KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Angela Danadjieva, APA, UDI, UIA
“Turning Urban Liabilities into Environmental Amentities”

Angela Danadjieva’s work concentrates on mitigating the harsh forms and pollution resulting from the creation of urban infrastructure. She has turned both prosaic and menacing urban landscapes into complex, multi-faceted recreational and civic experiences. Her early work in the office of Lawrence Halprin included the design of the Ira Fountain in Portland. She is responsible for the design of Freeway Park in Seattle, and more recently the West Point Waste Water Treatment Plant and Mission Bay Development Plan for San Diego. Her bold and creative urban designs have revolutionized and broadened the scope of work for the profession of landscape architecture. Danadjieva earned a degree in architecture from the State University of Sophia in her native Bulgaria and an advanced degree from the Ecole Nationale Superieur de Beaux Arts in Paris. Her winning design for the San Francisco Civic Plaza in 1966 brought her to California where she has resided ever since.

John Schaeffer
“Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living”

John Schaeffer has been exploring renewable energy and sustainable living since his 1971 graduation from the University of California at Berkeley, where he majored in anthropology. During the last 23 years, he has founded and grown Real Goods from a garage start-up to the foremost global source for tools and information on renewable energy and sustainable living. Along the way, he has brought new ecological products to a wider market and pioneered ways of raising money directly from his customers without the need for investment bankers and stock brokers while doing business ethically, responsibly and humanely. In 1995 he created the Solar Living Center in Hopland, California, a 12-acre educational demonstration site powered by solar and wind which hosts over 150,000 visitors annually, and is home of the nation’s premier annual energy festival, SolFest. He founded and remains chair of the Board of the educational non-profit Solar Living Institute dedicated to promoting renewable energy through inspirational environmental education.

Stefan Behnisch
“A European Perspective of Sustainable Design”

Stefan Behnisch is partner, along with Guenter Behnisch and Guenter Schaller of the award winning firm Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner in Stuttgart, Germany. The firm in its current form has existed since 1989 and employs 60 architects. It evolved out of its sister firm, Behnisch & Partner, which was founded in 1954 and has been highly influential in shaping the direction of contemporary architecture in post-war Germany. Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner has become known internationally and currently has an office in Los Angeles as well as partnership with Blackbird in Santa Monica. Current projects on the American continent include the Genzyme Building in Cambridge, MA, and the Center for Cell and Biomedical Research in Toronto, Canada. One highly published example of innovative design that incorporates progressive ecological thought is the Institute for Forestry and Nature Research in Wageningen, Netherlands. Mr. Behnisch brings to the conference his insights and experience practicing internationally. Through his work, he will demonstrate the progressive nature of European architecture.