Blair Satterfield appointed director, pro tem, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

A message from James Olson, Dean, Faculty of Applied Science

I'm very pleased to announce that Professor Blair Satterfield has been appointed as Director, pro tem, of SALA for a one-year term.

Professor Satterfield is an Associate Professor who joined the Faculty of Applied Science in 2010 and has served as Chair of the Master of Architecture Program at SALA. Prior to this he taught at Rice University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Houston, where he helped direct the development of products for the U of H Green Building Components Initiative.

Professor Satterfield is the founder and Director of the HiLo Lab; a UBC SALA based collaborative research initiative working at the intersection of materials, construction ecology, and use of novel technologies in architectural applications. Outside SALA, he is a co-founding principal of HouMinn Practice with design partner Marc Swackhamer from the University of Colorado, Denver. Their work challenges broadly accepted approaches to design agency through focus on post-disciplinary partnerships, unconventional making, material ecologies and the role of decay in architecture. Both endeavours are award-winning and internationally published.

In 2018, Professor Satterfield was also awarded with the Killam Teaching Prize in light of his exceptional record of leadership and scholarly achievements. I am delighted he has accepted to lead SALA as Director, pro tem, over the next calendar year.  I very much look forward to working with him in his new role. 

I would be remiss if I did not also take this opportunity to acknowledge Professor Ron Kellett for his outstanding service and leadership as Director of the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture since 2015. During his tenure, Ron grew the reputation and scope of SALA's academic programs and, in parallel, the School's faculty, operations and physical infrastructure including a new Digital Design and Fabrication facility collaboration with the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and other Applied Science units. Ron's leadership also enabled development of SALA’s longer term Strategic Directions (2023) plan, the Faculty of Applied Science Strategic plan and to a shared vision of the Applied One building project. 

Finally, I would like share that SALA will resume the search process again in the spring of 2024.