Lise Anne Couture

Asymptote

Monday, October 1, 2007
5:30 P.M. - Lawrence J. Plym Auditorium
Temple Hoyne Buell Hall

Max Abramovitz Distinguished Lecture

Lise Anne Couture is a principal of Asymptote Architecture, the award-winning, New York-based practice that she co-founded with Hani Rashid in 1989. Since Asymptote’s founding, the firm has been at the forefront of technological innovation in the fields of architecture and design and garnered praise for visionary building designs and master plans.

Asymptote is currently working on a broad range of commissions at sites in the United States, Europe and Asia including a cultural, hotel and performing arts complex in Penang, Malaysia; two commercial office towers in Budapest, Hungary and what will be among the tallest buildings in Asia: the World Business Center Busan in Busan, South Korea. Also in design are two Guggenheim Pavilions for the Cultural District of Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Projects designed by Asymptote now under construction include an innovative, high-end condominium building in New York City, a luxury residential tower in Abu Dhabi and significant, large-scale master planning projects for the downtown core and central district of Monterey, Mexico and a 28-hectare site in central Prague, Czech Republic. Completed projects in recent years include the award-winning HydraPier Pavilion in Haarlemmermeer, The Netherlands; the Univers Theaters in Aarhus, Denmark and the design and creation of new brand identities for clients such as BMW and Alessi.

Lise Anne Couture is on the faculty of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University and has held numerous prestigious academic appointments including the Bishop Chair and Saarinen Chair at Yale University and visiting professorships at Princeton University, Harvard University, SCI-Arc, the University of Virginia, l'Universitè de Montrèal, the Berlage Institute in Amsterdam, the University of Michigan and MIT. All of Asymptote’s work has been widely published and exhibited and is included in various private and public collections. In 2004, Couture, along with Asymptote co-founder Hani Rashid, was presented with the Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and Art in recognition of exceptional contributions to the progress and merging of art and architecture.