Big City Forum: Architecture/Complexity/Generosity

Iwan Baan from No More Play

Big City Forum @ Armory Center for the Arts
Architecture/Complexity/Generosity
Wednesday, September 4
7 – 9 pm

Big City Forum returns to the Armory with another panel in the series Transforming the Social, which explores current architectural approaches in Los Angeles that address community based issues. What are the challenges and possibilities of contemporary Los Angeles as the practice of architecture takes into account and responds to community-based needs? How does architecture align itself to everyday social practices and diverse, multidisciplinary, and sometimes counterintuitive expressions in order to re-imagine the daily life of the city in more complex and generous understandings?

Featuring:
Michael Maltzan, FAIA, founder and principal of Michael Maltzan Architecture. Michael’s work fully engages our contemporary world through an architecture that is a catalyst for new experiences and an agent for change. Through a deep belief in architecture’s role in our cities and landscapes, he has succeeded in creating new cultural and social connections across a range of scales and programs. Michael received a Master of Architecture degree with a Letter of Distinction from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He holds both a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design, where he received the Henry Adams AIA Scholastic Gold Medal. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and a GSA Design Excellence Program Peer. He lectures internationally and often serves as a design instructor, lecturer, and critic at prestigious architectural schools including Princeton University, Rice University, Harvard University, Rhode Island School of Design, University of California, Los Angeles, University of California, Berkeley, University of Southern California, University of Waterloo, and the Southern California Institute of Architecture.

Theresa Hwang, community-driven designer working in Los Angeles, CA. Currently Theresa works with the Skid Row Housing Trust, a non-profit permanent supportive housing organization where she was the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow from 2009-2012. With the Trust, she is designing and developing high quality and sustainable housing with and for the very low-income homeless community. Theresa is adjunct faculty at Woodbury University and works with its Architecture+Civic Engagement (ACE) Center. Activist-turned-architect, Theresa has spent over 10 years doing community-organizing work for equitable cultural development and community empowerment with multiple groups and campaigns in Boston, New York, and Los Angeles. She received her Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Art History from the Johns Hopkins University.

Peter Zellner, Principal and Founder, ZELLNERPLUS Associate AIA / RAIA Affiliate. Peter is the founder of award winning Venice based firm ZELLNERPLUS, which he established in 2004. Peter has been recognized as an emerging voice in national publications such as The Los Angeles Times, which named him one of “10 Faces to Watch in 2012”; Art+Auction, which included him in its annual "Power 100" selection of influential people in the art world; Harper's Bazaar, which included him in its Editor's Selection "Best of What's New—Designers to Watch"; as well as The New York Times and numerous other publications. Since 1999 Peter has been a faculty member at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, where he coordinates the Future Initiatives urban design program. He has held Visiting Professorships at UC Berkeley, FIU, the University of Southern California, the Ecole Speciale d'Architecture in Paris and the Institut für Städtebau und Raumplanung (Institute for Urban Design & Urban Planning) at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. In 2013 he held the Ivan Smith Eminent Chair at the University of Florida, School of Architecture.

Moderator:
Will Wright, AIA Los Angeles. Will is the Director of Government and Public Affairs for the Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA|LA) and a 2011 AIA|LA Presidential Honoree. As the chief design advocate for Los Angeles, he has more than a decade of experience lobbying for a healthier and more beautiful city. At AIA|LA he is responsible for a variety of roles including connecting architects and designers with civic leaders to help shape public policy. In 2013, Will became a founding board member of the non-profit From Lot To Spot, which helps underserved communities transform vacant lots into parks. Will is also serves on the boards of the BOMA-LA PAC and the Los Angeles County Business Federation (BizFed) as a Vice Chair of the Land Use & Development Committee. Past leadership includes serving as a member of the statewide Climate Plan Strategic Planning Steering Committee. As a graduate from the Art Center College of Design, Will won an AIGA 365 award as the Editor of the literary arts publication, FishWrap V. 5.