Ekdahl Lecture History

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Lecture Title: Building Blocks

Description: "An exploration of urbanism and civic impact – from the block to the city limits – through the lens of a practicing planner, urban designer, and policy maker."

Gia Biagi is an urban planner and designer with experience in the private and public sectors who was appointed Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) by Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot in December 2019. The Mayor charged Biagi with implementing a vision for a transportation system that prioritizes equity and mobility and works to lower the economic and environmental burden of transportation on residents and communities, especially for people in poverty and people with disabilities.

As Commissioner of CDOT, she oversees a department responsible for Chicago's roadways and bridges, sidewalks and bike lanes, the citywide bike share system, traffic signals and signage, streetlights, the permitting of activities in the public right-of-way, and policies focused on complete streets, climate adaptation, and new mobility.

Before answering Mayor Lightfoot's call to return to public service, Biagi was a Principal at Studio Gang Architects, one of Chicago and the world's leading architecture and urban design firms led by renowned architect Jeanne Gang. At Studio Gang, Biagi developed and led the Urbanism + Civic Impact practice that specialized in urban design, planning, and strategy. The work centered on how to move toward equity, mutuality and positive change in cities by working with a range of partners including community-based organizations, cultural institutions, developers, government, and other public and private groups and individuals.

Prior to joining Studio Gang, Biagi spent more than a decade in public service as a planner for the City of Chicago, with roles that included Chief of Staff for the Chicago Park District, as well as with the Department of Planning and Development. Much of her work for the City focused on neighborhood revitalization through planning, programs, policies and capital investments in our park and recreation system, a network that touches nearly every corner of the City.

Biagi attended the University of Michigan for her Bachelor of Arts Degree and has a Master's in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Lecture Title: Designing for life: How to create cities with people at the center

Description: "City design is awash in big data, but the most important information for building equitable, enduring and soulful places is what you can gather by carefully watching people," Merker said when discussing his topic for the lecture. For more than 40 years, Gehl has been developing methods based on social sciences to inform design and transform cities by putting people at the center of design and planning. Merker will share his process for creating people-centered public spaces rooted in understanding daily life, social behavior and the unexpected ways that human beings adapt the city to meet their needs.

Merker leads the U.S. West Coast practice at Gehl, an urban design and strategy consultancy based in Copenhagen, New York and San Francisco. As partner and managing director, he oversees a hybrid practice using behavioral science to inform design. He's committed to championing public spaces as sustainable technology for economic opportunity, health and social belonging in a diverse society. He co-founded the art and design collective Rebar, Park(ing) Day, and has worked with clients ranging from community groups to tech giants. He earned his master's in landscape architecture from the University of California, Berkeley and a bachelor's degree in history from Reed College.

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Lecture Title: Design = the Solution to an Agreed Upon Problem, True or False?

Description: "We find ourselves in a world we could not have imagined six months ago. How do we go about planning for MULTIPLE futures?" says Schump. "By gathering groups of trusted friends, advisors and experts together. When multiple points of view are applied to a problem, it results in a better solution.

Schump went to architecture school because he wanted to design THE future. On the first day of studio the man who would become his mentor said that if we were going to design space, we should learn how to move through it - "take dance," he suggested. So he enrolled in ballet and had a whole new point of view.

Designing buildings gave way to designing interiors, which was enhanced by furniture and experience design. As a Creative Director at Gensler, he is responsible for growing the firm's portfolio, cultivating client relationships, and mentoring talent.

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Lecture Title: The Architecture of Everyday

Description: Deborah Berke began her career as an architect in 1982. Since then, she has assembled a senior team to form Deborah Berke Partners, with whom she has created a distinct and lasting body of work. Deborah sets the creative direction for the practice and brings her design vision to each project. Her approach to architecture, which is informed by her pursuit of authenticity, love for the visual arts, and intellectual rigor, pervades our design processes and our projects.

In July 2016, Deborah became the first woman dean of the Yale School of Architecture, where she has been a professor since 1987. Deborah continues Yale's long tradition of distinguished practitioners who have served as Dean, including Robert A.M. Stern, Cesar Pelli, and Paul Rudolph. With a passion for both the teaching and practice of architecture, she continues to direct the firm's creative work.

Deborah has previously taught at the the Rhode Island School of Design, the University of California at Berkeley, and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies, of which she was a fellow. In addition, Deborah has been a juror in numerous architecture and design award programs and lectures throughout the US and Canada. In 2013 she received the first Berkeley-Rupp award, given by the University of California at Berkeley to a "distinguished practitioner or academic who has made a significant contribution to promoting the advancement of women in the field of architecture, and whose work emphasizes a commitment to sustainability and the community."

Deborah is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a Trustee and Vice President of the Urban Design Forum, a James Howell Foundation Board Member, a member of the Yaddo Board of Directors, and a member of the Pritzker Prize jury. Over the past two decades, Deborah has also served as trustee and vice president of desigNYC, founding trustee of New York City's Design Trust for Public Space, trustee of the National Building Museum, Chair of the Board of Advisors for the Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture at Columbia University, trustee of the Brearley School, and a vice president of the AIA New York Chapter.

Deborah is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design (B.F.A. and B. Architecture) and The City University of New York (M. Urban Planning in Urban Design). In 2005, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design.

She earned a bachelor's degree in visual and environmental studies from Harvard University and a master's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Virginia.

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Lecture Title: TEAMS

Description: TEAMS is an award-winning design firm with over 100 professionals including designers, engineers and strategists, all from diverse backgrounds. You can think of us as a colorful mix, just like our brand colors. We specialize in global product-oriented brand development in the areas of industrial design, user experience design and brand communication. Our talent to take concepts all the way from strategy to realization sets us apart and makes us experts in delivering strategies that can be successfully implemented and sustained. We are headquartered in the historic city of Esslingen, Germany—just outside of Stuttgart and in Germany's economic powerhouse region. A truly global company, our flourishing studios are located in Hamburg, Chicago, Belgrade, and in Shanghai. With more than 60 years of experience and over 1,000 prestigious design awards, we are one of the longest-running design consultancies in the world. Not only are we the longest-running—so is the duration of our relationships with our clients. Our collaboration with over 300 clients helps us look forward to more than 650 projects per year.

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Lecture Title: The Aesthetics of Being

Description: The lecture "The Aesthetics of Being" discusses the context of rapid urban development, a changing climate and clarified political tensions, the narratives embedded in the aesthetics of being can offer creative departures for contemporary design. Zewde will discuss the recent design work of Studio Zewde in Philadelphia and beyond, in this context.

Studio Zewde is a design firm in New York City practicing landscape architecture, urbanism and public art. The studio is devoted to creating enduring places where people belong. In parallel with practice, Zewde serves as assistant professor of practice at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. Zewde was named the 2014 National Olmsted Scholar by the Landscape Architecture Foundation, a 2016 artist-in-residence at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation and in 2018, was named to the National Trust for Historic Preservation's inaugural "40 Under 40" list. Most recently, she was named a 2020 United States Artists Fellow. Her work has been exhibited at the 2016 and 2018 Venice Biennale, in the Brazilian and U.S national pavilions. Zewde holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, a Master of City Planning from MIT, and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and statistics from Boston University.

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Lecture Title: Reflections and Some Recent Works

Description: Carlos Jiménez Studio (CJS) is an award winning, internationally recognized firm based in Houston. Carlos Jiménez, principal and lead designer is actively involved in all stages of design for each project – from the initial phase through development, planning, construction to completion. Since founded in 1983, CJS has striven for excellence in design through projects ranging in scale, type and locality: from an art studio building facing the serene Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts to a corporate headquarters along a busy freeway in Indiana, from a house in the sparse hills of Marfa to the lively streets of North Philadelphia, from a daycare center in Columbus to a Data Center in Houston; from a residential tower in the satellite city of Evry to a community center in the medieval traces of Gandia. Carlos Jiménez Studio thrives in the collaboration with our clients and consultants to resolve the demands of program, address the circumstances of site, and arrive at the optimum design solution. We perceive this collaboration to be the critical and creative means to expand the multiple aspirations implicit to a work of architecture. Our convictions are strengthened by the belief that architecture makes a difference in people's lives. We understand that a well-designed building is an investment of time whose return must benefit the lives of present and future users. We are inspired by the myriad nuances of the local as we are by the limitations of the global. We believe that architecture transforms, delights, and achieves its meaning through its gradual unfolding in time and place.

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Lecture Title: Optimism and Action: Planning for Today

Description: Agency is the capacity of human beings to act, to make choices. Planning can remove barriers. Design is an act of optimism. Empowerment and optimism are much needed, today more than ever. At Agency Landscape + Planning, we believe in the power of people to initiate and make purposeful, positive change.

Agency is a mission-driven practice dedicated to addressing social equity, cultural vitality and environmental resilience through design excellence, strategic planning and community engagement. We believe that – in order to address the most challenging issues of our contemporary society – diversity and inclusion are foundational to how we see, understand and, ultimately, shape our collective experience, particularly in the public spaces, parks and streets of our cities. We seek landscape and planning opportunities that allow us to partner meaningfully with constituents, that welcome many voices and hands in the process, and that produce outcomes that are deeply connected to the richness and uniqueness of place.

Agency is a woman-owned small business andcertified DBE/WBE practice led by partners Gina Ford and Brie Hensold. Our leadership – combined with a collective team of passionate and talented landscape architects, planners and urban designers – enables the full spectrum of design services – from strategic planning to complex landscape implementation.

Beyond our core team, we have formed a network of diverse and innovative thinkers across the country that share our passion for social good, resilience and the power of public space. Together, we represent a broad cross-section of specialized knowledge and skills. Our partners, like us, believe a more resilient and equitable approach to planning and design will lead to more relevant, contextual and vibrant public environments.

Ms. Hensold is an urban planner and co-founder and principal of Agency Landscape + Planning. With a passion for understanding and improving communities and places, Brie brings a systems-based approach that integrates multiple disciplines and celebrates diverse perspectives. She has extensive experience developing creative and meaningful community engagement processes for planning and design projects. Brie's experience encompasses multiple scales, from downtown plans to citywide park systems to resilience strategies. Her work has received awards from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Architects, among others. She co-teaches an executive education class in resilient cities at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.