The Dallas Architecture Forum
Continues Its 2019-2020 Panel Discussion Series With
“Disaster Recovery
Helping Communities Come Home”
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS:
Steven Duong, AECOM
Benje Feehan, buildingcommunityWORKSHOP
Travis HOUSTON, City of Dallas
Janette MONEAR, Texas Trees Foundation
Free and Open to the Public!
The Dallas Architecture Forum, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing public education about architecture, design and the urban environment, continues its popular Panel Discussion Series on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 with “Disaster Recovery – Helping Communities Come Home,” moderated by Emily Henry, Principal at Studio Outside.
“Recently, with the increase in frequency and damage caused by natural disasters we are faced again and again with pressing questions of how to recover. How can we effectively return people to work, school, and home?” stated Forum Executive Director Nate Eudaly. “This panel will present the ways that civic and governmental organizations are using policy and design to help communities recover after these traumatic events and create more sustainable cities. Case studies that will be examined include the catastrophic hurricanes and flooding on the Gulf Coast, and also the devastating tornados here in North Texas.”
Panels are FREE for both Forum members and the general public as a public outreach of The Forum. The discussion begins at 6:30 pm, with complimentary beverages available beginning at 6:15 pm. No reservations are needed to attend. One CEU AIA credit is available. Join us for a cold beverage and lively dialogue!
The venue for these panels is the Dallas Black Dance Theater building directly behind One Arts Plaza. The DBDT is located at the corner of Arts Plaza Street and Ann Williams Way – at 2700 Ann Williams Way, Dallas, TX 75201. Free parking is available between the DBDT building and Fellowship Church, located to the east of the DBDT building.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR:
EMILY HENRY, studioOutside
Emily Henry, Principal, leads business development for Studio Outside. Building relationships is at the core of her being; Emily leverages her communication skills and resources as a landscape architect to connect and collaborate with like-minded and creative partners and clients to elevate our environment as a better place to live. She is continually motivated by impacting the Dallas community. Her expansive volunteerism alongside professional pursuits has led to authentic and organic relationships throughout the community. Since 2005, Emily has been active in the design, architecture, and real estate communities. Emily has served as the 2018 President of the Architecture and Design Exchange Foundation, and on The Real Estate Council’s (TREC) 2019 Executive Committee, 2019 TREC Board, and 2019 TREC Leadership Alumni Committee. She is currently serving as the landscape architecture lead for TREC’s Dallas Catalyst Project and Past Chair for TREC’s Leadership Alumni Core Committee. Emily is a Landscape Architect, a Georgia native, a wife, and a mother of two curly red-headed girls. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2004 and has resided in Texas with her husband, Josh, ever since.
PANELISTS:
STEVEN DUONG, AECOM
Steven Duong, AICP is an Associate Vice President and the Urban Design Lead for AECOM’s Urbanism + Planning practice for the Central US. He has led a wide variety of projects, most recently for the City of Dallas 100 Resilient Cities plan and Climate Action Plan and the Texas Hyperloop Project. His focus is on urban resilience, sustainable development, smart cities, and urban design. Steven also serves as the President of the North Central Texas Chapter of the American Planning Association, as a professor with the UT Arlington College of Planning and Landscape Architecture, and was identified as a Top 20 Under 40 Top Young Professional for Engineering News Record and as an Urban Pioneer by the Greater Dallas Planning Council in 2017.
BENJE FEEHAN, buildingcommunityWORKSHOP
Benje Feehan, Architect, is Executive Director of buildingcommunityWORKSHOP, leading significant initiatives promoting public interest design across Texas. Benje is responsible for leading the organization into its next season of design justice through community engagement. Originally from New Zealand, his work focuses on the union of creative practices and social justice. Benje has taught at the graduate level in both the United States and New Zealand, advocating for design methodologies that prioritize humanness, and spatial equity over object-centric outcomes. Championing human identity and engagement of the body in the built environment, he believes that the responsibilities of designers, artists, and architects must have a broader influence beyond that of historic convention. During his career, Benje has had the opportunity to develop these philosophies by working with residents and clients to design and construct socially and environmentally responsible architectural solutions to some of our cities’ most pressing issues. Leading diverse teams, this work has been recognized with numerous awards and honors including LEED platinum certifications, multiple local AIA design awards, national AIA/HUD design awards and the Rudy Bruner silver medal.
TRAVIS HOUSTON, CITY OF DALLAS
Travis Houston is a Senior Emergency Management Specialist with the City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management. In his role, he assists the city to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. During his time with the City of Dallas, he has responded to many major incidents, including the Hurricane Harvey Mega Shelter, Northwest Dallas Gas Explosion, June 9th Crane Collapse, and most recently the October 20th EF-3 Tornado.
JANETTE MONEAR, TEXAS TREE FOUNDATION
Janette Monear, President/CEO of the Texas Trees Foundation, is dedicated to creating livable and resilient communities through the use of trees, green infrastructure and sustainable design. Monear began her career in advertising and promotion for a large bank and quickly transferred her skills to promote and advance urban forestry for the University of Minnesota which led her to the nonprofit sector. Ms. Monear is a pioneer in urban forestry. “Economic development in the absence of environmental integrity is not sustainable” is her mantra, connecting people to the land and creating that “sense of place” where all people thrive is her mission.
She is a frequent speaker at national and local conferences and a leader in organizational development. Her skills were instrumental in helping develop the Saint John’s University Arboretum and other national and local urban forestry organizations. Ms. Monear co-produced, wrote the narration, and edited the PBS documentary Spirit of the Trees. This two-time Telly Award winning series weaves together Native voices, art and music from 40 indigenous tribes and nations from throughout the United States. She has published several training and professional manuals and reports and her award-winning guidebook, City Trees Sustainability Guidelines and Best Practices, positioned trees as a capital asset and part of a community’s infrastructure.