AIA Austin Homes Tour

The annual AIA Austin Homes Tour returns for its 26th year, featuring 13 homes across the city. Showcasing the best of Austin’s design talent, this year’s tour highlights renovation projects, both modest revisions and complete transformations. From East Austin to Spicewood, the homes represent a variety of Austin lifestyles, neighborhoods and budgets, while exhibiting the latest innovations in contemporary and traditional design. With the purchase of a ticket, participants will receive an interactive iPhone map, as they embark on a one-of-a-kind, self-guided tour of the city’s architectural gems. Whether a 1940’s Italianate residence or a contemporary glass house, each home has a character of its own, which guests will be able to explore from the inside out. A citywide conversation about design, the AIA Austin Homes Tour promises to opens up a dynamic world of architecture to Austinites. Tickets are available for purchase at participating locations and online at aiahomestours.com.

Marfa Symposium

This fall, Design Marfa will host its first annual Marfa Architecture Symposium as a celebration of the unique design that has emerged from the small West Texas town. Shaped by the challenges of desert living and the impact of the artist Donald Judd, the Marfa aesthetic is marked by stark minimalism coupled with muted colors that allow the design to integrate seamlessly with its desert surroundings. Speakers will discuss the extent of Judd’s influence on the Marfa aesthetic, as well as the increasing popularity of adobe homes and the challenges of designing and living in them. The symposium will run from November 2-3 at the Crowley Theater and will be accompanied by a home tour of six Marfa homes that weekend. A cocktail party will be held that Friday to kick off the event at The Capri. Registration and event details are available at designmarfa.com.

Design Extravaganza

Design impacts us every day, from the homes we live in to the artwork we see. But above all, in business or education, graphic design or technology, it can be a tool for social change. This month, the Austin Center for Design will unite some of the leading thinkers in the design world for a weekendlong conference to consider the many ways in which design informs the very fabric of society. Speakers include Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Intel Fellow and Labs Director Genevieve Bell and Anya Kamenetz, Senior Writer at Fast Company. “Our intent for this conference is to spark a discussion about the role of design in shaping culture and society,” Jon Kolko, director of the Austin Center for Design, says. “Our speakers are extremely diverse, but all share a view of the power of design in driving social change.” The Design Extravaganza takes place between October 5-6. Tickets are available online at designextravaganza. com.