April 17, 2009, Los Angeles        The University of Southern California (USC) School of Architecture is pleased to announce the publication of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Homes through World History by School of Architecture professor James M. Steele, Ph.D.  This three-volume set is the first comprehensive historical survey of housing to recognize and include the significant contributions of non-western architecture.  The three volumes include:  Vol. 1:  From Ancient Times to the Late Middle Ages, 6000 BCE-1200; Vol. 2:  The Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution, 1201-1750; and Vol. 3:  The Industrial Revolution to Today, 1751 to the Present.

The collection reflects Professor Steele’s knowledge not only architecture but of world culture and history as it is reflected in the house, which he calls, "the most personal and descriptive of social artifacts."  The house, throughout history, in every place in the world, has been built to provide shelter from the elements. The dwellings that have resulted are as different as the people that have built them, the social norms that prevailed at the time and place in which they were built and the natural environment that they adapted to. Studying them now in a comprehensive way allows us to understand the social, political, economic and religious conditions that existed for their inhabitants. They are a three-dimensional record of culture.

Professor Steele teaches history and theory of architecture, as well as design studios at the USC School of Architecture.  He worked in the offices of Louis Kahn and Vincent Kling in Philadelphia, and The Rouse Company in Columbia, MD prior to going into private practice in Bucks County, PA.  He taught at the University of Pennsylvania; King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia; Texas Tech University; the American Institute of Foreign Studies, London and the Prince of Wales Summer School, Magdalen College, Oxford.  He founded the Asia Study Abroad Program at the School of Architecture and has taught in the program since 1998.  He serves on the USC President’s Committee on International Affairs.  He is the author of more than 27 books and monographs including Turkey: A Traveler’s Architectural and Historical Guide, The Hassan Fathy Collection, and Los Angeles: The Contemporary Condition,” which won a Phi Kappa Phi Award. His book, “The Queen Mary,” won an AIA Publications Award. He was the senior editor of Architectural Design and acted as the curator of the drawings of Hassan Fathy for the Aga Khan Trust for Culture.  Professor Steele received his B.A. in English from Lafayette College, both a B.Arch. and M.Arch from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in Policy, Planning & Development from the University of Southern California.

The USC School of Architecture is located in the heart of Los Angeles, a singular laboratory in which to study and understand urban conditions and their architectural implications. With the appointment of Dean Qingyun Ma the School extends its global reach into new territories, launching new initiatives in cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary discourses, strengthening ties in the community and around the world.  Established in 1919, the USC School of Architecture was the first of its kind in Southern California.  Educational offerings include architecture, landscape architecture, building science and historic preservation.  Among its notable graduates are Conrad Buff III, Donald H. Hensman, Pierre Koenig, and two Pritzker Prize Laureates: Frank O. Gehry (1989) and Thom Mayne (2005).

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April 17, 2009
Jane A. Ilger               213 740 2092        ilger@usc.edu