California College of the Arts to inaugurate the new Gensler Center with special symposium on climate change

The California College of the Arts (CCA) in San Francisco will be inaugurating its brand-new M. Arthur Gensler Jr. Center for Design Excellence on April 15th with a special Climate as Praxis symposium that addresses the various ways designers can combat climate change.

The event inaugurates the new Gensler Center, which was the product of a combined gift of $2 million from the firm and the Gensler family last fall. According to the CCA, the Center “will also support ongoing research and initiatives within the Architecture Division at CCA, centered around issues of sustainability and social equity in design” while providing scholarship opportunities for underrepresented students under the direction of dean Keith Krumwiede.

SCAPE founder and Columbia GSAPP professor Kate Orff; KieranTimberlake Partner and Weitzman School professor Billie Faircloth; Bangkok Project Studio Principal Boonserm Premthada; and Chris Cornelius of studio:indigenous will all present during the one-day symposium, which takes place in the Nave Alcove of the CCA's Main Building at 450 Irwin Street in San Francisco.

The school shares: "CCA is committed to developing and promoting socially just and ecologically responsible design methods as central to educating the architects and designers of the future. Climate as Praxis offers the opportunity to delve into the many creative and innovative ways that preeminent leaders in the field are rethinking practice in response to climate change. As the urgency of the climate crisis becomes more apparent, it is imperative for architects and designers to find ways to bridge theory and praxis and to experiment with new strategies that can be implemented across scales."

More information about Gensler’s gift to the CCA can be found here.