Beatriz Colomina facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Beatriz Colomina
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Beatriz Colomina at GSAPP
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| Born | 1952 (age 72–73) |
| Nationality | American, Spanish |
| Known for | Art history, Architectural history, Architectural theory |
Beatriz Colomina (born 1952) is a famous Spanish-American architecture expert. She is a historian, writer, and curator who studies how buildings and design affect our lives. She is known for her ideas on how media like magazines, photos, and films are connected to architecture.
Colomina is a professor at Princeton University, where she started a special program called the Program in Media and Modernity. This program explores the links between modern art, buildings, and media.
Contents
Early Life and Schooling
Beatriz Colomina was born in Madrid, Spain, and grew up in the city of Valencia. She first started studying architecture at the Technical University of Valencia.
Later, she moved to a school in Barcelona to finish her studies. There, she became very interested in the history and theories behind architecture. Her teachers, including Josep Quetglas and Ignasi de Solà-Morales, helped her explore these ideas.
Even as a student, she helped translate important architectural books from Italian. In 1981, she received a special scholarship to study in New York City and moved to the USA. The creative people she met there, like Susan Sontag, had a big impact on her future work.
A Career in Architecture
Colomina has had a wide-ranging career. She has worked as a university professor, a writer, and a creator of museum exhibitions.
Teaching and Speaking
Colomina began teaching in Barcelona right after she graduated, at only 23 years old. After moving to the United States, she taught at Columbia University in 1982. In 1988, she became a professor at Princeton University, where she still teaches today.
Besides teaching, she travels the world to give lectures about her ideas. She has spoken at famous places like the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Britain in London, and at many top universities, including Harvard, Yale, and ETH in Zurich. In 2020, she won the Ada Louise Huxtable Prize for her important contributions to architecture.
Writing About Architecture
Colomina has written many books and articles. Her work often explores how architecture is shown in media like magazines, photography, advertising, and movies. She is interested in how our ideas about private and public spaces have changed over time.
Two of her most famous books, ... and Space (1993) and Privacy and Publicity (1995), won the International Book Award from the American Institute of Architects. She has also written for many other books and magazines about architecture.
Creating Exhibitions
A curator is someone who organizes and designs an exhibition for a museum or gallery. Colomina has curated several major exhibitions, often working with her students.
Clip/Stamp/Fold (2006)
This exhibition explored small, independent architecture magazines from the 1960s and 1970s. It showed how these magazines were a creative and important way for architects to share new ideas. The exhibition traveled to cities all over the world, from New York to London to Santiago, Chile.
... Architecture: 1953-1979 (2012)
This exhibition showed how a popular magazine from that time used new and exciting architecture and design ideas. It explored how the magazine presented modern living to millions of readers. The exhibition was shown in the Netherlands and the United States.
Radical Pedagogies (2014)
"Pedagogy" is the method and practice of teaching. This exhibition looked at new and experimental ways of teaching architecture that appeared after World War II. These new teaching methods were often connected to big social changes happening at the time. The project was first shown at the Venice Biennale, a famous international art event.
Awards and Honors
Throughout her career, Colomina has received many awards for her work. These awards are given to support her research and recognize her achievements.
- 2020 Ada Louise Huxtable Prize
- 2007 Canadian Centre for Architecture Mellon Fellowship
- 2005 Princeton University President's Award for Distinguished Teaching
- 1995-1996 Samuel H. Kress Senior Fellowship
- 1987 Graham Foundation Grant
- Awards from the SOM Foundation and Le Corbusier Foundation
Personal Life
Beatriz Colomina is married to Mark Wigley, who is also an architect and writer from New Zealand. They have often worked together on books and exhibitions.
See also
In Spanish: Beatriz Colomina para niños
