For Prairie View A&M University Brown Endowed Chair of Architecture Bill Price, architecture is where people and nature meet.
“As an architectural researcher, I see architecture as the nexus between the known and the unknown,” he said. “This interdisciplinary field allows me to investigate the relationship between nature and the built environment.”
Growing up in Palmyra, Virginia, along the Rivanna River inspired this lifelong appreciation. “For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in nature and nature-based solutions,” Price said.
Price always knew architecture was “it” for him. “Through this exploration, I am continuously engaging the fundamental essence of nature, which, in turn, informs my work and inspires me to push the boundaries of what we know and create,” he said.
Also an associate professor and graduate coordinator in the School of Architecture at PVAMU, Price has been an educator for over two decades and an endowed professor for ten years.
His latest research, REBOOT, examines upcycling and the reuse of waste, such as plastic bottles, which are being tested in the award-winning INSTRUMENT for Building, Envelope, Assembly & Material Research, will be exhibited at the Venice Biennial Architecture Exhibition in Italy.
“As an architectural researcher, I see architecture as the nexus between the known and the unknown.”
“As an architectural researcher, I see architecture as the nexus between the known and the unknown.”
Before joining PVAMU in 2008 at the recommendation of the late Joe Mashburn, the former dean of the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture at the University of Houston, Price taught at UH. He holds an M.A. in architecture from Virginia Tech, formerly Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
He has also lectured, led workshops, and juried work at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and MIT.
What he enjoys about teaching is the students. “Their curiosity and ability to orally articulate what they are curious about are unmatched.”
Beyond the United States, Price’s career spans 11 countries, including Switzerland and the Netherlands. He was head of research and development and project architect/designer at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture with Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Rem Koolhaas in Rotterdam.
Price has won numerous grants and awards for his work, including first place in the 2008 Seoul Design Olympiad in Korea, where he exhibited the Air Dome, 97 meters of inflated “ribs” of plastic, and a pavilion resembling an igloo and a caterpillar.
His designs have been featured and published in various national architecture magazines and publications. He has also been interviewed by numerous media outlets and television networks, including National Public Radio and HGTV, for his work on natural and cultural disasters, as well as his work with translucent concrete, a “future of construction” prototype that was featured in the Nation Building Museum in Washington D.C.