Events Calendar

Sustainable Dialogues III: Disaster, Reconstruction and Design

June 28, 2008

11:00 am – 5:00 pm
A+D Architecture and Design Museum
5900 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles
90036

Follow the catastrophic impact of the tsunami in Southeast Asia and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, as well as events such as the relinquishing of control of the Panama Canal by the U.S. to Panama, an incredible outpouring of international response from architects and environmentalist has resulted in a wide-range of alternative sustainable deign strategies and proposals. Such global political and ecological upheavals emerging in the 21st century, that are resulting in massive reconfigurations of urban and natural territories, have given rise to new collaborative efforts by innovative architects and experts on sustainability, design, and planning from around the world that are working to develop new strategies relevant for the planning processes currently underway in New Orleans, Southeast Asia, Panama and many other places.

What role should sustainable architecture and urban design play in the on-going process of recovery, reconstruction and planning for the future? Given the range of catastrophic events currently unfolding around the globe, this symposium will consider the larger context of environmental changes in ecological patterns, ranging from tsunamis to hurricanes to the reunification of formerly politically divided urban territories. What impact do these processes have on the reorganization of the natural and man-made landscapes and the role the design community can play in initiating changes? The importance of collective thought and action, drawn from various regions of the globe, mark the emergence of new strategies for imagining the reconstruction of the contemporary city as an alternative and sustainable form of urbanism.

Panel 1: Disaster + Ecology - 11:00am-12:30pm
Drawing on lessons learned following the devastation caused by Tsunamis and Hurricanes in Southeast Asia and New Orleans, as well as the massive reconfiguration of urban territories in Panama following the return of the Panama Canal, what are the new limits and opportunities for re-conceptualizing urbanization as a sustainable process?

1. ANDREW CURTIS, GIS Research Laboratory, Dept. of Geography, USC (Los Angeles)
2. JOHANNES WIDODO (Singapore)
3. MANUEL TRUTE (Panama)
4. PATAMA ROONRAKWIT (Thailand)

Panel 2: Reconstruction + Planning - 1:30pm-3:00pm
Traditional planning has often fixated on large-scale, unchanging and ideal plans. How does the current practice of sustainable planning challenge such ideals in its attempt to implement sustainable changes?

1. ALVARO URIBE (Panama)
2. MARK MILLER, President, MK Think (San Francisco)
3. JIM DART, Principal, James Dart Architects (New York)
4. EDUARDO TEJEIRA DAVIS (Panama)

Panel 3: Design + Implementation - 3:30pm-5:00pm
In the reconstruction of devastated areas, opportunities for massive-scale rebuilding of the built environment are often presented. What are the various ways in which sustainable design can inform not only new ways of thinking about individual buildings but their relationship to large-scale planning?

1. JEFFREY B. CAUSEY, AIA, LEED AP, Cooper Carry Architects (Atlanta)
2. MATTHEW BERMAN, Principal, workshop / apd (New York)
3. WALKER WELLS, AICP LEED AP, Global Green (Los Angeles)
4. RAISA BANFIELD (Panama)
5. ALEJANDRA LILLO of GRAFT (Berlin/Los Angeles) Make it Right

Download Event Flyer (PDF, 31 KB)