Spring 2026 public programming: Planetary Imaginaries

The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture presents Planetary Imaginaries: an expansive series of public engagements for the spring 2026 semester starting on January 23. Invited architects, landscape architects, planners, historians, and artists continue the school’s legacy of intentional rooted practice through critical conversations that respond to the increasingly urgent conditions of each field.   

The notion of the planetary encompasses a framework for reconsidering our relationship with the environment. It calls for a radical reimagining of our ethical and ecological responsibilities in the Anthropocene—a world-ecology beyond human-centered boundaries, beyond mapped territories, and beyond the habitual rhythms of our disciplines. Here, the environment is more than a background; it is a dynamic and cultural project—one that demands imagination, urgency, and new modes of engagement. The Planetary Imaginaries event series convenes distinguished speakers whose work interrogates planetary conditions through diverse modes of design and knowledge inquiry, representation, practice, and theorization. 

In response to the prompts of this theme, this semester’s public lectures include Dutch photographer Iwan Baan; Erik L’Heureux of Monash University and Equator Works; Carla Chávez, Carolina Rodas, and Felipe Donoso of RAMA Estudio; Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby of Dunne & Raby; a conversation between Sue Ann Kahn, daughter of Louis I. Kahn, and Kevin Alter of UT Austin; Paola Viganò of The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and Studio Paola Viganò; Virginia San Fratello of San Jose State University and Rael San Fratello; Luis E. Carranza of Roger Williams University and Columbia University; and Emiliano López Matas of Emiliano López Mónica Rivera Arquitectos. 

From January 23 to February 20, 2026, Dutch architecture and documentary photographer Iwan Baan will present the exhibition From Las Vegas to Rome in the Mebane Gallery of Goldsmith Hall. From Las Vegas to Rome explores dialogues between these cities through images taken by Baan, one of the most prolific photographers active today. This exhibition looks at Las Vegas—and its spectacle of improbable buildings and infrastructure—to rethink Rome, a city shaped by power and money for centuries. The opening lecture will occur at 4pm on January 23 at the Harry Ransom Center Prothro Theater.  

This semester, two additional exhibitions will be on display. Beginning February 23, Michael Moynihan, 2024–26 Land, Space, and Identity in the Americas Fellow, presents Simulating Democracy: Housing and Computation in Modern Latin America. Beginning March 25, Andy Bako, 2024-2026 Emerging Scholar in Design, presents Bundle Up. 

All events are free and open to the public and will occur in person at 5p in the Goldsmith Lecture Hall (310 Inner Campus Drive, Room 3.120) unless noted otherwise.  

Lectures
Iwan Baan: January 23 at 4pm
Harry Ransom Center Prothro Theater  

Erik L’Heureux, Monash University and Equator Works: January 28 at 5pm
Goldsmith Lecture Hall  

RAMA Estudio: February 9 at 5pm
Goldsmith Lecture Hall 

Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Dunne & Raby: February 11 at 5pm  
Goldsmith Lecture Hall

Sue Ann Kahn and Kevin Alter, in conversation: February 25 at 5pm
Goldsmith Lecture Hall 

Paola Viganò, The École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne / Studio Paola Viganò: March 2 at 5pm
Goldsmith Lecture Hall

Virginia San Fratello, San Jose State University / Rael San Fratello: March 30 at 5pm  
Goldsmith Lecture Hall

Luis E. Carranza, Roger Williams University & Columbia University: April 1 at 5pm 
Goldsmith Lecture Hall  

Emiliano López Matas, Emiliano López Mónica Rivera Arquitectos: April 6 at 5pm
Goldsmith Lecture Hall   

Exhibitions
From Las Vegas to Rome by Iwan Baan
January 23, opening talk at 4pm

Simulating Democracy: Housing and Computation in Modern Latin America by Michael Moynihan
February 23, opening talk at 5pm 

Bundle Up by Andy Bako 
March 25, opening talk at 5pm

Event schedule is subject to change. For updates, visit our website.