One of America's Most Distinguished Architects to Lecture Here March 19

BUFFALO, N.Y -- Eminent American architect Thom Mayne, winner of the 2005 Pritzker Prize, the world's premier architecture award, will deliver the Martell Lecture at the UB School of Architecture and Planning on April 14.

His talk at 5:30 p.m. in 147 Diefendorf Hall on the UB South (Main Street) Campus will be followed by a reception. It will be free and open to the public.

Mayne, the "bad boy" of Los Angeles architecture, went on to found the Southern California Institute of Architecture, and in 1972, with Michael Rotondi, established the Santa Monica architectural practice Morphosis.

In doing so they sought to develop an architecture that would eschew the normal bounds of traditional forms and promote new ways of working. Subsequently Morphosis has grown into one of the most distinguished and creative studios in the world.

In addition to the Pritzker Prize, Morphosis received the 2007 Top Ten Green Projects Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment, the 2001 Chrysler Design Award of Excellence and the 2000 Los Angeles Gold Medal from the AIA.

Recently completed civic projects by Morphosis include: The Wayne L. Morse United States Courthouse in Eugene, Oregon, which received a 2008 AIA National Design Award, The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Satellite Operation Facility, Suitland, Md., and the San

Francisco Federal Building. In addition Morphosis has designed a series of new educational buildings including the University of Cincinnati Student Recreation Center; Graduate student housing at the University of Toronto, the Science Center School in Los Angeles and the Diamond Ranch High School in Pomona.

Current projects include a new academic building at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City; Phare Tower at La Défense in Paris, France and the Museum of Nature & Science Building in Dallas, Texas.

The Martell Lecture is funded by the Martell Distinguished Critic Endowment, founded in 2005 with a gift from Christopher Michael Martell and his wife, Sally, to support a program to bring architects of international significance to the UB School of Architecture and Planning to work with graduate students, give an annual school-wide public lecture and make a publication.

Mr. Martell holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the UB School of Architecture and Planning.