"Transect of Coexistance" discussion and book presentation

Saturday, November 9th – 6:00pm

Please join us for “Transect of Coexistance” discussion and book presentation, moderated by Gya Yi Gu, which will take place at Metabolic Studio’s River Lab.

Transect of Coexistence: Inquiry into Nature, Art, and Habitat is a collaboration of scholars and creative practitioners who explore current environmental challenges through inclusive global and intimately local lenses. Six chapters highlight different ecological elements: Woods, Rock & Stone, Water, Grasses & Pastures, Animals, and Soil.

Each chapter has a polyphony of voices reflecting on the boundaries between nature and culture and between rural and urban, modeling a desired cooperative future.

Speakers: Ilaria Mazzoleni, Deborah Weintraub, Maristella Casciato and Richard Molina.

Date: Saturday, November 9th, 5:30pm to 7:30pm

Venue: Metabolic Studio’s River Lab, located at 1745 Baker Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Tickets: Free

Bios:

Ilaria Mazzoleni

An architect, educator, author, and NAHR Founder. Her research focuses on sustainability and biomimicry, where innovation in architecture and design is inspired by the processes and functions of nature. Her built and conceptual work in the fields of sustainable architecture and biomimicry has been published internationally. Mazzoleni has been a faculty member at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), CalPoly Pomona, and CalArts in Los Angeles. Mazzoleni has authored and published the book Architecture Follows Nature - Biomimetic Principles for Innovative Design (CRC Press, 2013). Book contribution: chief editor, Journeying, and Groundings author.

Maristella Casciato

An architect and architectural historian. She has been Senior Curator, Head of Architectural Collections at the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles since 2016, and has taught the history of twentieth-century architecture for almost forty years. In the course of the past decade, she has reconciled her interests in architecture with a more interdisciplinary approach to landscape and the natural environment. Maristella joined NAHR’s Scientific Committee in 2019. Her research projects have been supported by a Fulbright Fellowship (1992), by a grant issued by the Institut National d’Histoire d’Art (Paris 2004), by the Mellon Foundation (2010), and by the Graham Foundation (2016). Book contribution: editor of woods chapter.

Deborah Weintraub

The highest ranking architect for the City of Los Angeles, and the Chief Deputy City Engineer. Since 2019, Deborah has served as the NAHR Scientific Committee Chair. Her focus is sustainably designed public buildings and open spaces. She has worked on City buildings, bridges, parks, historic restorations, the Los Angeles River, and on repositioning large infrastructural City elements, such as decommissioned reservoirs and flood basins. Book contribution: editor of water chapter.

Richard Molina

An educator and the design director of ANIMOL, whose interests align with social, civic, and ecological undertones embedded within architecture. Current investigations favor spatial nuances conceived by recombining geometry and compositional techniques to achieve diverse ranges of enclosure and openness, while encouraging interconnectedness. Richard is a Lecturer in the Department of Architecture at Cal Poly Pomona and a Faculty in the School of Theater at CalArts. He is an active member of the Association for Women in Architecture and Design (AWA+D) and a NAHR Ambassador. Book contribution: editor of soil chapter and manuscript design.

Jia Yi Gu (Moderator)

Jia Yi Gu is an architectural scholar, curator, and designer working on histories of knowledge production through the lens of media studies, cultural techniques, and material cultures (i.e. how we know and show our histories). Her research and courses explore changing definitions of architectural knowledge from the building site to the desktop. She is Assistant Professor of Architecture at Harvey Mudd College and one half of the architecture and research studio Spinagu. She develops exhibitions, texts, and experimental programming and projects.

Special thanks to Metabolic Studio for hosting this event.

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Transect of Coexistence: Inquiry into Nature, Art, and Habitat

Discussion & Book Presentation