2024 Lecture Series: Social Benefit
Join us for an insightful panel discussion exploring innovative designs and strategies that address societal needs while fostering community resilience and inclusivity, through two key projects: the Kapor Center for Social Impact and the Oakland Museum of California.
Project 1: Kapor Center for Social Impact
The Kapor Center for Social Impact works to improve access to opportunity, participation and influence in the United States for historically underrepresented communities through investments in information technology and partnerships with nonprofits. The new headquarters had to be an architectural manifestation of the Kapor Center’s core values: connectivity, openness, and democracy.
Fougeron Architecture crafted a space to foster collaboration between the Center, its partner organizations and other like-minded nonprofits and organizations. The design is modern and harmonious, blending high-tech and humanism. Open spaces encourage collaboration and camaraderie, as well as flexibility.
Anne Fougeron | Architect
Anne Fougeron has a varied body of works, including commercial, civic, residential and multi-family housing. The Princeton Architectural Press described her style as “embrac[ing] architectural opportunities found in opposition, creating buildings that redefine program, reinvent historical building types, and reinvigorate civic centers. Each project is a careful consideration of context, light and structure.” She is known for taking on difficult projects “without sacrificing aesthetics.”[1] She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Her buildings have been featured in The New York Times,[2] Metropolitan Home,[3] and on the cover of Architectural Record.[4] She has won more than a dozen awards from various chapters of the American Institute of Architects.
Michael Simmons | Client
Beginning his career in real estate development in 1990, Michael worked with developer Robert Mendelsohn on the master planning of Gateway 101 in East Palo Alto. He went on to work with Tsen and Associates, a development consulting firm specializing in affordable housing development and financing. Having a deep interest in community revitalization and affordable housing, he joined the San Francisco Development Corporation as Executive Director where he lead a development and counseling staff focused on developing projects that met community needs including home ownership, service-enriched, and senior housing.
In 1997, Michael founded MSPDI where his focus has been on developing affordable housing and community facilities. He has a deep interest in building design and programming and how space can change and contribute to service and program delivery. Michael believes strongly in a team approach to building with team member accountability to ensure projects complete on time and on budget.
Project 2: Oakland Museum of California
HDS redesigned the gardens for the Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) gardens by breaking the box: the studio realized the museum’s mission to create a free public space by activating the interface between the museum and the city. As OMCA programming represents the context and culture of its city and its state through programs and exhibitions, so too must its gardens welcome and represent Californians. Designing the gardens investigated what it meant to be a museum for the people. Sometimes, the answers were contradictory. As a viable civic institution, the museum must be commercially viable. To best honor its landmark architecture, it must employ sustainable energy production and consumption.
Walter Hood | Architect
Walter Hood is the creative director and founder of Hood Design Studio in Oakland, CA. He is also a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and lectures on professional and theoretical projects nationally and internationally. He is a recipient of the 2017 Academy of Arts and Letters Architecture Award, 2019 Knight Public Spaces Fellowship, 2019 MacArthur Fellowship, 2019 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, and the 2021 recipient of the Architectural League’s President’s Medal award.
Lori Fogarty | Client
Lori Fogarty is the Director and CEO of the Oakland Museum of California. In this role, she oversees all Museum programmatic and administrative operations, which were recently transferred from joint oversight by the City of Oakland and the Oakland Museum of California Foundation to sole management by the non-profit Foundation. Lori has led the Museum’s $63 million capital campaign and building renovation project, which has included the reinstallation of 90,000 square feet of gallery space as well as the first major enhancement to the Museum’s landmark building. Prior to her current position, Lori was executive director of the Bay Area Discovery Museum and was senior deputy director of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Date
- Aug 28 2024
Time
- 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Local Time
- Timezone: America/New_York
- Date: Aug 28 2024
- Time: 9:00 pm - 10:30 pm
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