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Jim Bassett

Interim Director
  • Associate Professor

Jim Bassett is an Associate Professor of Architecture and the current interim Director of the School of Architecture and the School of Design. He was awarded the Sanders Fellowship at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan from 2005-2006 and continued teaching there as a Lecturer in Architecture until 2008 when he joined the faculty at Virginia Tech. In 2011 he was the recipient of the ACSA/AIAS New Faculty Teaching Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and the American Institute of Architecture Students. In addition to teaching and research, Bassett has maintained a design practice, Zellner + Bassett, with Paola Zellner since 1998. In 2010, Zellner + Bassett was honored with the Award of Excellence from the Blue Ridge Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He has also worked professionally, in Los Angeles, with Roto Architects (1994-2004), Frank Gehry and Associates (1993), and Richard Meier and Partners (1992).

Beginning Design, Building Materials and Construction, Contextual Mean, Poetic Measure

ARCH 1015-1016: Foundation Design Laboratory
ARCH 3045: Building Assemblies
ARCH 4515-4516: Architecture V
ARCH 4524: Thesis Documentation
ARCH 4514: Thesis Inquiry

Bassett, Jim, “Poetic Measure of Form.” National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, online. April 2020 (limited acceptance to conference, abstract peer reviewed)

Bassett, J., Zellner, P., (Martin-Malikian, L.) (2019, September 13). Title of Exhibit: Soft Boundary [4x4]: A Critical Look at Artistic Research, Title of piece contributed: 1:1 (No. Of Pieces: 6) [Mixed media]. Stanford University.

“Chichén Itzá and the Contextual Mean,” Crough Center for Architectural Studies, The Catholic University of America. Exhibition of Photographs. Washington, D.C. 2014

Bassett, Jim. “ Everyone a Tourist.” Gallery and Essay. Places Journal, Design Observer Group. 2013 places.designobserver.com

Bassett, Jim, “Chichén Itzá and the Contextual Mean.” The Production of Place Conference. University of East London, UK. December 2012 Bassett, Jim, “Constructing the Mean.” ACS Architecture, Culture, Spirituality Conference. Chichén Itzá, Yucatan, Mexico. April 2012

Bassett, James, “The Form of Context.” National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Lincoln, Nebraska. March 2011

Bassett, James. “Recent Work, ” Fellowships in Architecture, Ed. Janice Harvey. San Francisco, ORO Editions. 2009 p. 170-173. (presents work of those who have been part of the competitive fellowship program and includes design work of Zellner+Bassett)

DesignIntelligence 25 Most Admired Educators For 2017–18

New Faculty Teaching Award, 2011

Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture and American Institute of Architecture 

Students (ACSA/AIAS)

Sanders Fellowship, 2005-2006

Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, MI

Award of Excellence, Annual Design and Honor Awards, American Institute of Architects, Blue Ridge Chapter for the Bee Global Studio and Gallery, designed by Zellner+Bassett, Roanoke, VA  September 2010

Education

M.Arch., Southern California Institute of Architecture

B.E.D.A., North Carolina State University

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James-Bassett-CV.pdf