This second event in the Urban Future Initiative series featured Efrén Santana, UFI Fellow and architect with Urban Think Tank (Caracas) and James Rojas, urban planner and co-founder of Latino Urban Forum (Los Angeles). Santana and Rojas presented a comparative study of the built environments of their respective cities, and discussed their evolving hypothesis of a PanAmerican Urbanism, which explored how the urban fabric of cities throughout the Americas has been shaped by Hispanic and Latino culture. Santana and Rojas gave special attention to the home as a manifestation of transnational common values, such as the importance of extended family and the notion of the front yard.
The MAK Urban Future Initiative (UFI) ran from 2008-10 at the Fitzpatrick-Leland House and was dedicated to creating meaningful cross-cultural exchange about the challenges confronting cities worldwide.