Susana Torre facts for kids
Susana Torre (born in 1944) is an architect, writer, and teacher. She was born in Argentina and later moved to the United States. From 1968 to 2008, she lived in New York City. Since 2009, she has lived in Carboneras, Almeria, Spain.
Susana Torre is known for combining her ideas about architecture with actually building things. She also teaches and writes about design. She was the first woman asked to design a building in Columbus, Indiana. This town is famous for its many buildings designed by well-known architects.
In 1977, Susana Torre organized a big exhibition about American women architects. She also edited a book called Women in American Architecture: A Historic and Contemporary Perspective. This exhibition started at the Brooklyn Museum and traveled all over the US and to the Netherlands. Her work helped start a new focus on women in architecture. She also helped create Heresies, A Feminist Journal on Art and Politics.
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Early Life and First Steps in Architecture
Susana Torre was born in Puan, a town in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was the oldest of three children. Her father was an economist, and her mother was a school teacher. When she was eight, her father passed away. Her family then moved to La Plata, near Buenos Aires.
She went to public schools there. Later, she studied architecture at the Universidad de La Plata and the Universidad de Buenos Aires. She earned her architecture degree in 1968. In 1967, she was chosen to represent Argentina at a design conference in Aspen, Colorado. She also won a special award that let her travel and study across the US.
After returning to Argentina, she started the Design Department at the Museo Provincial de Bellas Artes in La Plata. This was the first department of its kind in Latin America. While still a student, she designed a six-story apartment building. She also built a small house for herself.
Moving to the US and New Ideas
In 1968, Torre came back to the US. She studied how computers could be used in architecture at Columbia University. In New York City, she worked with The Museum of Modern Art in 1971. She also worked on a project about new city settlements.
In 1972, Torre began teaching at SUNY in Old Westbury. There, she created the first design courses for the Art Department. The next year, she helped start the Archive of Women in Architecture. This archive led to the 1977 exhibition "Women in American Architecture." She curated this show and edited its book. In 1978, she opened her own company, The Architectural Studio, in New York City. One of her first projects was designing law offices. This project was chosen as one of the best spaces of the 1970s.
Designing Buildings and Spaces
Susana Torre's architectural work is based on strong ideas about how buildings should fit into their surroundings. Architect John Loomis says her designs mix cultural, social, and local themes. Her projects range from book covers to large park proposals. She has worked on renovating buildings, designing homes, and creating public buildings.
Some of her most famous projects include:
- Fire Station Five in Columbus, Indiana.
- A park idea for Ellis Island, New York Harbor.
- The Clark and Garvey Houses in The Hamptons, New York.
- Renovating Schermerhorn Hall for Columbia University.
- The Consulate of the Ivory Coast in New York City.
Her award-winning designs have been shown in many countries. She was the first woman to win a public design project in Columbus, Indiana. Her Fire Station #5 is listed in a guide to important 20th-century American buildings. In 2008, she finished designing a community of seven seafront houses in Carboneras, Spain. She now lives there.
Torre has spent much of her career thinking about how buildings connect to their physical and cultural settings. She also explores how ideas about women and local identity can be shown in architecture.
Fire Station #5, finished in 1987, was special. It was the first firehouse designed to include women firefighters. The design changed how sleeping areas were set up. It also encouraged firefighters to bond in the kitchen instead of the locker room. This design was later used across the country. It shows how a new way of thinking can change both a building's layout and its overall look.
In 1980, Torre was chosen to represent the United States at a big architecture exhibition in Italy. Her drawings and projects have been shown in many museums and galleries. Her drawings are kept in several important archives. These include the City of Columbus, IN, Architectural Archives and Columbia University's Avery Library. The International Archive of Women in Architecture also holds many of her papers.
Teaching and Research
Susana Torre has held many important teaching positions. She was the Director of the Cranbrook Academy of Art (1994–95). She also led the Architecture Department at the Parsons School of Design (1991–94). From 1982 to 1985, she directed the Architecture Program at Barnard College, Columbia University.
She has taught architecture and urban design at many universities around the world. These include Columbia University, Yale University, New York University (USA), The University of Sydney (Australia), and the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina). She has also given lectures at over 150 universities and professional groups worldwide.
Her teaching style focused on designing buildings that respond to their environment. She also taught about cultural settings and how space can show social groups. She emphasized using sustainable materials and creating beautiful designs. These designs mixed modern openness with visual ideas that fit each project's unique character.
Torre's work has been shown in many places, including the Museum of Modern Art. As a teacher, she often involved her students in design competitions. They won many awards together. Her research and writing focus on women's issues, architecture in Latin America, and how collective memory appears in public spaces.
Awards and Recognition
Susana Torre has received many awards for her designs and academic work. Some of these include:
- The Ailsa Mellon Bruce Senior Fellow award (2003).
- The Graham Foundation award (2002).
- Awards from The National Endowment for the Humanities (1986, 2005).
- The American Institute of Architects New York Chapter award (1994).
- Fulbright Senior Scholar (1990).
- Awards from The National Endowment for the Arts (1973, 1979, 1986, 1990).
- The Architectural Record Houses Award of Excellence for Design (1981, 1988).
Selected Writings by Susana Torre
- Women in American Architecture: A Historic and Contemporary Perspective (1977). She edited this book and wrote several chapters.
- “Ciudad, memoria y espacio público: el caso de los monumentos a los detenidos y desaparecidos.” (2006).
- “Building Utopia: Mary Otis Stevens and the Lincoln MA House,” in Impossible to Hold: Women and Culture in the 1960s (2005).
- “The Elusive Unifying Architectural Discourse: Teaching Architectural History in Latin America,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (2002).
- “An Esthetics of Reconciliation. Cultural Identity and Modern Architecture in Latin America,” in Back from Utopia (2002).
- “Constructing Memorials,” in Documenta 11 Platform 2: Experiments in Truth (2002).
- "Expanding the Urban Design Agenda," in Feminist Perspectives on Architecture, Design and Technology (1999).
- "Claiming the Public Space," in The Sex of Architecture (1996).
- "Cultural Identity and Modernity in Latin American Architecture," in Other Americas, Design Book Review (1994).
- "Identidad Cultural y Regionalismo: Evolución del Estilo Misionero Californiano, 1870-1930," in O Neocolonial na America Latina (1992).
- "Space as Matrix," in Making Room: Women in Architecture, Heresies 11 (1981).
- "Architecture with People," Design Quarterly (1979).
- "Feminist Monument (For Marion Mahony)," Heresies 2 (1977).
- "Architecture and Revolution: Cuba 1959-74," Progressive Architecture (1974).
See also
In Spanish: Susana Torre para niños
