Event Description

Event: Rising Urbanists: Green Infrastructure for the 22nd Century
Friday, April 14,
9:30 AM - 5:00 PM,
Tickets: $10 Student, $25 Professional

Location:
Hunter College West Building
904 Lexington Ave, 7th-floor auditorium
New York, NY 10065

3.0 LA CES PDH/HSW
The ASLA-NY Student Chapter at the City College of New York is organizing a multi-disciplinary conference to imagine the potential for Green Infrastructure to act as a catalyst in driving urban design into the 22nd century.

Background:

New York City is 72% paved, with over 400 combined sewage outfalls that convey an estimated 27 billion gallons of raw sewage into our waterways every year. Rising tides, CSO events, and extreme weather events will be changing the urban fabric of New York for the next century and beyond. Initial efforts to build a green infrastructure in New York City have been limited in scope to small-scale interventions that fit into residual spaces. In the contemporary convergence of urban population growth, failing 19th and 20th century, gray infrastructure, and risks associated with climate change, the stakes are high for our urban systems to adapt to our new environmental context.

Purpose:

This conference is a groundbreaking forum for the next generation of urbanist thinkers to organize around long-term green infrastructure strategies rather than disciplinary hierarchies. An expansive approach to green infrastructure could drive urban design by engaging alternate interests in building the urban environment.

Audience:

The Rising Urbanists Conference is geared towards students and professionals in architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, urban design, urban planning, real estate, and sustainability throughout the tri-state area. We are hosting this event to foster lasting relationships between emerging professionals in allied fields.

Schedule:

KEYNOTE / 9:30 – 10:15 AM
Mark A. Focht, Deputy Commissioner / Chief Operating Officer, NYC Parks
PANEL 1: HOW CAN WE DESIGN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE WITH GREATER IMPACT? / 10:30 – 12:00 PM
Rebecca Hill, RAFT
David Seiter, Future Green Studio
Alex Renner, E-Design
Thomas Reeves, FXFOWLE
Moderator: Andrew Lavallee, SiteWorks
BYO BROWN BAG LUNCH / 12:00 – 1:00 PM
PANEL 2: HOW CAN GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE ENGAGE MORE PEOPLE AND PLACES? / 1:00 – 2:30 PM
Shaun O’Rourke, Green Infrastructure Director, The Trust for Public Land
Jason Smith, Biodiversity Ecologist, NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection
Lindsay Campbell, USDA Forest Service, NYC Urban Field Station
Thomas Rainer, Co-author, Planting in a Post-Wild World
Moderator: Andrew Lavallee, SiteWorks
GOWANUS BLUE CHARRETTE: DESIGNING FOR ZERO CSOs
INTRODUCTION / 2:45 – 3:15 PM
Andrea Parker, Executive Director, Gowanus Canal Conservancy
WORKSHOP / 3:15 – 4:15 PM
Break into interdisciplinary groups to address design challenge
CONCLUSION / 4:15 – 5:00 PM
Presentation of designs and final remarks.