Opinion Eyes on the Street

November 5-9: Architecture in Film | Philly education challenges, reform | Understanding Frank Furness | The Street as Place | Chinatown Past & Present | Food Politics

PlanPhilly staff

November 5, 2012

(Learn about the conditions that led to Frank Furness' most incredible masterworks, including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts seen here, on Wednesday.)

Architecture in Film: Great Expectations: A Journey Through the History of Visionary Architecture & Kochuu: Japanese Architecture, Influence, & Origin

Monday, November 5, 6:30pm, film starts at 7pm. Center for Architecture, 1218 Arch Street. Architecture in Film, hosted by John DeFazio, architect and Associate Professor at Drexel University, continues this month with Great Expectations: A Journey Through The History Of Visionary Architecture (2007) and Kochuu: Japanese Architecture, Influence, & Origin (2003, Jesper Wachtmeister). $10 donation requested at the door.

Community and Education Challenges in Philadelphia: Research and Reform

Monday, November 5, 5:30-7:30. Houston Hall, Ben Franklin Room, 3417 Spruce Street. Join academics and practitioners from Penn’s Graduate School of Education to discuss the challenges and opportunities of reforming Philadelphia’s public school system. Panelists include Rebecca Maynard, James “Torch” Lytle, Matthew Steinberg, and Bob Boruch will moderate the discussion. Free, registration required.

The Poetry of the Present: Understanding Frank Furness

Wednesday, November 7, Noon. Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts auditorium, 118 North Broad Street. Historian George Thomas will discuss the “unique cultural context” that allowed Frank Furness to create some of his “most exuberant masterworks.” Free.

The American Idea of Public Design: The Street as Place

Thursday, November 8, 3:30pm. Temple University, Paley Library Lecture Hall, 1210 Polett Walk. Design shapes everything in life. Join Design Philadelphia’s Hilary Jay for a panel discussion about American design with Next American City’s Diana Lind, Inquirer architecture critic Inga Saffron, architect Bryan Hanes. Free.

Chinatown: Past & Present

Thursday, November 8, 6-7:30pm. Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School, 1023 Callowhill Street. Learn about Chinatown’s history, community activism, and redevelopment plans at a panel discussion with Georgia State University professor of history Kathryn Wilson, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation’s John Chin, Deborah Wei of the School District of Philadelphia; and UPenn PhD candidate Roseann Liu. Reception to follow discussion. Free.

Marion Nestle: Food Politics

Thursday, November 8, 5:30-8:30pm. Academy of Natural Sciences, 1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Join Marion Nestle, internationally known consumer activist, nutritionist, and award-winning author, as she discusses the increasingly alarming way food processing, marketing, and sales are politicized in the U.S. Program begins at 6:30pm. $15, $10 fir members, $50 VIP reception, Drexel students free with ID. Register online.

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