Cesar A Lopez
Assistant Professor
cesarlopez@unm.edu / 505-277-2903
Education
- M.Arch, California College of the Arts, Architecture Division
- B.S. Architecture, Texas Tech University, College of Architecture, El Paso
Research
- Typologies shaped by the U.S.-Mexico Border
- Politics of Representation
- Territory and Infrastructure
Cesar A. Lopez is a design researcher who draws from his experiences living in the United States-Mexico border region to explore the entanglements between architecture, territory, and the politics that dictate them. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico, School of Architecture + Planning, where he teaches studios on territorial typologies and seminars on the politics of representation. Cesar is an Associate and Representation Lead at The Open Workshop, where his primary focus is developing the office's representational project, which aims to frame collateral populations and environments that often discounted by the discipline. He has been a leading designer on many widely published projects and installations, including New Investigations in Collective Form, which was awarded the 2021 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Faculty Design Award, Commoning Domestic Space at the 17th Venice Biennale, and The Center Won't Hold at the 2021 Chicago Architecture Biennial.
Cesar taught architectural design studios, representation courses, and workshops at the California College of the Arts (CCA) and the University of California, Berkeley College of Environmental Design. In 2018, he participated in the Resilience by Design - Bay Area Challenge as the Resilient Design Research Fellow. His writings, drawings, and research have been published in Bracket [Takes Action], Pidgin, Momentum Magazine, Places Journal, and the Art Journal. Cesar received his Master in Architecture from the California College of the Arts (CCA) and a Bachelor of Science of Architecture from Texas Tech University, College of Architecture in El Paso.
ARCH 301: Architectural Design III
ARCH 1115: Introduction to Architectural Graphics
ARCH 604: Masters Architecture Design IV — Citizenry Exclusions
ARCH 462-662: Seminar — Representation as Action
ARCH 601: Masters Architecture Design I — Social Currency
ARCH 462-662: Seminar — The US-Mexico Border as…
ARCH 323: Architecture and Context
(Forthcoming Book)
Lopez, Cesar A., Jeffrey S. Nesbit, “Exclusions, Edges, and Ecologies: An Architecture…,” (ACTAR Publishers, TBD
(Published Writings)
Bhatia, Neeraj, and Cesar A. Lopez, “Revealing the Dark Chamber of Precarity”, in Pidgin 29, Scharff J., ed. (Princeton University, 2021)
Lopez, Cesar A., “Borderlands: An Exploitation of the United States-Mexico Political Geography”, in Bracket [Takes Action], Bhatia N., White M., eds. (San Francisco: Applied Research + Design, 2020)
Lopez, Cesar A., “Object Lessons: The US-Mexico Border River”, in Art Journal Vol. 79, (College of Art Association 2020)
Bhatia, N, and Cesar A. Lopez, “Data as Logistics”, Momentum Magazine, (Issue 3, ‘Framework’, Nov. 2019), pp. 20–21.
(Published Work & Research)
The Open Workshop, New Investigations in Collective Form, (Actar Publishers, 2020)
The Open Workshop, “Environment as Politics”, in Places Journal, (April 2017)
(Conference Papers & Projects)
Cuellar, Adrianna, Cesar A. Lopez, and Marcel Sanchez-Prieto “Border Call Centers: Archipelagic Urban Gateways in an Opportunistic Landscape” in 2022 ARCC-EAAE Annual Conference “RESILIENT CITY
Lopez, Cesar A., and Alaa Quraishi, “Actions to Reset Studio Culture” in Proceedings of the 2021 Association Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Annual Conference “Expanded”
Lopez, Cesar A., “Leveraging the Rio Grande River” in Proceedings of the 2020 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Annual Conference “Open”
Knayzeh, Rebal, and Cesar A. Lopez, “Hybridity as Core Studio” in Proceedings of the TFYD 2019, Annual Conference “Initiations: Practices in 1st Year Design in Architecture.”
(Conference Presentations & Panels)
New Investigations in Collective Form, w/ Neeraj Bhatia
Design Process Panel / 2021 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Annual Conference “Expanded,” Moderator: Aliki Economides
Deconstructing Studio Pedagogy, w/ Michaele Pride and Alaa Quraishi
Annual Special Session, 2021 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Annual Conference “Expanded,” Moderator: Samia Kirchner
New Representations of the US-Mexico Border, w/ Nathan Friedman
Special Session Workshop, Border Consortium, 2020 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Annual Conference “Open,” Panelists: Norma Iglesias-Prieto, Ingrid Hernandez
Leveraging the Rio Grande River
Design Process Panel, 2020 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Annual Conference “Open,” Moderator: Shawhin Roudbari
Hybridity as Core Studio, w/ Rebal Knayzeh
TFYD 2019, Annual Conference “Initiations: Practices in 1st Year Design in Architecture”
(Current Research Collaborations)
Public Domestic, co-Director w/ Gabriel Fries-Briggs
Funded by the UNM Center for Regional Studies and UNM School of Architecture + Planning, Forthcoming Fall 2022
Exclusions, Edges, and Ecologies, co-Director w/ Jeffrey S. Nesbit
Funded by the UNM Research Allocation Committee and SA+P Internal Faculy Grant, Forthcoming Fall 2023
(Select Projects as Associate + Representation Lead of The Open Workshop)
Aging Against the Machine: Drawing Series, RESET Exhibition
Center for Architecture / New York, NY, USA, 2022
House of Commons,
500 Capp Street (David Ireland House), San Francisco, CA, USA, 2022
The Center Won’t Hold,
Chicago Architecture Biennial, Chicago, IL, USA, 2021
Commoning Domestic Space
Venice Architecture Biennale / Venice, IT, 2021
Depth of Fields House
Lake Edersee, Germany, 2017-Present / In Construction
ReAssemblying the Archive
Seoul Biennale of Architecture & Urbanism, Seoul, South Korea, 2019
New Investigations in Collective Form
Yerba Buena Center for the Arts / San Francisco, CA, USA, 2018
Malleable Monuments
StorefrontLab, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2017
Environment as Politics
Drawings Codes Exhibition, San Francisco, CA, USA, 2017
Scaffoldia
Our City: Oakland Arts Festival, Oakland, CA, USA, 2016
Staging Sheppard
Toronto, ON, CAN, 2015
Varna Public Library and National Archive
Varna Bulgaria, 2015
Dredgescaping Toledo
Toledo, OH, USA, 2014
Steam Stratum
Leipaja, Latvia, 2014
Garden of Displaced Roots
Jardins de Métis, QC, CAN, 2013
2021 Faculty Design Award
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture “Expanded”
Project: New Investigation in Collective Form, w/ Neeraj Bhatia
2021 Internal SA+P Grant
The University of New Mexico School of Architecture + Planning
Project: Public Domestic, w/ Gabriel Fries-Briggs
2021 Internal SA+P Grant
The University of New Mexico School of Architecture + Planning,
Project: Exclusions, Edges, and Ecologies (Publication)
2020-2021 New Teacher Award Nominated
The University of New Mexico, Center for Teaching & Learning
2021 WeR1 Faculty Success Grant
The University of New Mexico, Office of Vice President of Research
Project: The Center Won’t Hold - The Bronzesheets
2021 Faculty Development Grant
The University of New Mexico, Center for Regional Studies
Project: Public Domestic, w/ Gabriel Fries-Briggs
2021 Faculty Research Grant
The University of New Mexico, Research Allocation Committee, 2021
Project: Exclusions, Edges, and Ecologies (Research)
2020-2021 Student Experience Project, Implementation Fellow
The University of New Mexico, Center for Teaching & Learning
Resilient Design + Research Fellow, 2018 Resilient by Design: Bay Area Initiative
Project Team: CCA Urban Works, UC Berkeley CED, Landscape Architecture Department, AECOM, CMG Landscape, David Baker Architects
