Mario Gandelsonas facts for kids

Mario I. Gandelsonas (born December 14, 1937) is an architect and thinker from Argentina and America. He is known for his work in urbanism (planning cities) and semiotics (the study of signs and symbols).

He helped start an architecture firm called Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects in New York City. He founded it with Diana Agrest. Besides designing buildings, Mr. Gandelsonas is also a teacher and researcher. He teaches architecture at Princeton University and used to teach at Yale University.

Early Life and Learning

Mario I. Gandelsonas was born on December 14, 1937. His birthplace was Buenos Aires, Argentina. His parents were immigrants from Lithuania. He studied at the University of Buenos Aires. There, he earned his architecture degree in 1962. He also studied in Paris, France, from 1967 to 1968.

In 1971, a famous American architect named Peter Eisenman invited him to New York. Mr. Gandelsonas joined the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS). He became a fellow there in 1972. He also helped start the institute's architecture magazine, Oppositions. Today, Mr. Gandelsonas is a professor at the Princeton University School of Architecture. He also directs Urban Studies. He helps lead a program about architecture, cities, and humanities.

Designing Cities and Buildings

In 1980, Mr. Gandelsonas became a founding partner of Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects. He started the firm with Diana Agrest. His work is special because he sees cities in a unique way. As a thinker, he is known for studying city plans. He treats them like they are a book or a text.

His clear diagrams of American cities are very famous. They help people understand how cities are built. In the early 1990s, he created "Vision Planning." This was a new way to plan cities. He used it for the city of Des Moines.

Des Moines Vision Plan

The Des Moines Vision Plan had three main ideas:

• Bringing people back to downtown from the suburbs.
• Creating a large public space called Western Gateway Park. This park acts as a grand entrance to downtown.
• Building the Martin Luther King Parkway. This road replaced a plan for a highway loop downtown.

In 2007, Mr. Gandelsonas updated his plan for Downtown Des Moines. He also finished Gateway Park. This included the John and Mary Pappajohn Sculpture Park.

Other Projects

Agrest and Gandelsonas Architects have worked on many other projects. These include Liberty Street in Liberty Harbor, Jersey City. They also designed the Melrose Houses Community Center in New York City. In Shanghai, China, they created the master plan for Xu Jia Hiu. They also made a master plan for the West Side of Manhattan.

Teaching and Research

Mr. Gandelsonas taught at the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies from 1973 to 1984. He was also the Director of Educational Programs there. Later, he continued to develop his ideas about urbanism. He studied city plans as if they were text. He used computer analysis for the Chicago city plan. He published his findings in a book called The Urban Text (1992).

Throughout the 1990s, he used his special approach in many American cities. These included Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Des Moines, New Haven, and Atlantic City. He wrote about his research in the book X-Urbanism (1999). This book shared his ideas about how architecture and American cities are connected.

After teaching at Yale University and Harvard University, Mr. Gandelsonas joined Princeton University in 1991. He became a full professor there. In 1995, he started a special international studio with Tongji University in Shanghai. This "China Studio" lasted until 2012. It gave architecture students a chance to experience another culture's architecture and cities. In 2013, he started a new program with the University of São Paulo. This program included design studios and research on city infrastructure.

From 2007 to 2013, Mr. Gandelsonas was the first director of the Center for Architecture, Urbanism and Infrastructure (CAUI) at Princeton University. The CAUI aimed to create a global network for research. It focused on how fast cities are growing in the 21st century. He also published two books from CAUI. In search of the public (2013) looked at public spaces. Garden [City] State (2013) suggested new ideas for infrastructure in New Jersey.

From 2014 to 2018, Mr. Gandelsonas led a research network called "Fluvial Metropolis." This was a partnership with the University of São Paulo. Currently, he is leading a research project about the Meadowlands.

Awards and Recognition

Mr. Gandelsonas's work has won many awards. He received Excellence in Design Awards from the New York State AIA and the New York City Chapter AIA. He also received the Masterwork Award from the Municipal Art Society. This was for the "Best Building in New York City." He also got an Award of Merit from the Society of American Registered Architects NY Chapter. In 2006, he became a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Exhibitions of His Work

Mr. Gandelsonas's work has been shown in museums, galleries, and universities worldwide. Some notable exhibitions include:

• The Canadian Center for Architecture
• The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
• The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
• The Dallas Museum of Art
• The Fogg Museum, Harvard
• Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
• Centre Pompidou, Paris
• Milano Triennale
• Frankfurt Architecture Museum, West Germany
• San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
• The Architectural League, New York
• Yale University School of Architecture Gallery

His drawings are part of important collections. These include the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. They are also in the Sao Paulo architecture Biennale and the Canadian Center for Architecture.

See also

In Spanish: Mario Gandelsonas para niños