June 14, 2013 UT Graduate Student Voted to Co-Host Show About Architecture

Amanda Gann, a graduate architecture student at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will take center stage this month as cohost of “ARCHITECT Live!,” a live broadcast that showcases conversations with the leading thinkers and personalities in architecture.

The show will be part of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention in Denver from June 20-22.

Gann, of Pegram, Tenn., who won a video contest by popular vote, will host with Stephen Chung, an acclaimed architect and creator/host of “Cool Spaces: The Best of New Architecture,” a prime-time television series on U.S. and Canadian public television. Karen Tang of California Polytechnic University was also voted to emcee.

View Gann’s video entry below.

“It is such an incredible honor to be chosen,” Gann said. “It means the world to me to have this opportunity to represent the voice of students and emerging professionals from around the globe in a discourse about leadership in the profession.”

The AIA Convention is the largest professional convention of architecture in the world. Nearly 15,000 people are expected to attend. The theme this year is “Building Leaders.” The convention will include keynote speakers, educational seminars, a product show exposition and the conferring of the year’s biggest design awards.

Gann is scheduled to interview notable architects and keynote speakers in eight sessions over three days. One interview will be with Tricia Stuth and Zach Mortice of the UT New Norris House, which was recently named a Top 10 Green Project of 2013 by the AIA and its Committee on the Environment (COTE).

A number of UT architects will be recognized for their work during the convention. Faculty members Ted Shelton and Katherine Ambroziak will receive honors, and 17 Tennessee architecture alumni will present educational seminars or receive awards.

“Within the College of Architecture and Design, there is such a fantastic support network,” said Gann, who also earned her undergraduate degree from UT. “From my very first year in architecture school, I learned that there are passionate people like me all over the world who could inspire me and teach me how to become a better designer, communicator and individual.”

Gann received the Chapter President Honor Award from the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) in 2012. She recently placed first in the Architectural Design Category of the Gowanus by Design Water_Works Competition and claimed the Jury Prize in Environmental Sensitivity in the 2013 Ed Bacon Student Design Competition. She also received an honorable mention in the AIAS and Kawneer “Enlightening Libraries” Design Competition. She is now editor-in-chief of IMPRINT, a student publication of the UT College of Architecture and Design.

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C O N T A C T:

Kiki Roeder (865-974-6713, kroeder@utk.edu)