Topics discussed issues including affordable housing, urban density, and the future of our cities. Highlights included David Baker’s San Francisco affordable housing projects, which advocate “better living through density” and integrate design elements such as entry courtyards, private patios, and a street level grocery store and childcare center.

Brian Lane, of Los Angeles-based Koning Eizenberg Architecture, spoke about the challenges of modernism’s applications to affordable housing, while John King of the San Francisco Chronicle provided a thoughtful and idealistic critique of urban life, identifying architecture as a key medium for our cities’ future diversity.

After a short break, Dan Rockhill showed projects from the University of Kansas’ Studio 804, in which students participate in a house’s creation from start to finish, from community meetings to pouring concrete. The day wrapped up with a conversation between Robert Sullivan, author of “Cross Country,” and Dolores Hayden, professor at Yale University’s American Studies Program.

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