Landscape architect Martha Schwartz to present Jan. 23 lecture

Martha Schwartz, a landscape architect, urbanist and climate activist, will present “The Urban Landscape and the Future of Cities” at 7 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.

The event is part of the 2022-23 E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues and the College of Architecture’s Hyde Lecture Series. Tickets, which are free, can be reserved through the Lied Center here, by calling 402-472-4747 or by visiting the Lied’s box office, 301 N. 12th St. The forum is general admission, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and tickets will remain available at the box office until the event begins.

Schwartz’s work and teaching focuses on the urban public realm landscape and its importance in making cities “climate ready.” For more than 40 years, Martha Schwartz Partners has completed projects around the globe, from site-specific art installations to public spaces, parks, master-planning and reclamation. Schwartz is also a tenured professor in practice in Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. She foresees landscape architecture as the leading profession to face the challenges of climate change and recently founded Mayday.Earth, a nonprofit focused on communications and education about Nature Based and Geoengineering Solutions.

“As one of the most influential contemporary landscape architects, Martha’s work is full of energy and character, and she has produced some of the most remarkable urban landscapes and arts,” said Yujia Wang, assistant professor of practice in landscape architecture and chair of the Hyde Lecture Series. “At the same time, she has come to care deeply for the planet and for leaving our next generations with a livable, sustainable and beautiful environment.”

This year’s Thompson Forum series, “Creativity to Solve Global Challenges,” focuses on elevating people and ideas addressing global concerns with vision and innovation. The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues is a cooperative project of the Cooper Foundation, Lied Center and the university. It was established in 1988 with the purpose of bringing a diversity of viewpoints on international and public policy issues to the university and people of Nebraska to promote understanding and encourage discussion.

The 2022-23 season of the Hyde Lecture Series features speakers from across disciplines united under the theme “Information Stimulus — New Paradigms in Planning and Design.” The series is a longstanding, endowed, public program. Each year, the College of Architecture hosts compelling speakers in the fields of architecture, interior design, landscape architecture and planning that enrich the ongoing dialogue around agendas paramount to the design disciplines and the college’s graduates.

For more information and the link to livestream, click here.