I am thrilled to again serve the Knowlton community in the role of director, this time as interim while we engage in a search for a new director. It is a very different context since I last sat in this office - internally, within the college, at the university level, and globally. Our “jobs” as architects, landscape architects, and planners have new frameworks, methods, and tools to experiment with and new concerns to face. It is a moment of great opportunity for the school.

At the university level—a new president and the imminent appointment of a new provost. The school enjoys a healthy relationship with the College of Engineering, which has embarked on some exciting new initiatives including a new school of information—an intersection in the Venn diagram of concerns and affordances we hold in common. At the same time, it is a unique moment in the school’s evolution as our three fields are becoming more and more entangled— productively so! Also, ongoing work has significantly widened our apertures of collaboration to include fields and partners outside of Knowlton and the university with the goal of contributing to societal and planetary thriving.

My goal as interim director is to support a successful and inspired search for a new director and ensure that the school is prepared as a platform for this person’s success and the school’s next era of impact. Foundational to this is the culture of the school and a well-functioning infrastructure. In September we will take on a project of envisioning to discuss not only who we are and what we do, but more importantly to imagine who we want to be as a school—to articulate the sketch of a future we want to steer towards. My first sense is that my infrastructure priorities will focus on the budget and technology.

My own work was/is in the process of launching a new trajectory. Based upon everything that has come before and a vast and increasing network of collaborators, I am ramping up a series of new efforts that I shorthand explain as a think-tank-design-lab based upon the intersection of architecture, social sciences, policy, technology, and complexity science. When asked to serve in this role, I agreed because of my commitment to this community, the work we do with and for the students, and because it is a moment of opportunity. Following on the heels of the leadership and many accomplishments of Directors Imbert and Cadwell, I am excited to help launch a new era of the school through the work we do as a community this year.

Ann Pendleton-Jullian
August 5, 2024