*or the built environment, or city planning and urban design

“For God’s sake, you designers have all the creative power,
so come out of your ivory tower and join society.
Take responsibility for forming the future. Society needs you.” 

 -Richard Swett, FAIA

We are entering what some have called the “Post-pandemic Era,” and the question asked is how we will live change. The pandemic has not necessarily uncovered new problems, but rather has brought a new sense of urgency to the problems we have not yet resolved: social justice, economic disparity, healthy communities, and climate change. All of these are connected, and affected by the built environment. Design matters!

We have asked two design professionals involved in the building of our communities, Megan Groth and Frank Wolden, to speak to these issues from their generational perspectives. And, to speak to the role of the design professional resolving these issues. Mike Stepner will moderate.

Megan Groth is a designer, urbanist, and educator, with a master’s of architecture from the University of Washington and a master’s of sociology, in city design, from the London School of Economics. She is the practice coordinator at Woodbury University School of Architecture at the San Diego campus in Barrio Logan.

Prior to coming to Woodbury in 2019, Megan taught at Oxford Brookes University in the UK and worked at the London School of Economics Cities International Research Center, where she managed and co-edited the book Shaping Cities in an Urban Age (Phaidon, 2018). While at the University of Washington, Megan studied in Australia with Glenn Murcutt and received a Valle Scholarship to attend the Wood Program at Aalto University in Finland. Upon graduation from UW, Megan practiced architecture and urban design in Seattle where she was a member of the Seattle Design Commission. Megan’s recent research deals with proposed changes in the architectural profession to better address the current climate crisis and social inequities.

 

Frank Wolden recently formed a new studio, Wolden Design, where he has forged collaborative relationships with a number of high-profile design firms. His transdisciplinary design process, referred to as “city design,” seeks to break down the barriers between architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning, in favor of an integrated approach.

He was a member of an elite design team at the Jerde Partnership in Los Angeles, as project architect for Horton Plaza shopping center. He founded City Design and merged with Carrier Johnson + Culture, where he served as design principal for 16 years. For the past eight years, Frank led Skyport Studio where he joined forces with AVRP in 2015, becoming AVRPSKYPORT. He is an adjunct professor at NewSchool of Architecture & Design, and has held positions at the University of Europa de Madrid, University of Michigan, and Bjarke Ingels Group.

9:30 a.m., Saturday, September 18, on Zoom (link)
Meeting ID: 816 5250 3262

Lecture will be recorded and put online

Zoom Instructions

Join By Computer

  • Close any program on your computer that uses your camera, for instance Skype
  • Have a headset available if possible to minimize feedback – your cellphone earbuds will work well
  • Click this Zoom link and Zoom should automatically and quickly download to your computer
  • Open the program that was downloaded. If it does not open automatically, open the Downloads folder on your computer, click Zoom_launcher.exe. Zoom should direct you to this with a large orange flag
  • If prompted, enter the Meeting ID and Passcode from above
  • Once Zoom has launched, a screen should pop up asking for your name. This will identify you during the meeting
  • You should now be part of the meeting. Click the green button that says “Join Audio By Computer” (you will automatically be muted at the beginning of the meeting)
  • At 9:30 you will be admitted into the meeting

Join By Tablet or Smartphone

  • If you choose to use your tablet or smartphone, be sure to download the Zoom app ahead of time from the app store on your device
  • Once you have downloaded the Zoom app, follow the “Join by computer” instructions above.

We want to start on time – please allow extra time to get online!

In consideration of the speakers, please arrive 15 minutes early in order to get successfully connected. We don’t want you to miss any of this great lecture!

Questions?

Contact: Joshua Larson, President, Friends of San Diego Architecture, joshualrsn@gmail.com