DRYLANDS DESIGN CONFERENCE
RETROFITTING THE WEST: Adaptation by Design
INNOVATIONS IN PLANNING,
LANDSCAPE, ENGINEERING,
AND ARCHITECTURE MARCH 22-24
2012
BURBANK, CA
OVERVIEW
Nowhere are the opportunities for global leadership in water-smart design greater than in the US West.
Shifts in the economy, demographics, and the climate are requiring westerners to rethink the centralized, energy-intensive water systems of the 20th century.
The DRYLANDS DESIGN CONFERENCE, RETROFITTING THE WEST: Adaptation by Design, presented by the Arid Lands Institute at Woodbury University in partnership with the California Architectural Foundation and UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, March 23-24, 2012, in Burbank, California, will re-examine the built environment of the arid and semi-arid west as a vast field of opportunities for design innovation at a range of scales, from building systems to infrastructure and landscape spaces. The conference will present and debate a portfolio of design strategies generated in response to the challenges set forth in ALI's Drylands Design Initiative:
- Uncoupling the Water-Energy Nexus;
- Anticipating Climate Impacts;
- Maximizing Local Water Resources;
- Creating Social Equity.
With a focus on the design of adaptation, this conference brings together multiple generations of designers, scientists, and policy makers to explore design leadership opportunities presented by a time of change.
AIA_CES CREDITS AVAILABLE
Maintain your yearly continuing education requirements by attending the DRYLANDS CONFERECE, RETROFITTING THE WEST: Adaptation by Design. AIA architect members can earn up to 6 CES continuing education credit hours within the heath, safety and welfare [HSW] and sustainable design [SD] topic categories.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Thursday, March 22
12 - 5pm
PreConference Registration
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Woodbury University
Ahmanson Main Space
6 - 9pm
EXHIBITION OPENING + RECEPTION
Drylands Design In An Age of Change:
Visionary Proposals for a Water-Scarce Future
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A+D
Architecture + Design Museum
Los Angeles
Friday, March 23
7:30a - 8:30a
Registration + Breakfast
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Woodbury University
Ahmanson Main Space
8:30a - 9a
Welcome + Opening Remarks
Fletcher Jones Auditorium
Participants
Norman Millar AIA
Dean, School of Architecture
Woodbury University
CAF Regent
Hadley + Peter Arnold
Directors, Arid Lands Institute
Woodbury University
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9a -11a
SESSION 1:
Hydrologic Commonwealth
A reallocated hydrologic cycle will require
distributed water systems and a reassertion of hydrography as a basic unit of planning and governance. What boundaries—disciplinary, jurisdictional, economic, topographic—might be redrawn for a resilient and equitable hydrologic future?
Featured Speaker
Powell’s Legacy
William deBuys PhD
Writer + Conservationist
Design Case Studies 1
ALI Research Grant Award Finalists
Drylands Design: A Commonwealth Approach
Laurel McSherry FAAR ASLA
Virginia Tech
Rob Holmes ASLA
Virginia Tech
ALI Research Grant Award Finalist
Off the Reservation: Seeds of Change
Meghan Storm
University of Pennsylvania
Panel Discussion
Water, Power, + Cultural Identity
Moderator
Jamie Workman PhD
Author, Heart of Dryness
Wesleyan University, College of the Environment
Participants
Paula Daniels
Office of the Mayor, City of Los Angeles
William deBuys PhD
Writer + Conservationist
Rob Holmes ASLA
Virginia Tech
Miguel Luna
Executive Director: Urban Semillas
Laurel McSherry FAAR ASLA
Virginia Tech
Michael Pinto AIA
Osborn Architects
Meghan Storm
University of Pennsylvania
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11a -12:30p
SESSION 2:
The Design of Adaptation
Living infrastructures.
Soft infrastructures.
Adaptive infrastructures.
Distributed infrastructures.
Insurgent Infrastructures.
What do current climate models suggest for the
future of Western water? What are the adaptation strategies available to a region of 30 million people?
To what extent can small-scale distributed systems capture local waters—storm, grey, recycled?
With what plausible results, quantitative and qualitative? At what cost? On what time frame?
Featured Speaker
Climate Impacts on Western Water Supply
JT Reager
Senior Research Assistant
UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling
UCIrvine
Design Case Studies 2
ALI Research Grant Award Finalist
Retrofitting Silverlake Reservior
Robert Lamb AIA AICP
Panel Discussion
The Deindustrialization of Western Water
Moderator
Stephine Pincetl PhD
Director, Center for Sustainable Urban Systems
UCLA IoES
Participants
Shivaji Deshmukh PE
West Basin Water Control District
Terri Hogue PhD
UCLA IoES
Rob Lamb AIA AICP
Mia Lehrer FASLA
President, Mia Lehrer + Associates
Stuart Magruder AIA
President AIA Los Angeles
Greg Otto PE
Principal Buro Happold
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12:30p - 2p
LUNCH SESSION
Water Utilities
Ahmanson Main Space
Featured Speaker
Water Utilities
Barry Taylor PhD
Fuller Theological Seminary
Art Center College of Design
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2p - 3:45p Fletcher Jones Auditorium
SESSION 3:
Integrated Frameworks for Planning + Design
Water, energy, and climate are deeply entwined but rarely integrated into the policies that govern design
of the built environment. Where are the opportunities
for integration? What are the legislative barriers
and policy blockades?
Featured Speaker
Climate Action Plans and the Role of Water
Paul Bunje PhD
Executive Director, Center for Climate Change Solutions
UCLA IoES
Design Case Studies 3
Hydrologic Urbanism: A Case Study
Peter Arnold
CoDirector, Arid Lands Institute
Woodbury University
Panel Discussion
Beyond LID: Hydrologic Urbanism
Moderator
Paul Bunje PhD
UCLA IoES
Participants
Peter Arnold
CoDirector, Arid Lands Institute
Mark Gangi AIA
Principal, Gangi Architects
Monica Gilchrist
Interim California Director, ICLEI
Ken Lewis AIA
AC Martin
Emily Gabel Luddy FASLA
Council Member, City of Burbank
Deborah Weintraub AIA
Chief Deputy City Engineer, City of Los Angeles
Walker Wells MRCP AICP
Global Green USA
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4p - 5:30p
SESSION 4:
Water Systems and Public Architectures
Water and its absence have driven the technologies
and poetics of public architectures in drylands for thousands of years. In contemporary design, internal technologies (water-conserving fixtures and appliances) and external systems (water policy and engineering) have caused water systems to evaporate from the architectural lexicon. How might the logics and poetics of water re-combine to shape not only the architectural object but public experience? How might design more effectively serve as an agent of public trust values?
Featured Speaker
Gravity-Fed City
Katherine Rinne
Architect + Historian
California College of the Arts
Design Case Studies 4
ALI Research Grant Award Finalist
A Colorful Walk: Salt Pool Exploration
Ye Hua
USC Landscape Architecture
ALI Research Grant Award Finalists
Re-investing the Line: small infrastructures,
micro communities, and communication ecologies
for the American West
Gini Lee, PhD
University of Melbourne, Austraila
Brooke Madill
University of Melbourne, Austraila
Panel Discussion
Recovering A Grammar of Drylands Design
Moderator
Michael Lehrer FAIA
Principal, Lehrer Architects
Participants
Frank Escher AIA
Escher GuneWardena
Ye Hua
USC Landscape Archticture
Gini Lee, PhD
University of Melbourne, Austraila
Brooke Madill
University of Melbourne, Austraila
Mary-Ann Ray
Studio Works Architects
Deborah Richmond AIA
Touraine Richmond Architects
Katherine Rinne
California College of the Arts
Alexander Robinson
Office of Outdoor Research
Larry Scarpa FAIA
Brooks + Scarpa
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5:30p
Concluding Remarks
Featured Speaker
Concluding Remarks
Ila Berman PhD
Dean, California College of the Arts
CAF Regent
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6p
RECEPTION
Recepción Sin Agua
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Ahmanson Main Space
Saturday, March 24
Educators Session
10a
Breakfast
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Woodbury University
Ahmanson Main Space
10a - 12p
Educators Discussion
How are design schools responding to the challenges of water scarcity and climate change?
Each speaker will deliver their argument for what they see as the key issue(s) in teaching effectively. What is the role of history and the humanities? Public policy? Fieldwork? Quantitative reasoning? GIS? Global engagement?
SPONSORS
Major support for the Drylands Design Conference is provided by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of University Partnerships to the Arid Lands Institute.
US Department of Housing + Urban Development
Office of University Partnerships
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Woodbury University
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Burbank Water + Power
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PARTNERS
A+D Architecture + Design Museum Los Angeles
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California Architectural Foundation
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City of Burbank, CA
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UCLA, Institute of the Environment and Sustainability
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Woodbury University, School of Architecture
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Woodbury University, Institute of Transdisciplinary Studies
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SUPPORTERS
AC Martin Partners
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American Institute of Architects, California Council
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American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles Chapter
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Burbank Green Alliance
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Concrete Masonry Association of CA and NV
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MAK Center
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Participant Media
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MEDIA PARTNERS
LAND8
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The friendly office for...
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The Arid Lands Institute at Woodbury University is supported by funding under Grant Number HSIAC-09-CA-39 with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of University Partnerships. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government.
