AIA I Look Up Film Challenge
2015 – 2017
Curated locally by Maria Aguirre Borrero, Tamika Evans and Peter Merwin

The third annual I Look Up Film Challenge invites architects and filmmakers to collaborate in bringing architectural stories to life. This year's theme, Blueprint for Better, shines a light on the powerful social impact of architects and their work. In partnership with their clients and communities, architects plant the seeds that blossom into stronger neighborhoods, towns, and cities.

Architecture Center Houston has invited three local leaders in design and community planning to choose films from the I Look Up series they find compelling and connect to the current housing and design landscape of Houston.

Maria Aguirre Borrero, Avenue CDC
Maria joined Avenue CDC in October 2015, she is currently the Community Building and Engagement Manager. She previously worked in the Oil & Gas industry for three years as a Marketing, Communications and Social Responsibility coordinator. She was born in Mexico City, and was raised in Colombia, Argentina, and Texas, moving around countries every 3-4 years. She has a BA in International Relations with a focus on Humanitarian Organizations from Baylor University. She graduated second in her major with Cum Laude honors. Maria started a non-profit alongside top Oil & Gas executives in Colombia to help disabled populations in high violence areas in 2012 and has been passionate about helping people in low income communities since she was very young. She has humanitarian experience in Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Kenya and USA.

Tamika Evans, Houston LISC
The necessity of celebration, equity, and creativity motivate Tamika Evans while working alongside artists, writers, community organizations, philanthropists, community leaders, and neighbors as a community development practitioner for the past 13 years. Evans was raised in a civically engaged home in the Great Plains region of North America and in the city that was also the birthplace of Malcolm X.  Tamika moved to Houston, Texas in 2000 hoping for connection and clarity of her purpose.  Choosing to move to a city where she had no family and friends was a must do. She values genuine collaboration with visual and performing artists, has volunteered with an international youth leadership development organization, and other community organizations based in Houston’s Third Ward focused on the arts, spirituality and equity. Gratefully, her leadership is supported by her husband and her three vibrant children.  Her family is fortunate to understand the importance of a home and community that nourishes the heart, hands, and mind in this dynamic world. She also enjoys reading, recently began cross-stitching again, and grapefruit.

Peter Merwn, AIA, Gensler
A respected architect, panelist, speaker, writer, lecturer, and design juror, Peter is a subject-matter expert on retail-centric mixed-use environments and walkable urbanism. He leads our firm’s Mixed Use practice, bringing more than three decades of expertise in the design of large retail and retail-centric mixed-use developments, as well as over 40 clubs and restaurants across the US. From his experience as a senior designer for the world’s largest Retail REIT, Peter understands the retail leasing dynamics needed for successful mixed-use developments. A Registered Architect and long-term member of ICSC, he holds a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts and Architecture from Rice University.
 

This film is presented in partnership with the Buffalo Bayou Partnership and the Houston Cinema Arts Society as part of the Houston Cinema Arts Festival. This screening is sponsored in part by Applied Production Services.

ArCH Film Festival Schedule

Friday, November 10th
5:00pm Happy Hour Kick-Off, Honeymoon Cafe
7:00pm If You Build It, Buffalo Bayou Partnership

Saturday, November 11th
10:00am Buffalo Bayou Walking Tour, 902 Commerce St
3:00pm Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, Rice Media Center

Sunday, November 12th
3:00pm I Look Up Film Challenge (shorts), Buffalo Bayou Partnership

Monday, November 13th
7:00pm Columbus, Rice Media Center