Dean's Journal
I began the past two weeks in Philadelphia, participating in the Rebuilding Urban Places After Disaster conference on February 2-4, organized by the Penn Institute for Urban Research. The conference opened with a stirring talk by Marc Morial, the former mayor of News Orleans. He asked if "we will reach for the highest standards as we move forward." Mayor Morial noted that the challenge we face is "not only about rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, it is about rebuilding a culture, a human system."
The session that I moderated focused on "Making Places Less Vulnerable." Barbara Faga of EDAW presented our mapping project of the Gulf Coast region from Houston to Pensacola. One of the session speakers, geologist Robert Giegengack, argued that both New Orleans and Baton Rouge should be relocated because hydrological forces would redirect the Mississippi River and permanently flood much of its delta. Another speaker, landscape architect Anuradha Mathur, advocated that we change how we view the region, separating land and water, and see it as "a fluid terrain."
Sessions addressed emergency responses to disasters, economic renewal, health concerns, and issues relating to class and race. A lunch panel highlighted efforts by Tulane and Xavier Universities to lead renewal efforts. The speakers included Tulane School of Architecture Dean Reed Kroloff [M.Arch. '86]. Dean Kroloff announced the organization of a national consortium of design-build programs at schools of architecture across the nation. Participants would come together in the summer to build projects and would focus on New Orleans for the next three to five years then rotate to other locations.
SOM partner and ULI President Marilyn Jordan Taylor moderated a session on "Recreating a Sense of Place." Her panel included Penn Professors Witold Rybczynski and Randy Mason as well as Professor Dell Upton of the University of Virginia. Urban designer Jonathan Barnett described Wallace Roberts and Todd's plan for rebuilding New Orleans. The WRT plan is being coordinated by a commission co-chaired by Reed Kroloff.
The conference concluded with a moving session about New Orleans' special culture. Folklorist Nick Spitzer of public radio's "American Routes" coordinated the session, which featured decorative plasterer Earl Barthé and musician Eddie Bo, who ended the conference with a piano rendition of "When the Saints Come Marching In."
On Monday, February 6, director Jessie Otto Hite walked me through the new Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art. Scheduled to open in April, museum staff have begun to mount the artworks. Later that day, I met with a Real Estate Council of Austin committee about Envision Central Texas. This meeting was one of several ECT activities during the past two weeks, which included an Executive Committee and Board of Directors meeting.
In addition to my own class, Environmental Readings, I've also lectured in the undergraduate class "Principles of Physical Planning." This course is team-taught by the Community and Regional Planning Program faculty for B.Arch. students. In addition to architecture undergraduates, geography and urban studies students are also enrolled in the class.
On Thursday, February 9, I made a presentation to Preservation Texas' 2006 Preservation Day at the Texas Association of Counties headquarters. My presentation was part of a Building Industry Council Seminar on "Opportunities and Challenges Collaborating with New Urban Ideals."
On Friday morning, I participated in the host planning committee for the 2006 ACI Home Performance Conference at Austin Energy. The conference will be held in Austin May 22 to May 26. Richard Morgan of Austin Energy is chairing the host committee for the event, which is expected to attract around 1,600 participants. AIA will be offering continuing education credits for the event. ACI is seeking student volunteers for the conference. In return for volunteer time, student registration fees will be waived. (For more information, see http://www.affordablecomfort.org.)
Later in the day, I introduced guest lecturer Juan Cotera [B.Arch. '68, M.S.C.R.P. '69]. He examined one notion of socially responsible architecture. One topic he addressed was the responsibility of schools of architecture to explore the relationship between minority cultures and design.
On Saturday, February 11, I drove to Johnson City to attend the Design>Build>Texas Open House at the Browning Ranch. Faculty members Louise Harpman and Russell Krepart [M.Arch. '02], along with former students Megan Hannon [B.Arch. '04], Anthony Lore [B.A. Studio Art '93, M.Arch. '05], and Tom Lessel [BS Arch.Eng. '98, M.Arch. '05], led the tours and answered questions about the project's design and construction. Scott Gardner, the ranch manager at the Browning Ranch, also led the tours and discussed the ranch's mission in promoting conservation efforts and providing a "living laboratory" for the School of Architecture's various programs. Over 70 people attended the event, including Gordon White (School of Architecture Advisory Council member), Lucia Gilbert (UT-Austin Executive Vice President and Provost) and Jack Gilbert (Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Natural Sciences), Richard Slaughter (Executive Director of the Austin Community Foundation), Peter Frumkin (Director of the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service, Professor of Public Policy, LBJ School) and Elizabeth Frumkin (Lecturer at the School of Law), Shirley Beck, Kathleen Inglish, Don and Judy Gaines, Maryella Vause, and many others.
After a day-long delay because of the blizzard in the Northeast, I flew to Boston on Monday to chair the Planning Accreditation Board site visit team at MIT. Our review ended yesterday, when I returned to Austin.
—Fritz Steiner
