The Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas is again hosting a virtual lecture series for the spring 2021 semester, in addition to three workshops and a two-part symposium.

As with the school's fall lecture series, this spring series continues to explore the opportunities and responsibilities that design professionals and design educators have in addressing pressing issues in an ever-changing and increasingly complex world, said Brian Holland, assistant professor of architecture in the Fay Jones School and coordinator of the school's lecture series.

"Our spring series will build on the success of the fall by again convening a rich array of distinguished speakers to help us interrogate the role design professionals can play in shaping the spaces, structures and landscapes of a more equitable and just future," Holland said.

From the cross-border initiatives of Tatiana Bilbao, Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman, to Pascale Sablan's commitment to highlighting the work and voices of women and architects of color, these speakers are all recognized leaders in their fields.

"Through their research and creative practices, they are leading the way in addressing urgent issues using the tools of designers and architects - from the rapid transformations of climate, technology and migration, to racial, social and environmental justice in our built environments, and the need to expand equity and diversity in the design professions," he said.

To present this spring series of lectures and events, the Fay Jones School has again joined with its partners Places Journal, an internationally respected online journal of architecture, landscape architecture and urbanism, and the U of A Office for Diversity and Inclusion.

The spring lecture series is also made possible in part by a gift from donors Ken and Liz Allen of Fayetteville, part of an overall set of commitments the Allens have made to the school's programs and initiatives in diversity, equity and inclusion.

The series will begin with a Jan. 25 public lecture from WAI Architecture Think Tank co-founders Nathalie Frankowski and Cruz Garcia, titled "Loudreading Post-Colonial Landscapes." In addition to their lecture, Frankowski and Garcia will also offer two virtual workshops exclusively for Fay Jones School students and faculty: "A How-to Workshop of Post-Colonial Landscapes" on Feb. 1 and a "Workshop of Anti-Racist Diagrams and Manifestos" on Feb 8.

"The workshops will instigate and investigate a regionally specific reflection on how to build a non-racist and decolonized foundational understanding of design education and of the built environment," said Gabriel Díaz Montemayor, ASLA, associate professor of landscape architecture and the school's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) coordinator. "The workshops will employ methods that WAI have explored in various universities in the United States and in multiple countries abroad."

All lectures are scheduled for 4 p.m. on Mondays, and will be presented live online. To register for this lecture series, complete this registration form on Zoom.

The full slate of lecturers is as follows:

Jan. 25 — Nathalie Frankowski and Cruz Garcia

Frankowski and Garcia are co-founders of WAI Architecture Think Tank, a planetary studio practicing by questioning the political, historical and material legacy and imperatives of architecture and urbanism. Through WAI Architecture Think Tank, Frankowski and Garcia are in search of critical forms of architectural pedagogy. They are deeply invested in the development of new curricula and pedagogical experiments searching for diverse forms of public engagement with architecture, as well as a decolonization and anti-racist reconstruction of the role of architecture in the construction of new worlds.

Feb. 15 — Tatiana Bilbao

Bilbao is founder of Tatiana Bilbao Estudio in Mexico City, Mexico, and is widely recognized both as a thought leader and a practitioner of the highest caliber. In her lecture, she will discuss the "Two Sides of the Border" exhibition, which is currently on display in Vol Walker Hall. The exhibition is an international collaboration to reimagine the region between the United States and Mexico. It explores what might happen if the United States and Mexico weren't viewed as two separate nations but were instead studied for their shared histories, cultures and economies and were acknowledged as pieces of a single region.

March 1 — Behnaz Farahi

Farahi is a designer, creative technologist and critical maker, as well as an assistant professor in the Department of Design at California State University, Long Beach. Trained as an architect, she explores how to foster an empathetic relationship between the human body and the space around it through the implementation of emerging technologies. Her work addresses critical issues such as emotion, bodily perception and social interaction. She specializes in computational design, interactive technologies, additive manufacturing and digital fabrication technologies.

March 8 — Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman

Cruz and Forman are principals at Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman, a research-based practice whose work addresses cross-border issues in San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico. Their approach blurs conventional boundaries between theory and practice, architecture and urbanism, and political theory and urban policy. Cruz is a professor of public culture and urbanism at the University of California, San Diego; Forman is a professor of political theory and founding director of the Center on Global Justice, also at the University of California, San Diego. The pair are the 2021 John G. Williams Distinguished Visiting Professors in Architecture in the Fay Jones School. They also will host a workshop for the school's students and faculty on March 9.

March 15 and 22 — Piggybacking Practices: A Symposium on Architecture and Inequality

This two-day online symposium, organized by Brian Holland, assistant professor in the Fay Jones School, will examine the potential of hybrid land-use tactics, or "piggybackings," as a means to address contemporary forms of inequality in the built environment. Piggybacking practices, as defined by Holland, are innovative multiple-use propositions for anchoring socially or economically marginal activities alongside dominant ones. They are emerging in response to the intensifying pressures of contemporary market logics and alongside widespread increases in social and economic inequality. The symposium will bring together architects, designers and urbanists to critically examine these emerging practices in light of contemporary urban issues. Presenters will include Clare Lyster, of Clare Lyster Urbanism and Architecture; Georgeen Theodore, of Interboro; Joyce Hwang, of Ants of the Prairie; Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman, of Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman; Jaffer Kolb and Ivi Diamantopoulou, of New Affiliates; and Dan Adams and Marie Law Adams, of Landing Studio.

March 29 — Mía Lehrer, FASLA

Lehrer is founder and president of Studio-MLA in Los Angeles, California, a practice that integrates landscape architecture, urban design and planning. Advocacy is a foundation of Lehrer's practice, and it is used to catalyze ecological and social change with inclusivity and authenticity. From the master planning of cities to the design of intimate plazas and gardens, the work of Studio-MLA is recognized for creativity, pragmatism and responsibility across a range of scales and geographies.

April 5 — Pascale Sablan, FAIA, NOMA, LEED AP

Sablan is founder and executive director of Beyond the Built Environment, a platform "to support numerous stages of the architecture pipeline" through engagement, elevation, education and collaboration. The recipient of the 2021 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award, Sablan has worked tirelessly to champion women in architecture and to elevate diversity and inclusion in the design profession. She has created and curated a number of in-person and virtual Say it Loud exhibitions, which highlight the work, voices and experiences of diverse architects through images, quotes and videos.

More information about each of the speakers in this virtual lecture series and details on how to access the lectures online can be found on the Fay Jones School website. Registration for the entire series is available on Zoom.