Tonight at the Arkansas Arts Center, the latest in the continuing series of lectures about architecture. HYBRID OF EXTREMES, a lecture by Michael Rotondi, FAIA, architect and educator. He is founding partner and principal of RoTo Architects, Los Angeles, and a Professor in Practice of the Arizona State University School of Architecture.

Based in Los Angeles, Michael Rotondi has been the co-founder of two esteemed architectural firms. He and Thom Mayne, with whom he had a productive partnership, founded Morphosis in 1975. Almost two decades later he established RoTo Architects, a firm committed to enlarging the scope of architectural practice to include issues of socio-economic concern and the environment.

The 2009 recipient of the Los Angeles Chapter the American Institute of Architects gold medal for creating a body of work of lasting influence on the theory and practice of architecture, Rotondi has emphasized  architecture’s role  in “making the world a better place”. He has stressed the importance of architects being aware of the impact of their work on people, places and communities.

Rotondi and a group of friends were instrumental in the 1972 founding of the Los Angeles based California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). Among the school’s first graduates, the innovative young architect who had earned a degree from California State Polytechnic University in 1971, later served as SCI-Arc’s director (1987-1997). Currently a member of its Board of Trustees, he also teaches there. Rotondi has lectured and taught all over the world.

Rotondi’s participation in Architecture and Design Network’s 13/14 lecture series has been made possible by the Fayetteville based University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture where he ls this year’s John G. Williams Distinguished Visiting Professor.

In addition to the School of Architecture, Network supporters include the Arkansas Arts Center and the Central Arkansas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. All ADN lectures are free and open to the public. For additional information contact ardenetwork@icloud.com.