Wanda Dalla Costa, AIA, LEED A.P. holds a joint position at Arizona State University between The Design School as Institute Professor, and the School of Construction as Associate Professor. She is a member of the Saddle Lake First Nation and has spent nearly 20 years working with Indigenous communities in North America. Her current work focuses on re-operationalizing Indigenous ways of knowing, being and connecting in contemporary architecture education and practice. Her interests include co-design methodologies, Indigenous place-keeping and climatic resiliency based in regional architectures. Dalla Costa was the first, First Nation women to become an architect in Canada, and is part of a team of Indigenous architects representing Canada at the 2018 Venice Biennale. Dalla Costa’s coursework at ASU includes Indigenous Planning, Architecture and Construction and a multidisciplinary Indigenous Construction Studio, where architecture, construction and planning students work directly with tribal communities. Dalla Costa is a member of the following boards and organizations committed to advancing construction and architecture in Indian Country: Advisory Board, Construction in Indian Country (CIIC) at Arizona State University; member, American Indian Council of Architects & Engineers (AICAE); member, the American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES); member, Royal Institute of Architecture Canada (RAIC) Indigenous Task Force; Chair, Education Subcommittee of RAIC’s Indigenous Task Force. Dalla Costa holds a Master of Design Research (City Design) from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and a Master of Architecture from the University of Calgary. Her company, Redquill Architecture (www.RQarc.com) is based in Phoenix, Arizona.

(via ASU Global Institute of Sustainability) 

Dr. Lisa Yun Lee is a cultural activist and the Executive Director of the National Public Housing Museum. She is also an Associate Professor in Art History and Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, teaching faculty with the Prison Neighborhood Art Project, and a member of the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials. Lisa served as a Co-Chair of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s Arts & Culture Transition Team, and is currently on the Mayor's Committee for the evaluation of Monuments, Memorials and Historical Reckoning. She is writing a book for Teacher's College Press about Jane Addams, and serves on the boards of the Field Foundation, 3Arts, and the Illinois State Museum

Thomas Hanrahan is a professor of design and building technology and former dean (1996 – 2019) at the School of Architecture at Pratt Institute. He is an architect and founding partner HMA. At HMA he has designed a number of award winning projects, including a state of the art dormitory for Pratt Institute, the Won Dharma Center in Hudson, New York, and numerous public buildings and private residences distinguished by their integration of design, technology and ecology.  Mr. Hanrahan has received 22 American Institute of Architecture wards, six Progressive Architecture awards and awards from many international programs. His work is widely published and it has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

As dean of the School of Architecture he directed a school of eleven undergraduate and graduate programs in architecture, planning, urban design, historic preservation and construction and facilities management.  The school is noted for its emphasis on progressive design and urban research, and many of its programs are regularly ranked in the top ten nationally.

Hanrahan received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Illinois and his Master of Architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the New York Society of Architects, the McDermott Award from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Wheelwright Fellowship from Harvard University and the Bronze Tablet from University of Illinois.

This lecture is supported by the Illinois Medal Endowment Fund.

(From School of Architecture Event Page)

A St. Louis native, now based in Chicago, Tiara Hughes is a Senior Urban Designer at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, a Commissioner with the City of Chicago Landmarks Commission, and founder of FIRST 500, a global platform dedicated to elevating and celebrating Black Women Architects.

She is a devoted activist, educator and advocate for underrepresented communities and voices, and recently serves on the Board for the National Organization of Minority Architects and currently the Charnley-Persky House Board of Directors for the Society of Architectural Historians. Tiara’s personal experiences in the industry along with her passion for advocacy led her to establish FIRST 500 in 2018. As the founder and executive director of FIRST 500, Tiara raises awareness of the importance of Black Women Architects throughout history and their contribution to the built environment.

As a designer, Tiara creates work that emphasizes greater socioeconomic equity and cultural awareness. She believes “Ultimately our efforts to positively impact communities of color will expand outward and evolve our academic institutions, our firms, our industry and by extension, our communities.” In 2021, Tiara received the prestigious national AIA Associates Award and in 2022, she received Landmark Illinois’ Influencer award for her progressive and inclusive efforts to preserve the built environment and equitably advance the design industry and she has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumni from her alma mater Drury University. Most recently, she received the Making Waves Award from the esteemed Chicago Women in Architecture organization.

This lecture is supported by the Orput Endowment Fund.

"Maximo Laura (Ayacucho, Peru), is an award winning tapestry weaver internationally recognized as one of South America´s pre-eminent and most unique textile artists. He is a consultant, designer and lecturer on art and contemporary Andean textile design. His work is the integration and synthesis of ancestral weaving techniques, symbols, memories, myths and rituals with contemporary art." (From Maximo Laura's webpage)

Li Han & Hu Yan - Drawing Architecture Studio - "Ideal City"

Li Han and Hu Yan are co-founders of Beijing-based Drawing Architecture Studio. Deriving inspiration from architecture, art, popular culture, and daily life, they explore the possibilities of image, space, and urban studies through various media such as architectural drawings, models, art installations, comics, and books. They are the recipients of numerous prizes, including the 2021 DAM Architectural Book Award, the Overall Winner in the 2018 WAF Architecture Drawing Prize, and the Second Prize in the 2016 RIBA Journal Eye Line Drawing Competition. Their work has been exhibited at the 4th Chicago Architecture Biennial; the Chinese Pavilion and Japan Pavilion of the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale; the 7th and 9th Shenzhen / Hong Kong Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism / Architecture, among others. Their work has been acquired by MoMA, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; The Art Institute of Chicago; White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney; Macao Museum of Art; Pingshan Art Museum in Shenzhen; and, Wind H Art Center in Beijing. Their publications include A Little Bit of Beijing (2013); A Little Bit of Beijing · Dashilar (2015); The Joy of Architectural Drawing (2018); Hutong Mushroom (2018) and Apartment Blossom (2021).(From Event Page Website)