German Pallares Avitia

Assistant Professor
head shot of German Pallares

Germán Pallares-Avitia is a registered Mexican architect and scholar. He holds a MArch from the Universitat Politécnica de Catalunya and a PhD in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. His research lies at the intersection of modernization, cultural relations, borders and politics in the context of Latin America and the US. Germán’s work is interdisciplinary, drawing on fields such as border, Chicano and gender studies, as well as environmental history and urbanism and explores post-colonial and decolonial concepts that refine understandings of territories, nations, identity and migration as they relate to architectural and urban conditions.
 
Germán’s research project @the_postborderzone examines the built environment of the borderlands as a series of sites in which residents often exchange places and have daily access to cultural, social and commercial activities across political divides. These spaces are where hybridized citizenship arises as a result of the resistance to and assimilation of imperialistic, nation-state and capitalist determinants. Currently, Germán hosts the podcast @fromthemarginspodcast, an open forum for intersectional conversations on topics of marginalization and oppression with researchers, artists, designers and activists who transgress the limits of cultural production through resistance, justice and liberation.
 
Germán was an SEI Research Fellow at RISD from 2021–23 and has taught both studio and history & Theory courses at the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design, Lehigh University and Tec de Monterrey Campus Santa Fe in Mexico City, where he was chair of the architecture program and managed collaborative academic projects with international offices such as Zaha Hadid Architects and others. He has been a guest critic in México, Spain and the US and has collaborated with Legorreta Arquitectos as a project designer/manager on projects for the Aga Kahn Foundation.

Fall 2023 Courses

ARCH 2196-02 - THESIS SEM: NAVIGATING THE CREATIVE PROCESS
Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 2196-02

THESIS SEM: NAVIGATING THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: W | 1:10 PM - 4:10 PM Instructor(s): German Pallares Avitia Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 319 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

We begin work on your Thesis Projects from the outset of the semester: navigating arbitrary beginnings; setting boundaries like nets; developing a whole language of grunts, smudges and haiku; gathering the unique and unrepeatable content, forces, and conditions of your project; hunting an emerging and fleeting idea; recognizing discoveries; projecting forward with the imagination; and distilling glyphs, diagrams and insight plans.This course satisfies the prerequisite requirement for Thesis Project.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $50.00 - $200.00

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | BArch, MArch (3yr), MArch (2yr): Architecture

ARCH 21ST-08 - ADVANCED STUDIO
Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 21ST-08

ADVANCED STUDIO

Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Fall 2023
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2023-09-06 to 2023-12-13
Times: MTH | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): German Pallares Avitia Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 210 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

These studios, three of which are required for graduation, are offered by individual instructors to students who have successfully completed the core curriculum. They are assigned by lottery. Once assigned to an advanced studio, a student may not drop studio.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $50.00 - $200.00

Fee: Some advanced studio sections have a fee for course supplies or field trips. The fee is announced during the registration lottery held in the department.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Preference is given to Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | BArch, MArch (3yr), MArch (2yr): Architecture

Spring 2024 Courses

ARCH 2198-02 - THESIS PROJECT
Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 2198-02

THESIS PROJECT

Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 6
Format Studio
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: MTH | 1:10 PM - 6:10 PM Instructor(s): German Pallares Avitia Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 410 Enrolled / Capacity: 12 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Under the supervision of a faculty advisor, students are responsible for the preparation and completion of an independent thesis project.

Estimated Materials Cost: $50.00 - $200.00

Permission for this class is based on the student's overall academic record, as well as their performance in the Wintersession course ARCH 2197: Thesis Discursive Workshop. If the department recommends against a student undertaking ARCH-2198: Thesis Project, two advanced elective studios must be taken instead.

Majors are pre-registered for this course by the department. Enrollment is limited to Architecture Students.

Major Requirement | BArch, MArch (3yr), MArch (2yr): Architecture

ARCH 2352-02 - ADVANCED TOPICS IN ARCHITECTURAL THEORY
Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start date
End date

ARCH 2352-02

ADVANCED TOPICS IN ARCHITECTURAL THEORY

Level Undergraduate
Unit Architecture
Subject Architecture
Period Spring 2024
Credits 3
Format Seminar
Mode In-Person
Start and End 2024-02-15 to 2024-05-24
Times: W | 9:40 AM - 12:40 PM Instructor(s): German Pallares Avitia Location(s): Bayard Ewing Building, Room 317 Enrolled / Capacity: 14 Status: Open

SECTION DESCRIPTION

Theory offerings in the architecture department are deliberately consistent or complementary with our pedagogy, born and raised in an arts college. Theory based courses have a basis in empiricism, direct observation and experience of creative processes. Recognizing that discovery and invention often come between existing matrices of thought, offerings may be from disciplines other than architecture or branches of knowledge other than art and design. Objectives of the theory component of our curriculum are to:

  • Expand the capacity to speculate productively.
  • Develop the skeptic's eye and mind.
  • Equip the ability to recognize connections that trigger discovery and invention.

Preference is given to Junior, Senior, Fifth-year or Graduate Architecture Students.

Elective

head shot of German Pallares