<p>LOL…now don’t worry thespian dad. UMiami is a great school in one of the most interesting cities inthe US–which makes it a great location for architecture students. In reality (and I have a friend who has a practice there) Miami is a Cuban/South American country off the coast of Florida.</p>
<p>Their website is dowdy–but their faculty list is pretty impressive. It may be the most global faculty list I’ve researched this year. The Miami faculty has globally impressive credentials too–(Oxford/Cornell/Harvard). My guess is that impressive architects like living in Miami (what’s not to like?) and they like the association with Elizabeth Plater-Zybeck, who has an esteemed reputation as a prominent archtiectural theorist. I’m not sure who she brought to the school–but it’s an impressive faculty list and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her energy attracting the talent.</p>
<p>There is a noticeable shortage of, you guessed it, full time female faculty. Disappointing, that–but not atypical. <a href=“http://www.arc.miami.edu/people/Faculty/FACULTY.html[/url]”>http://www.arc.miami.edu/people/Faculty/FACULTY.html</a>. </p>
<p>The ‘New Urbanism’ still has merits in planning developments but it is limited somewhat by it’s insistance on ‘contextual’ forms. Says me–who does refer to it when designing residential suburban developments. I own their books and I use them.</p>
<p>New Urbanism was a concept launched by a Florida developer named Robert Davis (who inherited 80 acres of spectacular Florida Panhandle coast–where I once camped under the stars) and a couple of newly minted architectural planners–Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater Zybeck–now the Dean at UMiami. Together, they developed the Disney-esque resort of Seaside (made infamous by the movie ‘Truman’). Duany and Plater-Zybeck went on to cement the success of Seaside as a urban planning concept.</p>
<p>As a result of their efforts, Plater-Zybeck is considered one of two or three outstanding female architects of our time. Very admirable accomplishment.</p>