Sustainable design leader to speak at New School.

On Monday, April 9, 2007, The New School will present a lecture by Majora Carter, the MacArthur-winning executive director and founder of Sustainable South Bronx (SSB).

Carter will speak on the topic of sustainability and environmental justice at the annual Michael Kalil Lecture on Natural and Technological Systems, sponsored by The Michael Kalil Endowment for Smart Design in the Department of Architecture, Interior Design, and Lighting at Parsons The New School for Design and the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School.

"In our studios and classrooms, we teach our students to look at design as a means to confront real-world issues," said Tim Marshall, Dean of Parsons The New School for Design. "It would be difficult to find a more persuasive, passionate, and charismatic advocate for creating and protecting green space in the city than Majora Carter. Her work has transformed the quality of life for the community of the South Bronx."

A life-long resident of Hunts Point in the South Bronx, Majora Carter founded Sustainable South Bronx to support environmental justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects that are informed by the needs of the community. Recent projects include a green and cool roof demonstration project and a community-led plan for a bicycle/pedestrian greenway along the South Bronx waterfront providing open space, waterfront access, and opportunities for mixed-use economic development in the South Bronx. Prior to founding SSB, Majora worked as a program director at The Point CDC where, among other projects, she spearheaded the development of the Hunts Point Riverside Park, the first waterfront park on the Hunts Point peninsula in over sixty years.

"The Michael Kalil Endowment for Smart Design selected Majora Carter because her work exemplifies the Endowment's two-fold mission: to foster the understanding of design intersections between nature and technology, and to support a heightened sense of responsibility for increasing the sustainability of built environments," said Jean Gardner, Co-Director of the Endowment (established in 2001 in memory of designer Michael Kalil) and a Senior Faculty member of the Department of Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting, Parsons The New School for Design.

"Carter's work challenges us to consider the issues of social and environmental justice in America," said Joel Towers, Director of the Tishman Environment and Design Center (TED), a university-wide, cross-disciplinary initiative that builds, in part, on Parsons' long history of linking environmental concerns with innovative design.

"She has seen firsthand how environmental degradation and social fragmentation are interconnected. Carter powerfully reminds us that some communities are saddled with a disproportionate share of the toxic legacy of environmental mismanagement and that those communities are most often poor communities of color. Her persuasive advocacy of community involvement and environmental literacy reflects ideals that are essential to us at TED."

On the same evening as the lecture, the 2007 Michael Kalil Memorial Travel/Study Fellowship Awards will be announced.

A total of five fellowships are awarded to two groups of students and practitioners: the first group of three awards is made to students and faculty in the Architecture, Interior Design, and Lighting program at Parsons The New School for Design. The second group is made to those not affiliated with the department. The fellowships support projects that will increase the recipient's understanding of the intersections between nature and technology.