Rate My Professor David Franco

David Franco serves as the Director of the School of Architecture and Associate Professor of Architecture in the College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington, a position he assumed on July 1, 2024. Prior to joining UTA, he was co-director of Architecture Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Architecture at Clemson University in South Carolina. With nearly two decades of experience as an architect, educator, and scholar, Franco earned his Ph.D. in Architectural and Urban History and Theory and Master of Architecture degree from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. He is a nationally recognized leader whose work bridges practice and academia, earning international acclaim through exhibitions at venues such as the Venice Biennale, la Cité de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine in Paris, the Matadero Art Center in Madrid, and the Canary Islands Art & Landscape Biennale.

Franco's research investigates how social inequalities and political conflicts shape the built environment, particularly their overlooked influence on modern and contemporary architecture. This perspective guides his creative practice, which centers on social infrastructures, affordable housing, and public spaces. He has secured over 16 awards in prestigious architecture competitions, including two EUROPAN prizes, and received a nomination for the Lakov Chernikov Prize for young masters of contemporary architecture. As co-founder of the Environmental Justice Design Lab at Clemson School of Architecture, he oversaw student projects that won 23 national awards, including 11 AIA COTE Top Ten Awards. His scholarly contributions include publications such as 'Everydayness, Subversion or Utopia: Political Content and Innovation in the Architecture of Critical Realism' (Constelaciones Academic Journal, 2014), 'Lessons learned in 1968: The Brief Repoliticization of European Modern Architecture' (BAc Boletín Académico, 2018), 'Backyard Junk and Big Boxes. Inequality and Spatial Politics in the Rural South' (ACSA 2016), 'Constructing the Political Image of the Everyday: Fiction and Authenticity in Participatory Architecture' (ACSA 2015), and 'Simulated Scenography of the Collective: Mimesis and Simulacrum at the Quartiere Tiburtino' (VLC Arquitectura Research Journal, 2015). Franco's advocacy for environmental justice in design continues to influence architecture education and community partnerships at UTA.