New Orleans: Architecture | Social Innovation | Resilience

The College of Architecture, Art and Design presents a lecture by Kenneth Schwartz, FAIA, Dean of the Tulane School of Architecture, Michael Sacks Chair in Civic Engagement and Social Entrepreneurship, and Director, Phyllis Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking at Tulane University.

About the lecture

The City of New Orleans has gone through a remarkable transformation since Hurricane Katrina hit on August 29, 2005. A nearly 300-year old city has been revitalized through a series of initiatives that are unique in North America and indeed the world. Architecture and social innovation have been central to this process. As the largest private employer in the City of New Orleans, Tulane University has been central, with students and faculty working in close collaboration with non-profit organizations, community groups and city agencies to create a more vibrant and resilient future. Engagement is at the very core of this process, with public service and design excellence deployed in the larger effort to educate students about the value of creating a more sustainable future.

About the speaker

In 2014, Kenneth Schwartz was appointed as the first Michael Sacks Chair in Civic Engagement and Social Entrepreneurship and founding director of the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking, in addition to his role as dean of the School of Architecture at Tulane University. Under Schwartz's leadership, the School of Architecture became the academic home for the interdisciplinary undergraduate minor in Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship four years ago. Since Schwartz was appointed dean in 2008, Tulane School of Architecture has become one of the most visible units of Tulane University in creating a national model of innovative and empathetic pedagogy working in close partnership with neighborhood and non-profit organizations throughout New Orleans and beyond.

Previously, Schwartz was on the faculty at the University of Virginia for 24 years. In 2003, he won the UVA Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award - considered one of the highest honors bestowed upon faculty at that institution, with only one awarded university-wide each year.

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