Oral history interview with Sandy Hirshen, 2007.

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Hirshen, Sandy,. Oral history interview with Sandy Hirshen, 2007.

Oral history interview with Sandy Hirshen, 2007.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/678475181

Education: High School of Music and Art, New York City, 1949-1953, B.A. Columbia, 1957, M.Arch Columbia, 1959; early influences leading to an interest in architecture approached from a socially-committed viewpoint -- influence of professors including Alexander Kouzmanoff and James Marston Fitch; work as city planning consultant for Hackensack, New Jersey, 1958; travel in Europe, 1959-1960: work as intern at Studio Architetti BBPR in Milan, visit to Doxiadis office in Athens; work for a series of New York-based architecture firms: Curtis & Davis, 1960-1961, Victor A. Lundy, 1961-1963, Ernest Kump, 1963-1964; decision to move to California; work in San Francisco offices of Wurster, Bernardi & Emmons, 1964-1965 -- meeting with Christopher Alexander; work with architect Sim Van der Ryn on housing for "Flash Peak Camps" for migrant farm workers, and establishment of Hirshen Van der Ryn Architects, 1965; beginning of academic career teaching as part-time lecturer at Berkeley, 1966; brief involvement with the Hunts Point Multi-Service Center project in collaboration with the Center for Environmental Structure (CES); collaboration with Christopher Alexander and the CES on the PREVI housing project in Lima, Peru, 1969: planning sessions for PREVI held in Lima -- learning about vernacular building techniques and technologies in Peru -- experiments with bamboo as a construction material -- designing a structural system to deal with seismic conditions in Lima -- reflections on the importance and the limitations of experimental projects such as PREVI; work on East Palo Alto Health Center with Hirshen Van Der Ryn office, 1968; establishment of Hirshen Gammill Trumbo & Cook Architects, 1971 -- projects included Hale Mahaolu Eldery Housing, Maui, 1968-1972, and Ramah Navajo Community and Pine Hill School, 1972-1980; continuation of teaching career at Berkeley: professor in Department of Architecture, 1974-1993, Chair of Deaprtment of Architecture, 1982-1983; move to Vancouver, appointment as Director of the School of Architecture at University of British Columbia, 1991-1999; work as associate at Henriquez Partners Architects, Vancouver, 1996-present; concluding reflections on the rich cross-fertilizations as well as the complications of having parallel careers in architectural practice and academia.

transcript: 38, 47 p.

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