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David Gobel

Architectural history professor

Education

  • Ph.D., architecture, Princeton University
  • M.Arch.Hist., architectural history, University of Virginia
  • M.A., architecture, Princeton University
  • B.Arch., architecture, Texas Tech University

Credentials

  • Professor, architectural history, 1996–present, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
  • Adjunct assistant professor, 1994–1996, Architectural History and Theory, 20th-Century Architectural Theory, University of Oregon and Portland State University Joint Architecture Program, Portland, OR
  • Market Researcher, 1993–1996, US Bancorp, Portland, OR
  • Adjunct assistant professor, 1993–1994, History of Western Art; Architectural History and Theory, Portland State University, Portland, OR
  • Instructor, 1993, Clackamas Community College, History of Western Art
  • Instructor, 1992–1993, History of Western Art, Portland Community College, Portland, OR
  • Instructor, 1991–1993, History of Architecture and Interiors, Marylhurst College, Marylhurst, OR
  • Instructor, 1992, Architectural History and Theory, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, OR
  • Assistant professor, 1990–1991, History of Architecture and Urban Form, Architectural Theory, Oregon School of Architecture + Design, Eugene, OR
  • Assistant-in-instruction to Robert Geddes, 1988, Introduction to Architecture, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
  • Assistant in instruction for Juliette Richardson-Smith, 1987, History of Urban Form, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
  • Research assistant to Chester Rapkin, 1987, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
  • Assistant-in-instruction to Anthony Vidler, 1986, Architectural Theory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
  • Architecture/planning consultant, 1981–1982, FACE Associates, Washington, D.
  • Draftsman/designer, 1978, Higgins, Pellati, Herrera, and Carson (summer), El Paso, TX

Awards, recognitions, and honors

  • Presidential Fellowship, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2018
  • Affiliated Fellowship, American Academy, Rome, 2018
  • National Endowment of the Humanities grant, co-recipient, Society of Architectural Historians for the Buildings of Savannah, 2013
  • Presidential Fellowship, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2013
  • School of Building Arts Dean's Award for Collaboration, 2013
  • Georgia Humanities Council Grant for 5th Savannah Symposium: "Building in the Public Realm," 2006
  • Presidential Fellowship, Savannah College of Art and Design, 2005
  • Georgia Humanities Council Grant for 3rd Savannah Symposium: "Commemoration and the City," 2002
  • Calvin College Seminars in Christian Scholarship fellowship, "New Urbanism and Communities of Faith," 2001
  • Georgia Humanities Council Grant for the Symposium on the City Square, 1999
  • William G. Bowen Fellowship (Princeton University stipend), 1988
  • Fulbright-Hays/Spanish Government Scholarship, 1987–1988
  • Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain's Ministry of Culture and United States Universities,  1987
  • Stanley J. Seeger Fellowship (for work on University of Virginia excavations at Morgantina, Sicily), 1985
  • Princeton University Fellowships, 1984–1987
  • Omicron Delta Kappa, University of Virginia honorary society for leadership, 1984
  • Tau Sigma Delta, Texas Tech University honorary society for architecture, 1980

Organizations

  • American Society for Hispanic Art Historical Studies
  • European Association for Urban History
  • College Art Association
  • Renaissance Society of America
  • Society of Architectural Historians
  • Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians
    • Served as president; vice-president; state representative; book award committee chair

Publications and presentations

Books

  • Co-author, Buildings of Savannah (part of the Buildings of the United States series for the Society of Architectural Historians), University of Virginia Press, 2016.
  • Co-editor, Commemoration in America, University of Virginia Press, 2013.

Essays, articles, and blogposts

  • "Porch, Piazza and Place in the Architecture of the South," Classicist 13 (Sept. 2016), 46-55.
  • "Interweaving Country and City in the Urban Design of Savannah, Georgia," Global Environment: A Journal of Transdisciplinary History, 9.1 (Spring 2016), 108-148.
  • "Before the Gates: Exploring a Lost Urban Topos in Early Modern Spain," Arris: The Journal of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians 25 (2014), 30-47.
  • "18th-century Avant-Garde: Charleston's Second St. Philip's Was a Pioneer in Church Design," Palladiana: Journal of the Center for Palladian Studies in America, Spring 2013.
  • "The Death of the Architect," Exploring the Built Environment (blog post), Feb. 2012.
  • "The Death of Disegno," Exploring the Built Environment (blog post), Nov. 5, 2011.
  • "In memoriam: Pamela H. Simpson (1946–2011)," Spring 2012, SESAH Newsletter.
  • "Reforming Church Architecture," The Gospel Coalition website, July 2011.
  • "Reforming Church Architecture," New Horizons (Feb. 2011), 6-7.
  • Brief essay in David R. Coffin, Magnificent Buildings, Splendid Gardens, edited by Vanessa Bezemer Sellers, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2008.
  • "Gates of Glory." Via 12: The University of Pennsylvania Architectural Journal (2000).

Conference papers and lectures

  • "The Lessons of Rome Revisited," Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians, annual meeting, Manhattan, Kan., Oct. 2018.
  • "Early Modern Inns and Taverns as Social Centers Outside the Gates of Castilian Towns," European Association for Urban History, annual meeting, Rome, Aug. 2018.
  • "Historical Building Types in Savannah," Congress for the New Urbanism, 29th Annual Congress, Savannah, Ga., May 2018.
  • "Rewriting Civic Histories on City Gates in Golden Age Spain," annual meeting of the Society of Architectural Historians, Glasgow, Scotland, June 2017.
  • "Visigothic Revival in Renaissance Toledo," Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians annual meeting, New Orleans, Sept. 2016.
  • "The First City in the World: The Renaissance View," Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians annual meeting, San Antonio, Oct. 2015.
  • "Town and Country in Theory and Practice in Savannah and Colonial Georgia," Conference on the Country and the City: The Country and the City: Connecting People and Their Places in Environmental History, Renmin University, Beijing, June 2014.
  • "Before the Gates: Exploring a Lost Urban Topos," Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians annual meeting, Charlotte, Sept. 2013.
  • "The Case for Contemporary Classicism," AIAS Forum, Savannah, Ga., Jan. 2013.
  • "The Architecture of the Ideal City," Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, New York, March 2019.
  • "The Architect’s Library: Renaissance Architectural Treatises," Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, New York, Dec. 2018.
  • "Villa and Garden Design: The Paradox of Paradise," Institute of Classical Architecture and Art, New York, Jan. 2018.
  • "The Art and Architecture of the Savannah Plan," chapter meeting of the PEO, Savannah, Ga., Sept. 2017.
  • "Building, Dwelling and Thinking about Castles," orientation meeting for SCAD students for the SCAD Sand Arts Festival, April 2017.
  • "The Reformation of Art" and "The Reformation of Architecture," Reformation"s Reforms conference, Independent Presbyterian Church of Savannah, Ga., March 2017.
  • "The Architecture of the Savannah Plan," meeting of the Savannah chapter of the Congress for the New Urbanism, Jan. 2017.
  • "Street Smarts: Savannah's Streets as Architecture," SCAD Museum of Art Theater, April 2016.
  • "Mapping and Designing Savannah," City of Savannah employees, Broughton Municipal Building, Feb. 2015.