- Video: Rwanda, Part 2 of 3
Reimagining Risk: Rwanda
Catherine Leslie, Alfred Ndabarasa, Carl Worthington
Moderated by Andrew Blum
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Urban Center, New York City
Carl Worthington, Director of Urban Design and Planning at OZ Architecture, and Catherine Leslie, Project Manager at Tetra Tech and Executive Director of Engineers Without Borders – USA, will discuss the new master plan and building efforts for Kigali, Rwanda. The master plan is part of the Rwandan government’s response to rapid urbanization, and seeks investment in human capital, information technology, and economic growth as bulwarks against population growth, inadequate infrastructure, poverty, and a history of conflict. Alfred Ndabarasa, second counselor to the Republic of Rwanda’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, will give …
- Video: Rwanda, Part 3 of 3
Reimagining Risk: Rwanda
Catherine Leslie, Alfred Ndabarasa, Carl Worthington
Moderated by Andrew Blum
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Urban Center, New York CityCarl Worthington, Director of Urban Design and Planning at OZ Architecture, and Catherine Leslie, Project Manager at Tetra Tech and Executive Director of Engineers Without Borders – USA, will discuss the new master plan and building efforts for Kigali, Rwanda. The master plan is part of the Rwandan government’s response to rapid urbanization, and seeks investment in human capital, information technology, and economic growth as bulwarks against population growth, inadequate infrastructure, poverty, and a history of conflict. Alfred Ndabarasa, second counselor to the Republic of Rwanda’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, will give a …
- Interview with L.E.FT
Above: Block 10H002, Jumeirah Village, Dubai – Night View
Georgeen Theodore recently met with the partners of L.E.FT.–Makram el Kadi, Ziad Jamaleddine, and Naji Moujaes–to discuss the topic of risk. L.E.FT. is currently working on a number of projects in the Middle East, and is in the process of opening a satellite office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. An edited transcript of their discussion follows.
Georgeen Theodore: How are you all? I think you all know about the Architectural League’s theme this year: Reimagining Risk. Some of the earlier presentations have dealt with security, climate change, and issues like that. In contrast, I thought it would be interesting to talk to you about risk in relation …
- Red Line Response
By Noah Chasin
Mortgages are not inherently sexy. As some of us learned the other night, however, the process of demystifying them has a certain frisson that shouldn’t easily be dismissed. Damon Rich of the Center for Urban Pedagogy spoke about the history of mortgages– from the term’s French derivation (it translates to ‘death vow,’ and I have to admit I was alternately fascinated and horrified to finally discover the etymological justification for that silent ‘t’) through the HUD scandals of the Reagan years, to the animadversions concerning today’s sub-prime rates. None of us should have been surprised to learn of the socioeconomically and racially motivated collusion between government and banking institutions as far as mortgages and foreclosures are concerned. …
- Video: Damon Rich
Red Lines, Death Vows, Foreclosures, Risk Structures
Damon Rich, the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP)
Thursday, January 17
An edited version of Damon Rich’s lecture on CUP’s new project exploring financial architecture from the Great Depression to the subprime meltdown. This project is commissioned by the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at MIT. The lecture traced the evolving relationship between buildings and money over the 20th century in three episodes:1. The Great Depression and the creation of a national secondary mortgage market
2. The battle against redlining and the creation of the Community Reinvestment Act
3. The Savings & Loan crisis and the ascendancy of securitizationEach episode describes a different configuration of government, private markets, and finance and …
- Klaus Jacob’s Ethical Activism
By Noah Chasin
Last night Klaus Jacob scandalized an unsuspecting audience at the Urban Center with an unrelenting discussion of the real, quantifiable effects of SLR (Sea Level Rise) and CC (Climate Change) on New York City. Jacob had more than a bit of Cassandra in him as he recounted in terrifying detail just how strong a storm it would take to wet the soles of our shoes on the subway platform relative to one that would turn the IRT into a fleet of ill-equipped, non-watertight submarines. Our island ‘nation’ of Manhattan and its surrounding boroughs are at the mercy of the waterways that flow in and around them, and we’ve now been warned that the scenes of …
- Video: Klaus Jacob
New York, Climate Change, and Sea Level Rise: New Demands on Urban Planning and Architecture
Monday, January 7
Dr. Klaus Jacob, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, will outline features of climate change expected for this century that will affect the built environment of New York City. Adaptation to a new climate will require innovative ideas for how to (re)plan and (re)build the city, from the underground infrastructure to the above-ground building stock. Apart from new demands on the built environment from more extreme wind, temperature, precipitation, and other extreme events, probably the greatest challenge will come from sea-level rise. In conjunction with …
- Video: Mitch Epstein
American Power: What’s Really at Risk?
December 6, 2007
Mitch Epstein’s current work, American Power, examines energy usage and the idea of excess in the United States. These pictures were made on forays to energy production sites and their environs. Epstein plays with the definition of American power, probing not just corporate power but the powers of nature, sexuality, consumption, and size. Environmental risks aside, Epstein has discovered that in the United States, since 9/11, making art freely in public space, and artists themselves, are at risk due to governmental and corporate surveillance and security. In this video, Epstein shows images from American Power, and speaks about cultural, environmental, and artistic risk.Mitch Epstein’s photographs …
- Video: M. Christine Boyer
Indefensible Space: The Architecture of the National Insecurity State
November 20, 2007
A panel discussion on Indefensible Space: The Architecture of the National Insecurity State, a new book edited by Michael Sorkin that examines how post-9/11 paranoia and demands for security are, paradoxically, leading to ever more insecurity, as physical barriers, increased surveillance, and anxiety erode public space. Part 4 of 4: M. Christine BoyerM. Christine Boyer is Williams R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Architecture at the Princeton University School of Architecture. Boyer, who joined the faculty in 1991, is an urban historian whose interests include the history of the American city, city planning, preservation planning, and computer science. Before coming to Princeton, Boyer was …
- Video: Cindi Katz
Indefensible Space: The Architecture of the National Insecurity State
November 20, 2007
A panel discussion on Indefensible Space: The Architecture of the National Insecurity State, a new book edited by Michael Sorkin that examines how post-9/11 paranoia and demands for security are, paradoxically, leading to ever more insecurity, as physical barriers, increased surveillance, and anxiety erode public space. Part 3 of 4: Cindi KatzCindi Katz is Professor of Geography in Environmental Psychology and Women’s Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Her work concerns social reproduction and the production of space, place, and nature; children and the environment; and the consequences of global economic restructuring for everyday life. She has …
