Design for a Radically Changing World shows the impact of design on our everyday lives and offers innovative ways that design can help address some of the world’s most pressing issues affecting our cities and communities.
From fighting climate change and shaping the future of cities, to reimagining the ways people live, work, and move through their communities, design can bring people together, elevate the human experience, and provide hope for the future. Reflecting on decades of design experience and offering unique case studies, Andy Cohen and Diane Hoskins, Global co-Chairs of Gensler, uncover design solutions and offer actionable advice for business leaders, designers, and all people, to embrace the power of design to create a better world.
About the speakers
As Global Co-Chair of Gensler, Diane Hoskins brings visionary and inspiring leadership focused on firm growth, energizing Gensler culture, elevating governance excellence, and equipping the firm for its continued leadership role in the future. As a hands-on leader, Diane believes in creating a compelling vision to inspire Gensler’s impact and influence through its platform of over 6000 people networked across 53 offices, serving more than 3,500 clients in over 100 countries. Diane is focused on Gensler’s global strategies and organizational excellence to ensure Gensler serves its clients with the world’s leading design and thought leadership. She is the catalyst for the Gensler Research Institute program, for which Diane is committed to delivering value to clients through strategies and innovations like Gensler’s Workplace Performance Index® (WPI), City Pulse Survey and Experience Index.
A design leader with a global perspective, Diane was a featured speaker at the United Nation’s Habitat Assembly in Nairobi (2023) and Climate Action Summit in New York (2019). She has also spoken at the United Nations Climate Change Conference for three consecutive years—COP26 Glasgow, COP27 Sharm El-Sheikh, and COP28 Dubai. Her thought leadership and insights have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Harvard Business Review, CNN, Forbes, Fast Company, NPR, Bloomberg, Business Insider, New York Times and elsewhere. As an author, Diane brings forward the positive impact that design can have in our day to day lives through Design for a Radically Changing World, launching in 2024.
A Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, Diane graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Diane also serves as Global Chair of the Urban Land Institute and serves on the Board of Directors of Boston Properties and a trustee of The MIT Corporation.
Richard Florida (moderator) is one of the world’s leading urbanists and international best-selling author of The Rise of the Creative Class. He is Visiting Distinguished Professor at Vanderbilt University and University Professor at the University of Toronto and serves as Kresge Foundation Visiting Senior Fellow. He previously taught at Carnegie Mellon University and NYU and has been a visiting professor at Harvard and MIT. He is co-founder of CityLab, the leading publication devoted to cities and urbanism. He provides strategic advice to companies, foundations, and governments worldwide, and serves on the boards of several real estate development firms, venture capital firms, and investment funds.
