Common Lecture

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Date of Lecture: September 16, 2026

Bio

Megan Lotts is an artist, educator, and visionary academic librarian whose work reimagines libraries as dynamic spaces for creativity, connection, and play. She is the author of The Playful Library: Building Environments for Learning and Creativity (2024) and Advancing a Culture of Creativity in Libraries: Programming and Engagement (2021). As Art Librarian and faculty at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Lotts brings an interdisciplinary approach to librarianship by blending scholarly research, art, and imagination to create inclusive and inspiring learning environments. She collaborates across the visual arts, humanities, landscape architecture, and other disciplines, supporting faculty and students through research instruction, creative programming, and innovative collection development. Widely recognized for her pioneering work advancing creativity and play in academic libraries, Lotts’s scholarship explores how maker culture, experiential learning, and hands-on exploration can transform information spaces into living laboratories for innovation. Through her teaching, research, and artistic practice, she invites people to engage with art in unexpected and participatory ways, reflecting her belief that libraries are not only repositories of knowledge but also catalysts for collaboration, experimentation, and joy. 

Abstract

Creativity thrives on curiosity, experimentation, and play. Discover how art, making, and playful thinking can spark fresh ideas, strengthen collaboration, and inspire new approaches to teaching, research, design, and everyday challenges. Together we will explore simple, accessible practices that can help cultivate a more creative life at work and beyond. 

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Date of Lecture: September 30, 2026

Bio

Brian is nationally recognized as a leading thinker in the fields of urbanism, housing, and sustainability, and oversees the firm’s design direction and research initiatives. Brian was named a Pew Fellow in the Arts in 2011, lectures widely and has taught urban housing at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania for over a decade. Brian holds a B.S. in Environmental Design from the University of Oklahoma and an M.Arch from UPenn. ISA has leveraged the opportunities and challenges of its home city to drive a busy, innovative and thought-leading practice that takes on the complex context of the post-industrial American city. The firm’s work has been featured in ARCHITECT, Architectural Record, DWELL, Metropolis, The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The New York Times, and on NPR Radio. ISA has won over fifty local, regional, and national design citations, including five AIA National Housing Awards and was named 2020 Firm of the Year by AIA Pennsylvania.

Abstract

Meantime is a non-profit organization that began as an ISA initiative seeking to activate underutilized storefronts in service of urban communities. Working between the real estate industry, city government, land owners and neighborhood stakeholders, the organization’s mission is to activate spaces that facilitate connections, test ideas, reach new audiences and support local economies. Meantime explores multiple parallel paths of action including event curation, pop-up tenant occupations, partner collaborations and advocacy.

Meantime on Market is the largest and most visible project of this kind we’ve ever done — an entire block of storefronts on the 900 block of Market Street, in partnership with the City of Philadelphia and the Center City District, activating for three months this summer. It’s a tremendous opportunity to show what can be done in vacant spaces in the meantime, and to demonstrate the power of face-to-face, in-person interactions in city and community building.

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April 22, 2026

Join us this Wednesday for our last common lecture of the semester, where our landscape architecture student club will be presenting what they have done over the course of the Spring 26’ term!   We will also take a moment to recognize Professor Kate John-Alder and extend our heartfelt thanks for her years of dedication, as she prepares for her upcoming retirement. 

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April 15, 2026

Abstract

Teaneck Creek Conservancy (TCC) is a member-supported nonprofit that stewards over 45 acres of restored wetlands and floodplain forest in the Overpeck Park System in Bergen County, New Jersey. Science-driven management of the restored wetland is a priority for TCC. In this talk, I will share ways that Rutgers students have contributed research to support management at TCC. And in the process, students have gained experience collecting and analyzing data, as well as communicating science to a general audience. Student projects have included vegetation monitoring, tracking invasive species, and understanding patterns of iNaturalist usage by visitors. In addition to Rutgers projects, I will also highlight several of other programs in progress at TCC.

Bio

Allyson Salisbury, Ph.D. is an assistant teaching professor of urban forestry at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources. In addition to teaching, she studies how to help trees and other plants thrive in towns and cities. She is the recipient of the International Society of Arboriculture’s 2025 Early-Career Scientist Award. Prior to joining the Rutgers faculty, Allyson worked as a post-doc at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL and Rutgers-Newark.

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Margaret O. Cekada Memorial Lecture
April 8, 2026

Abstract

How might the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals relate to a peripheral neighborhood in Lisbon, Portugal? At first consideration, the connection may seem negligible. However, Zambujal, a public housing project built between 1972 and 1986, offers a relevant case study for examining the local articulation of the 17 Global Goals.
Shaped by a multicultural population of Portuguese migrants, Cape Verdean immigrants, and Roma communities, Zambujal experienced significant social challenges during the 1980s and 1990s. With the new millennium, a generational shift emerged as younger residents pursued education, entered the workforce, and assumed leadership roles
In 2021, during global lockdowns, two non-profit associations initiated a project to transform Zambujal into a “social neighborhood” aligned with the Global Goals. The initiative combines street art, community engagement, sustainability education, and environmental awareness to foster social cohesion.

Bio

Mário Linhares likes to link art with community projects. In drawing, he uses the sketchbook as a tool to explore new ways of drawing. Has two bachelor’s degrees, one in Landscape Design and one in Industrial Design, an M.A. in Visual Arts Education, and a Ph.D. in Fine Arts, with a specialty in Drawing. A professor in Lisbon, he’s a member of the Research Center and Studies in Fine Arts at the University of Lisbon. Linhares started Urban Sketchers Portugal in 2009, joined the international executive board in 2011, and served as education director until 2019. Author of several books, articles, and essays, contributes drawings to exhibitions, and delivers lectures worldwide.

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You are cordially invited to attend the vernissage of our grad exhibit at the Rutgers Art Library
Voorhees Mall, 71 Hamilton St, New Brunswick
3:30-5:00pm – followed by a reception

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March 11, 2026

Abstract 

This lecture, “The Architecture of Erratics and the Vanishing Cryosphere,” will explore the ways humans and glaciers imprint themselves upon emerging landscapes to unearth the expanding realm of places, identities, and landforms negotiating the precarities of a post-glacial world. From site-specific landscape interventions and new approaches to drawing glaciers to the anticipatory staging of scenarios, these research and design projects bring together archival research, urban analysis, and fieldwork with technological experimentation and artistic practice to draw architectural lessons for shaping new worlds and ways forward. 

Bio 

Joyce Hsiang is an architect, urbanist and an assistant professor at Yale School of Architecture. She co-founded the research and design studio, Plan B Architecture & Urbanism, to anticipate and rehearse new relationships between humans and the earth. Her work uses cartographic analysis, design experimentation, and architectural implementation to examine how humans have transformed the earth and to reimagine design at the planetary scale. Projects range from immersive exhibitions and landscape installations to urban plans and global models of urbanization. Joyce has exhibited worldwide including La Biennale Architettura di Venezia (2021 & 2025), Lisbon Triennial, Istanbul Biennial, and Hong Kong Shenzhen Biennale as well as in Switzerland, Iceland, Abu Dhabi and at universities including Yale, Princeton, and Arkansas. Awards include grants and fellowships from Yale Planetary Solutions, MacDowell, the AIA Latrobe Prize, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the Hines Research Grant for Advanced Sustainability, MacMillan Center, the Franke Program in Science and Humanities as well as the inaugural Miller Prize from Exhibit Columbus. Her work and writing has been featured in diverse forums from Atlantic Cities, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio program Future Tense, the Arctic Circle Assembly and Kulturplatz SRF to Log, [bracket], New Geographies, Al Manakh, Los Angeles Forum, and Wallpaper*. 

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February 25, 2026

Abstract

This well-illustrated presentation examines the varied landscapes that comprised colonial New Jersey. Indigenous, cultural, religious, agrarian, industrial, and commemorative landscapes are all explored. Special attention is paid to how landscapes shaped New Jersey’s Revolutionary War experience. 

Bio

Richard Veit, Ph.D., RPA is a North American historical archaeologist whose research focuses on the colonial Middle Atlantic with specializations in vernacular architecture, commemoration, and conflict archaeology. He is the author of ten books on historical and archaeological topics, several of which have run state and national awards. He currently serves as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Monmouth University. 

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February 18, 2026

Abstract

Nodes, Edges, and Districts: Landscape Infrastructure for the City in Crisis

This lecture revisits Kevin Lynch’s city form-making elements as the primary framework for deploying resilient, multifunctional infrastructure in the face of contemporary urban challenges. Rather than viewing these as mere navigational markers or spatial frameworks, the lecture presents nodes, edges, and districts as elements of a multi-scalar landscape strategy to address the widespread environmental and social instability characterizing cities today.

Bio

Steven T. Lee is a landscape architect, urban designer, and planner based in New York City, with a passion for crafting meaningful and resilient public spaces. As a Design Principal at SWA/Balsley, he directs complex public realm projects domestically and abroad including waterfronts, urban parks, civic plazas, campus landscapes, and urban districts. Steven engages closely with clients, interdisciplinary teams, and designers across experience levels to foster shared creativity and develop innovative solutions. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Claremont McKenna College and dual master’s degrees in Landscape Architecture and City Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to practice, he has contributed to design education as a lecturer at Cornell University and a guest critic at numerous universities throughout the US.

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March 4, 2026

Titled People, Place, Play, Travieso’s talk explores his creative practice through three guiding concepts that shape much of his work. People highlights his community-engaged process; Place refers to his approach of building from what already exists in a site—socially, physically, and historically; and Play speaks to his commitment to infusing joy, imagination, and interaction into everyday environments.

Bio

Chat Travieso is the Tepper Chair at Mason Gross School of the Arts. He is an artist and designer, as well as the co-founder of the multidisciplinary collaborative duo Yeju & Chat, with Yeju Choi. His practice encompasses community-centered urban interventions, public art projects, and research initiatives. His past work has been commissioned by or organized in collaboration with the Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, the Brooklyn Children’s Museum, NYC Parks, NYC DOT, the Cambridge Arts Council, and the Cleveland Public Library, among others. Honors include the Bronx Recognizes Its Own Award, the United States Artist Fellowship, and the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship. His research has been supported by grants from the Graham Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Mellon Initiative for Inclusive Faculty Excellence at The New School, and the Columbia GSAPP Anti-Racism Curriculum Development Award. His writing has been featured in Places Journal, AD (Architectural Design), MAS Context, and Urban Omnibus.