Strengthening Academic Collaboration - UMSoA and Effat University (Saudi Arabia)
In March 2016, Dean Rodolphe el-Khoury and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Carie Penabad visited Effat University School of Architecture and Urban Design in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to review the School's current architectural curriculum and promote future academic collaborations between the two institutions. Opportunities include, faculty and student exchanges as well as joint course offerings for both studio and elective offerings.  Image: Effat University, rendering by RAFT Architects

What's up in Rome?
Our 2017 Rome students have become more closely acquainted with their adopted neighborhood, Prati, while learning from Visiting Rome Professor, Jorge Silvetti. Silvetti, currently a Professor of Architecture at the GSD and a former Rome Prize recipient, is leading a special 3-week seminar, focused on the topography and urban history of the Ager Vaticanus.  Silvetti followed Professor Correa, who began the semester applying the planning principles of Roma Quadrata to the contemporary city. The Rome Spring 2017 semester will end with Professor Carmen Guerrero leading the students in exploring the modern housing typologies unique to Rome and Ostia.

Elie Merheb is the new Model Shop & Fabrication Lab Manager for UMSoA
UMSoA is proud to announce Elie Merheb’s new management position for the Model Shop & Fabrication Lab. Elie’s background includes extensive knowledge of the woodworking industry along with high-end, furniture fabrication. He spent many years building exclusive-design furniture for residential and commercial clients, as well as customized sculptures and prototypes. He specializes in building modern and contemporary pieces using diverse materials such as metal, glass, wood and plastic and has also managed his own business and manufacturing facility. Among Elie’s many skills are his construction and special effects techniques which he employed when he worked in the film industry; this included his role as explosives technician for Hollywood movies! We are happy to have him join our staff. Welcome aboard, Elie!

The Manhattan Rug Adorns the Korach Gallery
UMSoA is proud to showcase the Manhattan Rug (2012) in the Korach Gallery. The rug, a gift from Lukasz Kos, architect and co-founder/director of 409 (Warsaw office), is part of the Urban Fabric Rug collection (conceived by L. Kos and Andrei Zerebecky). The rug’s design is based on scale maps extruded and meticulously cut out of carved, hand-tufted and knotted wool and silk. The 30-foot long rug is a soft city model, with an element of fun in its fuzzy tactility. It illustrates the uniqueness of Manhattan, examining the city from a Google maps vantage point. In this collection, no two rugs (even of the same city) are alike. We are grateful to Lukasz Kos, for this one-of-a-kind gift that will adorn the Korach Gallery with originality and beauty. Stop in Korach to see the Manhattan Rug!

Professor Carie Penabad helps UM’s Newest Canes
Housing and Residential Life’s program for freshmen residents ensures first-year students immediately engage with campus resources. Like many new ‘Canes, freshman Sade Prithwie was allured to the University of Miami for its palm trees and sunshine. Originally from Long Island, Prithwie was eager to escape the cold but also to find a university that would help her to feel at home. It was during her first visit to the lush Coral Gables campus as a high school senior that Prithwie knew the University of Miami would be the place where she could grow and thrive. 
Read more.

April 7, 2017 - U-Serve: UMSoA's Day of Community Service this Friday!
This Friday, in partnership with MakerFaire Miami, UMSoA students, faculty and Latin American Fabrication Laboratory coordinators will create a series of prototype installations for a Pavilion and Exhibition. This Pavilion and Exhibition will be used for the April 8th & 9th Miami MakerFaire Event (to be held at the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus). The U-Serve Pavilion, an exercise in creative place-making, digital fabrication, interactive media and collaborative design-build, will be transported to the UMSoA campus for exhibition after the MakerFaire Event, in preparation for its future installation at the semi-permanent, West Coconut Grove Community Marketplace, scheduled to open in May 2017. The Marketplace is a community-based project being developed, designed and built by the Master of Real Estate + Urbanism program. The U-Serve Pavilion and Exhibition will serve as a bridge between local and LatAM-based craftsmen, entrepreneurs, architects, designers and the community-at-large, providing resources, skills and a (semi-permanent) marketplace where diverse start-up vendors, makers and artisans can thrive. Sign-up!