Wednesday, December 2
7:00 p.m.
The Great Hall
The Cooper Union
7 East 7th Street

Werner Sobek, Werner Sobek Engineering and Design
Introduced and moderated by Toshiko Mori
Welcome by Annabelle Selldorf
Tickets are free for Arch League members
$10 for non-members

Werner Sobek, founder of Werner Sobek Engineering and Design, will present the 3rd Annual Franzen Lecture for Architecture and the Environment. The lecture is given by an international figure whose work has significant implications for understanding and reconceiving the relationship between architecture and the environment. Sobek will discuss a radical approach for building that combines the sustainability concepts of zero energy, zero carbon emission, and zero waste called triple zero building. He will also discuss experiments at the Light Structure Institute and its exploration of material use, façade design for energy conservation, harvesting and storage, and other strategies to reduce resource use.

The annual lecture was created in honor of long-time League trustee Ulrich Franzen. Toshiko Mori, principal of Toshiko Mori Architect, will introduce and frame Sobek's presentation by identifying current issues in the intersection of architecture and the environment and follow his lecture with a moderated discussion.

Wednesday December, 02
06:00 PM - 08:00 PM
The New York Academy of Sciences
7 World Trade Center
250 Greenwich Street, 40th floor
Free for NYAS Members
$20 for non members

This discussion will highlight New York City as an example for cities around the globe and examine the key role cities play in climate change adaptation going into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (Cop15) discussions in Copenhagen later in December 2009.

New York City is demonstrating leadership of international cities in climate change adaptation through the efforts of the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) and the New York City Climate Change Adaptation Task Force (Task Force). The NPCC was convened in August 2008 by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation to respond to climate changes in New York City and accomplish the goals outlined in PlaNYC, the City's comprehensive plan to create a greener, more sustainable city. The NPCC, which consists of climate change and impacts scientists, legal, insurance and risk management experts, serves as the technical advisory body for the Mayor and the New York City Climate Change Adaptation Task Force (Task Force) on issues related to climate change, impacts and adaptation.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Green Spaces Tribeca
394 Broadway (between Walker and White Streets) 5th floor
6:00 - 7:30 PM
Cost: pass the hat to cover the cost of refreshments ($5 each)

Great news. After a an arduous, winding journey, o2NYC has received official 501(c)3 status. Yay team.

We have a number of project ideas waiting in the wings for this very moment, and we also want to ask our members and friends to join us to help determine projects, events, lectures, and exhibitions we plan this year.

Please join us for an o2NYC planning meeting if you have a project idea, an event you want to organize, or you just want to help shape the future direction of our organization.

RSVP to Jen at j@o2nyc.org

Thursday, October 22
6:00-8:00 pm
Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street (between Fifth and Sixth Aves)
Admission is free

The Tishman Environment and Design Center presents an evening with Bill McKibben, a noted author and environmentalist who will speak to the New School community about the consequences of climate warming, both regional and global, and the need for immediate action to reduce the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

Two days later, on October 24, McKibben's group 350.org , (the number refers to a widely-agreed-on safe,upper limit for CO2, in parts per million), will stage the International Day of Climate Action, a series of rallies and awareness-raising creative actions in virtually every country on earth. The aim is to assemble a "gigantic, global, visual petition" for change to be presented in Copenhagen this December, when the world's nations meet to agree on a new climate treaty.

Bill McKibben of 350.org at The New School

Friday, October 16
7:00 p.m.
Happy Hour Project Presentation
The Urban Center
457 Madison Avenue
$10 admission, free for Arch League members

Presented as part of the public program series organized in conjunction with the Architectural League's fall 2009 exhibition Toward the Sentient City.

David Benjamin, Natalie Jeremijenko, and Soo-in Yang will talk about the interconnected ecosystems of land and water, and the potential overlap between social networks of fish, people, and buildings. "Amphibious Architecture," their project for the League's exhibition Toward the Sentient City, creates a public interface to water quality and aquatic life of urban rivers, and our interest therein.

David Benjamin and Soo-in Yang are Directors of The Living Architecture Lab at Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation

Natalie Jeremijenko is the Director of the xdesign Environmental Health Clinic at New York University

Amphibious Architecture