CBU Architecture Symposium
Purpose and Passion in Practice
CBU Architecture Symposium
March 17 – 18, 2023
Riverside, California
All Events will be held:*
Adams Building – RM 113
3739 Adams Street, Riverside CA
*Event will also be broadcast to registered remote participants
Program Statement:
We are reminded that our job is not our purpose. But our job – our calling – can be a huge part of the way we live out our purpose to proclaim the Gospel and build the Kingdom of God. But just like it looks different to lead a church in Beijing vs Paris vs Dallas, living out our calling as architects can look very different for each of us in our specific contexts. Some of us will work in arenas where our faith must be lived and not openly spoken. Some of us will get the opportunity to shape our work around clearly Christian values and principles. Some of us will work as architects on explicitly missional efforts around the world. God’s will for us is to use whatever opportunity He gives us to do His work. CBU Architecture’s Spring symposium on Purpose and Passion in Practice will bring together a variety of guests who have lived out their purpose in all of these ways and more, revealing the potential for eternal value in whatever path one may find themselves on, now and in the future.
Join us as we embark on a journey filled with authentic discussions, enlightening presentations, and networking-resource growing opportunities with a wide range of practitioners, academics, and alumni focused on purpose and passion in practice!
Steering Committee
Professor Keelan Kaiser, FAIA
Professor Mark Roberson, AIA
Professor Aaron Greene, AIA
Invited Speakers
Douglas Alligood (BIG)
Rick Archer (Overland Partners)
Gabrielle Bullock (Perkins and Will)
Drake Dillard (Perkins and Will)
Gary Wang (Wang Architects)
Stephanie Vaz Ferreira (Gensler)
Kaylan Cummins (Missionary)
Kyle Mertensmeyer (August Green)
Alex Gordon (DLR-LA)
Jessica Adetoro (The Smith Group)
James Wirick (LPA)
Joanna Nsenga (Missionary-Journeymen International)
John Hudson (100 Fold)
Fred Naff (Missionary-GEM)
Andriani Soine (SOM-NY)
Jack Gonzalez (Populous)
Symposium Schedule
MARCH 17 – MARCH 18, 2023
All Events will be held:*
Adams Building – RM 113
3739 Adams Street, Riverside CA
*Event will also be broadcast to registered remote participants
Friday March 17, 2023
9:00am Opening and Welcome
9:15am Opening Keynote
Rick Archer, Overland Partners
10:30am Break / Network
10:45am Session 2 – Dynamic Practices and Experiences
Lamar Johnson, Lamar Johnson Collaborative
Kyle Mertensmeyer, August Green
12-1pm Faculty and Guest luncheon hosted in room ARCH 218
1:15pm Session 3 – Alumni Panel Discussion: Exceptional Practices Afar
Alex Gordon, DLR – LA
Andriani Soine, SOM – NY
Jack Gonzalez, Populous – KC
2:30pm Break / Networking
2:45pm Session 4 – Alumni Panel Discussion 2 – Services and Alternatives Afar
Stephanie Vaz Ferreira, Gensler – San Francisco
Kaylan Cummins – Gateway Culture
Joanna Nsenga, Journeyman Intl’l – Rwanda
4:00pm Break / Networking / Re-Gather – Staples Room
4:30pm Closing Keynote
Douglass Aligood
6:00pm Family Dinner – Staples Room
Saturday March 18, 2023
8:00am Prayer Breakfast in Support of Local Firms
9:00am Session 6 – Missions Panel Discussion
John Hudson, 100Fold
Fred Naff, GEM
10:00am Session 7 – Regional Exemplar Practices
Gabrielle Bullock, Perkins & Will
James Wirick, LPA
11:15am Session 7 – Closing Perspectives, Unique Contributions in Practice
Drake Dillard, Perkins & Will
Gary Wang, Wang Architects
Jess Adetoro, Arquitina Mentor & Smith Group – Chicago
1:00pm Closing Comments
Symposium Attendance
Contact Leslie Valazquez at lvelazquez@calbaptist.edu to register intent to attend.
Travel & Lodging
Symposium will take place on the California Baptist University Campus in Riverside, CA.
Participants are asked to arrange their own lodging if needed. Suggested local hotels are below:
Mission Inn
3649 Mission Inn Ave.
Riverside, CA 92501
reservations@missioninn.com
951-784-0300
Hyatt Place – Riverside
3500 Market Street
Riverside, CA 92501
951-321-3500
Marriott Riverside at the Convention Center
3400 Market Street
Riverside, CA
951-784-8000
Past Symposia
2022 – Transcendence, Imagination, and a Secular Age
October 21 – October 22, 2022
Riverside, California
Over the course of 400 – 500 years, Western civilization has moved from a culture where it was virtually impossible to not believe in God, to a culture where many find the idea of believing in God difficult to fully embrace. As Charles Taylor describes in his work, A Secular Age, the decline in religious participation by larger numbers of non-believers is not the defining marker of our ‘secular’ age. Rather, Taylor argues that our current age is defined by a fundamental shift in the plausibility structures and social imaginaries that support belief. Whereas sixteenth-century imaginaries understood the world as both immanent and transcendent with a porous boundary, the contemporary world operates from a closed immanent frame leaving individuals with un-situated lingering notions of the transcendent. The fundamental result is that individuals are now simultaneously pressured by belief and unbelief. Those who are disconnected from religious faith are ‘haunted’ by the transcendent, fearing something may have been lost, and those who have faith often believe while doubting.
The 2022 CBU Architecture symposia explores the role of architecture in responding to our ‘secular age’ as described by Taylor. Papers or presentations may include, but are not limited to, architectural, urbanistic, interior, theological, missiological, liturgical, sociological, and community development considerations of:
The Role of Beauty in a Secular Age
Architectural Witness and Faith
Transcendence in the Ordinary
Architecture and Imagination
Transcendence in Sacred Architecture
Architecture’ Role in Social Imaginaries
Emerging Trajectories in Church Architecture
Architecture Within an Immanent Frame
2018 – Contemplating Warehouses and Worship
October 19-20, 2018
Riverside, California
The 2018 CBU Architecture Symposium addressed and assessed the contemporary situation of church design practice including:
From Church to Warehouse, From Warehouse to Church
Exploring Attractional Church Architecture
Architectural Form Responses to Church Outreach Models
Efficacy of Architectural Evangelism
Sacredness and Evangelical Architecture
Church Architecture in a Secular Culture
Role of Patronage in Church Architecture
Archetypes and Antitypes
Architecture and Great Awakenings
Emerging Evangelical Liturgy
Emerging Trajectories in Church Architecture
Keynote Lecture: Dr. Jeanne Halgren Kilde, University of Minnesota