The Future of Cities and the Power of Design Thinking
U of M Professor Tom Fisher and Catherine Malmberg will lead a timely conversation about density, sustainability, economic development and more. Signup deadline Sunday, October 21.
Envisioning what we need, when it doesn’t yet exist: this is what design does. If what we need now is a better world with functioning schools, working infrastructure, and thriving cities, why not design one?
The “invisible” systems we depend on for our daily lives (in education, politics, economics, and public health) are designed every bit as much as the products we buy and the environments we inhabit—and they are just as susceptible to creative reimagining.
Many municipalities including Minneapolis and St. Paul are actively immersed in the Comprehensive Planning process for 2040. Whether you are deeply engaged in urban planning or simply curious as to what all the fuss is about, this conversation will touch on issues that impact all of us.
Thomas Fisher is the Dayton Hudson Chair in Urban Design and Director of the Minnesota Design Center (MDC) at the University of Minnesota. The Minnesota Design Center at the University of Minnesota looks at systems ranging from transportation, infrastructure, and open space to the delivery of services, experiences, and information—all of which constitute urban design in the 21st century. He is a graduate of Cornell University in architecture and Case Western Reserve University in intellectual history, and was previously the Editorial Director of Progressive Architecture magazine. He has written extensively about architectural design, practice, and ethics. His newest book, Designing our Way to a Better World (Minnesota) came out in Spring 2016, and he is currently working on a book on “On-Demand Cities.”
Catherine Malmberg is a Research Fellow at the Minnesota Design Center and Founder of Malmberg Projects. She is a class of 2000 graduate of Harvard College, with a Master’s degree in Architecture from Princeton.
Approximate schedule:
6:00 - 6:40: Appetizers and refreshments
6:40 - 7:40: Program
7:40 - 8:00: Informal networking