The topic for this month's discussion is, "The Role of Government in Community Engagement in the 21st Century: Pittsburgh, PA." The event  features Karen Abrams, a Harvard Graduate School of Design Loeb Fellow.

 About the Presenter:

As the Community and Diversity Affairs manager at the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, Karen Abrams ensures that disaffected residents of Pittsburgh’s historically African-American neighborhoods are actively engaged in real estate and economic development activities that have impact on their lives. She collaborates with residents on urban planning and design projects and helps neighborhood groups build social capital and financial capacity. Abrams has established several initiatives at URA to bring equity and inclusion to Pittsburgh’s land use and planning practices. These include the Urban Matters arts and design civic engagement program for youth in low-income communities and the Community Toolkit Project, which connects recent minority graduates of architecture and planning with African-American communities experiencing land use challenges. Just to name a few. Most recently she has been tasked with transforming URA’s Minority and Women Business Enterprise program into a 21st century wealth-building platform inspired by economic justice and inclusion principals.

During her Loeb Fellowship year, she is developing community development education tools for a Boston neighborhood organization, and is mentoring two urban design start-ups at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s DesignX accelerator. Abrams is a Harlem native with a Master of Science in Sustainable Systems from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree in African an African-American Studies from the University of Virginia. 

The book, "Concrete Architecture and the New Boston," was written by Mark Pasnik, Chris Grimley, and Michael Kubo.

Often problematically labeled as “Brutalist” architecture, the concrete buildings that transformed Boston during 1960s and 1970s were conceived with progressive-minded intentions by some of the world’s most influential designers, including Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier, I. M. Pei, Henry Cobb, Araldo Cossutta, Gerhard Kallmann and Michael McKinnell, Paul Rudolph, Josep Lluís Sert, and The Architects Collaborative. 

This talk will focus on the significant role of architects like Bond in shaping the architectural character of Roxbury during its transformation from town to city.
An illustrated overview by architectural historian Stephen Jerome.
Also join Roxbury Historical Society on June 8 at 6:30 for the second part of this program - "Henry Hampton and Blackside".

The quiet elegance of Bunker Hill Monument and Monument Square belie the bloody events that took place there on June 17, 1775.  There are many contradictions to this battle — we celebrate a battle that we technically lost, and many forget that the battle, known as the Battle of Bunker Hill was not confined to this 4-acre square atop Breed’s Hill.
Join the Charlestown Preservation Society and National Park Service as they prepare for the commemoration of the battle. Refreshments will be served.

Enjoy a walking tour of Modern Roxbury given by Curtis Perrin, architect & historian.
RSVP Required.