Sam Fox School fall Public Lecture Series begins Sept. 9

Architect Mimi Hoang, urban planner Toni L. Griffin and artist Josephine Halvorson are among the internationally renowned creative professionals who will discuss their work for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis’ fall Public Lecture Series.

Uniting WashU’s academic units in art, architecture and design with its acclaimed Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, the Sam Fox School brings an interdisciplinary approach to contemporary issues and challenges, from sustainable design and new digital tools to the importance of strengthening local communities.

The fall Public Lecture Series will highlight themes related to housing, perception and social justice.

Events will begin Sept. 9 with Hoang, co-founder of Brooklyn, N.Y.-based nARCHITECTS. Winners of the 2023 National Design Award in Architecture, the firm emphasizes the dynamic, ever-changing relationships between people, buildings and public space. Major projects include the NYS Equal Rights Heritage Center (2018), the Jones Beach Energy & Nature Center (2020) and the 36-acre Made in New York Campus in Brooklyn (2018-2024).

On Sept. 13, the Kemper Art Museum will host a conversation between Eric P. Mumford, the Sam Fox School’s Rebecca and John Voyles Professor of Architecture, and alumnus Michael E. Willis (AB ’73/M.Arch and MSW ’76), founder of MWA Architects. The pair are co-curators of “Design Agendas: Modern Architecture in St. Louis, 1930s-1970s,” on view through Jan. 6. A public opening will immediately following the talk.

Jose Ahedo, founder and principal of Studio Ahedo, will discuss his practice Sept. 16. Winner of Harvard’s 2014 Wheelwright Prize, Ahedo also will teach a graduate studio, “unCozy Islands: Mixed-use Experiments in Food-Productive Landscapes,” for the Sam Fox School this fall.

Visiting artist Stacy Lynn Waddell, known for her use of precious materials such as gold and silver leaf, will speak Sept. 24. She also will spend a week working with students while in residence with the Sam Fox School’s Island Press. Rafi Segal, associate professor of architecture and urbanism at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who examines the impact of architecture and urbanism on social, political and environmental issues, will discuss his work Sept. 30.

Elisa Silva, associate professor at Florida International University and founder of Enlace Arquitectura in Caracas, Venezuela, will kick-off the Sam Fox School’s Informal Cities Workshop Oct. 18. Crystal Z Campell, the Sam Fox School’s 2023-24 Freund Teaching Fellow, will discuss their work at the Saint Louis Art Museum Oct. 26. An exhibition opening will immediately follow.

Also on Oct. 25, Griffin, a professor in practice of urban planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, will present the “Design Agendas” Symposium keynote address. The symposium, which continues the following day, will bring together WashU faculty, St. Louis community members and civic leaders to explore city planning, civic architecture and the role of culture, identity and memory in preservation, among other topics.

Artist Josh Azzarella, who explores the power of authorship and collective memory through altered video and photography, will speak Oct. 28. Next up, on Nov. 7, will be Halvorson, a professor of art and chair of graduate studies in painting at Boston University. Typically painted from life, Halvorson’s acutely detailed work foregrounds faithful observation while also capturing the character and emotion of a particular time and place.

Concluding the series, on Nov. 18, will be Anda French and Jenny French, co-founders of French 2D, a Boston-based studio that combines familiar ideas of home with more radical organizations and typologies.

All events are free and open to the public and begin at 5:30 p.m. Central Time in the Sam Fox School’s Steinberg Hall unless otherwise noted. For more information, call 314-935-9300 or visit samfoxschool.washu.edu.

Sept. 9
Mimi Hoang
Co-founder, nARCHITECTS
Harris Armstrong Fund Lecture

Sept. 13
Q&A with Eric P. Mumford and Michael E. Willis
Co-curators, “Design Agendas: Modern Architecture in St. Louis, 1930s-1970s”
Exhibition opening to immediately follow

Sept. 16
Jose Ahedo
Principal, Studio Ahedo
Ruth and Norman Moore Visiting Professor of Architecture Lecture

Sept. 30
Rafi Segal
Associate professor of architecture and urbanism, MIT
Abend Family Visiting Critic Endowed Lecture

Oct. 18
Elisa Silva
Associate professor, Florida International University
Founder, Enlace Arquitectura, Caracas, Venezuela
Informal Cities Workshop Kickoff Lecture

Oct. 22 RESCHEDULED
Stacy Lynn Waddell
Artist
Arthur L. and Sheila Prensky Island Press Visiting Artist Lecture

Oct. 25
Toni L. Griffin
Professor in practice of urban planning, Harvard Graduate School of Design “Design Agendas” Symposium keynote address
Organized by the Kemper Art Museum and the Office for Socially Engaged Practice

Oct. 26
Crystal Z Campbell
Artist
Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellow Lecture
Saint Louis Art Museum

Oct. 28
Josh Azzarella
Artist
Wallace Herndon Smith Distinguished Faculty Visiting Lecture
Kemp Auditorium

Nov. 7
Josephine Halvorson
Professor of art and chair of graduate studies in painting, Boston University
Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Visiting Artist Lecture

Nov. 18
Anda French and Jenny French
Co-founders, French 2D
Eugene J. Mackey Jr. Lecture