THE SOLUTION. THAT WILL COME WITH THE JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION .

EXISTING CITIES ARE HERE TO STAY AND NEED CONVINCING PROPOSALS THAT GIVE VISION TO THE POSSIBILITIES WITHOUT THE VESTED INTERESTS AND LIMITED POLITICAL AGENDAS THAT SHROUD MANY PROPOSALS. WHAT USE TO BE UNIVERSAL CONNECTIONS OF RAILROADS, VEHICLES AND LOCAL RAPID TRANSIT, ARE NOW BEING DEVELOPED WITH MULTI-SYSTEMS THAT ARE IN CONFLICT AND DO NOT CONNECT IN A RATIONAL MATTER. EVEN THE OBVIOUS PEDESTRIAN SEPARATION HAS NOT DEVELOPED IN A MANNER TO CONVINCE SIGNIFICANT REMODELS.

THE RESEARCH LAB WOULD BE INVOLVED IN MARKETING THE CONCEPTS TO BRING AWARENESS TO THE PUBLIC OF URBAN SCALE SOLUTIONS . HOLLYWOOD OFFERS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SELL THE VISION TO THE WORLD FROM A POPULOUS POINT OF UNDERSTANDING. A NEW ERA OF COMMUNICATION FOR DIRECT SELLING.

AT THIS LATE STAGE IN MY CAREER, IT IS EVIDENT MY EARLIER CONCERNS OF URBAN PLANNING ARE BEING BUILT AND PROPOSED. BUT LIKE MANY VISIONS, THE REALITY HAS NOT MATCHED THE ORIGINAL CONCEPTS. BEFORE I CHECK OUT I WANT A CLEAR DOCUMENTATION OF WHAT IS FEASIBLE. THE LAB WOULD HAVE A UNIQUE NICHE OF RESEARCH THAT WOULD BECOME A PERMANENT PART OF THE CURRICULUM AND CARRIED ON AFTER MY DEPARTURE.

REGRETFULLY I HAVE NOT PUBLISHED IN LARGE SCALE PRINT, SO ANOTHER ASPECT OF THE LAB IS TO PUT TOGETHER FIFTY YEARS OF WORK IN A COHERENT WAY TO TELL MY STORY. MY BLOG DOES THIS NOW, BUT I REALIZE THERE IS A LOT TO BE TOLD AND LEARNED IN A COHESIVE MATTER. THE FORM TO BE DETERMINED.