On Wednesday, February 23 the College of Architecture will host landscape architect Ellen Neises for its annual Peter Schaudt Lecture. Neises is the Laurie Olin Professor of Practice in Landscape Architecture at Weizmann School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania, and the executive director of PennPraxis, the school’s center for applied research.
Neises specializes in design and policy problems involving land and water development, and working with Richard Roark of OLIN, she led the creation of Hunts Point Lifelines. The project was one of the six winning entries in the 2014 Rebuild by Design competition, sponsored by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, to develop solutions to improve cities and towns affected by Hurricane Sandy. The proposal seeks to create a “Levee Lab” to produce flood interventions for the New York City neighborhood of Hunts Point in the Bronx as well as job opportunities for residents. Additionally, new green spaces and a clean energy plant are also a part of the plan.
Before joining UPenn, Neises was an associate partner at James Corner Field Operations. There she developed a series of impactful landscape architecture projects involving complex water dynamics and ecological reclamation, including Fresh Kills Park in Staten Island, Lake Ontario Park in Toronto, stormwater infrastructure on the Harlem River, and a major mixed-use waterfront development in Baltimore.
Neises’s lecture will be held live in S. R. Crown Hall in Center Core with seating for all attendees and will begin at 5 p.m. (CST).
Face coverings will be required. To the extent recommended or required by currently effective federal, state, municipal, or other applicable public health guidance, all faculty, staff, and students, as well as contractors and visitors, must wear a face covering at all times in any shared indoor settings regardless of vaccination status.