On Thursday, Columbia University announced that architect Andrés Jaque will be the new dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP), starting September 1. Jaque began teaching at the university in 2013 and has led the Advanced Architectural Design Program since 2018.

Born in Madrid, Jaque received both his PhD and masters in architecture from Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid. In 2003, he founded the Office for Political Innovation, an interdisciplinary architecture firm based in Madrid and New York. Jaque is known for a portfolio that includes socially-engaged installations and performance pieces such as IKEA Disobedients, which was launched in Madrid in 2011 to help prevent eviction, and then exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2012. His Rambla Climate House in Molina de Segura, Murcia, Spain, designed by his firm with Miguel Mesa del Castillo Clavel, was featured as RECORD’s House of the Month.

“During his time at GSAPP, Andrés has become beloved by his colleagues and demonstrated deep commitment to the success of the institution and its students and alumni,” said university president Lee C. Bollinger in a statement, “He will steward GSAPP to even greater heights, and I am grateful to him for agreeing to take on this role.”

Jaque is succeeding WORKac founder Amale Andraos as dean, who stepped down last year after leading the school since 2014. She will continue her work as a professor and special advisor to Bollinger, focusing on work at the Columbia Climate School.