Empowerment, Access, Co-Creation, Ethics

AIA Baltimore and the Baltimore Architecture Foundation are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Spring Lecture Series. The series brings globally recognized designers and scholars to the city to speak about design in relation to a timely theme. This year’s theme is Empowerment, Access, Co-Creation and Ethics, exploring how design can be a vital and powerful catalyst for social change. It will explore the role of power in design and how designers facilitate its redistribution.

The series begins with Dr. Thomas Seager, a professor researching the moral and ethical implications of infrastructure design. Next, Better Block facilitates self-organizing neighborhood improvements by lowering the barrier to entry on fabrication through their open-source Wikiblock platform. Hector Design looks at how social relations and conflicts materialize through the design process. Orkidstudio focuses on the process of construction to affect social change and empower people through the sharing of skills and knowledge on site. Collectively understood, these perspectives offer pathways for us to consider how design can take on greater challenges and seek greater impact.

2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the Spring Lecture Series. All lectures begin at 6:00 pm followed by a reception.

15 March 2018: Ethics
Dr. Thomas Seager, Arizona State University, School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment. Tempe, Arizona.

29 March 2018: Access
Krista Nightengale, Better Block Foundation. Dallas, Texas.
Sponsored by MICA Architectural Design

19 April 2018: Co-Creation
Jae Shin & Damon Rich, Hector Design. Newark, New Jersey.
Sponsored by Maryland ASLA

26 April 2018: Empowerment
James Mitchell, Orkidstudio. Nairobi, Kenya.
Reception sponsored by Gutierrez Studios