Celebrating Joseph Rykwert (1926-2024), PhD-ARCH Graduate Group Chair (1988 to 1991)

A symposium was held on April 5^th and 6^th, 2026, celebrating the 100^th birthday of British architect and historian Joseph Rykwert, CBE, at the Architecture Internationalization Demonstration School, School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing, China. Prof. Rykwert, the eminent architectural historian of the second half of the 20^th century, was the Paul Philippe Cret Professor of Architecture at PENN and recipient of the RIBA Gold Medal in 2014. The Asian Architectural Archive Center, now home to Rykwert’s voluminous architectural library, hosted Cultural Foundations: Origins, Measures, Fabrications. Organized by Emeritus Professor and past Graduate Group Chair David Leatherbarrow, the event was attended by current Graduate Group Chair and Penn PhD Alum Franca Trubiano and program Alums Antonios Thodis, Jin Baek, Juan Manuel Heredia, Kazi Ashraf, and Esra Sahin Burat. Celebrations highlighted the half-century of foundational scholarship and memorable friendships made possible by Rykwert’s teaching and publications.