Infrastructure is the network of systems necessary for an organization to function. When those systems are degraded enough, the defining functions of the organization fail. The Architecture Lobby has selected this theme for its first National Think-In to generate a way forward and rebuild our discipline’s infrastructure.
A Think-In is a series of topical sessions that emphasize debate between varying positions as opposed to speeches and pronouncements. It is an active search for new ways forward in a communal context.
This Think-In is divided into two parts over two days: active engagement with relevant session at the AIA National convention to ensure substantive dialogues on professional issues on Friday, June 22; and Think-In panel discussions on Saturday, June 23 at Prime Produce that examine the theme of Infrastructure.
DAY 1: AIA Sessions and Javits Center Politicking June 22, 2018: 7am – 7pm
Jacob Javits Center
Active engagement with relevant sessions at the AIA National convention, ensuring substantive dialogues on professional and infrastructural issues.
Lobby members outside the convention distribute Architecture Lobby information and direct people to the sessions that advance architecture’s value most concretely.
DAY 2: Infrastructure: The Architecture Lobby National Think-In
June 23, 2018: 10am – 7pm
Prime Produce, 424 W 54th St, New York, NY 10019
This Think-In is divided into two parts: Hard Infrastructure and Soft Infrastructure. While Hard Infrastructure engages the material we produce, Soft Infrastructure indicates the institutions by which we produce. The Architecture Lobby aims not only to discuss difficult architectural conditions that do not get proper exposure, but also to provide tools to rebuild relevant infrastructures.
Five sessions, with introductory remarks/provocations and concluding strategies. Each session begins with a short, 5-minute provocation by each speaker on the polemic at hand. The moderator will provoke debate amongst panelist and then with the audience.
SCHEDULE:
10 – 10:45: The Architecture Lobby: Work/Activism
Introduction: Peggy Deamer
Hard Infrastructure
10:45 – 12:00: Cities and Capital
Moderator: Priyanka Shah
Panelists: Michael Sorkin, Mitch McEwen , Ana Maria Leon, Reinhold Martin
12:00 – 12:15: Break
12:15 – 1:30: Climate Change
Moderator: Tyler Taylor
Panelists: James Russell, Billy Fleming, Susannah Drake, Mark Gardner
1:30 – 2:00: Lunch
Soft Infrastructure
2:00 – 3:15: Labor
Moderators: Marianela D’Aprile, Keefer Dunn
Panelists: Andrew Herscher, Kadambari Baxi, Raymond Brown
3:15 – 3:30: Break
3:30 – 4:45: #MeToo
Moderators: Elaina Berkowitz, A.L. Hu
Panelists: Ella Mahony, Caroline James, Andrea Merrett, Julia Murphy
4:45 – 5:00: Break
5:00 – 6:15: Alternative Forms of Professional Organization
Moderator: Quilian Riano
Panelists: Philip Alsopp, Tamar Kisilevitz, Peggy Deamer, Katherine Darnstadt, Magali Sarfatti-Larson
6:15 – 7:00: Closing Discussion
