Page 95 - Architectural Digest - USA (March 2020)

DEAN ANDRAOS: HAIR AND MAKEUP BY MARY GUTHRIE AT ARTISTS BY TIMOTHY PRIANO

AMALE ANDRAOS

Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture,
Planning and Preservation

“Architecture got cut up into all these different disciplines, leaving us with a very small,
cosmetic part, limiting what the field can mean and what practice can do,” explains Andraos.
“Unless we integrate and collaborate, we cannot engage with the scale of issues such as
climate change.” Since assuming her role at Columbia GSAPP in 2014, the Beirut-born architect
has worked tirelessly to bring students together—fostering more dual degrees (architecture
and planning, architecture and real estate, planning and preservation) while supporting new
centers dedicated to spatial research and resilient cities and landscapes. “We’ve put our foot
on the pedal,” she says. “It’s a very engaged moment.” All the while, she has treated teaching
positions as platforms for emerging practices, particularly those led by women or minorities.
“Academia can change the profession,” notes Andraos. Reminiscing about a recent roundtable
with her fellow female deans, she reflects, “We all shared an earnest drive to work through
the systemic issues that architectural education has faced, rather than trying to boost each of
our own schools. Five years ago, deans wouldn’t have been having this kind of conversation.”

Dean Andraos is photographed at her Columbia office.