Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Arthur W. Andersson and F. Christian Wise, founding principals of Austin-based Andersson•Wise Architects and protégés of Charles Willard Moore, one of postmodern architecture's chief innovators, lectured Sept. 20 in Preston Geren Auditorium, kicking off the Department of Architecture's Fall 2010 Lecture Series.
Commenting on the work of Andersson-Wise in the August 25, 2010 issue of Architecture Week, Frederick Steiner, dean of the University of Texas School of Architecture, wrote, “Their buildings appear contemporary, evoking ideas and feelings about our current condition, while fitting seamlessly into the environments that they inhabit. Their work appears as if it has always been there, imbuing its context with a sense of participation.”
Though the firm concentrates on residential design, their portfolio includes educational, ecclesiastic and museum projects.
In their recent book, "Natural Houses: The Residential Architecture of Andersson-Wise," the architects’ say their work is “shaped not so much by us, but by its place … site geology and site biology: sun, wind, temperature, terrain, structure, orientation — the things that grow and that can grow there."
As design director for the Austin firm, Andersson establishes design concepts and integrates clients into the collaborative process. He is in charge of the overall design process and facilitating client communications through the design phases of each project.
Wise serves as a design collaborator and managing partner. As principal in charge of the technical phases and construction of each project, he ensures that the design concepts are integrated through the entirety of the process.
Since its founding, Andersson•Wise has won several prestigious national competitions including a commission for the Washington State History Museum, the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University and an estate for the co-founder of Microsoft.
In 1996, the firm earned the Texas Society of Architects Firm of the Year Award. More recently, it as completed the Mary & Morgan Jarvis Wing addition to the Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University, a renovation & addition to Fleck Hall at St. Edward’s University in Austin, and Upper & Middle Schools for St. Stephen’s Episcopal School in Austin.
The 37-story Block 21/W Hotel in downtown Austin, designed by the firm, is expected to open this December. They are also designing a 1200-seat synagogue for Temple Beth Shalom, a 400-seat theatre for Zachary Scott Theatre, and a new dormitory & student center for St. Stephen’s Episcopal School.
Andersson studied architecture at University of Kansas and the University of London, graduating with a Bachelor of Environmental Design in 1979. His initial work began in Kansas City with Kivett and Myers, which in 1980 was purchased by Howard Needles Tammen Bergendoff (HNTB).
He was recruited by Perez Associates in New Orleans in 1981 to help design the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition with Charles Moore. It was there that Moore asked Andersson to start an office in Austin, which later became Moore/Andersson Architects.
Moore's work, writing and teachings profoundly influenced the course of architecture worldwide. His Piazza d'Italia, (1978), an urban public plaza in New Orleans, is frequently cited as the archetypal postmodern project.
After Moore's death in 1993, the firm remained Moore/Andersson until 2001, when Wise became a partner and the name was changed to Andersson-Wise Architects.
Wise began working with Moore/Andersson in 1986, became an associate with Lyndon/Buchanan Architects in Berkeley, Calif. in 1991, and returned to Moore/Anderson in 1995 as senior associate.
He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1987 and interned with Venturi Rauch Scott-Brown Associates in Philadelphia. He completed his architectural studies at Harvard University, earning a Master of Design Studies in History and Theory in 1995.
Steiner's Architecture Week commentary on Andersson-Wise Architects is available online at www.architectureweek.com.
- Posted: Sept. 17, 2010 -
Contact: Phillip Rollfing, prollfing@archone.tamu.edu or 979.458.0442.
