FEATURE STORY — Jan./Feb. 2007

The Right Angle

Douglas Garofalo

Architecture professor Douglas Garofalo believes that being a teacher makes him a better practitioner and vice versa

By Greg Holden

An old adage proclaims, "Those who can, do; those who can't, teach." However, that adage doesn't apply to Douglas Garofalo, UIC professor of architecture. Besides being a well-liked and well-respected professor, Garofalo, 48, is one of Chicago's (and the nation's) most highly regarded architects.

From July to October 2006, Garofalo was featured in a solo museum exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. In this retrospective of his work, he was described as "one of the country's leading voices in digital pedagogy and the practice of architecture." During the winter of 2004-05, Garofalo participated in "Chicago Archi-tecture: Ten Visions," an exhibit at the Art Institute that presented "diverse views of the future of Chicago's built environment." Garofalo's presentation, "Chicago Plans," incorporated student design projects solicited from Chicago area schools.

Douglas Garofalo is quite the opposite of the proverbial egg-headed academic who never leaves an ivory tower. In fact, the storefront he shares with his wife on the North Side has the studio for his firm, Garofalo Architects, on the first floor, and living space on the second floor. "My wife is a ceramic sculptor, and her world is the front window. I don't know if people understand that there is an architecture office behind those organic works, but our place is becoming a neighborhood landmark," he chuckles.

Garofalo's students benefit from his real-world, first-hand experience. They interact with a thriving architect who is hungry for new opportunities and ways to express his ideas in wood, concrete and steel.

"There's quite an interplay between the classroom and the work in my architectural office," explains Garofalo. "Being a teacher makes me a stronger practitioner, [while] being a practitioner makes me a stronger teacher. The projects I give students to do in a studio are very relevant to my own interests and my practice. Our collective minds are constantly wrapped around these challenges."

Training the next generation

Although would-be architects spend valuable time with their noses in books, not to mention blueprints, Garofalo believes that there is no substitute for learning by doing.

For example, when Garofalo was commissioned by the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art to design and construct a temporary experimental architectural work, which would "enliven the museum's plaza, making it a bridge between the museum and the city of Chicago," he drew on the efforts of a diverse group of people, including UIC students. For the project, the students helped design, fabricate and install several pieces on the plaza. Their work was also acknowledged in Between the Museum and the City (University of Illinois Press, 2004), a book about the project. "It's not possible for students to get more engaged in the process than that," observes Garofalo.

A respect for craftsmanship

When Garofalo shares his personal story, he counts his grandfather-despite his lack of a formal education-among his most important teachers. "My grandfather was an expert craftsman who made and restored chairs and many other things," he says. "He passed on to me an interest in building, and I really took to carpentry."

Mainly because of his grandfather's influence, Garofalo spent many summers building houses when he was growing up in upstate New York. "I was fortunate to understand the value of this experience even when I was young, and I knew instinctively that I should do some ac-tual construction work before I jumped into an office environment," he says.

Not neglecting the book side of his education, Garofalo obtained a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Notre Dame and a master's degree in architecture from Yale University. He joined the UIC School of Architecture faculty in 1988.

His earlier work as a builder instilled in him a respect for existing structures. Consequently, Garofalo's initial commissions, which were for residences in the Chicago metropolitan area, focused on renovation and redevelopment of existing structures rather than teardowns and new construction.

A great place to learn architecture

In a hallway leading to the College of Architecture and the Arts Building, Garofalo points out photos of Chicago buildings designed by noted architect Louis Sullivan. But then he confesses that, although he finds the photos to be of interest, he is more apt to encourage a student to visit the buildings in person.

"Chicago is a great place to learn architecture. We can walk out the door and immediately be surrounded by the most amazing resource," says Garofalo. "And the architectural community here is still active and full of life. It's only a half-joke among architects that, between lectures and exhibits and who knows what else, you almost have to mark your calendar with what you're not going to do on any given day."

UIC as an architectural lab

When it comes to urban design, there's no better or more convenient sample for students in the School of Architecture to examine than the East Campus itself. Garofalo recognizes that he may part company with some alumni, but he loves the way the campus looked when it was first built.

"The strong part of the original campus was its urbanism, and I found the elevated walkways to be a metaphor for the el trains," says Garofalo. "That system of navigating the campus on the second level was fascinating to me. When I got to the campus, I would immediately move up to that level, no matter what the weather was like." Seeing the quizzical look on my face, he adds, "OK, I realize I am in the minority there."

"Although you can be pleased with the way your career has gone, you're always hungry for more"

Garofalo acknowledges that the campus' design is evolving. "We're getting some moments," he explains. "Smaller scale moments between buildings aren't bad. William Worn ['72 uiuc, '77 uiuc, march '79 uiuc, clinical associate professor, School of Architecture] completed a cafÈ on the second floor of University Hall that is quite good, and very popular."

Garofalo also turns to students to obtain fresh visions of how the campus could be redesigned. "Introduction to Design/ Graduate Studio," a course he co-teaches with Professor Xavier Vendrell, often focuses on what the campus looks like now and how it might look in the future.

Looking ahead and taking fresh approaches

The word "hungry" sprinkles Garofalo's descriptions of his hopes for the future. "My main interest is how things are put together and made," he says. "I am very eager to pursue that as an architect."

One of Garofalo Architects' most notable projects is the recent redesign of the Hyde Park Art Center to provide galleries and classrooms for artists. "We were very excited about the [opportunity] to work with such a prominent and historic resource," relates Garofalo. "We think the space is quite successful for a variety of reasons that relate to the Center's diverse programming."

One of Garofalo Architects' most notable projects in the Chicago area is the Hyde Park Arts Center. Its steel- and glass-facade features an integrated system of digital projection screens, scrims and shades, which allows for the display of many alternative forms of electronic art.

Garofalo Architects is currently designing the Richmond Center for Visual Arts on the campus of Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.

Regardless of the project, Garofalo is always seeking new approaches and ideas. "Although you can be pleased with the way your career has gone, you're always hungry for more," he explains. "It's OK to get a certain amount of satisfaction as you go along, but I'd be wary of an architect who tells you that total success has been achieved. In this business, you're always looking ahead and thinking about what you could do better."

The same applies to his students. "It's easy to accept the status quo in the profession of architecture," says Garofalo. But "when you deal with hungry students, you're always getting those questions that make you realize that you haven't thought through a certain situation in a while. Their ideas are youthful, which is always good. Of course, it cuts both ways: They sometimes start with the traditional ideas and I bring in youthful concepts to challenge them."

Garofalo finds similarities between running an office and teaching. "The key to being successful in both areas is to develop a structure that encourages exchange," he says. "The kind of architecture office that I run assumes that you don't want a staff that accepts whatever you say as being gospel. You don't want to hear only one answer to any given problem. Instead, you process each component of projects creatively."

This attitude gives Garofalo a competitive edge as an architect. Through the University, he has access to new crops of junior architects who help keep his perspective fresh. The students, in turn, receive references and experience. It's a win-win situation.