Defining Architectural Excellence

Defining Architectural Excellence: A Presentation & Discussion
Architects, Eric Fisher & Art Lubetz
Tuesday, March 15
6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Fee: $7.50 

This lecture will be presented virtually via Zoom. Purchase a ticket to RSVP for the event. (Please disregard the QR code in the confirmation email.) You will receive an email with a link to the Zoom event on March 15. Log in at 5:45 p.m. to allow us enough time to let you into the event.

Everyone believes that architecture should be “good”. Yet what does that phrase even mean these days? The profession is in a poor place despite the rare exceptional new building that proves the rule. Architects design just two percent of all American houses these days. And, all around Pittsburgh, mediocre new buildings that are designed by architects have come to blight our urban landscape. How can that be considering that there are now so many rules for determining what constitutes design excellence?

Near the end of the first century B.C.E., the Roman architect, Vitruvius, suggested that buildings should exhibit “Firmness, Commodity, and Delight.” In this lecture, Pittsburgh Architects Eric Fisher and Art Lubetz, consider and define what makes a building great, today. A central focus of their discussion will be the questions:

“What values should contemporary architects bring to the table as they design?” and “What qualities should these buildings possess?”

About the presenters:

Eric Fisher AIA, LEED AP, is the principal at Fisher ARCHitecture, a Pittsburgh firm he founded in 2006. A fourth-generation Pittsburgher, Eric’s designs are thoughtful, progressive, and contextual. He has become a recognized advocate for quality, contemporary building, and Pittsburgh green design. Eric has more than 25 years of experience as an architect, working in Europe and the United States, including a four-year stint apprenticing with Richard Meier, the “King of Rigor”, detailing the Los Angeles Getty Museum.

Noted Pittsburgh Architect Arthur Lubetz was a founding member of the Pittsburgh Community Design Center and the Environmental Design Collaborative. He established Lubetz Architects, an architectural firm that has been in practice for over 40 years, producing such notable projects as the award-winning Carnegie Library at Squirrel Hill. An active adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University creates what he calls “immersive architecture” at the intersection of architecture, philosophy, art, and neuroscience. His education and fascination with these fields are reflected in his built projects, which are some of the most dynamic buildings in Western Pennsylvania.