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Ryan Madson

Architecture professor

Education

  • M.L.A., landscape architecture, Harvard University
  • M.U.E.P., urban and environmental planning
  • B.A., English, Georgia Southern University

Credentials

Teaching

  • Professor of architecture, 2011–present, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
    • Teaches undergraduate and graduate architecture studios, with emphasis on design fundamentals, urban design, and environmental design.
    • Design research emphasis on "The Open City" and social justice, 2017–present
    • Led or co-taught SCADpro and SCAD SERVE collaborations including: Disney Imagineering, Glynn County (Georgia), Goodwill Industries, Google, National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Savannah Airport Commission, and Hewlett-Packard in alliance with Adobe, Intel, and Nvidia.
    • Graduate Coordinator, Master of Urban Design, 2012–22
    • Regional planning and design strategies for Galapagos Islands, 2016–21
    • Design research emphasis on “Projective Preservation,” 2012–17
    • MUD Thesis Chair, 2012–16
    • SCAD Lacoste, undergraduate and graduate architecture studios, 2014
    • Co-organized and led Hong Kong immersion program, Winter 2012
  • Teaching assistant, 2009–11, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA
  • Research assistant, 2009–11, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA

Professional

  • Principal, 2012–17, Madson Modern Workshop, Savannah, GA
  • Consulting and professional services in landscape design, preservation, and planning.
  • Urban design intern, 2010–11, Solid Objectives – Idenburg Liu (SO-IL), New York
  • Landscape architect intern, 2009, Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, New York
  • Planning consultant, 2006–08, Lott + Barber Architects, Savannah, GA
  • Specializing in comprehensive and regional planning.
  • Neighborhood coordinator/planner, 2005–06, Department of Community Planning + Development, City of Savannah
  • Planning intern, 2003–05, University of Virginia’s Office of the Architect, Charlottesville, VA

Organizations

Appointments

  • Appointed member, Tourism Advisory Commission, Savannah (GA), 2023–present
  • Appointed member, Girl Scouts of the USA, Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace Advisory Committee, 2019–24
  • President, Victorian Neighborhoods Association, Savannah (GA), 2018–22
  • Appointed member, Historic Savannah Foundation, Architectural Review Committee, 2019–21
  • Appointed member, Savannah Development and Renewal Authority, Planning and Advocacy Committee, 2015–17
  • Appointed member, Savannah-Chatham County Historic Site and Monument Commission, City Council Advisory Committee, 2007–08, 2012–17

Memberships

  • Member, American Society of Landscape Architects, 2011–present
  • Member, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, 2011–present
  • Member, International Federation of Landscape Architects, 2011–present

Publications and presentations

Publications

  • "Madson's Top Ten Pinks," Impact Magazine, 2024
  • Pop-cycled Apocalypse (self-published artist catalog), with artist Matt Toole, 2024
  • "Zones: Post-Industrial Aesthetics and Environments after Stalker [revised]," Offscreen, 2023
  • "Arctic Apocalypse: Listening to the Hyperobject with Vladislav Delay," Sound of Life, 2022
  • "Lo-fi & Pinkscale (Part 1): From Cosmotechnics to Xngularity," CLOT Magazine, 2022
  • "Lo-fi & Pinkscale (Part 2): Xngularity for a Postcapitalist Age," CLOT Magazine, 2022
  • "Worldbuilding Forever: Bold Ideas for Our Collective Futures," Strelka Magazine, 2021
  • "The Revolution Will Not Be (Re)Tweeted," SCAD Medium.com, 2020
  • "Post-Stalker: Notes on Post-Industrial Environments and Aesthetics," Strelka Magazine, 2019
  • "Utopia Revisited," in Savannah: Rethinking the Multi-Scalar Capacity of the City. Eds. Joan Busquets and Dingliang Yang. Harvard University Graduate School of Design, 2018
  • "Projective Preservation: A Manifesto for Savannah," Strelka Magazine, 2016
  • Studies and Texts for the Aberdeenshire Landscape (catalog), produced in collaboration with artist Matthew Toole, Scottish Sculpture Workshop, 2016
  • "Broadway Revisited: Notes on a Poetics of Infrastructure," Satellite Magazine #5, 2015.
  • "The Boulevard and the Future of Adaptability: Lisbon's Segund Circular," Rethinking Real and Virtual Infrastructures in the 21st Century: Innovative Boulevards in Lisbon. Ed. Joan Busquets. Harvard GSD, 2013.
  • "Reflections on Intangible Infrastructure in Mumbai" (co-authored with Bryan Bell), in Extreme Urbanism: Reimagining Mumbai's Backbay. Edited by Rahul Mehrotra. Published by Harvard GSD, 2012.

Presentations

  • "The Poetics of Infrastructure." Presented at Criticism and Discourse in/of/and Art, Architecture, Design, and Media Symposium, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, 2015.
  • "The Picturesque: Functionalism without Sentiment." Presented at Sculpture in the Landscape Symposium, Scottish Sculpture Workshop, Scotland, UK, 2012.