Fall 2018 Public Programs

Discursive Practices

DISCURSIVE PRACTICES presents the work of architects, urban planners, preservationists and historians whose approach to design bridges multiple territories of knowledge to create new work.

Their provocations operate on discourses that simultaneously have long historical traditions and are actively evolving in the present. By acknowledging and engaging with the cultural and institutional basis of inherited knowledge systems, these speakers challenge reductive modes of analysis and reveal openings for expanding the social reach and relevance of contemporary design.

AIA and AICP continuing education credits are available. See individual event listings for details.

Exhibition: Cages
8/27/18
Aug 27-Sept 27

An exhibition of the spring 2018 Material Culture graduate design studio, "Cages" explores the variety and flexibility of wood, and the many ways in which the naturally abundant material can be assembled.
Olalekan Jeyifous
9/5/18
Sept 5, 2018
Artist Olalekan Jeyifous reflects on his artistic practice and production on the construction of imaginary Utopias, Dystopias, and Heterotopias at the interstices of architecture, emerging technologies and culture.
The Airport
9/12/18
Sept 12, 2018
Two experts in airport master planning, design and development - Joseph Barden (BPS '86) of Landrum & Brown and Michael Doucette of Jacobs Engineering - lead a discussion on the evolution of the airport and the state of contemporary airport design and planning.
Jorge Otero-Pailos
9/19/18
Sept 19, 2018
Artist, architect, and preservationist Jorge Otero-Pailos focuses his work on experimental preservation and the idea that existing buildings and monuments can be re-imagined into powerful agents of cultural change.
Rahul Mehrotra, 2018 Clarkson Chair in Architecture
9/26/18
Sept 26, 2018
Architect, urbanist and educator Rahul Mehrotra presents "Working in Mumbai," an exploration of his firm's use of the city and region as a generator of practice that operates through a more elastic definition of the profession in response to the landscape.
2018 Climate Adaptation Symposium
10/1/18
Oct 1, 2018
Join the scholars and practitioners from the Northeast and Great Lakes regions to discuss contemporary thinking in climate resilience for New York State.
Strategies of Empowerment: A Survey of Emerging Urban Practices in Weak Market Cities
10/3/18
Oct 3, 2018
Urban design and planning practitioners take stock of emerging alternative spatial practices and consider the potential for systemic change on the ground.
Michelle M. Thompson
10/10/18
Oct 10, 2018
Michelle M. Thompson, associate professor at UNO PLUS, presents her financial inclusion project which evaluates public and private financial policies, tools, and practices that impact the ability for people to increase their personal and family wealth.
Michael Smith-Masis
10/10/18
Nov 2, 2018
Michael Smith-Masis of Harvard GSD, presents "1:1", a humanistic social design agenda that emphasizes community empowerment and sustainability. Smith-Masis will draw upon case studies in inclusive design processes in low-income environments in Costa Rica.
Molly Wright Steenson
10/18/18
Oct 18, 2018
Molly Wright Steenson presents "AI and Stories of Autonomous Landscapes," tracing the history of AI in architecture and looking ahead to its contemporary and future implications.
Workshop: What's Next for Buffalo Niagara?
10/24/18
Looking 50 years ahead at mega-trends like climate change and globalization, national urban planners and community members come together on Oct. 24 to consider a more resilient Buffalo Niagara. Workshop results will be presented at a public forum on Oct. 26.
What's Next for Buffalo Niagara?
10/26/18
Oct 26, 2018
Activists, officials, citizens of the Buffalo Niagara community and planning scholars are invited to a special public session of the national Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning conference to consider the future of Buffalo Niagara 50 years from now.
Meejin Yoon
11/7/18
Nov 7, 2018
Architect, designer, and educator Meejin Yoon presents "Signal To Noise," which questions how architecture can communicate, create space, and focus attention in the age of accelerated signals.
Theodore S. Jojola
11/14/18
Nov 14, 2018
Theodore S. Jojola of the University of New Mexico School of Architecture and Planning presents "Indigenous Planning" and the use of cultural identity to inform community development.