From Staff Reports
The Dallas Architecture Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing public education about architecture, landscape architecture, design, and the urban environment, will present leading architect Alan Ricks in person on Wednesday, June 2, at the Kalita Humphreys Theater.
Alan Ricks is the Founding Principal and Chief Design Officer of MASS Design Group, with projects in over twenty countries covering architecture, landscape, engineering, construction, and fabrication. MASS Design was awarded the National Design Award for Architecture from the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, and the Royal Institute of British Architects named Alan an International Fellow. Ricks is also a member of The Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum. A highly sought-after lecturer, Alan has taught at Yale and the Harvard GSD. Chris Anderson, chief curator of TED, described his TED talk as “a different language about what architecture can aspire to be.”
Mass Design Group was named WSJ Magazine’s Architecture Innovator of the Year for 2020 for its healthcare architecture that reimagines spaces for everyday life. The studio’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice has become an iconic touchstone in the movement for racial justice in our country. Alan currently oversees many projects including a new agricultural university campus in Rwanda that upon completion will be one of the most climate-positive projects ever built. The master plan contains 55 buildings on the campus and includes site reforestation and a conservation plan that will build back biodiversity on the site.
“MASS Design Group is of the moment. The firm celebrates today’s principles of sustainability, dignity and justice in their work,” said Nate Eudaly, Executive Director of The Forum. “By applying the lessons they continue to advance from projects in the developing world, particularly in healthcare, they are creating projects in America and internationally that are equally sustainable and regenerative and reflect the desires for social justice that are of deep concern in our world today. Moreover, in the past year, MASS has opened the new Family Health Center on Virginia in McKinney, Texas which has been widely covered in the media both for its unique design as well as for its innovative consortium of community partners. “We believe MASS founder Alan Ricks will provide a program of great interest to attendees.”
This lecture will be presented in person at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, at the Kalita Humphreys Theater with limited, pre-assigned seating for Forum members and sponsors only. Anyone may join The Forum at www.DallasArchitectureForum.org to attend this and other upcoming lectures. Advance registration for the lecture is required. Forum members will receive information about registration.
Dallas Architecture Forum members receive free admission to all regular Forum lectures as a benefit of membership, and AIA members can earn one hour of CE credit for each lecture. For more information on The Dallas Architecture Forum, visit www.dallasarchitectureforum.org or call 214-764-2406.
