We at TBL have been ardent supporters and participants in the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art for 12 years. Tim was a founding member and past President of the Southern California chapter and a past Trustee on the National Board. He co-chaired (with Brooke Gardner) two ICAA affordable housing competitions with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles in 2009 and 2011.

The ICAA is dedicated to advancing the classical tradition in architecture, urbanism and their allied arts.  It offers a wide array of programs that are designed to promote the appreciation and practice of classical and traditional design, including classes, travel, lectures, and conferences.

This past Thursday October 6, Mark Gelernter (Dean of Architecture of the University of Colorado at Denver) spoke to ICAA at Rejuvenation in Los Angeles on “Bringing Traditional Architecture Back into Design Schools”. Dean Gelernter began a traditional architecture program at UC-D in the fall of 2013, incorporating much of the curriculum of the ICAA. He joined forces with Christine Franck to develop the Center for Advanced Research in Traditional Architecture (CARTA). His talk challenged the modernist-only curriculum in most universities today and issued a rousing call to action to start the dialogue with these institutions to restore the teaching of architectural traditions in their programs.

We agree with Dean Gelertner and celebrate the successes at UC-D.  We are excited to open a respectful discourse with educators and practitioners. Should architecture traditions be taught again at university level? If so, how should we integrate this study into current curriculum models? We encourage you to join us in the conversation and attend other ICAA functions to learn more about the organization and the important work it does. Check out the Calendar of classes and events at www.classicist-socal.org.

For additional information, you can also visit CARTA at CU Denver: cudenvercarta.org