Robert J. Frasca, FAIA

Recent Work
Partner-in-Charge of Design
Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership
Portland, Oregon

Monday, October 24
6:00 P.M. - Lawrence J. Plym Auditorium
Temple Hoyne Buell Hall
Max Abramovitz Distinguished Lecture

Bob Frasca is partner-in-charge of design for Zimmer Gunsul Frasca. His work is united by the premise that architecture should vary with the program, climate and place, and the culture of the people who will occupy it. His instincts as observer, and then as designer, have produced a diverse portfolio, ranging from downtown civic buildings in Portland, Kansas City and Denver, embassy buildings for the U.S. Department of State and research facilities for major institutions across the country to academic buildings for small colleges such as Reed and Williams. Based on this body of work, the firm was awarded the Architecture Firm Award by the American Institute of Architects in 1991.

Bob was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1979. He has chaired the AIA National Honor Awards program, as well as numerous AIA chapter programs around the country. He was a long-standing member of the University of Washington Architectural Commission of the Board of Regents, and has served on design review boards for the University of California San Diego and Davis campuses. He has been a visiting professor and critic-in-design at universities in Oregon , Washington , California , Michigan and Utah and has lectured extensively at other academic institutions, AIA chapters, and design and civic organizations. Bob is a member and former chair of the national AIA Committee on Design, and held previous board positions with the Portland Center for the Visual Arts, Oregon School of Design and Portland State University.

His contributions to the profession and the community have been acknowledged by awards including the Architecture Foundation of Oregon's Honored Citizen, the Watzek Award for Contributions to the Enrichment of the State of Oregon and the 2000 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Michigan . He was recently honored as one of Oregon 's Top 20 Business Leaders by the Portland Business Journal.

Bob received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Michigan, a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and was the recipient of a George Booth Traveling Scholarship.