Arts & Culture

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.

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.

Literally translated as “evening of song,” Liederabend is a German term referring to a recital given by a singer and pianist.

Known for his cultural, political and historical insights on Latin America, his talk is titled “Celebrating Cervantes and Don Quixote.”

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.

Also known as the World Year of Physics, 2005 is featuring worldwide events of interest to physicists and the general public.

Officially known as Symphony No. 8 in B Minor and written in 1822, the piece is the most mysterious and the most forward-looking of his works.

His smash adaptation of Mel Brooks’ The Producers won 12 Tony Awards, including “Best Musical”; he’ll speak on “Why We Need Broadway.”

It’s St. Louis’ oldest and most well-known travel lecture series; each night will feature a film presented by a renowned filmmaker.

Jeffery Matthews directs the cast of 28 in the Broadway smash, one of the most popular and controversial plays of the 1960s.