Please join us for the second in a series of lectures held in celebration of NHPT’s 50th Anniversary as Thomas Fisher (Professor and Dean, College of Design, University of Minnesota) presents New Haven: A Once – and Future – Resilient Community.

Using material drawn from his most recent book manuscript, Fracture Critical: How We Design Our Way to Disasters, Professor Fisher will discuss how a number of unrelated catastrophic events in the last few years have resulted from “fracture-critical” design, in which products, services, systems and structures have so much interconnectedness and (misguided) efficiency that they have failed suddenly and completely. Traditional settlements, with their diverse ecosystems, buildings and infrastructures, have a remarkable ability to resist such disasters; cities like New Haven once had such resiliency and could have it again with the right actions on our part.

A wine and cheese reception, beginning at 5:30 pm, will precede the lecture.

Thomas Fisher is a Professor and Dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. Educated at Cornell University in architecture and Case Western Reserve University in intellectual history, he previously served as the Regional Preservation Officer at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, the Historical Architect of the Connecticut Historical Commission in Hartford, and the Editorial Director of Progressive Architecture magazine in Stamford. He has published 35 book chapters, over 250 articles in various magazines and journals and seven books over the last 11 years.

This event is free and open to the public. Please pre-register by calling NHPT at (203) 562-5919 or by emailing info@nhpt.org.

Supported by The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven and members of The New Haven Preservation Trust.