ICYMI: The Architecture of Apocalypse

Almost one year to the day, SAH/SCC re-welcomes author Stuart W. Leslie, PhD, to encore his talk on “The Architecture of Apocalypse: Thinking About the Unthinkable in Style” for our new “In Case You Missed It” series that offers popular SAH/SCC programs live online.

Leslie bases the talk on his contribution to Laboratory Lifestyles: The Construction of Scientific Fictions (edited by Sandra Kaji-O’Grady, Chris L. Smith, and Russell Hughes; MIT Press, 2019), a book on how advancements in lab design affect the work of scientists. His essay on the aerospace and think tank architecture of the Cold War explores the architectural legacy of local institutions, such as the Rand Corporation and Hughes Research Lab.

A professor at Johns Hopkins University and the author of The Cold War and American Science: The Military-Industrial-Academic Complex at MIT and Stanford (Columbia University Press, 1993), Leslie is a dynamic speaker who makes the history of modern science, as told through architecture, accessible to everyone.

In February 2018, Leslie dazzled SAH/SCC with his presentation “The Romance of Water and Power: Architecture as Advertisement,” an exploration of the commercial and industrial buildings of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power—from neo-Grecian temples to luminescent Art Deco showrooms—and their role in the community.

ICYMI—Leslie: August 15, 2020; 1PM; free; reservations required—email [email protected]. Zoom connection information sent upon registration