College of Design, School, and Department Events

Please join the University of Oregon’s Portland Architecture Program on Wednesday, January 14 at 6:00pm for a book talk and conversation with Sam Bloch, author of Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource. This is a public event in the Winter 2026 UO School of Architecture & Environment Lecture Series, co-sponsored by Design Portland and SOJ. The event is free for students and UO affiliates. RSVP here. Note that this event will be held at the City of Possibility space in downtown Portland (JK Gill Building, 426 SW Harvey Milk St.). Talk Description: Shade plays a vital role in enhancing livability, human health, and sustainability in Portland—a historically temperate city now known for killer summer heat. As global climate change and runaway urban development raises local temperatures, access to shade is already becoming essential for survivability and environmental justice. Learn how awnings, trees, and more thoughtful urban design can cool the city, reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, and make Portland safer and more accessible to all. Shade's distribution reflects profound inequalities—and expanding it can be a critical step in shaping Portland's cooler and fairer future.

Sam Bloch is an environmental journalist and the author of Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource, a "compelling ... conversation-starter" (NPR) named one of The New Yorker's best books of the year. Previously a staff writer at The Counter, Bloch has written about the intersection of climate change and urban design for Places Journal, Slate, CityLab, Landscape Architecture Magazine, and The New York Times, and has been published by L.A. Weekly, Art in America, Artnet and others. Bloch is a graduate of the Columbia Journalism School and a former MIT Knight Science Journalism Fellow and Emerson Collective Fellow. He is based in New York City, where he lives with his partner and their son.

Please join the University of Oregon’s Portland Architecture Program and ASLA Oregon for a screening of the new documentary film, Sitting Still with Laurie Olin, followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Gina Angelone. This is a public event in the winter 2026 UO School of Architecture & Environment Lecture Series.   

Description:

Sitting Still is an original documentary that explores the life and work of Laurie Olin—one of the world’s most influential urban designers and his profoundly social vision. Hailed as a modern-day Olmsted, Olin has transformed the design of public space and paved the way for future design leaders.

This rare, intimate portrait invites viewers inside the mind of a brilliant and irreverent iconoclast—to see what he sees, feel what inspires him, and hear his urgent call to confront the environmental challenges shaping our collective future like never before.

Sitting Still brings into focus the critical issues which have defined Olin’s life and work: urbanization and our lost connection to nature, economic marginalization, and the grave importance of humanity in design.

In a time when global values increasingly reflect “profit over people,” Olin's motivation has always been to create a more democratic and egalitarian society through healthy, shared public space. Environmental and human stakes have simply never been higher. In many ways, the most pressing challenges of the natural environment and social disunity can be healed through the power of landscape.

Sitting Still invites the voices of other design luminaries into the conversation, including architectural visionaries Frank Gehry and Billie Tsien, and esteemed landscape designer and artist, Walter Hood, among others.

Olin’s life story of growing up in Alaska on the edge of the American frontier, challenging belief systems around designing in nature, and his lifelong work transforming environments for social good are the launching pad for Sitting Still.

Part portrait of an artist and part exploration of social concerns, Sitting Still looks at the critical importance of humanity in design in order to create more livable cities. Olin and other design visionary bring into sharp focus the marks we make upon the land and why they matter.

The College of Design is hosting its annual Career Week. Come practice your career skills and strategies. Join us for a rousing week of professional activities! You will learn about application processes, internships, interviews, resume building, and more. In Lawrence Hall and UO Portland.

Please join the University of Oregon’s Portland Architecture Program for a lecture on the work of Kwong von Glinow. This is a public event in the winter 2026 UO School of Architecture & Environment Lecture Series. The event is in-person in the Highland Hall at UO Portland, but can also be streamed via Zoom [registration link].

Description:

The City has room for design innovation.

The Building has room to reevaluate how it accommodates contemporary lifestyles and values.

The Room has the possibility to enhance everyday life. Kwong Von Glinow is an architecture practice based in Chicago founded on the belief that architecture is meant to be enjoyed. Their work translates forward-looking architectural concepts into designs with broad appeal, taking an optimistic and explorative approach. The practice’s projects are about clear ideas and compelling ideals with architectural intentions that are simple, yet powerful and transformative. The practice takes on projects of varying programs to design innovative living environments, places for cultural engagement, innovative academic and institutional settings, contemporary workspaces, and not least urban public spaces. Kwong Von Glinow was founded in 2017 by Lap Chi Kwong and Alison Von Glinow. The firm’s current projects include the renovation and addition to a landmarked Howard Van Doren Shaw house in Highland Park, IL; a mixed-use multi-family with commercial building along Chicago Avenue; a rooftop addition to a historic Greystone; and an accessory building for a countryside estate. Kwong Von Glinow recently completed: Ardmore House, the Swiss Consulate Chicago at the John Hancock Center, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago Library and two residence hall lobbies, and Rice Architecture’s MD Anderson Hall renovation in Houston, TX.

As a practice, Kwong Von Glinow has received numerous awards, including the 2022 Spotlight Award by Rice Design Alliance, an awarded grantee from the Graham Foundation, and a recipient of the 2017 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects and Designers.  The office has been recognized by design publications that including being named as 1 of 400 creatives shaping America by Wallpaper* Magazine in 2024, named by AN Interior Magazine as a top 50 architect and design in 2024, 2022, and 2021, named a “Next Progressive” by Architect Magazine, and named in 2017 as one of the top 20 emerging practices by Wallpaper* Magazine.  

Lap Chi Kwong holds a Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington. Before founding the firm, he worked with Pritzker Prize-winning studios such as Herzog & de Meuron and Amateur Architecture Studio, contributing to projects like the M+ Museum in Hong Kong, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Kramlich Residence & Gallery in California. Lap Chi has taught design studios at Harvard University GSD, Rice University, and Princeton University, and IIT. Alison Von Glinow, AIA, earned her Master of Architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design and her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College. Prior to co-found Kwong Von Glinow, Alison worked with globally recognized firms, including Herzog & de Meuron in Basel, Switzerland; SOM in Chicago and New York; Toshiko Mori Architect in New York; and Svendborg Architects in Copenhagen, Denmark. Alison is a licensed architect in Illinois. Alison has taught options design studios at Harvard University GSD, Rice University, and Princeton University. *Photo Credit: Mikael Olsson