At no time in Portland's history have so many citizens been affected by new architecture. New buildings --bold, beautiful, middling, or downright ugly-- are rising in every neighborhood of the city. The city has a process --Design Review-- to decide what buildings make the grade. But its most stringent oversight only applies to downtown and few other, innermost districts.

How does design review work? How well is it working? Should it be expanded to other parts of the city? Three prominent design advocates who have overseen the city's review during three distinct eras share their opinions about how to get the best buildings for the city. Panelists: Michael McCullouch, architect, urban designer and developer; Guenevere Millius, President of Parachute Strategies and chair of the Design Commission; John Russell, President of Russell Development Company. Randy Gragg, director of the University of Oregon's John Yeon Center, will moderate the program.Published on May 30, 2014

Alejandro Aravena: My architectural philosophy? Bring the community into the process.

Artists Amy Livingstone of Sacred Art Studio in Portland, Oregon talks about her experience at a Joanna Macy intensive and how how it led her to dedicate her life and work to connect people to our planet and understand we are all interdependent. Follow Amy on Twitter and like her Sacred Art Studio page on Facebook.

 Amy was interviewed by Barry Heidt of GeoSpirit.tv at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability (AASHE) 2014 Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon, October 28, 2014.

Artist Amy Livingstone of SacredArtstudio.net in Portland, Oregon provided a respite for students from the demands of learning and connecting at the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education at their 2014 Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon. Interviewed by Barry Heidt of GeoSpirit.tv and produced by Ruth Ann Barrett of EarthSayers.tv.

Janine Benyus, Jason McLennan, and David McConville describe how our lives are related to nature and ecological design. These speeches (of which clips are shown) took place at the 2013 Bioneers Annual Conference. Published on Dec 9, 2013

TEDxPhylly speech, Architecture critic Inga Saffron challenges cities to shift focus and look beyond skyscraper fantasies in her TEDxPhilly talk - "Moving from The Grand Vision to The Grand Adjustment." Cities should instead work to improve and build amenities that make urban areas better places to live for existing dwellers. Public spaces should be a priority: upgrade transit systems, add bike lanes to all major roadways, increase walkability, create and maintain great parks and public plazas. Saffron believes that skyscrapers are not the only way to achieve the worthy goal of density and sustainability. To explain, she points to the success of mid-rise buildings in Philadelphia and posits that different cities need a range of densities. American cities must be flexible and make adjustments - an idea jokingly demonstrated in Saffron's opening skyscraper yoga poses. Uploaded on Jan 29, 2012

How can architects build a new world of sustainable beauty? By learning from nature. At TEDSalon in London, Michael Pawlyn describes three habits of nature that could transform architecture and society: radical resource efficiency, closed loops, and drawing energy from the sun.

UO-Portland Architecture Lecture Series 2010-01-2

Professor Nico Larco speaks on Fringe Urbanism: Untapped Potential for Sustainable Suburbs.

There is currently a shift occurring within the peripheries of our cities as social constructs and physical realities collide. The re-development of suburbia holds enormous promise both as an adaptation to changing sociology and in the potential for a more sustainable approach to existing forms of development.

Smart ICT for Sustainable Living in Stockholm Royal Seaport

Swedish ICT is leading an initiative aiming to detail a generic information and communication infrastructure for Stockholm Royal Seaport, a much talked about new city district of Stockholm. The VINNOVA-funded project, Smart ICT for living and working in Stockholm Royal Seaport, engages about a dozen small and large companies from the telecom sector, construction companies, and the City of Stockholm. Published on Dec 30, 2013

Karl Sharro is an Architect, Writer and Commentator on the Middle East. He is the co-author of the architectural manifesto Towards a New Humanism in Architecture and Senior Associate Partner at PLP Architecture in London. He has practiced architecture in London and Beirut, and previously taught at the Department of Architecture at the American University of Beirut.

He addresses the need for freedom of movement and immigration. Uploaded on Sep 27, 2011