• SUNDAY AUGUST 29: VAI at the Venice Biennale
• Design Speed Dating: Call for Portfolios
• Reading Room Series Kick-Off
• VAI Hosts Vision42 Meetings
• Inside Van Alen Institute

PROJECT ECO-DELTA:  DESIGN FOR COASTAL CITIES
A discussion at the 12th Venice Architecture Biennale

On August 29th, Van Alen Institute will host a roundtable discussion at the Venice Biennale US pavilion which will focus on design responses to the environmental challenges faced by coastal cities in the 21st century. This initiative is part of Van Alen Institute's ongoing collaboration with Environmental Defense Fund to develop design strategies for the Lower Mississippi River Delta. Leading experts from the fields of design, engineering, policy and science will present innovative ways with which they are addressing the needs of fragile deltas and the communities living in them.

Presenters include: Stephane Asselin (AECOM), Maria Teresa Brotto (Consorzio Venezia Nuova), Stephen Cassell (ARO), Piet Dircke (ARCADIS), Paul Harrison (Environmental Defense Fund), Padraic Kelly (Buro Happold), Olympia Kazi (Van Alen Institute), Dirk Sijmons (H+N+S Landscape Architects), Bregje van Wesenbeeck (Deltares), David Waggonner (Waggonner & Ball Architects), and David Wilkes (Arup).

A detailed press release will be available shortly online.

DESIGN SPEED DATING: CALL FOR PORTFOLIOS
On the heels of its successful first round, the second installment of Design Speed Dating will be held during the Seasonal Brunch on September 11, 2010. Leading up the event, we are accepting and considering portfolios on a rolling basis. To participate, apply by submitting your digital portfolio to vai@vanalen.org. Submissions must adhere to the following format: PDF, no larger than 5MB and no longer than 10 8.5”x11” single-sided pages. If selected to participate, you will be expected to bring a hardcopy of your portfolio to the event. We’ve posted some great images of the last event on Facebook and designated a special section of our Reading Room for portfolios. Come by to check them out!

The seasonal brunch is for members only; see below.

READING ROOM SERIES KICK-OFF
On July 16th, VAI held its first Reading Room event focused on two new volumes that examine different facets of NYC’s planning history: Manhattan Projects: The Rise and Fall of Urban Renewal in Cold War New York by Samuel Zipp and Street Value: Shopping, Planning, and Politics on Fulton Mall by Rosten Woo and Meredith TenHoor with Damon Rich. The discussion between the authors was moderated by Sharon Zukin, a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. Zukin used her most recent book Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places as a frame for the debate. Many thanks to all the participants for an engaging conversation. Check out the Facebook photo album.

The Reading Room Series presents critical dialogues about architecture in the civic realm. Stay tuned for our next event in September.

VAI HOSTS VISION42 MONTHLY MEETINGS
Van Alen Institute is happy to host the monthly meetings of Vision42, “a citizens' initiative to re-imagine and upgrade surface transit in Midtown Manhattan, with a low-floor light rail line running river-to-river along 42nd Street within a landscaped pedestrian boulevard.” Email info@vision42.org for more information about attending.

VAI is pleased to welcome new program managers, Shannon Harvey and Adam Schatz, and office manager, Mercedes Kraus, to its team.

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL CALL
Our ongoing work is possible in large part due to the active participation of Van Alen Institute members in our programs and events, and we thank you for your generous contributions.

Current members: Please email us with updated contact information at vai@vanalen.org. A renewal notice has been sent to you in the mail, and we'll follow up with email reminders.

If you are not a member, we encourage you to join our community by signing up here.