Hope Hasbrouck, graduate adviser and assistant professor in the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin, has been chosen to receive the 2008 Rome Prize, one of the most highly regarded awards in the arts and humanities.
The prize provides a $25,000 stipend and living accommodations for an 11-month fellowship at the Rome Academy in Rome, Italy.
The Rome Prize, awarded annually by The American Academy in Rome, is given to 30 emerging artists and scholars in the early or middle stages of their careers. Hasbrouck won the Garden Club of America Rome Prize, originally created in 1928, to stimulate knowledge and love of gardening and to restore, improve and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and actions in the fields of conservation and civic improvement.
Hasbrouck’s professional and academic background revolves around an interdisciplinary approach to the study of landscape architecture. Her recent work has been in association with the Institute for Classical Archeology at The University of Texas at Austin with support from the Packard Institute for the Humanities. The project brought together students, archeologists, historic preservationists and landscape architects in the design of an archeological park near Sevastopol, Ukraine.
Her proposal, “Interpreting Cultural Territories Through Prospect and Passage,” will examine the cultural landscape of Rome and its surrounding territory. The study will focus on the definition of place and the personal geometries of the historic imagination.
“This is a transformative opportunity for Hope,” said Fritz Steiner, dean of the School of Architecture. “While spending a year in Rome with other leading scholars, architects and artists she’ll have the freedom to conceive new ideas in a wonderfully creative environment.”
Prior to joining the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin, Hasbrouck was a member of the faculty of design at Harvard University. In 2005, Hasbrouck received the School of Architecture Outstanding Teacher Award (studio) and the School of Architecture Outstanding Service Award.
Hasbrouck is the fourth faculty member in the School of Architecture at The University of Texas at Austin to receive the award. Previous winners are Steiner and associate professors Mirka Benes and Nichole Wiedemann.
Established in 1894 and chartered by an act of Congress in 1905, The American Academy in Rome is a center that sustains independent artistic pursuits and humanistic studies. Each year, through a national competition, the Rome Prize is awarded to 15 artists working in architecture, landscape architecture, design, historic preservation and conservation, literature, musical composition or visual arts. An additional 15 artists working in ancient, medieval, Renaissance, early modern and modern Italian studies, receive awards.
