Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto lecture

Founded in 1986, Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto’s New York City-based practice RUR Architecture has an international collection of projects, yet considers each as the continuation of an ongoing inquiry, delving into relationships between architecture, territory, and systems of distribution.

Recent projects include O-14, a 22-story exoskeletal office tower in Dubai, as well as residences in Jerusalem, New York, and New Jersey. The firm’s current work includes projects commissioned through two recently won international competitions: the Taipei Pop Music Center and the Kaohsiung Port Terminal, both scheduled to begin construction in 2012.

Their O-14 Building has received numerous honors, including the Concrete Industry Board’s 2009 Award of Merit and the American Council of Engineering Companies’ 2009 Diamond Award. A monograph of the project, O-14: Projection and Reception, is currently in production by AA Publications.

Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umemoto were awarded the Chrysler Award for Excellence in Design in 1999 and received the Academy Award in Architecture by the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2000. In 2008 they were awarded the Presidential Citation from The Cooper Union for outstanding practical and theoretical contributions to the field of Architecture, and in April 2011, they were honored with the John Hejduk Award, also from The Cooper Union.

Both partners have taught at a number of academic institutions. Reiser is currently a Professor of Architecture and director of graduate studies for the MArch program at Princeton University’s School of Architecture.