Disc* 2022 Faculty
Gabriel Kaprielian | Director
Gabriel Kaprielian is a designer, urbanist, and artist based in the Bay Area. With degrees in both architecture and city planning, his creative work and research focus on resilient cities, sustainable design, emergent technologies, and digital fabrication. His professional experience includes traditional architecture practice with award-winning firms, social focused architecture as a Design Fellow for Architecture for Humanity, urban design in the public sector, and as an Artist-in-Resident at Autodesk’s Pier 9 Workshop in San Francisco. In addition to serving as the Director of DISC in the College of Environmental Design, Gabriel has served as a lecturer at a Cal Poly, California College of the Arts, UC Berkeley, and is currently Assistant Professor of Architecture in the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Gabriel holds a BArch from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, and MArch and MCP from UC Berkeley.
Ghigo DiTommaso | Global Cities / Global Challenges Lecturer
Ghigo DiTommaso was trained as an architect in Florence, where he picked up the tools of the trade while feeding a strong interest in urban history and theory. Licensure in hand, he moved to Barcelona to become part of its thriving design community. There he worked with prominent Catalan architects on numerous award-winning projects while also conducting research at the EtsaB School of Architecture and teaching at the ESDi School of Design. Based in the Bay Area since 2010, he has been a core member of the Rebar Art & Design Studio and more recently of the new San Francisco offices of Gehl Studio, where he continues to practice the profession. At CED, while serving as Program Director of Disc*, he also collaborates with the LAEP department as a lecturer and project researcher. Ghigo holds a BArch and an MArch from the Facoltà di Architettura di Firenze, and an MSArch and PhD from EtsaBarcelona.
Past Speakers
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Robert Ogilvie | Oakland Director, SPUR | ![]() |
Roman Mars | Radio Host and Podcast Producer, 99% Invisible |
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Peter Calthorpe | Architect, Planner and Urban Designer, HDR Calthorpe | ![]() |
Kristy Wang | Community Planning Policy Director, SPUR |
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Abigail Thorne-Lyman | Program Manager TOD, BART | ![]() |
Karen Chapple | Professor of Regional Planning, UC Berkeley |
Bruce Riordan UC Berkeley Climate Readiness Institute |
Allison Arieff Editorial Director, SPUR |
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Janette Kim Co-Director, Urban Works Agency; Assistant Professor of Architecture, CCA |
Molly Turner Lecturer, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business |
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Charisma Acey Assistant Professor of City & Regional Planning, UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design |
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Neeraj Bhatia Assistant Professor of Architecture, CCA |
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Victoria Salinas Chief Resilience Officer, City of Oakland |
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Antje Steinmuller Assistant Professor of Architecture, CCA; Principal, Studio URBIS |
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Matthew Passmore Founder and Lead Artist, Morelab; founder, Rebar Art & Design Studio |
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Jeremy Lowe Senior Environmental Scientist, San Francisco Estuary Institute |
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Philip Vitale Project Manager, Bay Area Parks for People Program, Trust for Public Land |
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Stephanie Kiriakopolos Research Technician, Romberg Tiburon Center |
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Jennifer Wolch William Wurster Dean, UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design |
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Alison Sant Urban Designer and Artist, Studio for Urban Projects |
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Rebecca Johnson Citizen Science Coordinator and Researcher California Academy of Sciences |
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Robin Grossinger Senior Scientist Resilient Landscapes Program Director, SF Estuary Institute |
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Amber Hasselbring Executive Director, Nature in the City Founder, Art Ecology |
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Allen Fish Director, Raptor Observatory Golden Gate National Parks Conservatory |
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Damien Raffa Education/Volunteer Program Manager, Presidio Trust |
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Joel Pomerantz Historian/Founder Thinkwalks |
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Dr. Katharyn Boyer Associate Professor, SF State Romberg Tiburon Center |
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Kelley Higgason NOAA Affiliate Ocean Climate Initiative Coordinator Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary |
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Tae Kim Founder, Alite Designs |
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Peter Brastow |
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Katie McKnight |
Nate Kauffman Founder, Live Edge Adaptation Project |
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Laura Tam Sustainability Development Policy Director at SPUR |
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Josiah Cain Director of Innovation, Sherwood Design Engineers |
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Will Travis |
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Sarah Dean Assistant Professor, California College of the Arts |
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Mark Stacey |
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Lidia D'Amico Biologist, AECOM |
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Amanda Brown-Stevens Managing Director, Resilient by Design |
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Susan Swartzenberg | Photographer and visual artist, Exploratorium |
- Mayra Madriz, Urban Planner, Re:Imagine Group
- Alison Sant, Urban Designer & Artist, Studio for Urban Projects
- Tyler Pew, Designer & Social Entrepreneur, ILabHaiti, KidMob
- Glenn Corey, Educator, Novato High School
- Ben Grant, Urban Planner, SPUR
- Steve Gennrich, Designer and Engineer, Exploratorium Outdoor Studio
- Liz Ogbu, Designer, UC Berkeley
- Nick Polansky, Urban Planner, MIT
- Allison Lassiter, Researcher, UC Berkeley
- Dan Parham, Social Entrepreneur, Neighborland.org
- Louise Mozingo, Chair and Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning, UC Berkeley