Join us for an exploration at the intersections of art, design, and ethics in a world grappling with the challenges of climate breakdown. As our planet contends with the unfolding processes of environmental transformation, artists and designers are tasked with navigating a complex landscape shaped by entangled values and socio-political considerations. In this event, we will dive into the guiding principles that inform design choices in an era where traditional ideas of endless growth and resource exploitation are being reevaluated.
Through a panel discussion led by leading and emerging voices in the field, we will examine how critical spatial production is reshaping our understanding of environmental impact and its intersections. Our focus will be on eco-critical works that offer alternative activisms through shifting ecological and aesthetic responses to hegemonic power. These works challenge established norms and question the narratives around who has the authority to 'claim space,' fostering a dialogue on how visual culture can shape a more resilient and inclusive future. We will also gain a deeper understanding of spatial practices from a pluralistic perspective.
The evening will include networking, refreshments, and reflections featuring esteemed panelists.
Speakers:
Fireside chat
Owen Hopkins, Director, Farrell Centre; Editor, Towards Another Architecture
Xenia Adjoubei, Senior Consultant, Systematica; Senior Fellow, Inclusive Ecologies Incubator, Pratt Institute;
Priyanka Jain, Co-founder, 3×3; Co-chair, AIA Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Panel:
Gita Nandan, Co-founder, thread collective; Board Member, RETI Center; and Visiting Associate Professor, Pratt Institute.
Supermrin, Founder, Streetlight Studio; Assistant Professor, School of Art, University of Cincinnati.
Daphne Lundi, Moynihan Public Scholar at The City College of New York
Moderator:
Lydia Kallipoliti, Professor, The Cooper Union; Director, ANAcycle think thank
Speaker Bios
Daphne Lundi is Brooklyn-born and based urban planner, climate policymaker, writer, and artist. She is currently a Public Scholar at The Moynihan Center at The City College of New York where her research and writing explores the intersections between science fiction and city planning. Previously, she was the Deputy Director for Living Streets & Public Spaces at the NYC Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice where she led a team focused on developing policy initiatives for transportation resiliency and sustainability, waste management policy, green infrastructure planning, air quality, open space access, and extreme heat mitigation.
Gita Nandan is an architect, designer, educator, and leader in community resilience planning and design. She is a co-founder and principal of the award winning design firm thread collective, board chair and founder of the RETI Center, and visiting associate professor at Pratt Institute GCPE and the School for Visual Arts. Gita's working with a collaborative team, designing the "BlueCity Reef Garden," a unique amphibious structure, created to enhance aquatic ecosystems and test the possibilities of biophilic structures within our polluted waterways.
Supermrin is an Indian artist working at the intersections of architecture, sculpture, and landscape. She is an Assistant Professor of Art at the School of Art, University of Cincinnati and founder of Streetlight Studio. The studio operates as a collaborative critical research lab that develops decolonial interventions in public space. Presently she is working on FIELD, a bioarts project that considers the manicured lawns of North America as a biological archive in which accumulations of labor, capital, and subjectivity lie enmeshed.
Lydia Kallipoliti is an architect, engineer and scholar. Kallipoliti is a Professor at The cooper Union and Director of ANAcycle think thank. She is also the author of the online book History of Ecological Design for Oxford English Encyclopedia of Environmental Science (2017), the editor of “EcoRedux”—a special issue of Architectural Design magazine (AD, 2011)—and the author of the book The Architecture of Closed Worlds, Or, What is the Power of Shit (Lars Muller Publishers/Storefront for Art and Architecture, 2018), which was a finalist for the Cornish Family Prize among all publications in design, art and architecture in 2018 by the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
Owen Hopkins is an architectural writer, historian and curator. He is director of the Farrell Centre – a centre for architecture and cities in Newcastle, UK and editor of Towards Another Architecture, a book that brings together architects, artists, curators, writers and activists to put forward a range of optimistic visions for the future of architecture and cities. Owen is also to represent the UK at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia 2025.
Xenia Adjoubei is an urban designer and researcher in emergent technology, climate resiliency and community engagement. She is a Fellow at the Inclusive Ecologies Incubator, where she worked on the FIELD bioarts project. She is also Lead Researcher in the Global Free Unit, a network for education through live projects in contexts of rapid economic and political change.
Priyanka Jain is co-founder and principal at 3×3 and Visiting Assistant Professor at Pratt Institute. She serves as a co-chair of AIANY Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She is a fellow at Urban Design Forum and was invited to be part of the community engagement working group for the 21 Visions for 2021 initiative, a bold environment agenda for New York City’s next leadership. Priyanka also serves as the Diversity and Inclusion Committee chair at the American Institute of Architects.
AIANY Diversity and Inclusion Committee
