Grace E. La, Associate Professor
Bio
Grace La is Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and principal of LA DALLMAN. She is also a 2010 Design Critic in Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Co-founded with James Dallman, LA DALLMAN is engaged in the transformation of site through spatial and material investigations of diverse scale and type. The practice has been awarded over forty professional honors, including seven Design Awards from the American Institute of Architects Wisconsin, and several prizes in international design competitions. LA DALLMAN was named a 2010 Emerging Voice by the Architectural League of New York and received the Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Silver Medal. The firm is the 2011 recipient of the Spotlight: The Rice Design Alliance Prize, an international honor that "recognizes exceptionally gifted architects in the early phase of their career." LA DALLMAN is the first United States practice to receive the prize, which was previously awarded to acclaimed architects Antón García-Abril of Spain and Sou Fujimoto of Japan. Read More
Completed projects by LA DALLMAN include the Miller Brewing Meeting Center (original building design by Ulrich Franzen), permanent science exhibits for Discovery World, the Marsupial Bridge, the UWM Hillel Student Center, and the Levy House. Current work includes the Master plan for the Harmony Initiative (a collaborative endeavor between the Milwaukee Ballet, the UWM Peck School of the Arts, and the Medical College of Wisconsin), which was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Other projects include renovations on the grounds of the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts (original building by Harry Weese), and a Trail Hub / Land bridge for the Oneida Nation. LA DALLMAN's work is featured in publications by a+t, Architectural Record, Architect, Azure, Praxis, Princeton Architectural Press, Routledge, and Topos, and they have exhibited widely, including at the Carnegie Museum of Art Heinz Architectural Center. LA DALLMAN has delivered lectures in numerous symposia, and at prestigious universities and cultural institutions including the New Museum in New York City, the National Building Museum in Washington DC, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
Grace La is co-editor of Skycar City (Actar, 2007), co-founder and three-time editor of UWM's Calibrations, and a member of the editorial board of the Journal for Architectural Education. Her current research and studio teaching at UWM are funded by KI and this work is exhibited at Discovery World, a museum of science, technology, and innovation; the work was also featured in the 2010 Metropolis Conference at ICFF. UWM has bestowed her with the 2005 UWM Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award. Demonstrating a unique ability to link the profession and the academy, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture has also bestowed Grace La with four Faculty Design Awards, which honor outstanding projects that "advance the reflective nature of practice and teaching." Grace La’s students have won over forty design awards in the last decade, among them the Chicago AIA Student Design Awards, and fourteen UWM Master’s Thesis Prizes, the majority of which she has served as Chair of the thesis committee. In addition, the work of the Skycar City studio, co-taught with Winy Maas, has been exhibited at the 2008 Venice Biennale.
Grace La also serves as Chair of the Planning & Coordinating Committee (PCC) at UWM SARUP Department of Architecture, where she has led efforts in the department’s Strategic Plan, the Dissemination Plan, and several Hiring Initiatives including SARUP’s new Fellowship Program for which she served as Chair of the Search & Screen Committee. She has been actively involved in numerous past Search & Screen committees. Currently, the PCC has initiated ideas to re-envision the school’s facilities in relationship to curriculum goals and new technology, including expansion of the RP Lab.
Grace La received her professional M.Arch with thesis distinction from Harvard University Graduate School of Design, winning the Clifford Wong Housing Prize. She graduated A.B. magna cum laude from Harvard College in Visual and Environmental Studies. She was accepted to graduate school prior to completing her undergraduate degree, as a junior of the College and one of the youngest students in the history of the GSD.
Education
Harvard University, Graduate School of DesignM. Arch, 1995, with thesis distinction
Harvard University B.A., magna cum laude, 1992, in Visual and Environmental Studies
Massachusetts Institute of Technology Architecture, spring, 1989
Reseach Focus
Courses
Arch 410 Arch Design I (Core Undergraduate Studio)
Arch 516 Building Construction
Arch 636/836 Urban Archipelagos: Inner Harbor Studio
Arch 685/885 Auditoria Redux Studio
Arch 685/885 Learning Landscapes Studio
Arch 790 Directed Research, UWM KI Collaboration.
Arch 791 Fabrications / Prototype, UWM KI Collaboration
Arch 794 Master’s Pre-thesis Research (Chair)
Arch 810 Arch Design I (Core Graduate Studio)
Arch 820 Arch Design II (Core Graduate Studio)
Arch 891 Master’s thesis (Chair and Committee Member)
Selected Work
The Rice Design Alliance Prize, 2011
Seven Design Awards for Excellence, American Institute of Architects Wisconsin
Emerging Voice, Architectural League of New York, 2010
United States GSA National Registry of Peer Professionals
Four Faculty Design Awards, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Silver Medal
American Society of Civil Engineers Engineering Achievement Award
Two Mayor’s Design Awards
Co-Editor, Skycar City (Actar, 2007)
Studio-related exhibits at the Venice Biennale, 2008 and Discovery World, 2012
UWM Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching Award, 2005
Co-founder and Co-Editor, Three volumes of Calibrations (2000, 03, 09),
LA DALLMAN's work is featured in publications by a+t, Architect, Architectural Record, Azure, Praxis, Princeton Architectural Press, Routledge, and Topos,
Group and Solo Exhibitions, including at the Carnegie Museum of Art Heinz Architectural Center. Lectures and symposia including the New Museum in New York City, the National Building Museum in Washington DC, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.
Download pdf CV
(PDF:72k)