More than a hundred people turned out Tuesday to hear a nonarchitect present at the monthly lecture series sponsored by Architecture and Design Network.
At the Arkansas Arts Center, as always, Tommy Pacello, a past member of the Memphis Mayor's Innovation Delivery Team, talked about economic development in the home of the Liberty Bowl, specifically helping struggling neighborhoods become economically vibrant through public-private partnerships. The team is funded in large part by the foundation set up by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, long an advocate of urban innovation.
Pacello is chairman of Mission Advancement for the Memphis chapter of the Urban Land Institute, and, separately, was named to the 40 Top Real Estate Professionals Under 40 list compiled by the institute's Urban Land magazine.
The network is supported by the arts center, the University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, the central Arkansas section of the state chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and others.
"A significant number of people here [in Little Rock] are looking for ways to deal with problem neighborhoods," said June Freeman, founder and coordinator of the series, "hoping to make them safe, physically appealing and economically viable once again," and Memphis is an example in many ways.
The next lecture will feature a Los Angeles architect, and is to begin at 6 p.m. Feb. 2.
-- Photos and story by Bobby Ampezzan
High Profile on 01/24/2016