The 1998 Summer Design Series presented by the Walker Art Center and the American Institute of Architects/Minnesota will take place Tuesdays, July 21-August 4, at 7 pm in the Walker Auditorium. Exploring current architectural projects and topics, the series features Samuel Mockbee on rural architecture in Alabama; Diana Balmori on her redesign of Loring Park; and Vincent James and David Salmela on current award-winning projects.

July 21: Samuel Mockbee, FAIA
Samuel Mockbee, FAIA, is an architect and painter living in Canton, Mississippi. He is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and is currently the Alumni Professor at Auburn University's School of Architecture, where he directs the Rural Studio in remote Hale County, Alabama. Established in 1993, the Rural Studio is run by undergraduate students who work to help improve the quality of life for one of the most economically impoverished rural communities in America. Mockbee was previously Davenport Professor of Architecture at Yale University; the Friedman Professor at the University of California, Berkeley; and the Shure Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia.

July 28: Diana Balmori: The Next Public Space
Diana Balmori, design principal and founder of Balmori Associates, Inc., discusses her plans for the redesign of Loring Park and other current projects. Her previous work includes designs for the Gwynns Falls Trail Master Plan in Baltimore, Kuala Lumpur City Center in Malaysia, the Eliel Saarinen Garden Restoration at Cranbrook Academy in Michigan, and NTT Shinjuku Headquarters, Japan. Balmori, who holds an appointment with the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, has published numerous essays and books, including Saarinen Garden: A Total Work of Art, Redesigning The American Lawn: A Search for Environmental Harmony, and Trails for the 21st Century .



August 4: Vincent James, AIA, and David Salmela, AIA
Minnesota architects Vincent James and David Salmela discuss current projects, including those awarded the 1998 National American Institute of Architects Honor Awards in the Outstanding Architecture category. James is president of Vincent James Associates, Inc., in Minneapolis. He has received awards for his designs for private residences and public buildings, including a 1998 National AIA Honor Award for a Type/Variant House in northern Wisconsin, the Minnesota Children's Museum, and the Richie Medical Center in St. Paul. He has taught architecture at Tulane University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. The work of Salmela, Principal of Salmela-Architect in Duluth, is rooted in modernism as well as the vernacular of Minnesota's immigrants. His projects have won 10 AIA Minnesota Honor Awards, including a 1998 award for Jim Brandenburg's Ravenwood Studio in Ely, Minnesota, as well as two American Wood Council Awards, a Western Cedar Award, and an Architectural Records Record Houses Award.

Single-lecture tickets are $20 ($10 Walker and AIA members, and students); series tickets for all three lectures are $48 ($24), and are available at the Walker box office or by calling (612) 375-7622 (voice) or (612) 375-7585 (TDD). Patrons with special needs are asked to call two weeks in advance.