We are pleased to announce our Fall 2021 Lecture Series as part of the Year of Intelligence. For the past several years, the School has chosen an annual social justice-focused topic. Two years ago, the theme was Housing. Last year, we investigated the theme of Climate Justice. This year, the theme is Intelligence.
Intelligence refers to the increased presence of Artificial Intelligence in the design industries and our daily lives. It is both a recognition and provocation to question how we might leverage this new intelligence for social and environmental change.
“The development of computational tools and data systems, digital and virtual media, AI and machine learning, have historically been in the hands of the very few which has made access to them egregiously inequitable,” says Dean Ingalill Wahlrood-Ritter. “These systems affect each one of us whether we choose to engage or not. Each of us has a role to play in understanding these tools and systems and we must question how and when they are used.”
In the spirit of accessibility, this year’s lecture poster—designed by Masato and Karen Nakada of Tokyo- and Los Angeles-based Happening Studio—was created utilizing basic web coding (HTML & CSS) as a design tool to generate a series of posters. The series poster, along with individual event posters, are hosted by an open-source web editing platform as a way to share and be re-designed by anyone, capturing the ethos of WSoA’s committed focus on equity and inclusion.
Anyone can interact with the source code at this link: https://thehappening.us/wsoa/
The Fall program kicks off on September 11th at WSoA’s San Diego Campus with Projections, a public art installations exhibit a part of San Diego Design Week 2021. On September 21st, Pratt School of Architecture Dean Dr. Harriet Harriss will give a lecture on this year’s theme. Next will be a roundtable discussion on the “Future of Work” with panelists German Aparicio, Project Manager at Trimble Consulting; Wayne Thomas, Senior Associate at Gensler Los Angeles; and Eera Babtiwale, Director of Sustainability at Mount San Antonio College. Kishani Da Silva, Chair of Woodbury’s new Construction Management program, will moderate the discussion.
Finally, Elizabeth Mahlow & Matthew Melnyk of Los Angeles-based structural engineering firm NOUS Engineering will speak on November 17th about their engagement with emerging technologies in their practice.
Except for the San Diego event, all lectures are virtual and free to the public:
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