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Victor Deupi: Architect, Historian, Educator

Victor Deupi:  Architect, Historian, Educator



Introduction to Victor Deupi.  0:55 sec.  Interview:  Raymond Elman.  Video Editing & Production:  Sergio Tamarit.  Recorded via Zoom:  7/28/2020, Miami, FL.

 

 

VICTOR DEUPI (b.1964) is a Cuban-American teacher of architectural history and theory, design, and representation at the University of Miami School of Architecture in Coral Gables. He received a Bachelor of Science in architecture from the University of Virginia, a Master of Architecture from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught previously at Fairfield University, the New York Institute of Technology, the University of Notre Dame, the Prince of Wales’s Institute of Architecture in London, and has been a “Visiting Critic” at the College of Architecture at Georgia Tech. The principal focus of his research is on the art and architecture of the Early Modern Ibero-American world, and mid-20th-century Cuba. His books include Architectural Temperance: Spain and Rome, 1700-1759 (Routledge 2015), Transformations in Classical Architecture: New Directions in Research and Practice (Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers, 2018), Emilio Sanchez in New York and Latin America (Routledge, 2020), Cuban Modernism: Mid-Century Architecture 1940-1970, with Jean-Francois Lejeune (Birkhäuser Verlag, 2021), and The Modern Stable and The Modern Winery, both with Oscar Riera Ojeda (Rizzoli, 2021). He has curated exhibitions on Cuban Architects at Home and in Exile: The Modernist Generation (with Jean-François Lejeune) at the Coral Gables Museum (Nov. 2016-Feb. 2017), and Emilio Sanchez in South Florida Collections (with Nathan Timpano) at the Lowe Art Museum at the University of Miami (Feb.-May 2017). Dr. Deupi was also the President of the CINTAS Foundation which gives annual fellowships in Architecture and Design, the Visual Arts, Creative Writing, and Music Composition to Cubans and people of Cuban descent from 2016-2018.  He is married to Jill Deupi, Director & Chief Curator of the Lowe Art Museum.  They have three children. 

— University of Miami

 

The videos below were recorded via Zoom, are organized by topic, and run between 60 seconds and 9 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION: 3:06 min.




From a laypersons point of view, your area of research sounds pretty esoteric. What induced you to focus on that area?.

 

EXPOSURE TO BROAD INFLUENCES:   3:06 min.




Where were you born and what is your earliest memory of art of any discipline. What’s your earliest memory of architecture?

 

COMMUNITY VALUES:  2:08 min.




You are also a painter. Were you laser-focused on being an architect or did you consider other careers?

 

VALUES FIRST-RATE EDUCATION:  3:06 min.




Tell us about your experience at the University of Pennsylvania (my alma mater).

 

VALUES FIRST-RATE EDUCATION:  4:54 min.




Describe the arc of your career.

 

CRITICAL THINKING:  1:21 min.




What do you know now that you wish you knew when you were starting your career?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION: 8:38 min.




Let’s talk about a few of your books. What was your motivation?

 

PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS: 1:38 min.




Who were some of the role models and influencers for Emilio Sanchez?

 

SEIZES OPPORTUNITIES:  2:28 min.




Knox Martin (b. 1923), taught at the Art Students League. Knox is from Columbia and may have known Sanchez. Did you find many people who knew Emilio?

 

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED:  2:53 min.




Describe a challenging assignment or situation with a successful outcome

 

 SERENDIPITY:  4:12 min.




What has been the role of serendipity in your career?

 

OPEN TO CHANGE, FLEXIBILITY:  4:21 min.




How have the major events of 2020 — Covid-19, the call for social justice, climate change — impacted your work?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:  4:56 min.




Today (7/28/2020) is the Feast Day of Saint Victor — right?