Image Courtesy American Architecture Foundation

The Nasher Sculpture Center has always welcomed some amazing speakers for its NasherSalon Speaker Series, and tonight is no exception. Thursday starting at 8:00, the wrought iron and glass of the garden will welcome a bevy of people interested in what can be done to make Dallas better, stronger, and even more awesome than it already is.  With new parks opening up almost every week, and the Dallas skyline almost consistently changing and climbing ever higher, tonight’s speaker can genuinely say that they’ve been there and done that.  Amanda Burden has served as the Commissioner of the New York Department of City Planning since 2002 and has been responsible for spearheading the largest planning effort in the city since 1961, as well as raising the standard for urban design in all five of the boroughs.

Burden’s longstanding career in urban development will offer unique insights into the why behind New York (and by extension- Dallas’) decisions to make certain changes to the city’s face, while hopefully providing valuable perspective into the strategy that it will take to make sure the culture and heart of a big city such as ours are not lost to the development of its infrastructure or the growing beauty of its steel gilded towers.  For one, I’m excited to see what comes of tonight and hope to see more than a few of you there!