SCIAME Lecture Series: Climate Justice

The Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York announces its spring 2020 SCIAME lecture series including a full line-up of lectures, symposia, and special events that highlight our commitment to climate, environmental, and social justice. This is the first series curated by the school’s new leader, Dean Lesley Lokko. Under the broad umbrella of “Climate Justice: Time to Think, Talk, and Make Change,” we’ve put together a truly global series of speakers, ranging from CCNY’s President Vincent Boudreau to MASS Design’s Christian Benimanafrom Kigali, Rwanda. All activities are free and open to the public. For up-to-date information, including start times and any additions to the series, please visit our website calendar. 

Thursday, February 13 - Lucrecia Montemayor 
Thursday, February 20 - V. Mitch McEwen
Thursday, February 27 - Carlo Bailey 
Tuesday, March 3 - Breaking Ground: Difficult Women

Jane Hall’s latest book, Breaking Ground, is a visual survey of architecture designed by women from the early 20th century to the present day. Published by Phaidon, it is “a pioneering manifesto of more than 200 incredible buildings … from all over the world.” To celebrate its publication, nine women architects from around the world — Dr. Jane Hall (London), Dean Lesley Lokko (Spitzer), Professor Marta Gutman(Spitzer), Gugulethu Mthembu (GSA, Johannesburg), Mandy Shindler (GSA, Johannesburg), Sumayya Vally and Sarah de Villiers from the all-women practice Counterspace (Johannesburg), Dean Harriet Harriss (Pratt Institute), and Associate Professor Meredith TenHoor(Pratt Institute) — will discuss the challenges, difficulties, and pleasures of being ”difficult” women in architecture.  Refreshments will be served after the panel discussion, and signed copies of Breaking Ground will be on sale. Moderated by Lesley Lokko.

Thursday, March 5 - Counterspace
Thursday, March 12 - D K Osseo-Asare
Saturday, March 14 - Everyday Ecologies

Everyday ecosystems are boundless communities we are all part of—a cocktail of cultures crossing economic and class strata with overlapping gender, racial, and spiritual identities—that compete with each other and conflict internally for rights to perpetuate cultural identities, social relations, and environmental resource needs and desires. Erika Svendsen and Lindsay Campbell  (USFS Urban Field Station), Andrea Parker (Gowanus Canal Conservancy), and Denise Hoffman Brandt (Director of the Graduate Landscape Architecture Program at Spitzer) will lead a transdisciplinary discussion of design and planning case studies that reveal the scope of critical thought integrated into current ecological practice. Full line-up of speakers TBA. Saturday 10am-5pm.

Thursday, March 19 - Virginia Hanusik
Monday, March 23 - Christian Benimana
Thursday, March 26 - Vincent Boudreau
Thursday, April 2 & Friday April 3 - Migrant Urbanisms

As the world population becomes increasingly urban, the DNA of many cities is one of constant evolution and growth, spurred by human migrations. Many of these human migrations and diasporas are caused by the acute ongoing environmental crisis. This crisis is also present in another set of transformations: landscapes and ecologies are equally metamorphosing their interface with adjacent growing urban territories, thus provoking the need to consider hybrid urban and ecological practices. This two-day event hosted by the Graduate Urban Design Program at Spitzer will explore these topics with Peter Hasdell and Gerhard Bruyns (HKPU, Hong Kong); Thiresh Govender (GSA University of Johannesburg); Ignacio Galan (Barnard and Columbia Colleges); Sergio Lopez-Pineiro (Harvard GSD); and Julio Salcedo-Fernandezand Michael Sorkin (Spitzer). Lesley Lokko and June Williamson will moderate the discussion, followed by a one-day review of urban design students’ work with Visiting Professor Alessandra Cianchetta. 

Monday, April 6 - Kelly Bair
Thursday, April 23 - Alessandra Cianchetta
Thursday, April 30 - Mae-ling Lokko
Thursday, May 7 - Hanif Kara & Simon Allford