Curated by The World Around and the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, and presented by the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, In Focus: Transformation is a free public program taking place on Saturday, February 21, from 2pm–6pm.

As landscapes are scorched, coastlines are eroded, and communities are displaced in a world warming as a result of human activity, the built environment becomes a critical site of response. The latest deep dive from The World Around’s acclaimed In Focus series, In Focus: Transformation will position design as a medium for positive change: a critical tool with which to respond to trauma, restore landscapes, resist extraction, serve the vulnerable, and imagine alternative futures. The program will bring together speakers from a broad range of cultural disciplines, including landscape architects, researchers, filmmakers, worldbuilders, and artists whose work invites more equitable and sustainable ways of inhabiting the planet. The program is curated by Beatrice Galilee, founder and executive director of The World Around, and Béatrice Grenier, director of strategic projects and international programs at the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain. The day will include exclusive film screenings from Young Climate Stories, a documentary series spotlighting the vision and determination of rising climate leaders from The World Around’s Young Climate Prize, whose self-initiated projects powerfully embody the theme of the program.

Registration for In Focus: Transformation is free. Seats in the theater are limited and assigned on a first come, first served basis upon ticket collection.

Confirmed speakers include:
Al Borde—One of the practice’s four leaders, David Barragán, joins from Ecuador to share how the architects are collaborating with Indigenous communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon to champion an architecture of responsibility and resilience

Alice Bucknell, Artist—Through the speculative world of their film and video game The Alluvials and latest project Earth Engine, the artist will explore the politics of water and the more-than-human impacts of the climate crisis in a near-future version of Los Angeles   

Ximena Caminos, Reefline—The visionary behind Miami’s Reefline will present her ongoing project to raise awareness of climate change and support marine ecosystems through a spectacular underwater sculpture park 

Teddy Cruz & Fonna Forman, Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman—The principals of the research-based design practice will discuss a community-driven approach to urban transformation, developed in collaboration with communities along the San Diego–Tijuana border 

Walter Hood, Hood Design Studio—Drawing on three of his firm’s recent and current landscape projects, including the overhaul of New York City’s Lincoln Center Plaza, the acclaimed designer will speak to the role of public spaces in repairing and revitalizing the social fabric of American cities

Sharon Johnston, Johnston Marklee—Celebrated for major cultural projects nationwide, the firm is now helping families rebuild after the Los Angeles wildfires 

Michael Maltzan, Michael Maltzan Architecture—The architect and urbanist will reflect on the ways design can support social recovery—protecting vulnerable communities, expanding housing stability, and rebuilding shared civic life

Kotchakorn Voraakhom, Landprocess—Presenting the transformation of Thailand’s largest government complex, the innovative landscape architect will discuss how her firm is working with water to build urban climate resilience in Southeast Asia

Julia Watson, Designer and Author—A leading advocate for Indigenous ecological knowledge, Watson will present her latest book, Lo-TEK Water, which draws on traditional water management practices to offer lessons in adapting to a changing climate

Kulapat Yantrasast, WHY—Renowned for reimagining the contemporary art gallery in cities around the world, the architect will debut his newly completed project Dib Bangkok, the Thai capital’s latest cultural landmark

In Focus: Transformation is curated by The World Around and its Global Cultural Partner the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, and presented by its Institutional Partner the Hammer Museum. Young Climate Stories is produced by 4Hawk Productions and made possible by The World Around’s Young Climate Prize Design Partner, MillerKnoll.

More information on the program can be found on The World Around website. For press, media and all other The World Around inquiries, please write to: inquiries[​at​]theworldaround.com.