2015

“Extreme Heat: Hot Cities – Adapting to a Hotter World” is a unique, day-long symposium. A broad constituency involved in building and urban design, science, research, policy, innovation, mitigation, and adaptation will come together to discuss how to address this growing risk through planning, design, and construction.

“Extreme Heat” invites architects and landscape architects, planners, engineers, and allied professionals, government, foundations, scientists, researchers, and students – in fact, all interested stakeholders – to discuss essential information and insights. The symposium will cover topics ranging from urban climatology to building materials, case studies, and recommendations for the future. It will revisit prior extreme heat events such as the 1995 Chicago and 2003 Paris category-defining heat waves, and what has changed since then.

Aboard a private yacht, this event will break traditional molds of evening public lectures that promote excellence, diversity, as well as engaging the public about the impact and relevance of architecture, good design including providing continuing education. Attendees and guests will come out reenergized, as they mingle, tour Chicago through Lake Michigan and Chicago River in a private yacht, and engage in dialogue with Keynote Speaker, Dr Rachel Armstrong. The evening's topic centers on an ecological age of design and construction that seeks to develop new ways of choreographing space by working along with natural systems. The black-tie and tie-dyed evening cruise will culminate at the rooftop of a secret high rise building location (to be revealed on the day of the event) for a viewing of the Living Ball installation of the Leapfrog Project.

The Japan Foundation, New York and The New School’s Parsons School of Design, Design Studies and Industrial Design programs present “Japanese Design Today: Unique, Evolving, Borderless ‐ with Hiroshi Kashiwagi and Yoshifumi Nakamura.” Hiroshi Kashiwagi, professor at Musashino Art University and architect/ furniture designer Yoshifumi Nakamura will each discuss the evolution, distinguishing characteristics, and current state of Japanese design today.

Architecture academics and professionals are invited to a free conference. The focus will be on computational processes in the modern practice of architecture and design and how digital technologies are shaping the practice of architecture and its allied disciplines. The conference will feature an exciting speakers list and discussion sessions.