FOUNDER OF SUSTAINABLE SOUTH BRONX TO DELIVER ANNUAL MICHAEL KALIL LECTURE AT THE NEW SCHOOL

Majora Carter will talk on the topic of sustainability and environmental justice

Lecture to take place Monday, April 9, 2007, 6:30 p.m. at Tishman Auditorium, The New School, 66 West 12th Street, NYC

Admission is free and open to the public

NEW YORK, March 13, 2007 � On Monday, April 9, 2007, The New School will present a lecture by Majora Carter, the MacArthur-winning executive director and founder of Sustainable South Bronx (SSB). Carter will speak on the topic of sustainability and environmental justice at the annual Michael Kalil Lecture on Natural and Technological Systems, sponsored by The Michael Kalil Endowment for Smart Design in the Department of Architecture, Interior Design, and Lighting at Parsons The New School for Design and the Tishman Environment and Design Center at The New School.

�In our studios and classrooms, we teach our students to look at design as a means to confront real-world issues,� said Tim Marshall, Dean of Parsons The New School for Design. �It would be difficult to find a more persuasive, passionate, and charismatic advocate for creating and protecting green space in the city than Majora Carter. Her work has transformed the quality of life for the community of the South Bronx.�

A life-long resident of Hunts Point in the South Bronx, Majora Carter founded Sustainable South Bronx to support environmental justice through innovative, economically sustainable projects that are informed by the needs of the community. Recent projects include a green and cool roof demonstration project and a community-led plan for a bicycle/pedestrian greenway along the South Bronx waterfront providing open space, waterfront access, and opportunities for mixed-use economic development in the South Bronx. Prior to founding SSB, Majora worked as a program director at The Point CDC where, among other projects, she spearheaded the development of the Hunts Point Riverside Park, the first waterfront park on the Hunts Point peninsula in over sixty years.

�The Michael Kalil Endowment for Smart Design selected Majora Carter because her work exemplifies the Endowment�s two-fold mission: to foster the understanding of design intersections between nature and technology, and to support a heightened sense of responsibility for increasing the sustainability of built environments,� said Jean Gardner, Co-Director of the Endowment (established in 2001 in memory of designer Michael Kalil) and a Senior Faculty member of the Department of Architecture, Interior Design and Lighting, Parsons The New School for Design.

Previous Kalil lecturers have been sustainable designer and architect William McDonough (2002), German architect Thomas Herzog (2003), landscape architect Julie Bargmann (2004), former President of the International Union of Architects and former Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, Jaime Lerner (2005), and environmental historian William Cronon (2006).