UTSOA

Louise Harpman is a partner at Specht Harpman, an architecture and design firm with offices in New York and Austin, Texas. Specht Harpman was recently named one of Wallpaper* magazine's "top 50 up and coming firms from around the world" in the magazine's annual 2008 Design Directory. The firm's zeroHouse project has been published in over 40 international publications, most recently in Dwell magazine (February 2009) and in the New Prefab Architecture book by Sergi Costa Duran (Barcelona, 2008). Specht Harpman was named one of the "Tastemakers of 2007" by House and Garden magazine and one of New York City's "Top 100" architects by New York Magazine.

The firm has been honored with a number of design awards, including those from the Texas Society of Architects, New York and Austin chapters of the AIA (American Institute of Architects), and two Design Distinction awards from I.D. Magazine. The work of Specht Harpman has been published in many national and international publications, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Texas Architect, Architectural Record, Architecture, AD, Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Interiors, Constructs, The New York Times Magazine, Wired, New York Magazine, and W magazine, as well as on HGTV.

The firm's website is www.spechtharpman.com

Before founding Specht Harpman, Louise worked as a designer at Eisenman Architects; Buttrick White & Burtis Architects; and for the City of New York in its Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

Louise has always maintained commitment to teaching as well as practice. She joined the UT faculty in 2003 as the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Associate Professor of Architecture. She is the founder of the DesignBuildTexas studio program and serves as the Director of the Professioinal Residency Program. Before joining the UT faculty, she taught for eight years at the Yale School of Architecture and for four years at the University of Pennsylvania.

Louise received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University. She holds a Master of Philosophy degree from Cambridge University and received her Master of Architecture degree from Yale University. Louise is the co-editor of Perspecta 30: Settlement Patterns (1999). She is the author of the Brooklyn Public Library Design Guidelines (1996), a Fellow of the Design Trust for Public Space, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Austin Foundation for Architecture.