Panel Discussion, Does Architecture Matter?

Does the work of architects matter in our daily lives? Do all of the inventive forms found in the new wave of buildings dotting our cities change the lives of their inhabitants, or are they merely self-contained monuments to an era and its egos? Zócalo Public Square and the Getty Museum present a half-day conference exploring the impact of architecture on the present and the future.

Three panels explore the impact of architecture on the present and future by focusing on the specific questions: Do architects really shape cities? How do people reinvent spaces? And who will design tomorrow’s Los Angeles?”

Participants include architects Thom Mayne and Valery Augustin; artist Camilo Jose Vergara; architecture critic John King; Fred Kent, president of the Project for Public Spaces; Anthea M. Hartig, executive director of the California Historical Society; futurist designer Syd Mead; and urban planner James Rojas, among others.  Complements the exhibition Overdrive: L.A. Constructs the Future, 1940–1990.

Harold M. Williams Auditorium. Free and open to the public. Reservations required.