Aki Ishida has been named the Sam and Marilyn Fox Professor in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. A lecture and reception to celebrate her appointment were held Sept. 25 in Steinberg Hall.
Ishida, who directs the Sam Fox School’s College of Architecture and Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, is an author, educator and licensed architect whose work has been exhibited internationally. Through her writing and design, Ishida investigates the temporal and impermanent aspects of architecture, emphasizing the ways buildings continue to change and evolve over time.
In her installation address, titled “Reimagination of Opacity and Transparency,” Ishida described her research into the use of glass in modern and contemporary architecture.
“The word transparency references the material glass, but there is more,” Ishida said. “As scholars and educators, we illuminate aspects of architecture that often remain understudied. We critically study well-known works of architecture through different lenses to uncover different interpretations. In other words, we bring transparency to something that is opaque, or at times, argue that what appears transparent is in fact an opaque enigma.”
The professorship is named for former U.S. Ambassador Sam Fox (1929-2024) and his wife, Marilyn Fox (1934-2024). For more than four decades, St. Louisans and people around the country benefited from the couple’s civic leadership and philanthropy. In 2006, when WashU formally combined its schools of art and architecture, the resulting School of Design & Visual Arts was named in recognition of Sam Fox’s service and support.
Read more about Ishida on the Sam Fox School website.
