With Daniel Biederman, Kathleen Bullard, Lewis MacAdams, Barry Sanders, & Doug Suisman. Moderated by Christopher Hawthorne, LA Times Architecture critic
Is Pershing Square a study in failed urban design? What would it take to bring it back? Could we take lessons from New York City's beloved Bryant Park? Join us for a discussion on the future of what was once one of the most vibrant and elegant public spaces in downtown Los Angeles.
Daniel Biederman is the co-founder of Grand Central Partnership, 34th Street Partnership, and Bryant Park Corporation, based in New York City. He currently serves as the President of the latter two organizations and as an advisor to downtown redevelopment management efforts in several other cities.
Since the late 1990s, Mr. Biederman has advised Business Improvement Districts and designed the plan for new or improved parks in Pittsburgh, Newark, Miami, Baltimore, Dallas, Richmond, and Atlanta.
Kathleen Bullard is Tetra Tech Inc.'s Los Angeles Program Manager. She is also an instructor in the UCLA Extension Landscape Architecture program where she teaches intermediate and advanced design studios in environmental analysis and planning. This year's studios are focused on analyzing and developing plans for parks in downtown Los Angeles including rethinking and redesigning Pershing Square. With a master's degree in landscape architecture and an MBA, Kathleen combines her landscape architecture and finance background to bring a balanced and innovative approach to planning and implementing projects. She is currently assisting the City of Los Angeles with implementation of the Los Angeles River Revitalization Master Plan. As Director of the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens, she produced a public space with an identity for river revitalization while creating a funding stream for maintenance of the facility. She has also implemented several environmental restoration projects with goals of improved habitat, water quality, and recreational amenities. Kathleen has long been active with non-profit community organizations in the Los Angeles area. She was a recipient of a Loeb Fellowship in advanced environmental studies from Harvard University in 2003.
Christopher Hawthorne is architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Washington Post, Slate, and Metropolis. With Alanna Stang, he is the author of The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture. A graduate of YaleUniversity, he has taught at Columbia University and UC Berkeley.
Poet, activist, journalist Lewis MacAdams is the author of a dozen books and tapes of poetry, and his poems have appeared in many anthologies over the last twenty-five years. He has written on culture and ecology for Rolling Stone, L.A. Weekly, Men's Journal, L.A. Times, and Los Angeles Magazine. His book, Birth of the Cool: Beat, Bebop and the American Avant Garde was published in 2001. In 1985, he founded Friends of The Los Angeles River, a "40 year art work" to bring the Los Angeles River back to life. In the years since, FoLAR has become the River's most important and influential advocate.
Barry Sanders is a member of the Board of Recreation and Parks Commissioners, and Chairman of the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games, where he led the effort to bid for the 2016 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Sanders also serves as Executive Counsel at Latham & Watkins, where he practiced law for over 35 years and led the International Practice Group. Active in civic life, Sanders has served as the Co-Chair of Rebuild LA (RLA) and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Walt Disney Concert Hall Corporation, and the Otis Art Institute. Sanders currently serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Pacific Council on International Policy and the Board of the Los Angeles Opera.
Doug Suisman, FAIA, is the principal of Suisman Urban Design, which he founded in 1990. An award-winning urban designer and licensed architect, he has gained international recognition for his ideas and designs of urban public space. His work focuses on sustainable regional development, urban revitalization, public spaces and buildings, and public transportation. His clients range from public agencies and cultural institutions to think tanks, developers and community groups in cities such as Doha, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York, Pittsburgh, and San Antonio. His projects include master plans and detailed designs for regional transit systems, downtowns, cultural districts, civic and community centers, plazas, parks, and streetscapes.
Unless otherwise indicated, ALOUD programs take place at the Los Angeles Central Library's Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. Fifth Street, Los Angeles, CA 90071.
