Journey Towards Justice in the Public Realm
Focused on making the public realm more equitable and just, Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) is a non-profit design and community development organization that works in disinvested places around the world, collaborating with communities that have been excluded, harmed, or marginalized by traditional modes of planning and design.
In this lecture, Chelina Odbert, the co-founder and CEO of KDI, will explore her path from design school to the inception of a global, mission-driven planning and design practice. Through a series of KDI projects, she will demonstrate how planning and design can and should be tools of equity, justice, and inclusion.
Chelina Odbert believes in the power of community-engaged design to advance racial, environmental, and economic equity in neighborhoods and cities. As Founding Principal and CEO of Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI), she aims to bring good design to places where it is not often found and connect localized design interventions to large-scale policy change.
Chelina has been recognized widely for her work to build a more just public realm, including by the The Architectural League of New York, the Knight Foundation, and the Aspen Institute. In 2022, KDI received the National Design Award for Landscape Architecture from Cooper Hewitt, and in 2023, Chelina received an Honorary ASLA Membership. Chelina has held teaching appointments at Harvard Graduate School of Design and UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. She earned a BA with high honors from Claremont McKenna College and a Master of Urban Planning from Harvard University.
| WHEN | Wednesday, May 8, 2024, 6:30 – 8 p.m. |
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| CAMPUS LOCATION | Architecture Hall (ARC) |
| CAMPUS ROOM | ARC 147 Auditorium |
Sign up for the lecture and find more information here.