design, build, learn. repeat.

Barry Schwartz on our loss of wisdom | TED.com

Barry Schwartz’s 2009 TED speech ties in with many of the discussions we have been having here at the GCCDS about values, ethics, service, and leadership. – – – About this talk Barry Schwartz makes a passionate call for “practical wisdom” as an antidote to a society gone mad with bureaucracy. He argues powerfully that rules often fail us, incentives often backfire, and practical, everyday wisdom will help rebuild our world. About Barry Schwartz Barry Schwartz studies the link between economics and psychology, offering startling insights into modern life. Lately, working with Ken Sharpe, he’s studying wisdom. Watch the video …

Read more

Seminar #4: Design, ethics, and the naturalistic fallacy

Read more posts about architecture in Archispeak. [See the archive]. A wonderful thing about the Spring studio we have here is a weekly seminar in which the students (a mixed group from MSU, UT, and BAC) and many of the GCCDS staff talk about architecture. This year, we’re also carrying into the seminar some ideas from our conversations about values. The discussion is built around readings from this book: Thomas Fisher is dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, and in this book, he asks us to imagine a future in which the assumptions that our …

Read more

Doug Nelson: ‘No small plans’

Thanks to Seth for referring me to Douglas Nelson’s speech at the Enterprise Community Partners Conference in Baltimore on November 20. Speaking to an audience of community development professionals, Nelson outlines the “under-acknowledged, under-analyzed, and misunderstood” impact of economic globalization on American communities. He identifies a coming turning point in America, and urges the community development movement to reposition itself “as part of a broader effort to restore economic security and insure a measure of family stability to the nation’s underemployed poor and working poor.” The full text of the speech, which isn’t long, is available on Enterprise’s website. Douglas …

Read more

Maurice Cox: ‘Design for All’

Coming rather late, here are my notes and thoughts from Maurice Cox’s October 13th lecture at the Tulane University School of Architecture. Maurice was my architecture studio professor in the spring of 4th year, and I’ve run into him since through his involvement with the City of Moss Point, Mississippi. He’s a brilliant guy, so there was no hesitation about heading over to New Orleans for the lecture. First, a little biographical information: Maurice Cox was appointed Director of Design for the National Endowment for the Arts in October 2007 where he supervises the grant making process in design, oversees …

Read more

Category Archives

Archispeak

Perspectives on architecture, by myself and notable voices in the field.