Placemaking-Community-Driven Design in the Public Realm
On Wednesday, May 13th, from 6-7:30 pm, Join us for a discussion about the planning, design, and maintenance of public spaces and how our community spaces can be more intentional and thoughtful. Nationally recognized architects Brian Korte and Cam Greenlee, along with Catherine Gavin of Clayton Korte will present images and share their thoughts on quality spaces where people want to live, work, and play.
Tickets are $15 and include local appetizers as well as local wine and beer.
WHAT
What is it that transforms the quality of a place from bland and average to special and unforgettable? Why do we gravitate toward public spaces where all the parts just seem to fit perfectly? Inspiring people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of their community is the focus of our next Building a Better SLO presentation on “Placemaking-Community-driven design in the public realm”.
WHO
Brian Korte FAIA
Brian Korte FAIA is a Principal at Clayton Korte, an architecture and interiors firm, nationally recognized for its contextually sensitive design and refined material sensibility. The practice’s work, spanning adaptive reuse, ranches, wineries, and residential projects, is grounded in a regionalist ethos that prioritizes site, craft, and environmental responsiveness, seamlessly integrating architecture with the surrounding landscape.
Brian heads the San Antonio office and oversees residential, vineyard, ranch, and hospitality projects currently underway in Central California, Michigan, and Texas. He is known for a steadfast commitment to authentic material rigor and structural clarity. His work ties together distilled design, regional ecology, ingenuity, and resilience, allowing each structure to step back and let the surrounding natural landscape remain at the forefront.
Clayton Korte’s work has been recognized with over 50 national, state, and local AIA design awards, along with additional accolades from allied and related industries. Most notably, Saxum Vineyard Equipment Barn in Paso Robles, California, Hill Country Wine Cave in Texas, have been recognized with AIA Small Project Awards and Vineyard Residence was recognized with an AIA California Residential Design Award.
In 2025 Clayton Korte released its first monograph under Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers—a single building edition focused on the evolution of the Hill Country Wine Cave project. One of the firm’s most celebrated projects to date, the wine cave embodies the firm’s design ethos—architecture that respects the land and honors its context rather than seeking attention.
Camden Greenlee AIA
Cam Greenlee AIA grew up on a farm in Northern Illinois, west of Chicago. Since joining the firm in 2016, the projects that Cam has contributed to have been highly focused on building performance and resiliency in design, and many of them have been recognized with over 20 AIA and allied industry awards for design excellence. Recent projects include Hill Country Wine Cave and Fulldraw Winery.
Cam also curated the firm’s Environmental Design Handbook, an 80-page document that lays out best-practices for site analysis and context-based design. He also helped create and manage the firm’s digital visualization standards for project representation and is a valuable resource for building science within the firm. Cam also represents Clayton Korte at all state university career fairs and oversees the firm’s summer internship program, helping to develop and mentor the next generation of young architects.
His interest in architecture stems from an appreciation for the subtleties of materials, light, and the procession of space. He believes successful architecture is not only beautiful, but operates efficiently and in partnership with the environment. For Cam, good buildings are equal parts utility and poetry.
Catherine Gavin
Catherine Gavin is a writer, editor, and communications strategist with nearly two decades of experience in architecture and design. She began her career in New York City as a historic preservation consultant, crafting narratives and advocacy for design interventions within landmarked districts, work that required balancing contemporary vision with cultural and architectural heritage.
Her interest in how and why cities evolve led her into design journalism, including serving as editor of Texas Architect Magazine, where she shaped coverage on architecture, urbanism, and the cultural forces influencing the built environment. That editorial perspective naturally evolved into communications leadership roles within design firms, where she helps translate complex ideas about place, context, and community into clear and compelling storytelling.
Today, as Director of Communications at Clayton Korte, she works closely with firm leadership to frame conversations about design and placemaking, articulating not just what gets built, but why it matters.
DETAILS
May 13th, 2026
Doors open at 5:45 p.m. event starts at 6:15 p.m.
Tickets include snacks and drinks
The Penny
664 Marsh St, Downtown San Luis Obispo
Bike parking available on site, Marsh St. garage is recommended for car parking
Scholarships are available. Please email buildingabetterslo@gmail.com for more information.
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