Argentinean architect, professor sharing his views on urbanism at K-State's Ekdahl Memorial Lecture

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Source: David Sachs, 785-532-5953, dsachs@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Diane Potts, 785-532-1090, potts@k-state.edu

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

ARGENTINEAN ARCHITECT, PROFESSOR SHARING HIS VIEWS ON URBANISM AT
K-STATE'S EKDAHL MEMORIAL LECTURE

MANHATTAN -- Distinguished Argentinean architect and educator Miguel Angel Roca will give the spring 2007 Oscar Ekdahl Memorial Lecture of Kansas State University's College of Architecture, Planning and Design.

Roca will present "Architecture and the City" at 4 p.m. Monday, March 12, in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union. The lecture is free and the public is welcome. Design professionals can submit attendance at the lecture for continuing education credit by contacting Diane Potts at 785-532-1090 or potts@k-state.edu.

As a way of illustrating his views on urbanism, Roca's lecture will examine various projects he has designed during the last 25 years in his home city of Cordoba, Argentina.

"The city is the place of desire, the place of necessity, the place of revolution and confrontation and the place of history," Roca said.

Roca studied architecture and urban design at the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba, Argentina, and at the University of Pennsylvania under Louis Kahn, for whom he worked. His architectural practice has earned him numerous international design awards and has been featured in eight monographs. He has authored a number of theoretical articles on architecture and urbanism, and has served as a professor or visiting professor at many prestigious universities in South America, Europe and the United States. He also has been a professor at the Universidad Nacional de Cordoba since 1975 and has served as the dean of the school's architecture and urbanism faculty since 1992.

Founded nearly 40 years ago as a memorial honoring Topeka architect and K-State alum Oscar Ekdahl, the Oscar Ekdahl Memorial Lectures bring practitioners, teachers, critics, theorists and artists to the K-State campus for interaction with students, faculty and alumni. A concern for issues affecting the quality of the physical environment and the leadership roles played by the speakers characterizes the Ekdahl series, which is meant to inform and to challenge, reinforce and complement the educational programs of K-State's College of Architecture, Planning and Design.