Interview Carie Penabad, 27 October 2016

Gilda Santana joined the faculty of the University of Miami Libraries in 2007 as Head of Architecture Information and Resources to direct the Paul Buisson Architecture Library. She led the expansion and redesign of the library now called the Architecture Research Center (ARC) in 2018. Her research interests include facilitating the culture of design research through studio embedded-librarianship and the evolution of digital humanities in architecture and the arts. In 2013 she became the Librarian for Art & Art History. Santana has a Master of Science in Architecture from the School of Architecture, University of Miami, a Master’s in Library and Information Science from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and a Bachelor of Art from Bard College where she majored in Art History. She actively serves in the Association of Architecture School Librarians (AASL) and the Art Libraries Association of North America (ARLIS).

Carie Penabad is Associate Dean and Director of the Bachelor of Architecture program. Her research focuses on the study of Latin American urbanism and architecture, particularly gaining accurate data on informal settlements and their growing role in the shaping of the contemporary city. She is also a principal of CURE & PENABAD, based in Miami. The work of the firm ranges in scale from furniture to architecture and urban design, with a focus on the cultural relevance of architecture and its relationship to history, form, craft and type. The office has received 10 American Institute of Architects awards, state and local preservation awards, and has been featured in leading publications and blogs including DOMUS, ArchDaily, KooZA/rch, and Dezeen.

Penabad has taught at a variety of institutions including the Boston Architectural Center and Northeastern University; and in 2013 was the Louis I Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at Yale University. She co-authored the book Marion Manley: Miami’s First Women Architect with historian Catherine Lynn (University of Georgia Press, 2010) and recently edited the book Call to Order: Sustaining Simplicity in Architecture (ORO publishers, 2017). Penabad received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Miami and a Masters of Architecture in Urban Design degree from Harvard University.