The spring 2021 Current Work series examines some of the inherited histories, conventions, fabrics, and systems—often taken for granted—that constitute and shape the built environment. How might we reconsider the ways we engage with and construct the places that surround us? Speakers will address issues including transforming architectural pedagogy; protecting threatened historic sites; conserving resources by adapting existing buildings and reusing materials; and reimagining and regenerating places scarred by racism, neglect, and environmental emergencies.

Toyo Ito’s lecture will focus on rethinking what he describes as the “Modernist ideology” that has encouraged “the massive development of cities along with the global economic system.” Noting the recent “time-out” imposed by the Covid-19 virus, he asks, “Will the society that is metropolitan-oriented change? Or will we return to where we were?”