Susan S. Szenasy
Publisher/Editor in Chief of METROPOLIS, the award-winning New York City-based magazine of architecture, culture, and design. Since 1986 she has lead the publication and its other media platforms through decades of landmark design journalism, achieving domestic and international recognition. She is a pioneer in connecting environmental stewardship with design, and a tireless advocate for human centered design. A book of her writings and talks, Szenasy, Design Advocate, was published recently by Metropolis Books/DAP.
Cathy Lang Ho
Independent architecture critic, editor, and curator based in New York. She is the principal of CLHoffice which consults on architecture, design, landscape, and urban projects. In 2012, she was the commissioner and lead curator of the exhibition Spontaneous Interventions: Design Actions for the Common Good, the official U.S. representation at the 2012 International Architecture Exhibition at the Venice Biennale. The show will travel to California in 2015. She is a contributing editor to Architect magazine and has published hundreds of articles worldwide. She has participated in numerous design juries, and has served on the board of the Institute for Urban Design since 2004. She holds degrees in Economics and Mass Communications from the University of California at Berkeley.
Wes Janz
Professor of architecture at Ball State University where, in 2006, he was the recipient of the Outstanding Teaching Award. He is the founder of onesmallproject.org, a collection of local initiatives by people many observers consider to be at risk. Janz was a finalist for the inaugural Curry Stone Design Prize, an international award established in 2008 to encourage breakthrough projects that “engage communities at the fulcrum of change, raising awareness, empowering individuals and fostering collective revitalization.” His book Leftover Rightunder: Finding Architectural Potential in Found Materials was published by Half Letter Press in 2013.
Jason Roberts
Founder of the Oak Cliff Transit Authority, originator of the Better Block Project, co-founder of the Art Conspiracy and Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, and candidate for US Congress. In 2006, Jason formed the non-profit organization, Oak Cliff Transit Authority, to revive the Dallas streetcar system. In 2010, Jason organized a series of “Better Block” projects, taking blighted blocks with vacant properties in Southern Dallas and converting them into temporary walkable districts with pop-up businesses, bike lanes, cafe seating, and landscaping. The project has now become an international movement occurring everywhere from Melbourne, Australia to Tehran, Iran, and has been featured in the New York Times, Dwell magazine, TED Talks and National Public Radio. Jason’s consulting firm, Team Better Block, was showcased in the US Pavilion at the 2012 Venice Biennale.