Spring Lecture Series

[Subdude]

These are great!

This series will bring to Houston some of the most dynamic mayors (or former mayors) from around the country. These leaders have a reputation for an enlightened approach to urban design and a commitment to improve the quality of life in their cities. They will share their experiences and provide advice on how to achieve results.

January 25: Mark Robbins

Dean of Syracuse School of Architecture

Former NEA Design Director

February 1: Maurice Cox

Former Mayor of Charlottesville, Virginia

Architecture Professor at the University of Virginia

February 8: Joe Riley

Mayor of Charleston, South Carolina

Co-Founder of the Mayors Institute for City Design

February 15: Bill White

Mayor of Houston, Texas

February 22: John Norquist

Former Mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin

President of the Congress for the New Urbanism

All lectures will be held at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Brown Auditorium at 7pm

Series Tickets:

$25 RDA, MFAH members

$20 Senior citizens 65 and older

$10 Students with identification

$40 Others

Single Tickets (upon availability):

$7 RDA, MFAH members

$5 Senior citizens 65 and older

$3 Students with identification

$10 Others

More info

[Subdude]

Has anyone been able to go to these? This series is really interesting. The speaker last night was an architect and urban planner who was mayor of Charlottesville. The topic was how they are utilizing zoning and planning to re-urbanize parts of the city. I think everyone in the audience was wondering, "Could we ever do that here?"

[N Judah]

The idea of growing the tax base by densifying underdeveloped target areas instead of simply annexing everything around you is a pretty novel one around here, that's for sure.

I think doing something along the lines of what he did in Charlottesville would be pretty hard to do here since we have no zoning. We will just have to find another way of doing it, and I am sure LRT will be a major component.

[infinite_jim]

I went to the Mark Robbins lecture on the 25th

very interesting urban renewal concepts and great examples

If anyone knows the name of the coal refining plant in germany that was trasformed into the public space? i wrote "giessenstrasse", but didnt know if you caught any more info on it (an architect reference?, landcscape architect? that i can use to find it)

[N Judah]

I went to the Mark Robbins lecture on the 25th

very interesting urban renewal concepts and great examples

If anyone knows the name of the coal refining plant in germany that was trasformed into the public space? i wrote "giessenstrasse", but didnt know if you caught any more info on it (an architect reference?, landcscape architect? that i can use to find it)

This might be it:

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?sectio...18&archive=true

We have some decent-looking industrial plants on the southeast side, but other than that I can't think of any structures here that we could re-appropriate for recreational use when they become ruins.

[Subdude]

I was able to go to this week's lecture as well, by Mayor Joe Riley of Charleston. He was an excellent speaker, even though he laid on the folksiness with a trowel, and even got a standing ovation at the end. When you live in Houston, it seems amazing to hear a mayor describe how the city gets involved in urban design projects, tries to ensure high-quality development, and intervenes to stop historic buildings from being demolished. It's frustrating that smaller cities do so much to revitalize, while Houston seems content to see old buildings like the William Penn hotel and San Jacinto building torn down and replaced with parking.

[infinite_jim]

This might be it:

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?sectio...18&archive=true

We have some decent-looking industrial plants on the southeast side, but other than that I can't think of any structures here that we could re-appropriate for recreational use when they become ruins.

i greatly appreciate this information

thank you