Attending MDC? Arrive early and be inspired!

Hosted by the California Architectural Foundation (CAF) and the AIA Monterey Bay Chapter, with gratitude to supporting sponsors Pacific Coast Building Products and Flewelling & Moody, Inc. 

Join us the evening before the Monterey Design Conference opens for an inspiring presentation from Disney Legend and author Joe Rohde.

Across four decades with Walt Disney Imagineering, Joe led the design of Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park and its later expansions, as well as Aulani in Ko Olina, Hawai'i, and Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! Behind that work is a conviction familiar to every architect: that a place can carry meaning, tell a story, and change how people understand the world they're standing in. Joe is also the force behind the Disney Conservation Fund, which has directed more than $125 million to conservation efforts worldwide.

His new book, Floating Mountains: The Art of Imagining the Impossible, turns that career inward. Drawing on projects that range from Animal Kingdom to a sand-castle Rome to stage design at Coachella, Joe examines where creative ideas actually come from, what allows them to survive contact with reality, and how teams of creative people work together.

We'll close the evening with a Q&A and book signing. CAF will also raise a glass to the nearly 950 individuals and firms who have given their time, talent, and resources since 2023, when the Foundation was reimagined. Their generosity and engagement built our momentum, and it sustains the work still ahead as we serve the future of the profession across California.

Questions?
Email caf@aiacalifornia.org