San Diego CA— The San Diego Architectural Foundation’s Context Volume 4: Neighborhoods 2027 (CV4) will bring together a panel of nationally-recognized architects and urbanists to demonstrate how well-designed, denser neighborhoods can improve the quality of life for all San Diegans. The event will take place on June 6, 2017 from 5-9 p.m.
The evening will gather a panel of practitioners, designers, developers, academic experts and civic leaders who will discuss their various accomplishments in achieving higher density with design excellence and how San Diego’s planners, architects and developers can apply these examples to improve environmental and economic prospects.
Vishaan Chakrabarti author of A Country of Cities: A Manifesto for an Urban America will serve as the event’s keynote speaker. Other speakers include: David Baker of David Baker Archtiects, Christopher Bledsoe of Ollie Co-Living, Sarah Dunn of Urban Lab and Kevin Wronske with Heyday Partnership.
Chakrabarti’s highly-acclaimed book, argues that a more urban United States would result in more prosperous, sustainable, joyous, and socially mobile nation. Chakrabarti is the Founder of Practice for Architecture and Urbanism (PAU), a New York architecture and planning practice dedicated to the advancement of cities. In addition, he is an associate professor of practice at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP).
In his book, Chakrabarti says, “In today’s globalized economy, dense urban environments have demonstrably greater capacity than urban sprawl to deliver widespread economic prosperity. Prosperity – defined by success in work, economic stability, and transference of wealth from one generation to another – is a shared aspiration in many countries, including the United States. Not only do city planning professionals have an interest in more efficient land use and denser development patterns; so do the millions of people who want new economic opportunities, upward income mobility, and the long-term financial stability that is increasingly commonplace in successful cities today.”
Baker is a progressive leader in the field of sustainable affordable housing known for combining social concern with signature design character. He was honored as the Non-Profit Housing Association Design Visionary and the AIA California Council’s 2012 Distinguished Practice.
Previously, panelist Bledsoe was an institutional investor and an angel investor in the consumer sector, but left his finance career to pursue his passion for the development of micro-suites and is now the co-founder of Ollie Co-Living.
Sarah Dunn is a co-founder of UrbanLab, an architecture and urban design firm based in Chicago and Los Angeles. In 2007, UrbanLab was named the national winner of the History Channel’s “City of the Future” competition. UrbanLab’s design and research work is published in Architecture, Architectural Record, the New York Times and Chicago Tribune.
Kevin Wronske is co-founder of Heyday Partnership, a design/build/develop firm specializing in creative infill housing in northeast Los Angeles, focusing on responsible development. Heyday has constructed more than 40 LEED Gold + Platinum homes. Wronske’s work has been recognized with a 2014 AIA Merit Award and 2010 AIA Young Architectural Talent Honorable Mention.
The panelists bring together their knowledge and experience in the fields of architecture and design and will stimulate a discussion on how creative planning and design solutions can improve existing communities and make San Diego a healthier, savvier and more affordable place to live.
Tickets can be purchased at http://sdarchitecture.org/program/context/.
The San Diego Architectural Foundation CV4 is part of a series of conferences featured by Housing San Diego’s Future. Additional conferences include the American Institute of Architect’s San Diego Housing the Next 1 Million Residents and CityAge’s The Business of City Building.
About SDAF
San Diego Architectural Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to education and promotion of outstanding architecture, planning and urban design throughout the San Diego region. For more information about SDAF, visit our website at www.sdarchitecture.org and follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/San-Diego-Architectural-Foundation-134064436240/. Context is an annual forum created by SDAF with a commitment to keeping the conversation alive about the value of excellence in the built environment. For more information visit our website at http://sdarchitecture.org/program/context.