Fiction writer and essayist Michael Martone to read Oct. 27 and Nov. 3

Courtesy photoMichael MartoneAcclaimed fiction writer and essayist Michael Martone, the visiting Fannie Hurst Professor of Creative Literature in Washington University’s Writing Program in Arts & Sciences, will read from his work at 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 27. In addition, Martone will speak on coincidence and fate in fiction in a lecture entitled “Homer on Homer or a Bunch of Stuff That Happens” at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 3.

An artist’s touch

Photo by David KilperT.L. Solien, who was recently in residence at the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, works with Lisa Bulawsky and Tom Reed.

The bunny’s evil twin?

Courtesy PhotoPhotographer Phyllis Galembo will speak about her work Oct. 19 for the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts.

Looking for St. Louis

Forget purple mountains and fruited plains. The contemporary American landscape is more typically composed of parking lots and shopping malls, factory towns and industrial developments, argues Matthew Coolidge, founder and director of the Center for Land Use Interpretation in Los Angeles. From Oct. 26-29, Coolidge will host a number of events exploring St. Louis’ urban landscape as part of the yearlong series “Unsettled Ground: Nature, Landscape, and Ecology Now!” co-sponsored by the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts.

Extreme sports meets dance

Courtesy photoDiavoloDiavolo — the acclaimed Los Angeles dance company known for combining bold movement with the adventurous, high-wire attitude of extreme sports — will bring its dynamic and wittily subversive choreography to Edison Theatre at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28 and 29. In addition, Diavolo will present an all-ages matinee as part of the ovations! for young people series at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 29.

Contemporary corporate architecture’s impact on communities examined

Soumen Rakennustaiteen Museo (SRM)McDonald’s-Finland Headquarters in HelsinkiHas corporate architecture doomed the city? Over the last century, corporate headquarters — as well as churches, universities and government institutions — have been pillars of the urban environment, embodying the culture, values and aspirations of their societies. Yet today’s corporations — competing in global, open-market economies; distanced and disassociated from the means of production — have increasingly situated themselves on the suburban periphery, replacing civic engagement with simple displays of technological prowess. As a result, “corporations must be seen as potential ‘dissolving agents’ of the cities in which they have chosen to locate,” argues Peter MacKeith, associate director of the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also serves as associate dean of Architecture.
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