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Alexandra Staub
Associate Professor, Non-Tenured, Appointed 2001

Education

  • Ph.D., Brandenburg Technical University at Cottbus, Germany, 2005. Dissertation Title: Cultural Change and the Ideal of the Single-Family House in the Federal Republic of Germany 1950-1989.
  • Diplom in Architecture, Universitat der Kunste Berlin (University of Fine Arts Berlin), Germany, 1991. Thesis project: A Health-Care Facility for Brandenburg.
  • Bachelor of Arts, Barnard College of Columbia University, New York, 1983

Teaching

  • Associate Professor, Penn State University, Department of Architecture, 2001-present
    Courses taught: Arch 111 Design and Planning Theory 2 (2003-2005) 3-credit lecture course
    Arch 131: FIrest Year Design Studio (2001) 5-credit studio course
    Arch 211: Modern Architectural Concepts (2002-2007) 3-credit lecture course
    Arch 231-232 Second-Year Design Studio (2002-2006) 6-credit studio course
    Arch 491-492 Thesis Design Studio (2006-present) 6-credit studio course
  • Junior Faculty Member, Department of Architecture, Bradenburg Technical University at Cottbus, Germany, 1993-1999
    Courses taught: First Year Deisgn Studio; Second Year Design Studio; Upper-Level (Vertical) Design Studio; Werkstat Wohnen (an upper-level housing seminar)
  • Lecturer, Department of Architecture, Bradenburg Technical University at Cottbus, Germany, 1992-1993
    Courses taught: Experimental Design Studio
  • Associated Architect, Hildebrandt & Lay Architekten, Berlin, 1993-1995.
  • Architect, Hertling Architekten, Berlin, 1991-1993.

Honors, Awards, Exhibits

  • Student Work exhibited at the Haus der Architectur, Graz, Austria, 1995

Published Work (Selection)

  • Alexandra Staub, The Last Cultural Bastion: Americanization and the Single-Family House in West Germany 1950-1989. Book Manuscript in Preparation
  • Alexandra Staub. “Einmal im Leben: Rooting the "Little Man" to Conservative Values in Postwar West Germany.” In After Fascism: Society, Political Culture, and Democratization in Europe since 1945, edited by Matthew Berg and Maria Mesner (Manchester University Press, forthcoming).
  • Alexandra Staub. “Transparency in Postwar West German Architecture: A Symbol of Democracy or of Continuing Class Tensions?” Proceedings of the ARCC/EAAE 2006 International Conference on Architectural Research, edited by Kate Wingert-Playdon and Herman Neuckermans (forthcoming March 2007).
  • Alexandra Staub. "St. Petersburg's Double Life: The Planners' versus the People's City." Journal of Urban History 31, no. 3 (March 2005): 334-354.
  • Alexandra Staub. “Public Face and Private Space: The West German Single Family House in the Twentieth Century.” Wolkenkuckucksheim/Cloud-Cukoo-Land/Vozdushnyi zamok’ 9, no. 1 (November 2004): without pagination (18 pages and 29 illustrations). http://www.cloud-cuckoo.net.
  • Alexandra Staub. “Magnitogorsk, Russia: Evolution of a Prototype Planned Soviet City After the Fall of Socialism.” In The Planned City, edited by Attilio Petruccioli, Michele Stella, Giuseppe Strappa, 348-52. Bari: Uniongrafica Corcelli Editrice, 2003.
  • Alexandra Staub. "From the Beaver to Roseanne: Lessons of TV Homes." Proceedings of the ACSA Annual Meeting, 13-18. Washington D.C.: Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, 2000.
  • Alexandra Staub. "Exporting America: Housing in Post-World-War-II Germany." Proceedings of the ACSA Annual Meeting, 463-9. Washington D.C.: Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, 2000.
  • Alexandra Staub. The All-American Dream Moves to Germany: Housing after World War II. In The American Impact on Western Europe: Americanization and Westernization in Transatlantic Perspective, edited by Raimund Lammersdorf, 1999, without pagination (27 pages and 10 illustrations) www.ghi-dc.org/conpotweb/westernpapers/staub.pdf. and www.ghi-dc.org/conpotweb/westernpapers/staubillus.pdf.
  • Alexandra Staub, ed. Werkstatt Wohnen 5: Zu Hause in St. Petersburg [Housing Workshop 5: At Home in St. Petersburg]. In-house publication, BTU Cottbus, 1999.
  • Alexandra Staub, ed. Werkstatt Wohnen 4: Total Mobil [Housing Workshop 4: Housing the Handicapped]. In-house publication, BTU Cottbus, 1998.
  • Alexandra Staub, ed. Werkstatt Wohnen 3: Der Nutzer Spricht [Housing Workshop 3: User Participation]. In-house publication, BTU Cottbus, 1998.
  • Alexandra Staub, ed., Werkstatt Wohnen 2: Das Niedrigenergiehaus [Housing Workshop 2: The Passive Energy House]. In-house publication, BTU Cottbus, 1997.
  • Alexandra Staub. “Neue Einfamilienhäuser in den USA: Die neusten Entwicklungen im Einfamilienhausbau dargestellt an 30 Beispielen, herausgegeben von Oscar Riera Ojeda” [The New American House: Newest Developments in Single Family Housing as Shown in 30 Examples, edited by Oscr Riera Ojeda]. Kursiv: Literaturblatt der Bauwelt 87, no. 27 (1996): 17 (book review).
  • Alexandra Staub. “Contemporary California Architects by Philip Jodidio.” Kursiv: Literaturblatt der Bauwelt 87, no. 27 (1996): 18 (book review).
  • Edda Kurz, Alexandra Staub, and Fritz Talle, eds. Werkstatt Wohnen 1: Mobiles, Flexibles und Variables Wohnen [Housing Workshop 1: Mobile, Flexible and Variable Housing]. In-house publication, BTU Cottbus, 1995.
  • Alexandra Staub. "Ein Ort mit vielen Handlungsräumen–Delano-Hotel, Miami Beach" [A Space in Many Acts – Delano Hotel, Miami Beach]. Bauwelt 86, no. 44 (1995): 2532-7.
  • Alexandra Staub. "Mobile, Flexible, Variable: Housing Concepts Rediscovered." In The Appropriateness of Means, 56-69. Graz: Haus der Architektur, 1995.
  • Alexandra Staub. “Drinnen-draussen: unterwegs” [Inside-Outside: On the Way]. Bauwelt 85, no. 19 (1994): 1024 (symposium review).
  • Alexandra Staub. “Neue Unis im Osten” [New Universities in the East]. Baumeister 91, no. 1 (Jan. 1994): 47-9.
  • Mary Pepchinsky and Alexandra Staub. "Berlin After the Wall." Metropolis, no. 1-2 (Jan-Feb. 1993), 58-65.
  • Alexandra Staub. “Genua: ‘Colombo 92’: die Entdeckung des Meeres” [“Colombo 92”: Discovering the Sea]. Baumeister 89, no. 8 (Aug 1992): 40-48.
  • Wallis Miller, Mary Pepchinsky, and Alexandra Staub. “How to become an architect: Architektenausbildung in New York” [How to Become an Architect: Architectural Education in New York]. Bauwelt 83, no. 6-7 (1992): 325-7.
  • Alexandra Staub. "Projects Post-Wall Berlin." Progressive Architecture 72, no. 12 (Dec. 1991): 93-5.
  • Alexandra Staub. "'Brand Neu,' Brandenburg blüht auf" [Brand New: Brandenburg’s Awakening]. Bauwelt 82, no. 25 (1991): 1328.
  • Alexandra Staub. “Gedenkstätte Fossoli” [The Fossoli Memorial]. Bauwelt 82, no. 31 (1991): 1588-9.
  • Alexandra Staub. “Die Renaissance der Iron-buildings” [The Renaissance of the Iron Buildings]. Bauwelt 82, no. 13 (1991): 654-5.
  • Alexandra Staub. "Großräschen: Ein Dorf stirbt für den Tagebau" [Grossrächen: The Strip-Mine Death of a Small Town]. Bauwelt 81, no. 27 (1990): 1396-7.

Papers Held at Professional Meetings

  • “Transparency in Postwar German Architecture: A Symbol of Democracy or of Continuing Class Tensions?” Held at the Architectural Research Centers Consortium/European Association for Architectural Education 2006 International Conference on Architectural Research, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 2006.
  • “Einmal im Leben: Rooting the ‘Little Man’ to Conservative Values in Postwar West Germany.” Held at the conference “After Fascism: Re-Democratization of Western European Society and Political Culture since 1945,” organized by the Bruno Kreisky Archives Foundation, Vienna, Austria, May 2005.
  • “Master Planned or Grass Roots? Vernacular Architecture in late Twentieth-Century Germany.” Held at the “Fourth Savannah Symposium: Architecture and Regionalism,” organized by the Department of Architectural History at the Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, Georgia, February 2005.
  • “The Sanctity of Home: Consequences for Urban Life in Postwar West Germany.” Held at the “Second Biennial Urban History Conference,” organized by the Urban History Association, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, October 2004.
  • "Public Faces and Private Lives: Examining the Threshold Between Public Street and Private Home in 20th Century Germany." Held at the conference on “Gebaute Räume. Zur kulturellen Formung von Architektur und Stadt” [Built Spaces: On the Cultural Forming of Architecture and the City], organized by the Chair of Architectural Theory of the Brandenburg Technical University at Cottbus, Germany, June 2004.
  • "After the Fall: The Role of Vernacular Domestic Architecture in Postwar West Germany." Held at the “Vernacular Architecture Forum Annual Meeting,” Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, May 2004.
  • "Magnitogorsk, Russia: Evolution of a Prototype Planned Soviet City After the Fall of Socialism." Held at the “Fifth European Social Science History Conference (ESSH),” Berlin, March 2004.
  • "Images of the Dream: Domestic Space as a Means to Economic and Social Stability in Cold-War West Germany." Held at the “41st National Conference of the Society of Photographic Education,” Newport, Rhode Island, March 2004.
  • "Challenging Spaces Planned for Socialism: A Case Study of Magnitogorsk, Russia." Held at the conference on "Challenging Urban Identities," organized by the International Sociology Association, Milan, Italy, September, 2003.
  • "Magnitogorsk, Russia: Evolution of a Prototype Planned Soviet City After the Fall of Socialism," Held at the “Institute for the Study of Urban Form (ISUF) International Conference,” Trani, Italy, July 2003.
  • “St. Peterburg’s Double Life: The Planners’ versus the People’s City.” Held at the “First Biennial Urban History Conference,” organized by the Urban History Association, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 2002.
  • “From the Beaver to Roseanne: Lessons of TV Homes.” Held at the “Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Annual Meeting,” Los Angeles, California, March 2000.
  • “Exporting America: Housing in Post-World-War-II Germany.” Held at the “Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) Annual Meeting,” Los Angeles, California, March 2000.
  • “The All-American Dream Moves To Germany: Housing after World War II.” Held at the conference “The American Impact on Western Europe: Americanization and Westernization in Transatlantic Perspective,” at the German Historical Institute, Washington, D.C., March 1999.

Grants

  • Institute of Arts and Humanities, Penn State University, Interdisciplinary Group Grant, November 2006. Grant will fund a series of symposia and exhibitions as part of a newly founded “Architectural Research Consortium” at Penn State (application submitted together with Christine Gorby, Sally McMurry, and Daniel Purdy).
  • Institute of Arts and Humanities, Penn State University, Resident Scholar Grant, October 2006. Grant will fund one semester of research and writing in the Spring of 2008 for the project “Soviet Urban Paradigms”.
  • Kennan Institute Short-Term Grant, July 2006. Grant will fund a one-month research visit to review the Russian collections located in the European Reading Room of the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.
  • DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Information Visit Grant, May-June, 2004. Award funded a 12-day visit to five German Cities under the auspices of the “Shrinking Cities” Intersession Program (in conjunction with the Brandenburg Technical University at Cottbus).
  • College of Arts and Architecture Research Grant, Penn State University, October 2003. Award funded travel and research to Berlin, Germany for the project “The Portrayal of Women and the Perception of Modern Housing in West German Advertising and Media 1950-1989.”
  • DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) Information Visit grant, November 2002. Award funded a 12-day visit to the German cities of Frankfurt, Weimar and Berlin.
  • College of Arts and Architecture Research Grant, Penn State University, October 2001. Award funded travel and research to Magnitogorsk, Russia for the project “Magnitogorsk, Russia: Socialist Urbanism Revisited.”
  • Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German National Research Foundation) Research Grant, March 2000. Award funded travel and research to Washington, D.C. for the project “Americanization and German Cultural Identity: The Spatial and Organizational Development of the West German Single Family House from 1950-1989.”
  • Exchange Scholar, Technical University of Architecture and Civil Engineering, St. Petersburg, Russia, March-July 1998 (DAAD - German Academic Exchange Service Grant).