The NewSchool of Architecture & Design (NewSchool) welcomes renowned architect and educator Larry Scarpa as the 2017 Commencement Ceremony keynote speaker. This year's commencement will celebrate 130 graduates from the undergraduate and graduate architecture, construction management and design programs. The ceremony will be held at Symphony Hall in San Diego on Saturday, June 24. Scarpa has garnered international acclaim for his unique and unexpected use of conventional materials in design and he is considered a pioneer and leader in sustainable design and environmental sensitivity.
 
NewSchool President Marvin J. Malecha, FAIA, has called Scarpa a "maker" and praised his dedication to socially responsible architecture, sustainability and affordable housing.    

"We are honored to have the inspirational Larry Scarpa as our 2017 commencement speaker," said Malecha. "A true citizen architect, he pays close attention to the context of the building and the needs of its users. At NewSchool, we believe in human-centered design – a problem-solving process that starts and ends with people – and our mission is to educate citizen architects and designers. Scarpa's work has a level of human and environmental empathy that is unusual of many of the stars emerging in architecture, and resonates with our faculty and students. He has a joy for design that our graduates will find inspiring, as they look forward to beginning their own careers."

Scarpa is a Principal at the firm BROOKS + SCARPA, ranked the 7th overall top architecture firm in the U.S. by Architect Magazine. He has received more than 100 major design awards, including  the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum Award in Architecture, more than 20 National American Institute of Architects (AIA) Awards and six national AIA Committee on the Environment "Top Ten Green Building" awards.

He is also a co-founder of Livable Places, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to building mixed-use housing on under-utilized and problematic areas, helping to develop more sustainable and livable communities. Most recently he co-founded the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute (AHDLI) to help develop sustainable and livable communities.

Scarpa's work has been featured in numerous publications and has been exhibited in venues such as Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Gwanju Bienale in South Korea.

A graduate from the University of Florida, Scarpa is currently on the faculty at the University of Southern California and has taught and lectured at the university level for more than two decades. He is a co-founder of the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute Livable Places, Inc.; a nonprofit development and public policy organization dedicated to building mixed-use housing and to help develop more sustainable and livable communities.

For more information on 2017 NewSchool Commencement or speaker Larry Scarpa, please contact Rachael Lighty at rlighty@newschoolarch.edu.