Inspiring Design: Creating Beautiful, Just, and Resilient Places in America

Design is everywhere. 

It has become clear that the events of 2020 will have deep and lasting consequences for every aspect of society including the physical environments we inhabit—our homes, our neighborhoods, and our cities. What can we learn from previous experience that can be applied to current challenges and future efforts in Boston and other cities and towns in America?

Join us for this virtual series as we go “on the road” with some of America’s best thinkers on urban design to visit, discuss, and learn from award-winning places and people engaged in innovative urban design. We’ll hear from leading voices in architecture and urban design, planning and development, education and community engagement, and public policy and civic leadership.

Over the course of this 14-week lecture series, we explore how people and cities across the United States are tackling tough challenges. Each session lasts 75 minutes and includes a brief introduction and 20 to 40 minutes of presentation(s) followed by a moderated discussion with the audience.

Links to session recordings and related resources including initiatives and projects highlighted by the speakers and RBA case studies are listed below. Additional information, including highlights from each session as well as the series as a whole, can be found in these Metropolis Magazine articles. 

ASLA and AICP continuing education credits are available thanks to partnerships with Boston Society of Landscape Architects and the American Planning Association, Ohio Chapter. Follow the links to access to the LA CES quiz and to view the AICP CM session recordings for credit.

The Inspiring Design: Creating Beautiful, Just, and Resilient Places in America series was hosted in partnership with the Northeastern University School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy as a part of its 2021 Spring Myra Kraft Open Classroom. It was presented in partnership with the Association of Architecture Organizations,  Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Boston Society for Architecture, and Boston Society of Landscape Architects.


Inspiring Design Sessions

Equity and the City
January 20th, 2021

Building Community with Food
January 27th, 2021

Reimagining School
February 3rd, 2021

Engaging and Empowering the Next Generation
February 10th, 2021

Advancing Housing for Health and Wellbeing
February 17th, 2021

Strengthening Cities Through University Community Partnerships
February 24th, 2021

Investing in Infrastructure
March 3rd, 2021

Fostering Innovative Civic Leadership
March 10th, 2021

Creating Inclusive and Resilient Public Spaces
March 17th, 2021

Ending Homelessness
Mach 24th, 2021

Cultivating Dialogue about Urban Development
March 31st, 2021

Cultivating Creativity and Community with the Arts
April 7th, 2021

Planning for Equity
April 14th, 2021

Observations and Lessons Learned
April 21st, 2021