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.

Annual Liederabend to feature Robert Schumann’s song cycle Dichterlieb Oct. 9

Soprano Kiera Duffy and pianist Sandra Geary will present Washington University’s annual Liederabend at 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 9. Literally translated as “evening of song,” Liederabend is a German term referring to a recital given by a singer and pianist, particularly of works by 19th-century Austrian or German composers. The Oct. 9 program will feature Robert Schumann’s beloved cycle of sixteen songs titled Dichterliebe, based on poems of Heinrich Heine.

Hip-hop, humor, poetry and politics

Leslie LyonsUniverses in *Slanguage*From hip-hop and blues to boleros and salsa, the cutting-edge poetry collective Universes captures the distinctive sounds and percussive rhythms of their native South Bronx. In October, Universes will make its St. Louis debut with Slanguage, a blistering yet exuberant depiction of modern urban life, at Washington University’s Edison Theatre.

Fiction writer Bonnie Jo Campbell to read for Writing Program Reading Series Oct. 6

Courtesy photoBonnie Jo CampbellFiction writer Bonnie Jo Campbell will read from her work at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, for the Writing Program Reading Series. Campbell is the author Q Road (2002), named a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers book, and the collection Women & Other Animals (1999), which won the prestigious Associated Writing Programs prize for short fiction.

Aquarius redux

David Kilper*Hair*Break out the love beads and buckskin fringe. Hair is back. Subtitled The American Tribal Love/Rock Musical, Hair was one of the most popular and controversial plays of the 1960s, a Broadway smash for the “sex, drugs and rock-and-roll” generation, sparking radio hits and national protests. In October, Washington University’s Performing Arts Department (PAD) in Arts & Sciences will revive this countercultural classic as its fall Mainstage production.
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