Peter Bohlin Brings A 'SOFT Modernism' To APDesign

News release prepared by: Emily Vietti, evietti@k-state.edu, 785-532-1090

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Peter Bohlin Brings A ‘SOFT Modernism’ To APDesign

MANHATTAN - Peter Bohlin, FAIA, founding principal of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, will give a lecture titled, “Soft Modernism - The Nature of Circumstance” at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, in the Little Theater at the K-State Student Union. The lecture is free and open to the public.   

Bohlin’s presentation will relate to his interest in the nature of circumstances. These range from the nature of places, both manmade and natural, to the varied nature of humans and their particular activities and to the nature of the means with which we build. Using examples of the firm’s work, from early to current projects, Bohlin will discuss the rich and powerful buildings of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson that resulted from “the nature of circumstance.”

Founded in 1965, with offices in Wilkes-Barre, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Seattle and San Francisco, Bohlin Cywinski Jackson’s work is known for an extraordinary aesthetic, responsiveness to particularity of place and user, and a quiet rigor that is both intellectual and intuitive. The firm has turned out award-winning civic, university, corporate, and residential projects that span the United States and circle around the globe.

In 1994 Bohlin Cywinski Jackson received the Architecture Firm Award, the AIA’s highest honor recognizing an architectural practice; they are the recipient of nine national honor awards from the AIA and more than 500 regional, national and international design awards. Peter Bohlin continues to lead conceptual design meetings and reviews design issues throughout the firm’s various projects.

Bohlin received his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Master of Architecture degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art. He received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2006. A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Bohlin served as Chairman of the AIA Committee on Design from 1984 to 1985 and has been a guest design critic and visiting professor at a number of leading schools of architecture, both in the United States and overseas. He frequently serves as a juror for national, regional, and state design competitions.