Friday, May 3rd at 7 p.m. at the Essex Town Hall
In the rapidly-decaying landscape of our urban and small town centers, where vacancy and stagnation dominate, the rhetoric coming from municipal leaders about economic regeneration seems to be mostly talk and no action. Why? Some suggest that the problem is over-regulation. Could reversing statutory barriers that seemingly guarantee blight, and replacing them with positive incentives aimed at creating real neighborhoods, regenerate these ghost-town downtowns into bustling mixed-use, mixed-income places to live, work, learn and play?
This thought-provoking topic will be the subject of a talk for the Essex Library by architect Robert Orr, FAIA, LEED®, a part of the continuing Centerbrook Architects Lecture series. Robert Orr is an award-winning architect and planner present at the first sip of coffee that became the grounds for the New Urbanism in the mid-1970s. His collaboration with Andrés Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk at Seaside, Florida in 1982 was honored by Time Magazine as “…the most astonishing design achievement of its era and one might hope the most influential.” Robert furnished more than 6,000 hours of mostly pro-bono services to storm-ravaged Gulf Coast Mississippi and New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. A Founder of the Seaside Institute, a think-tank on community design and development, Robert also serves on Boards of many other vision-based organizations in Florida, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts, Rhodes Island, Washington, Vermont, Maine and Connecticut.
Fossil Factory! At The Essex Library
April 16, 2013
Wednesday, April 17 from 3:30 – 5: 00 p.m.
Kids in grades 3 – 6 are welcome to join us in order to unearth a small fossil that they will get to take home. As presented by the Children’s Museum of West Hartford, they will learn how fossils form and will get to examine some of the bony specimens on leave from the museum. Kids will get to look closely for clues about where each fossil comes from and will try to guess at what type of animal it might be.
The Centerbrook Architects Lectures Series: Filmmaker/Producer Jake Gorst Presents The Work Of Architect Andrew Geller
April 4, 2013
Friday April 12th at 7 p.m. at the Essex Town Hall
Filmmaker Jake Gorst, who also happens to be Geller’s grandson will speak about Geller (1924-2011), who designed hundreds of innovative and influential modern structures during an important era of 20th century creativity and expressionism. Geller’s association with industrial designer Raymond Loewy led to significant contributions to historic structures such as New York’s famed Lever House and The World Trade Center. His freelance vacation home architecture reflected a lighthearted playfulness and a mastery of the balance between fantasy and everyday reality. The Wall Street Journal architecture editorialist Alastair Gordon described Geller as the “architect of happiness”.
Click here to see the entire Centerbrook Lecture Series schedule for 2012-2013.
Science For Everyone Series: Time Travel
April 2, 2013
April 4th at 7 p.m. at the Essex Town Hall
Is time travel possible? Einstein thought so – and so does Dr. Mallett, University of Connecticut Professor of Physics and researcher into particle and field theory. In fact, his determination to unlock this particular secret is why he became a physicist in the first place. You may have seen him on the Science Channel, or on the BBC’s documentary about time travel researchers: Hear about his current research into this fascinating topic.
Sincere thanks to local business BrandTech Scientific, Inc. for sponsoring the Science For Everyone series.
Centerbrook Architects Lecture Series Presents: Dr. Chuck Benson “Hewn Architecture From Living Stone”
March 26, 2013
Friday, March 29th at 7 p.m. at the Essex Town Hall
The erudite and witty Dr. Chuck Benson — architect, professor, lecturer —will speak on “Hewn Architecture From Living Stone”— examples of buildings and whole cities carved into Mother Earth can be found world-wide; pictured here is Petra in Jordan, 
A UNESCO heritage site.
Dr. Benson has been teaching Art and Architectural History for more than twenty five years at various universities and colleges across the United States, and has led groups to explore and visit a variety of sites to Italy, England, Scotland, France, Spain, Austria, Germany, Greece and Turkey. He also has led art and architecture trips to New York City, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.
His lecture credits include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, MOMA, the Whitney Museum, the Getty in Los Angeles, the Art Institute in Chicago, and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. He studied the history of art and architecture at Yale as an undergraduate, and holds advanced degrees from Columbia University. He also has studied at Cambridge and Oxford, as well as the University of Goettingen in Germany.
Dr. Benson currently serves as the Director of Colorado Operations, and Head of Design for a Group that specializes in the architecture and engineering of Satellite Operations Centers and Mission Control Stations. He currently teaches as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and has taught at the Colorado College and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. Our Essex Library audiences have enjoyed his lectures on Edward Lutyens, Gian Loernzo Bernini and Antonio Gaudi.
Click here to register for this program.
Click here to see the Centerbrook Architects Lecture Series 2012 – 2013, the 2011 -2012 Lecture Series and links to YouTube films of specific Lectures.
Science for Everyone Series: Artificial Intelligence
March 19, 2013
Thursday, March 21st at 7 p.m. at the Essex Town Hall
Can an artificial intelligence be created that can learn, reason, and formulate original ideas? Dr Chengyo Cao of the University of Connecticut’s Mechanical Engineering Department is doing research funded by NASA and Pratt & Whitney focused on unmanned systems, like clusters of drones that interact with their environment and each other to better reconnoiter an area. His talk will highlight breakthroughs in this exciting and dynamic field.
See our Adults’ Featured Events page for more Science For Everyone programs.
Centerbrook Architects Lecture Series Architect Bill Chilton, FAIA, RIBA “Designing Relationships”
March 13, 2013
Friday, March 15th at 7 p.m. at the Essex Town Hall
As Principal of Pickard Chilton, an architectural practice in New Haven, Bill has directed projects for leading corporate and institutional clients worldwide including the Eaton Headquarters in Cleveland; the ExxonMobil Office Complex in Houston; CalPERS Headquarters in Sacramento as well as projects in the Middle East and Asia. Based on the belief that the practice of architecture is a collaborative art, he will address how the relationships the firm cultivates with clients, consultants and construction professionals is translated into the design of its buildings.
William Chilton has directed projects for leading corporate and institutional clients worldwide including the world headquarters for Eaton Corporation (LEED Gold) in Cleveland, Ohio; Devon Energy World Headquarters in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; 900 New York Avenue 
(LEED Gold) in Washington D.C.; ExxonMobil Office Complex in Houston, Texas; the US Environmental Protection Agency Headquarters (LEED Gold) near Washington D.C.; AIM Corporate Headquarters in Houston, Texas; and CaIPERS Headquarters Complex (LEED Gold) in Sacramento, California.
Prior to the founding of Pickard Chilton, he was Ellerbe Becket’s President of Architecture and collaborated on such notable buildings as the Science Museum of Minnesota and Kingdom Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which, when completed, was the tallest mixed-use complex in Europe and the Middle East.
William Chilton received his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Iowa State University and Master of Architecture from the University of Minnesota. Iowa State University recognized him with its Design Achievement Award (1995) for distinguished contributions to the arts and the Christian Petersen Design Award (2007), the highest award given by the College of Design. In conjunction with Jon Pickard, he is co-recipient of the 2011 Iowa State University Distinguished Alumni Award, the highest honor given to alumni by the University. He is actively involved in teaching, serving in Spring 2010 as Professor in Practice at the University of Minnesota College of Design.
Click here to register for this program.
Click here to see the Centerbrook Architects Lecture Series 2012 – 2013, the 2011 -2012 Lecture Series and links to YouTube films of specific Lectures.
Photographer/Filmmaker Tom Rossiter Presents “Standing Still Around The World” Friday, March 8 at 7 p.m.
March 5, 2013
Join us Friday, March 8, 7 p.m. at the Essex Library for a talk by Tom Rossiter on the art of travel photography – the planning and techniques used to go to exotic places and come back with a special record of images. Enjoy a showcase of selected photos from Tom’s work around the world including India, Bhutan, Mexico, America, and Japan.
A highly successful architect in his first career, Tom has segued seamlessly into photography and ceramics, receiving a MacArthur grant to travel in India to document a cultural exchange between the Old Town School of Music, Kalapriya, and Indian musicians. He specializes in architectural photography and movies for highly regarded architects, institutions, and owners. In addition he is actively engaged in the photography of nature and culture subjects around the world.
Treat yourself to a look at Tom’s film expertise with a video on the Lurie Garden in Chicago designed by Piet Oudolf.
A registered architect and a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects, he was a founding member of McClier and, as President, helped lead it to the 550 person design build firm it became. AECOM, a global engineering and architecture giant, purchased McClier, where Tom served as Managing Director and member of the Core Group. Tom managed the Chicago office for The Austin Company, and worked as a senior designer for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. At the Rhode Island School of Design, he earned a BFA and a Bachelor of Architecture as well as held an internship in the Office of Charles and Ray Eames. Learn more about Tom Rossiter on his website here.
John Morris Dixon, FAIA Presents “The Building Next Door: How Architecture Relates to its Context.”
January 10, 2013
On Friday, January 11, 2013 at 7 p.m. in the Essex Town Hall the Centerbrook Architects Lecture Series will welcome author and former editor of Progressive Architecture, John Morris Dixon, FAIA who will present “The Building Next Door: How Architecture Relates to its Context.”
Every building is necessarily related to its surroundings, whether natural or constructed. But the pioneers of Modern architecture rarely gave much thought to neighboring buildings, because their ultimate goal was to replace them all. Around the 1960s, architects began to realize that the context of their works was going to stay around a while. Their designs increasingly took into account the scale, proportions, and materials of nearby structures, as well as established patterns of physical development. In some cases the pendulum swung too far, and “contextualism” was understood as a making new construction look just like its neighbors. Thoughtful contrast can be as effective a response to context as conformity. This talk will deal with revealing examples of architecture in context from around the world and right here in Connecticut.
John Morris Dixon, FAIA
An MIT graduate, John Morris Dixon began his career as an architectural journalist in 1960. He served as chief editor of Progressive Architecture 1972-96, helping achieve the magazine’s worldwide influence. The breadth of his knowledge and insight has made John Dixon a much-valued observer on numerous design juries and selection panels. In recent years, he has written for such publications as Architectural Record, Architectural Research Quarterly, Architecture, Competitions, Domus, Harvard Design Magazine, House & Garden, Officeinsight, and Places. Books he has written include The World Bank: Kohn Pedersen Fox and the Architecture of a Landmark Building. A grant from the Graham Foundation supports his current project, a book tracing the course of modern architecture from 1950 to the present.
The talk is free and open to the public. To learn more about this year’s Centerbrook Architects Lecture series, click here.
The Centerbrook Architects Lecture Series Presents Stephen Schreiber, FAIA, “Engaged Design”
November 29, 2012
Friday, December 7th at 7 p.m. at the Essex Town Hall
Stephen Schreiber is the Director of the new Architecture+Design Program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The program is an interdisciplinary, collaborative program that embraces spirited, socially progressive, and environmentally responsive design. He is a graduate of Old Saybrook High School, Dartmouth College (BA) and Harvard University (M.Arch) and the story hours at the Essex Library.
His talk, ‘Engaged Design’, will provide a window into the future of architecture and those who will be shaping our cities and towns. As in all professions, teachers of young architects endeavor to give their students the tools they need to flourish in their careers. As such, educators are in the front line of interpreting and predicting the future in order to train their students. Stephen will talk about the approaches that are being used to teach young architects how to contribute more effectively to communities now and in the coming years. Click here to read more about the unique Architecture+Design Program at UMass|Amherst.
Save the date: our next speaker is John Morris Dixon, FAIA on January 11, 2013.
Click here to see the Centerbrook Architects Lecture Series 2012 – 2013 as well as the 2011 -2012 Lecture Series.
