The Dwell Guide to Events in Your City

Wednesday, April 2

Speaking tonight at UC Berkeley are Mark Anderson and Peter Anderson, the designers of prefabricated and residential projects in the U.S. and Japan. 7-8:30 p.m.; 112 Wurster Hall; (510) 642-4942; www.arch.ced.berkeley.edu

For 30 years, Lewis Lapham served as editor of Harper’s magazine. Since retiring in 2006, he publishes Lapham’s Quarterly, a publication that employs past literary passages as commentary on current affairs. 7 p.m.; City Lights, 261 Columbus Ave.; (415) 362-8193; www.citylights.com/info/?fa=event&event_id=277

Thursday, April 3

Put down that trowel. Leave the watering can in the yard. Pen, notebook, and thinking cap are the tools you’ll need for this two day seminar on garden design. Through April 4. 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Golden Gate Club, The Presidio, 135 Fisher Loop; (415) 561-5444; www.gardenconservancy.org

Photographer Katherine Westerhout turns her lens on the derelict architecture of Detroit and Flint, Michigan. 6-9 p.m.; 3A Gallery, 101 South Park; (415) 543-3347; www.katwest.com

Friday, April 4

The de Young gives you a sneak peak of the Discarded to Divine project, where Bay Area fashion designers create couture from recycled clothes. Hear live music by local synth-rock trio Von Iva and San Francisco staple DJ Omar, and catch readings by three Vietnamese poets, Truong Tran Nguyen Do, and Hoa Nguyen. 5-8:45 p.m.; de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr.; (415) 750-3600; www.famsf.org

Saturday, April 5

Go back to the glory days of stop-motion animation, when Gumby reigned supreme. Tonight, Electric Works screens a slew of stop-motion shorts by international artists and filmmakers. 8 p.m.; Electric Works, 130 8th St.; (415) 626-5496; http://laughingsquid.com

Sunday, April 6

At the Pacific Film Archive, catch experimental and documentary films from Palestine and Lebanon today: At 3:30 p.m., five films explore the collective and private experience of war in Lebanon. Afterwards, Palestinian director Kamal Aljafari introduces his film The Roof (5:30 p.m.), accompanied by the short film Visit Iraq. 130 California Hall, 2626 Bancroft Way; (510) 642-0808; www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

Monday, April 7

Nancy Leszczynski, an expert on Italian garden design, discusses Edith Wharton’s influence on her niece, influential landscape architect Beatrix Farrand. 7-8:30 p.m.; 112 Wurster Hall; (510) 642-4942; www.arch.ced.berkeley.edu

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