Prof. Timothy Brown, AIA
Timothy Brown has been a studio professor at IIT's College of Architecture since 1990 and has taught across a wide swath of the College’s course offerings. A native of the southern Appalachians (Asheville, NC), he's been based out of Chicago since the late 80's but still can't get used to the midwestern flatness or Chicago winters.
While finishing his Masters at UIC he was hired to work at IIT as part of former dean Gene Summer's radical Tutorial System experiment. He joined Ben Nicholson's tutorial unit teaching the first year studio, third year design studio, city and regional planning, and assisting Ben with the fifth year students' studio. After leaving the unit he continued to teach the first year undergraduates (several of the studio projects he developed are still part of the first year program). He also began working with graduate design studios in the Masters of Architecure program.
Prof. Brown went to Italy in 1995 to teach a semester-long study abroad program. Originally part of the Tutorial Units' core curriculum, he reconfigured the program for fourth year undergrads once the units had been disbanded. The Italian program was based in Castiglion Fiorentino (between Cortona and Arezzo in southeastern Tuscany) and was conducted in concert with a number of other universities. Having found his home away from home in Tuscany, he set about redesigning the program and looking for a way to amplify the standard approach to "study abroad". Realizing the enormous potential for an autonomous and highly focused program, Prof. Brown moved the program across the Valdichiana to the hilltown of Montepulciano in 1997.
He directed the Italian Study Program for six years as the students' focus and interest started shifting from the deep history of Italy towards the many new projects coming on-line across northern Europe. Working closely with Dean Donna Robertson, he launched the new Paris Program in 2000. He directed (and taught) the Paris Program until finally repatriating in 2005.
Since his return to campus he has been teaching advanced comprehensive design studios, directing thesis students, and teaching graduate level research courses in advanced technologies. As Director of International Affairs for the College of Architecture, he has continued to work with study abroad programs adding a number of new programs to the College's offerings. He has taught a traveling studio in Seoul Korea, a summer traveling program that backpacked across a good slice of Europe, the most recent summer Paris Program, and will be leading a spring break trip to Japan - the College's first travel program there.
His advanced studios have explored a wide range of sites and places in the US as well: a project at the Very Large Array in New Mexico, a Centre Pompidou extension in Los Angeles, visitors centers in the Badlands of South Dakota and at Mt. Mitchell in the southern Appalachians. His most recent design studio developed a master plan for the Penn Center on St Helena Island SC.
He is also the Director of Graduate Admissions for the College and always looks forward to the flood of 400-some portfolios each January.
He is an Illinois licensed architect and is principal of Tim Brown Architects. The practice offers comprehensive architectural and urban planning services and has recently completed projects ranging from a 27,000,000 square foot civic building on the Midway airport site to a small private library of 432 ft2. The practice is actively engaged in research and regularly takes on competition projects as a way to explore beyond the limits of professional practice.
When architecture is too fraught with contracts and budgets (or just generally tedious), he works with Atelier FLIR, a collaborative design venture he founded that has been looking at things both much larger and much smaller than buildings. He learned to fly before he could drive, and still thinks riding his Bianchi around Tuscany for six years was the ideal way to see architecture.