As Houston continues to grow and transform, experts at Rice University’s School of Architecture are available to speak with media about urban, commercial and residential real estate development — including housing, mixed-use projects, redevelopment trends and the design decisions shaping the city’s future.
Troy Schaum, associate professor: Commercial and large-scale development
Schaum is an architect and researcher whose work focuses on commercial and institutional real estate development, examining how buildings operate as drivers of urban transformation at the city scale. He is the principal of the award-winning firm Schaum Architects, with offices in Houston. His practice engages globally sited large-scale, complex projects that intersect architecture, economics and urban planning.
His professional experience includes commercial, cultural and mixed-use projects, master planning and high-profile developments as well as prior work at OMA New York, Studio Daniel Libeskind and other internationally recognized firms.
Schaum can speak to:
- Commercial real estate development and large-scale projects in Houston
- The relationship between architecture, capital and urban growth
- Mixed-use, institutional and cultural development trends
- How commercial buildings shape downtowns and emerging districts
- Houston’s role in national and global development patterns
Jesús Vassallo, associate professor: Urban and housing-driven development
Vassallo is a licensed architect in Texas. He is available to speak about urban real estate development in Houston, including housing-driven growth, redevelopment trends and the role of low-carbon construction in shaping the city’s future.
Based in Houston and Madrid, Vassallo’s research and professional practice focus on housing as a primary driver of urban form, examining how real estate development decisions affect neighborhood character, density, affordability and quality of life. His work bridges architectural design, construction materials and urban analysis with particular expertise in low embodied carbon building systems, including cross-laminated timber.
Vassallo can speak to:
- How housing-led real estate development is reshaping Houston’s urban fabric
- The relationship between architectural form, zoning and neighborhood-scale change
- Affordable housing and density challenges in fast-growing cities
- Adaptive reuse and redevelopment in established urban areas
- The role of low-carbon construction materials in real estate and urban development
- How Houston compares to other U.S. and international cities in development patterns
To schedule an interview, please contact media relations specialist Andrew Bell at ab208@rice.edu.