Association for Community Design Events News

Community Built Association 2012 Conference I May 30 - June 2

University of Minnesota — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 20:51:15 GMT

Community Built Association 2012 Conference
May 30 - June 2 - Portland, Oregon

http://communitybuilt.org/conference/portland_2012

I would like to invite you to the Community Built Association’s 2012 Conference: Community Building in the Urban Village. This conference seeks to expand and deepen the practice of community engagement through the lenses of art, play, nature and the built environment. The conference is intended for anyone who is interested in engaging their community in collaborative works, from experts in the field to those exploring this way of working. It’s a place to share ideas, learn from each other, and get inspired to bring community building to our own cities and neighborhoods. Come join us!

This conference will feature discussions on community-engaged architecture, landscape, and planning from amazing teachers and practitioners:

Steve Badanes is widely known for his practice and teaching of design/build. He is a founding member of the Jersey Devil design/build practice,and is currently a Professor of Architecture at the University of Washington. www.jerseydevildesignbuild.com

Mark Lakeman, is founder of Communitecture, and has been a leader in galvanizing a movement of community place-makers through his work with the City Repair Project. communitecture.net, cityrepair.org/

Mikenko Matanovic is the founder of the Pomegranate Center, which works with communities to create beautiful gathering places in a true participatory practice. www.pomegranatecenter.org

Daniel Winterbottom, distinguished Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington whose has focused on the creation healing/restorative landscapes through participatory design/build. arch.be.washington.edu

Gwynne Pugh, whose Urban Studio specializes in urban design, planning, sustainability and consultation and is responsible for facilitating the park featured in the award-winning documentary The Park that Kids Built. www.gwynnepugh.com

The conference will also feature hands-on workshops, tours of community-built sites and discussion sessions.

Contact:

Katherine Ball

Co-coordinator - CBA 2012 Conference

communitybuilt2012@gmail.com

ACD 2012 - Call for Proposals

University of Minnesota — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 19:23:35 GMT

If there is dissatisfaction with the status quo, good. If there is ferment, so much the better. If there is restlessness, I am pleased. Then let there be ideas, and hard thought, and hard work.” – Hubert H. Humphrey

WE ARE:
Reflections and Projections on the Legacy of Community Design

ASSOCIATION FOR COMMUNITY DESIGN 2012 CONFERENCE
CALL FOR PROPOSALS I Submit by April 27^th

In 2011 we had the opportunity to celebrate twenty years of the Community Design Collaborative in Philadelphia all while in the midst of the Occupy movement fueled by frustration and outrage with the way our country was addressing inequity and privilege.

In 2012 we are returning to Salt Lake City, Utah to address how we engage inequity in our design practices and how we can channel the energy and awareness that is present in our communities to better bridge the economic and equality gaps through Community Design.

The Association for Community Design along with local partners ASSIST Utah and The Center for Living Cities welcome you to join us this June 8-10^th in Salt Lake City. Twenty years since the last time we visited the "The Crossroads of the West" in 1992 we will gather to discuss where Community Design has been and what we have learned in the process in order to project how community-based design practices may continue to be helpful in improving our built environment and the larger dialogs that shape it.

Where has community design practice been and where is it going?

What is our role in addressing the needs of the communities we serve?

What are the critical resources and collaborations needed to sustain a community design practice?

How do we develop a professional precedence for community designers?

Proposals for presentations and workshops/exchanges should engage one of the following themes but may address any number of aspects of community design practice and education: new and creative partnerships, instructive failures, emergent practices, educational curricula + methodologies, internship and the development of emerging professionals, design activism, and sharing best practices.

Choose one of the following formats for sharing or exploring your work or ideas.

Presentation

Presentations will be 10-15 minutes in length and focus on best practices, lessons learned, and/or program outcomes. Feel free to propose a small group of presenters, or we will consider how your ideas plug in with other promising submissions.

[Presentation sessions will be 90 minutes including the speakers and moderated discussion follows.]

Workshop/Exchange

Do you have an idea, skill, or practice that is best modeled rather than talked about? Maybe you have a problem or idea related to community design that you would like to get a diverse group of really smart people to help you explore? This is your opportunity.

[Participatory Workshops will be 90 minutes. A Mobile Workshop should not exceed 3 hours.]

Submission Format

In 500 words or less, please describe how you would like to share or explore an exemplary idea, project or possibility involving collaboration as it relates to community and design.

Please be sure to specify the following:

List both how and what you would like to share or explore.

Contact info and resume or short bio.

Please e.mail your submission to events@communitydesign.org with the subject: ACD 2012 Proposal.

DEADLINE:

All submissions are due by April 27th, 2012. Applicants will be notified by May 1^st. Interested participants are encouraged to submit proposals before the deadline and will be responded to on a rolling clock basis. All participants in sessions – including local panelists – are required to register for the conference.

Call for Presentations: ACSA/AIA Housing Research Lecture Series

University of Minnesota — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:03:21 GMT

Call for Presentations: ACSA/AIA Housing Research Lecture Series

The AIA Housing Knowledge Community (AIA Housing) and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) are collaborating to increase public and professional awareness of environmental, community and technical research for housing. The ACSA/AIA Housing Research Webinar Series will provide free online continuing education for faculty, students, architects, architectural interns and others that will support evidence-based practice in housing and community development. Proposals are being accepted through April 20 for the first series of three webinars that will be offered in fall of 2012.

Proposals are sought for presentations that address primary-source, experimental, applied, or translational research. Examples of areas of interest include but are not limited to healthy homes, sustainable construction, international practice, and community engagement. More information about this opportunity is available at http://acsa-arch.org/acsa-news/read/read-more/acsa-news/2012/03/08/call-for-presentations-acsa-aia-housing-research-lecture-series

8th Conference of the Pacific Rim Community Design Network, Aug 22-24

University of Minnesota — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:48:53 GMT

GREEN COMMUNITY DESIGN

The 8th Conference of the Pacific Rim Community Design Network
Seoul National University, August 22-24, 2012

City greening has become a common effort to enhance the quality of life and to mitigate the negative aspects of contemporary urban condition. From urban gardening to urban agriculture, working with people is a basic premise in planning and design in diverse fields. Moreover, the word "green" does not mean just as green space and design. It also implies the sustainable mode of life and value system in the age of climate change. As such, green community design suggests a new direction to embrace current changes in diverse areas such as placemaking, open space planning, urban design, etc. We will have an open platform to share the knowledge and experiences on these issues. Diverse cases and different stories concerning cities, green policy, community participation, and partnership are welcomed. The conference will be held in Seoul, Korea. Recently, the tendency toward development-oriented planning has begun to be challenged here. Caring for residents and respecting for existing urban ecology has become a top agenda in urban policy. It is time that all members in Pacific Rim Community Design Network come to visit Seoul and discuss our future together.

To present at the conference, please submit an abstract (300-400 words in English) with your name(s), title(s), and affiliation(s) to kjzoh@snu.ac.kr or ilovebany@snu.ac.kr by March 31, 2012.

Important Dates:
Deadline for submitting an abstract: March 31, 2012
Notification of Acceptance: April 15, 2012
Deadline for submitting optional full paper: July 15, 2012

For inquiries, please contact:

Kyung-Jin Zoh, Professor, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, kjzoh@snu.ac.kr
Chair of Organizing Committee, The 8th Conference of Pacific Rim Community Design Network

Kyung A Kang, Ph.D. Student, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Seoul National University, ilovebany@snu.ac.kr
Secretary General, The 8th Conference of Pacific Rim Community Design Network

Design Corps continues Public Interest Design Institutes®

West Elm — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:40:45 GMT

The Public Interest Design Institute® will provide training to architecture and other design professionals in public interest design with in-depth study over two days on methods of how design can address the critical issues faced by communities. Training in public interest design is a way of enhancing an existing design practice and learning skills to become pro-actively engaged in community-based design.

Learning objectives will address:

Finding new clients
Learning about new fee sources and structures
Understanding public interest design and how is it re-shaping the design professions
Pro-actively finding a public interest design project
Using a step-by-step process of working with a community as a design partner
Leveraging other partners and assets to address project challenges
Maximizing a project’s positive impact on a community
Measuring social, economic, and environmental impact on communities

Complete information on upcoming Public Interest Design Institutes® can be found @ http://www.publicinterestdesign.com

University of Texas : March 22-23, 2012

University of Cincinnati : April 13-14, 2012

California College of Arts : October 28-29, 2012

University of Washington : June, 2012

Announcing the 7th Annual Reshaping Rochester Series

University of Minnesota — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:20:32 GMT

We are reevaluating the value and intrinsic character of the centers of our communities, the cities and villages and places where density occurs and walkable neighborhoods and commercial districts are being newly appreciated and revitalized along with a renewal of community involvement This year’s 7th Annual Reshaping Rochester Series focuses on the efforts, strategies and successes that characterize places where opportunity has been realized. “Celebrating the City” features an incredible roster of innovative thinkers, practitioners and leaders to share their ideas and experience with us here in Rochester.

Upcoming Schedule

Peter J. Park
January 31st

William Fulton and Hon. Mark Mallory
February 27th

**Special Luncheon** with Max Reim and Jay Fowler
March 21st

Michael Watkins
April 24th

Roberta Brandes Gratz + Movie Presentation
May 15th and 16th

SPEAKERS

Thursday, January 31st, 7pm

Peter J. Park

Planning Director, City of Denver, CO

"Transformation: Don't be Afraid of It"

Peter Park will take us through a genesis of the transformative process in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during the 1990’s where he was a key player in planning and implementing the creation of the River Walk, a downtown revitalization project , for more than a decade. He will discuss the specifics of his projects, the nature of their catalytic effect, addressing the challenges faced including community “buy in”, bureaucratic hurdles and the changing of a city’s culture required to transform the physical environment for everyone’s benefit.

Monday, February 27th, 7pm

William Fulton
Former Mayor of Ventura, CA; CEO of Solimar Research Group

Hon. Mark Mallory
Mayor of Cincinnati, OH

"Getting It Done!"

Two mayors of two very different cities will share their experiences in leading their communities forward to meet 21st century challenges. Facing issues similar to Rochester including public safety,
economic development, the environment, educationand youth employment in an era of reduced funding and resources, both leaders have been effective and instrumental in making positive changes and spurring collaborative efforts in their cities, succeeding in producing nationally recognized results.

Wednesday March 21, 11:45am-1:30pm

**Special Presentation/Luncheon**

"Making a Great City"

Featuring

Max Reim
Co-Managing Partner & Principal, LiveWorkLearnPlay, Toronto
Jay Fowler
Executive Director, Grand Rapids Downtown Development Authority

Tuesday, April 24th, 7pm

Michael Watkins
AIA, AICP, CNU, ICA & CA LEED

"Downtown: It's About People Not Projects!"

Vibrant cities concentrate their planning to accommodate the pedestrian, making dynamic public and civic spaces which serve as a catalyst for investment and development. Michael ‘Watkins brings us a wealth of experience on this subject, having designed more than 60 towns and neighborhoods in the United States and abroad. He will bring with him countless examples illustrating this prime urban design “pillar” concept, explaining how it works at all levels from design to implementation.

Two Evenings, Two Events!

"Movers and Shapers"

Tuesday, May 15th, 7pm
Film: Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City

Directed and produced by Judith Paine McBrien, “Make No Little Plans” reveals the fascinating life and complex legacy of architect and city planner Daniel Hudson Burnham. In the midst of late nineteenth century urban disorder, Burnham offered a powerful vision of what a civilized American city could look like, one that provided a compelling framework for Americans to make sense of the world around them.
He built some of the first skyscrapers in the world, directed the construction of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition that helped inspire the City Beautiful Movement, and created urban plans for Washington D.C., Cleveland, Chicago, Manila, and San Francisco, all before the profession of comprehensive urban planning existed. Burnham sought to reconcile concepts often thought contradictory: the practical and the ideal; business and art; and capitalism and democracy. At the center of it all was his idea of a vibrant urban community.

Wednesday, May 16th, 7pm
Roberta Brandes Gratz
Urban Critic, Journalist, Author

Roberta Brandes Gratz, is an author, international lecturer on urban development issues and former award-winning reporter for the New York Post. Her newest book is The Battle For Gotham: New York in the Shadow of Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs. Earlier works were the now classic The Living City: Thinking Small in a Big Way, and Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown. She also wrote a report in 2001 for the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, “A Frog, A Wooden House, A Stream and A Trail: Ten Years of Community Revitalization in Central Europe.”
Ms. Gratz has served on the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission and in 2010 was appointed by Mayor Bloomberg to serve on the Sustainability Advisory Board for PlaNYC.
In 2005, in collaboration with Jane Jacobs, Ms. Gratz and a small group of accomplished urbanists founded The Center For the Living City.

General Pricing
Lectures: $10 or FREE with valid student ID
Luncheon: $50

Location
All evening lectures will be held at Gleason Works, 1000 University Ave.
Luncheon will be held at the Radisson Riverside Grand Ballroom, 20 E. Main St.

Call RRCDC for more info: 585.271.0520

Public Interest Design Institute: Yale University, January 13-14, 2012

University of Minnesota — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 23:35:03 GMT

January 13-14, 2012.

New Haven, CT.

"Public Interest Design" is a rapidly growing field within architecture. Come and learn "how to" and become certified in this new type of public practice. Case studies funded by the 2011 AIA Latrobe Prize show that this sector is expanding the field with new fee sources and clients.

Learning objectives will address:

· Finding new clients

· Learning about new fee sources and structures

· Understanding Public Interest Design and how is it re-shaping the design professions

· Pro-actively finding a Public Interest Design project

· Using a step-by-step process of working with a community as a design partner

Emily Pilloton, Executive Director & Founder, Project H

Anna Heringer, Loeb Fellow, 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture

Michael Murphy, Director & Co-Founder, MASS Design

Marie Alquilino, Author, Beyond Shelter

David Perkes, Executive Director & Founder, Gulf Coast Community Design Center

John Folan, Director & Founder, Urban Design Build Studio, Carnegie Mellon University

Alan Plattus, Founder and Director, Yale Urban Design Workshop

Bryan Bell, Executive Director & Founder, Design Corps

EARLY BIRD ENDS THIS FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16TH AT 5PM

Office of University Partnerships to Host "Anchor Institutions" Empowerment Series - Dec. 1

University of Minnesota — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 23:42:14 GMT

The Office of University Partnerships (OUP), in conjunction with the Anchor Institutions Task Force, the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, the Coalition For Community Schools, and the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities cordially invites you to "Anchor Institutions: Focus on the Future."

In today’s tumultuous economic times, communities need established, dependable ways to achieve sustainability and growth. Anchor institutionsundefinedschools, institutions of higher education (IHEs), hospitals, faith-based organizations, and community-based organizations that have deep roots in the communityundefinedare longstanding contributors to the community’s stability and strength. Oftentimes, these institutions are the largest employers, purchasers, land owners, and, subsequently, the largest contributors to a community’s economy, thus enhancing their importance as permanent anchors for that community’s well-being.

Difficult times have made partnerships between anchor institutions and their communities more important than ever, with many communities depending heavily upon the intellectual capacity and service-learning strengths of these institutions. Additionally, the shared community service expertise among these institutions has led to the realization that anchor institutions, including IHEs, sustain the vitality of our nation’s communities through their far-reaching influence into areas such as education, research, employment, service, housing, job training, purchasing, real estate development, hiring, business incubation, and cultural development.

How can we improve these partnerships between communities and their anchor institutions to grant them a more vital role in addressing the problems and challenges that our nation’s communities face?

This forum will explore tangible ways that these institutions, in partnership with residents and other community organizations, can better utilize their ample skills and resources to create a brighter future for our nation’s urban communities.

Featured participants of this event include:

Mr. Richard Cook, Director, Social Work Community Outreach Service, University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Dr. Shari Garmise, Vice President, USU/APLU Office of Urban Initiatives.
Dr. Ira Harkavy, Associate Vice President, Barbara and Edward Netter Center for Community Partnerships, University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Henry Taylor, Jr., Director, Center for Urban Studies, State University of New York at Buffalo.

This event is scheduled for 1-3:30 p.m. on December 1, 2011. The event will be held in the Brook-Mondale Auditorium at HUD Headquarters, located at 451 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20410. Additional location details will be provided in a follow-up email to those who RSVP to this event.

If you are interested in attending this event, please RSVP to conferences@oup.org by no later than November 22, 2011.

More information is available at http://www.oup.org/news/whatsnew.asp.

"re:inventing architecture" AIA South Atlantic Region 2012 Conference Call for Presentations

University of Minnesota — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:45:32 GMT

Dear Colleagues:

The American Institute of Architects, South Atlantic Region seeks innovative speakers and facilitators for presentations to be offered during the 2012 Regional Conference in Atlanta, Georgia September 19-22. The selection committee is seeking informative and challenging presentations that will equip AIA members for new challenges in architectural practice, design, and innovation.

We look forward to your participation within what is sure to be an exciting event for architects, design professionals, educators, and allied industry professionals next fall in Atlanta.

Thank you for your consideration,

AIA South Atlantic Region 2012 Conference Planning Committee

AIA CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA recently wrote,
“It’s a fragile time for architects.”

Indeed, the recent economy has changed the way many of us work, live and play. At the same time, this downturn can serve as a catalyst to broaden the scope and boundaries for the profession. AIA leaders within our region are exploring ways to create a new model to inspire architects to be prepared for the new economy. How can we expand the role of the architect, reinventing the profession, while providing opportunities for AIA members to lead the design industry of the future?

Join us in Atlanta for the most engaging regional event to date. It’s not enough to talk amongst ourselves…we’ve invited national thought leaders, community volunteers, artists, advocates, educators and more…those who respect architects and are looking to us to show the way forward…for the opportunity to re:invent architecture.

re:ignite re:think re:form re:act re:create

Call for Presentations AIA South Atlantic Region seeks innovative speakers and facilitators for presentations to be offered during the 2012 Regional Conference in Atlanta, GA, September 19-22. This conference will provide the highest amount of
Continuing Education Units for Architect members in Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina in just 3 days, and will also provide enriching networking and educational opportunities for associates, interns, students, and allied organizations. Selected speakers will have the opportunity to gain visibility and increase their leadership role in the industry by providing valuable information to upward of fifteen hundred conference attendees.

This year's theme - re:inventing architecture - is a call to AIA Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina architects to actively expand the role of the architect while reinventing the profession as a leader in the design industry. In support of this role, the conference seeks to provide Continuing Education tracks that focus on Practice+Delivery, Design+Community, Innovation+Research.

The selection committee is seeking informative and challenging presentations that will equip members for new challenges in architectural practice, design, and innovation. Suggested topics shall include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

Integrated Practice
Evidence Based Design
Ecological Urbanism / Placemaking
Building Performance / Sustainability
Building Design Influences
Social and Cultural Influences
Technological and Environmental Influences
Building Systems and Materials Research
Organizational Research
Educational Research

Evaluation Criteria

The AIA South Atlantic Region Continuing Education Committee will evaluate your proposal based on the following criteria:

Well-defined focus and proposal clarity
Overall quality and potential to contribute to a well-balanced conference program
Relevant ability of the proposed topic to educate members
Practical applications of materials or ideas through Learning Objectives
Level of proposed interaction
Topic timeliness
Speaker's experience

Proposed programs should be well-balanced in nature. Product-specific presentations will typically receive less favorable consideration. Consideration will be given to the relevance of the proposed presentation to the conference theme - re:inventing architecture. Sessions that meet the criteria for AIA Health, Safety, and Welfare
(HSW) credits, AIA Sustainable Design (HSW/SD) credits, or USGBC GBCI credits are strongly encouraged.

Submission Contact

All proposals shall be submitted via e-mail, using this “Call for Presentations”, and sent to:

Tracey Waltz, 2012 SAR Speaker Committee
traceyw@aiasc.org
Phone: 803.252.6050

Submission Date January 16, 2011: Proposals must be received by AIA South Atlantic Region no later than 5:00pm EST. (See contact information above)

February 15, 2012: Selected presenters will be notified.
September 20-22, 2012: 2012 AIA South Atlantic Region Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Presentation Format

All seminars shall be ninety (90) minutes. The audience will range from 25-200 participants, with varying degrees of expertise. Proposals should clearly describe your presentation style and the experience level of the intended audience. Interactive seminars are encouraged. The number of speakers in a seminar will be limited to
two (2). Each speaker should be listed separately in your proposal with requested background information regarding experience. The conference aims to provide up to fifty (50) unique sessions. There will be 3-hour, pre-conference workshops on September 19th, which is also open for proposals.

If you are interested in preconference workshops – please contact SAR Submission Contact per above.

Funding & Expenses

Each session is limited to two (2) speakers. Each speaker will receive one (1) complimentary conference registration, one (1) complimentary night at host hotel, and all needed printing for session material. Speakers will need to pay for special & ticketed events separately, as well as all travel expenses for the conference. Speaker agreements, audio visual requirements, and other specifics will be coordinated after initial speaker selection.

Collaborations in Service-Learning Webcast - a.LINE.ments Studio, Clemson University - Thurs. Nov. 17

University of Minnesota — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 17:39:04 GMT

Community Outreach and Design: Service-Learning in the Landscape Architecture Studio

Thursday, November 17, 2011, 3:00pm - 4:00pm

Featuring
Mary Beth McCubbin: Lecturer, Landscape Architecture, Clemson University School of Planning, Development, Preservation, and Landscape Architecture

Elise Herron, Clemson University Graduate student, Landscape Architecture

Susannah Horton, Clemson University Graduate student, Landscape Architecture

Mary Beth McCubbin directs the a.LINE.ments Studio, winner of the 2010 South Carolina Commission on Higher Education award for service learning. Housed in the School of Planning, Development, Preservation and Landscape Architecture, a.LINE.ments is a multi-disciplinary program that offers students the opportunity to work on design projects in cities and towns throughout the state of South Carolina.

Students have worked with communities to provide masterplans for parks, concepts for downtown streetscapes, recommendations for neighborhood revitalization, and a Safe Routes to School proposal. It has been a win, win, win endeavorundefinedreal-world experiences for students, research opportunities for faculty, and great ideas for communities.

During our presentation we will share with you both the process and products of our studio including many examples of our projects. Two graduate students will also be discussing the impact of service-learning on their learning experience.

Videos, the powerpoint for the presentation, and further webcast information can be accessed on November 14 at:
http://www.clemson.edu/public/servicealliance/faculty_fellows_program/webcast_page.html

Call for Abstracts: Architecture 'Live Projects' Pedagogy International Symposium 2012

University of Minnesota — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 22:57:24 GMT

[Note: Live Projects are the UK equivalent of Design/Build Projects in the US]

Critical reflections on Live Projects with a view to co-creating a pedagogic best practice framework

Thursday 24th - Saturday 26th May 2012
Oxford Brookes University, Headington Hill Campus.

A three-day international symposium by and for live project educators, live-project community participants, live project students, practice architects involved in community co-design, University management involved in community partnership projects, and live project practitioners and participants from associated fields and disciplines.

Themes include:

Problem-based learning, community-engaged scholarship, co-design, peer-based learning, tacit knowledge, threshold concepts, practice-ready skills, professionalism and ethics, diversity, critical citizenship, education futures, deep and surface learning, live project methodologies and paradigms, architecture curriculum, assessment and validation.

Overview: Why do we need critical live architecture project pedagogy?

Benefits to clients

The recent economic downturn and ongoing restructuring of both the professional training and design practice management, signifies a tipping point in the way we currently teach and practice architecture. As a profession, architects are by definition tasked with serving the interests of the public. Yet many architects would argue that delivering upon this requirement is not without difficulty given the constraints of a sector focused triptych that prioritises time, quality and cost over human factors.

Benefits to the profession

Architecture practices have often voiced concerns that schools of architecture do not provide students with the right set of skills needed in practice. Schools often defend their teaching by emphasising the role of Universities in developing creative and aesthetic capabilities that will produce good designers and ultimately good buildings and spaces. This kind of teaching is usually delivered within a studio environment that presents students with fictional rather than 'real time' challenges considered to be more likely to produce visionary and creative design output.

Benefits to students

The majority of UK architecture students have no contact with clients or with the consultation process until after they graduate. 'Live studio' projects not only address this but they also enable students to gain practice-ready professional experience such as job running, as well as develop a sense of civic social engagement and gain an education that is aimed at nurturing tomorrow's citizens for lives of consequence.

Benefits to Universities

As well as Universities, public sector organisations and charities are facing financial pressure upon their ability to deliver to their clients effectively. Although this presents huge challenges in terms of resources, this is also an opportunity to establish partnerships that provide enduring benefits by mobilising students, faculty, and neighbourhood organizations to work together to solve urban problems that revitalize the economy, generate jobs, and rebuild communities. In the USA, these partnerships are far more prevalent than in the UK. Known as Community University Partnerships, these 'resource units' that are often located on and off campus, provide effective, community-engaged scholarship for students from a range of disciplines. Based upon the success rate of these kinds of learning environments, UK Universities clearly have some catching up to do.

The knowledge gap

The principle aim of this symposium is to critically examine the learning value of live projects to students of architecture and to consider how they are attained and what their value is, particularly in terms of the students professional development and to the shaping of the profession as a whole.

During the symposium, live project 'best practice' will be critically defined in the interests of educators, students and schools alike. Subsequently, delegates will co-author a Live Project Pedagogy Charter, aimed at enabling Live Projects to be validated, academically accredited and formally integrated into mainstream architecture curriculum.

Format of Presentations

Paper sessions will consist of four presenters within each 90-minute session. Each session will be chaired. The session time will be divided equally between the presenters. Workshop presentations will be given a full 90-minute session. Panel sessions will provide an opportunity for three or more presenters to speak in a more open and conversational setting with conference attendees.

Conference highlights:

Two-Week International Live Project Summer School 2012: Montana State University & Oxford Brookes

The symposium will include visits to and presentations by community and student participants to an Oxford-based Live Project Summer School - partnered with Oxford City Council – and involving students from graduate architecture programs at Montana State University & Oxford Brookes University. The Live Project Summer School will be directed by Prof Chris Livingston from Montana State University.

Architecture tours of 'secret' Oxford

Social activities for visiting delegates include organised tours of historic Oxford, including visiting some of the key architectural gems and hidden delights.

Symposium Outputs

Generation of Live Project Pedagogy Charter
Double-blind, peer-reviewed Symposium specific Journal

CALL FOR PAPERS Deadline for abstracts: 8pm (GMT) Monday 28th November 2011 The following types of submissions are encouraged: Research Papers Extended Abstracts Student Papers Case Studies Work in Progress Reports (Proposals for Future Research or Issues Related to Teaching) Submitting your abstract: Download and complete an abstact submission template in either of the formats provided below: PDF format template .pdf MS Word format template .doc Each abstract submission requires the following information: Name, Department, University/affiliation, email address, telephone number, names of additional presenters where applicable, abstract, keywords (up to 10) relating your abstract to the themes of the conference, 300 word paper abstract, any media requirements. Submit abstracts to: liveabstracts@brookes.ac.uk For more information about the Live Projects Symposium 2012, visit: http://architecture.brookes.ac.uk/events/240512.html

Announcing: Structures for Inclusion 12, March 24-25- Austin, TX

University of Minnesota — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:51:40 GMT

Announcing:

sfi 12 austin,tx

march 24-25, 2012

SEED Awards l Panels l Workshops l Networking

Watch last year's SFI 10+1 : SAIC Chicago : March 25-27, 2011 below!

In conjunction with: Public Interest Design Institute at the University of Texas : March 22-23.

2243 The Circle, Raleigh, NC 27608
www.seednetwork.org

The Public Interest Design Institute: Upcoming Dates

University of Minnesota — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:44:54 GMT

Public Interest Design: Training Program

There is a growing sector in the field of architecture known as Public Interest Design documented in exhibits such as MoMA’s Small Scale, Big Change and publications like Design Like You Give Damn. The projects in this sector are unlike traditional practice in critical ways but are an area of great potential for the future of the profession.

The Harvard Case Method will be used to learn from examples. These case studies and best practices will be presented and discussed by leaders in the field. The curriculum will be formed around the Social Economic Environmental Design® (SEED) metric, a set of standards that outlines the process and principles of this growing approach to design. SEED goes beyond green design with a “triple bottom line” approach that includes the social and economic as well as the environmental. The SEED process takes a holistic, creative approach to design driven by community needs. This process provides a step-by-step aid for those who want to undertake public interest design.

Continuing education credits will be given as required of professionals by the American Institute of Architects as well as a certification in the SEED process.

Learning objectives will address:

Finding new clients
Learning about new fee sources and structures
Understanding public interest design and how is it re-shaping the design professions
Pro-actively finding a public interest design project
Using a step-by-step process of working with a community as a design partner
Leveraging other partners and assets to address project challenges
Maximizing a project’s positive impact on a community
Measuring social, economic, and environmental impact on communities

The Academic Leader of each session is Bryan Bell, the founder of Design Corps, founder of the Public Interest Design Institute, and a co-founder of SEED. Bell has supervised the Structures for Inclusion lecture series for ten years which presents best practices in community-based design. He has published two collections of essays on the topic, Bell has lectured and taught at numerous schools including the Rural Studio with Samuel Mockbee. He has received an AIA National Honor Award in Collaborative Practice. His work has been exhibited in the Venice Biennale and the Cooper Hewitt Museum Triennial. He was a Harvard Loeb Fellow in 2010-11 and a co-recipient of the 2011 AIA Latrobe Prize which is focused on public interest design. Other speakers will be national leaders of this emerging field.

Upcoming Institutes:

Yale University - January 13-14, 2012

California College of Arts – February 11-12, 2012

University of Texas – March 22-23, 2012

University of Cincinnati – April 13-14, 2012

Past Institutes:

Harvard School of Design - July 20-22, 2011

University of New Mexico - September 16-17, 2011

Find out more at: http://publicinterestdesign.com

The Public Interest Design Institute series is made possible through the Surdna Foundation.

[UN]Restricted Access: The 2011 Open Architecture Challenge

University of Minnesota — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 18:45:32 GMT

[UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS: From Gaddafi's Compound to Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, International Architecture Competition Launches to Re-purpose Closed, Abandoned and Decommissioning Military Sites

The 2011 Open Architecture Challenge : http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/competitions/challenge/2011

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Architecture for Humanity has launched the 2011 Open Architecture Challenge: [UN]RESTRICTED ACCESS, asking architects and designers to partner with community groups across the world and develop innovative solutions to re-envision closed, abandoned and decommissioning military sites. The six-month competition requires designers to work with the communities surrounding these former places of conflict to transform hostile and oftentimes painful locations, into civic spaces built for the public good.

Dotting the global landscape, decommissioned military installations leave their mark. They are symbols of triumph, pride, pain and the unforeseen consequences of military aggression. These abandoned structures and ghost towns disrupt neighborhoods and split entire communities.

While these sites are often laid to waste, Architecture for Humanity sees these as an opportunity of global proportion. In the US alone we will spend billions of dollars of taxpayers funds to do environmental remediation on the 12 millions square feet of US military space scheduled to close this year. Can we use this opportunity to bring
economic stability to areas deserted by closed bases?

Globally we see opportunity at every site. Can we re-envision the 750,000+ abandoned bunkers that pepper the Albanian landscape? Is there a second life for the recently bombed Libyan military strongholds? Can we use environmental diplomacy to use re-imagined Guantanamo Bay Detention Center? Is there a way to turn abandoned bases in Afghanistan into places of learning?

The 2011 Open Architecture Challenge will seek to provide solutions to these unanswered questions and will re-envision the future of decommissioned military space. This is an open call to action – and the first of its kind. Architecture for Humanity will ask the global design and construction community to identify retired military installations in their own backyard, to collaborate with local stakeholders, and to reclaim these spaces for social, economic, and environmental good.

If a team does not live near a decommissioned site we have selected sites in Afghanistan, Cuba, Libya and the United States.

"This is an incredible opportunity to transform places of defense into spaces of public good", noted Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity "Through this competition we have the opportunity to create strong anchors in communities that will generate thousands of jobs and bring economic stability to those who surround these sites."

In partnership with Google SketchUp and Google Earth, designers are able to present their ideas in the most impressive form no matter their location or economic capacity.

The design competition will be judged by an international, inter-disciplinary panel of experts in various fields, such as experts in base realignment processing, real estate and building professionals, former world leaders, and members of communities that have experienced a base closure or demilitarized site.

The resulting entries will be available and accessible to all on the Open Architecture Network (www.openarchitecturenetwork.org).

About The Open Architecture Challenge

The Challenge is hosted once every two years on the Open Architecture Network, an open-source community developed by Architecture for Humanity. To date more than 1,200 design teams from 64 countries have competed in these challenges. Support from sponsors and implementing partners funds the construction of selected designs. All of the designs are shared freely via the Open Architecture Network and made available for future use.

For more information or to register, please visit:
http://openarchitecturenetwork.org/competitions/challenge/2011

Competition Partners:
Architecture For Humanity is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that seeks architectural solutions to humanitarian crisis and brings design services to communities in need.

2011 ACD National Conference: Call for Proposals

University of Minnesota — Fri, 27 May 2011 00:41:55 GMT

A joint meeting of Association for Community Design + the Association of Architecture Organizations / Architecture + Design Education Network

This year we turn our attention to collaboration, focusing on the ways architectural organizations, community designers and educators work together to best promote and advocate for quality design in our communities, investigating how our projects - big or small, traditional or experimental - speak to one another and illuminate the larger aims we share.

Join us this fall October 9-11 in Philadelphia where some of the most exciting, collaborative work happening anywhere is taking place.

As always, we'll bring you in touch with your peers and with practical learning topics to broaden your horizons and help you build organizational capacity. Come be part of the conversation.

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

In the midst of an economic downturn, crumbling city infrastructure and technological advances that are changing the way we communicate, learn, and work together, governments, institutions and individuals are beginning to collaborate in innovative ways. Almost daily, relationships are being redrawn – between organizations, between individuals, between disciplines – informed by new networks, challenges and opportunities.

Architectural organizations, community design centers, and design educators are not immune to these changes and are in the midst of a critical realignment, evaluating and reflecting on our specific and unique creative energies and strengths. Using these current conditions as a catalyst for change, many are fundamentally rethinking and redesigning how we conceive, present and partner in our work not only to survive these difficult times but to do more and do better. The very best are embracing these challenges to have a greater impact, reach wider audiences and create compelling programs that empower people to work together on the design decisions that shape and impact our city.

The Association for Community Design is partnering with the Association of Architecture Organizations and its Architecture + Design Education Network to bring you DESIGN IN ACTION 2011, taking place this fall in Philadelphia from October 9-11. We’re coming together for an investigation and celebration of the most ingenious new partnerships, informative failures, emergent approaches, practical wisdom and exemplary projects that embrace the power of the collective creative community. We invite you to be an active part of the knowledge sharing.

WHO SHOULD SUBMIT?

Board, Staff and Volunteers of Community Design Centers and Architecture Centers; Foundation Heads and Program Officers; Designers; Neighborhood Organizers; Policy Wonks; Technologists; Design Educators; Guerrilla Gardeners; Scientists; Community Health Experts; Design Researchers – and everyone in between! We want you to share your very best ideas, most significant challenges and exemplary projects regarding the intersection of community, collaboration and design.

HOW?

Choose one of the following formats for sharing or exploring your work or ideas.

PRESENTATION

You may choose to share your work or idea in a short (6 minutes) or long (15 minutes) format but we encourage you to focus either on storytelling or delivering concise actionable lessons. [Sessions will be between 1 to 1.5 hours. Feel free to propose a small group of presenters, or we will consider how your ideas plugs into other promising submissions.]

WORKSHOP/GROUP LEARNING ACTIVITY

Do you have an idea, skill or method that is best modeled rather than talked about? Maybe you have a ‘wicked problem’ or idea related to collaboration that you would like to get a diverse group of really smart people to help you explore? Perhaps the best manner of explaining an innovative example of design and collaboration is taking us there? Do you have an activity that helps us experience firsthand what a radical collaboration feels like? [Participatory Workshops will be between 1 and 1.5 hours. A Mobile Workshop should not exceed 3 hours.]

WHAT?

Proposals for presentations and workshops/group learning activities on collaboration should fall within one of the following themes (but topics can address any number of organizational aspects from board engagement to program development to youth education to research driving your work):

New Partnerships

What nontraditional partnerships have you pioneered to accomplish and expand your mission? How did this relationship occur, how is it being maintained and what are the results?

Instructive Failures

Some of our most poignant learning moments occur when we fall flat on our faces. What disastrous – or that wasn’t supposed to happen! – collaborative experience and lessons learned can you share with conference attendees to help everyone avoid similar mistakes? Don’t worry, we’re a friendly bunch!

Emergent Approaches

What fundamental assumptions are you testing and rethinking to foster better collaboration for greater impact? What new tools, methods and ideas are just over the horizon – perhaps in an unrelated discipline or still in the laboratory – that will change the way we work together to accomplish great things?

Exemplary Projects

Sometimes the best indicator of exemplary collaboration is an exemplary end product. Show us your very best project and then reverse engineer it for attendees, so that we can all learn from your success.

Practical Wisdom

People have been collaborating since the beginning of time. What are tried and true lessons for better collaboration that you use every day in your work?

SUBMISSION FORMAT

In 300 words or less, please describe how you would like to share or explore an exemplary idea, project or possibility involving collaboration as it relates to community and design. Please be sure to specify the following:

1. List both how and what you would like to share or explore.
2. Why you think this is important learning for our audience, or perhaps even why this now.
3. Contact info and resume or short bio.
4. Email your submission to events@communitydesign.org.

DEADLINE:

All submissions are due by June 1, 2011. Applicants will be notified by June 30th. Interested participants are encouraged to submit proposals before the deadline. All participants in sessions – including local panelists – are required to register for the conference.

NOTE: UPCOMING ADDITION TO THIS CALL FOR PROPOSALS

EXHIBIT: Scheduled to coincide with the ACD/AAO/A+DEN Conference is an exhibition that seeks to highlight the work of architects, landscape architects, designers, nonprofits, city programs, and other organizations that Strengthen Neighborhoods Through Design. The exhibit is organized by the Community Design Collaborative and will be held at the Center for Architecture in Philadelphia. Stay tuned for a Call for Submissions by May 15.

Leverage: Strengthening Neighborhoods through Design Exhibition- Call for Entries

University of Minnesota — Fri, 27 May 2011 01:03:46 GMT

OVERVIEW
The Community Design Collaborative is hosting an exhibition titled Leverage: Strengthening Neighborhoods through Design in the Fall 2011 as part of our Urban Energy initiative. This exhibition will offer design firms, nonprofit organizations, public agencies, and others the opportunity to highlight their best practices in community design throughout the country.

Leading examples of community design in Philadelphia and inspiring approaches from other American cities will be on display from October 1 through October 23, 2011 at the Center for Architecture in Philadelphia. The exhibition opening party will be held Wednesday, October 5, 2011. Come celebrate with us!

Leverage: Strengthening Neighborhoods through Design will coincide with the launch of a special 20th Anniversary publication of the same name and the DESIGN IN ACTION 2011 Conference a joint conference of Association for Community Design / Association of Architecture Organizations / Architecture + Design Education Network to be held in Philadelphia. It will also be the Collaborative's featured contribution for Design Philadelphia 2011, the largest city-wide design festival in the nation.

The Collaborative is seeking entries for the exhibition. Entrants can submit either an exemplary project or program. Submissions of all project types and scales are encouraged: large and small, built and unbuilt, interior and exterior, new construction, adaptive reuse, and preservation. Submissions of programs (workshops, design charrettes, tours, exhibitions, etc.) should include a visual representation.

ELIGIBILITY
Eligible projects include sites and/or programs that promote best practices in community design, participatory design, pro bono service, and public interest architecture.

CRITERIA
Submissions for this exhibition will be reviewed and selected by a panel of diverse experts who will be looking for the projects to:

Promote best practices in community design.
Highlight creativity in process, design and innovation.
Integrate sustainable design practices.
Initiate community and economic development.

SUBMISSION and SELECTION

Step 1:	Entrants must complete and return an Intent to Submit form with a pdf image, a project description and a $100 Non-Members or $75 Members (ACD, AAO, AIA, Collaborative volunteer active since 2001) registration fee (for each entry) by July 1, 2011. Each entrant may enter up to two submissions.
Step 2:	Entrants will be notified if accepted into the show by August 1, 2011.
Step 3:	If selected, the entrants are responsible for the printing and delivery of a 40"x40" mounted display board and a final pdf image by September 15, 2011. ARC Philadelphia has graciously offered a printing discount to our selected applicants.

Please click here to register and submit your entry.

Upcoming Event: 2011 Planners Network Conference May 18-21 in Memphis

University of Minnesota — Fri, 27 May 2011 01:20:56 GMT

Save The Date!

Promoting Economic Development through Regional
Cooperation, Planning, and Development
2011 Planners Network National Conference,
May 18 -21, 2011, The University of Memphis

Highlights:

National Speakers on Progressive Strategies for Rebuilding Our Economy
18 Community-Based, Resident-Led Planning Charettes in TN, AK, and MS
View and Meet the Producers of the Award-Winning “I Am A Man” – a film exploring the 1968 Sanitation Workers’ Strike and Join of Discussion of Contemporary Labor Rights
Enjoy an Evening of Music, Dance, and Discussion on the Role of Culture in Economic Development at the STAX Museum of American Soul Music (Just Think: Otis Redding, The Staple Singers, Booker T and the MGs, Sam and Dave, Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, and Isaac Hayes)
Tours of the National Civil Rights Museum, Kayaking on the Wolf River, Visits to SUN Music, and Graceland!

For More Info: www.memphis.edu/plannersnetwork/

Structures for Inclusion 10+1 Conference- Chicago

University of Minnesota — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 23:57:57 GMT

via Arch Daily
report By Kelly Minner

Sponsored by Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED) and Design Corps in support with Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Enterprise Foundation and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the eleventh annual “Structures for Inclusion (SFI 10 + 1)” conference will be held in Chicago on the 25th – 27th of March 2011.

“SFI 10 + 1″ will unite activists, designers, funders and policy makers as change agents to address the most pressing design challenges of the world today, challenging participants to integrate positive change design in their own practices. Going above and beyond the green design movement the “SFI 10 + 1″ will confront design processes to consider the broader social and economic well-being of communities and cities.

Opening the conference on March 25th will be keynote speaker Patrick Tighe of Tighe Architects. The conferences keynotes, panels, and workshops will also include the participation of Tom Fischer Dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, Andrew Freear Director of Rural Studio, and Sergio Palleroni of BaSiC Initiative, Trung Le of CANNON Design, Christine Gaspar of Center for Urban Pedagogy, Quilian Riano of DSGN AGNC, and Michael Zaretsky Co-author of New Directions in Sustainable Design.

The SEED Design Awards, an international competition highlighting Public Interest Design, will be integrated in the “SFI 10 + 1″ as the winning recipients, featured after the break, will partake as key proponents in the conference experience.

More information about the “SFI 10 + 1″ conference can be found at their official website.

The six SEED Award Winners are:

Café 524 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Congo Street Initiative Dallas, Texas
Studio H Bertie County, North Carolina
Growing Home Chicago, Illinois
Inspiration Kitchen East Garfield Park Chicago, Illinois
St. Joseph Rebuild Center New Orleans, Louisiana

These projects demonstrate how design is playing a role in addressing the most critical issues around the globe today: job creation, hunger, education, disaster relief, and the environment. Jurors were very impressed with the rigor and level of community engagement displayed by the submissions, and decided to recognize an additional six Honorable Mentions.

Juror Monica Chadha said:
We truly enjoyed the high caliber of entries. The winning submissions showcase not only how to work collaboratively but also how to create sustaining work by engaging all of the constituents. These projects are having high impact with an economy of means: much more is being done with much less. The projects show that the community/designer teams are aligned with the SEED vision to create a socially, economically and environmentally healthy community for all.

The Honorable Mention recipients are:

Butaro District Hospital in Butaro, Rwanda
Girubuntu Primary School in Butaro, Rwanda
Lydia Street Alley Flat in Austin, Texas
Rehabilitation of Bhaldi Village in Bhuj India
Roche Health Center in Roche, Tanzania
Student Organic Farm in Clemson, South Carolina

Each project had to go through the critical SEED application to ensure that the community was involved in setting the goals for the project and in developing the design solution.

Minner , Kelly . "Structures for Inclusion Conference" 25 Feb 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 08 Apr 2011. <http://www.archdaily.com/112698>

Seeds of Change: The Architecture for Change Summit- Chicago, Illinois

University of Minnesota — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:12:54 GMT

Courtesy of Brandy Brooks, Association for Community Design

On the 22-24 of September a group of architects, developers, and activist got together to discuss affordable housing development and how to create change in the field. Originally published on http://katherinerw.com/ after being asked if she would write about her time at the conference, Brandy offered these thoughts.

When you call your event the “Architecture for Change Summit,” I think you set a pretty high bar for a) what’s going to be in it and b) what’s going to come out of it. By and large, I think the organizers at University of Illinois at Chicago did a pretty stellar job with the fi rst part, and laid some good groundwork for the second.

Sponsored by the City Design Center at UIC, the summit boasted a pretty impressive list of speakers. What convinced me to attend was the number of my personal community design heroes and friends that I’d get to see – Maurice Cox, former mayor of Charlottesville and outgoing NEA Director of Design; Bryan Bell of Design Corps and Structures for Inclusion; and Dan Pitera, executive director of the Detroit Collaborative
Design Center, to name just a few. What rewarded me for attending were the conversations and ideas across the sessions that prodded us question our basic assumptions about our responsibility as professionals to challenge and change the world around us.

Although I’ve certainly heard of Teddy Cruz, this was the first time I’d ever heard him speak, and I can’t believe I missed out all this time. I’m fascinated by the kind of micro-grained urbanism that he’s exploring in his research and projects, and I think it’s a wonderful counter to our current love aff air with assembling giant parcels for a single development entity in the name of “transformative development.” There’s nothing particularly transformative about keeping large parcels of land in the hands of large corporations; on the other hand, allowing individual actors and small groups to build interdependent small-scale economies on smaller parcels of land offers a radical new set of opportunities for community building and self-sufficiency. (Estudio Teddy Cruz)

Dan Pitera is in the vanguard of the cosmic campaign to convince me to move to Detroit, and I love it. I can’t say enough about how inspired I am by the Detroit Collaborative Design Center’s innovative approaches to neighborhood revitalization in the city; their recent work using arts as a catalyst for drawing attention and renewed identity to various areas of the city goes far beyond the typical “arts as an economic engine” kind of project. DCDC and its partners are using the history of disinvestment in land and buildings across the city as an opportunity to take bold, innovate steps toward a new kind of physical landscape – whether in a project that transforms a whole street into a public arts gallery, or a tiny house that encourages us to rethink how much space we really need to live well and comfortably. I was also challenged by the conversation about communities in Detroit that are becoming more self-sufficient in terms of providing their own local services and economy: do we end up empowering communities by allowing them to meet their needs on their own, or isolating them from participation in the wider economy and civic life? It’s not a question you can fully address in 90 minutes, but Dan wasn’t afraid to acknowledge the concern or admit that no one quite knows the answer.

Back when I was a young’un in AIAS, I went to the FORUM in Cincinnati , and took a fantastic tour that I still remember through the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. So when
Tom Dutton from Miami University’s Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine started talking about their DesignBuild Studio and their Residency Program, I was all ears for his update. In a word, I think CCE’s education change strategy might be described as “immersion”: whether on a project or a semester basis, setting students right in the thick of the community and its struggle for social, economic and environmental justice. Students make interventions large and small in the buildings and spaces of the neighborhood; but at the same time, the neighborhood makes its own interventions in the hearts and minds of students, bringing them face-to-face with the dynamics of power and privilege at work in our society and with the real people behind the term “underserved community.” It’s worth noting that the program doesn’t just recruit designers, but also students from a variety of majors at Miami University , such as social work and education. Multidisciplinary, immersive, engaged, transformative … that’s the kind of education I wish we all were getting!

If you don’t know Sherry Ahrentzen, you should. She’s the associate director for research at the Stardust Center for Affordable Housing & the Family at Arizona State University, and she’s bringing the concept of action research squarely into the center of architectural practice. Action research, you say? I wouldn’t have known the term either, had I not gotten to study it last year as part of my Master in Public Administration coursework; in general, we don’t talk nearly enough about research as a critical component or architectural practice andeducation. But action research isn’t just the passive study and analysis of a situation; as the name implies, it is an engaged
feedback process where researchers partner with community organizations in a cycle of data collection and analysis that informs on-the-ground activity that then refi nes the ongoing research efforts. From energy efficiency monitoring to affordable housing preservation, this partnership enables community organizations to develop more informed strategies for neighborhood interventions – and it enables the creation of a tremendous body of knowledge about wise practices and critical issues in the field. Since one of my major initiatives at the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence is improving the accessibility and usability of our own knowledge base and then connecting it up to other knowledge centers in the fi eld, this was probably my favorite “aha” moment of the conference. It was also my favorite interdisciplinary moment; I realized that we’re all wrestling with the same kinds of conversations in my two fields of study (architecture and public administration), and the moment is ripe for creating a bridge to share knowledge across discipline silos.

Each of the four speakers – and many others at the conference I don’t have room to name – presented huge perspective shifts in the way that we could think about development, revitalization, education and practice. Right now, we’re still thinking of these examples as “alternatives” at the fringe of the field. But I like the way Casius Pealer put it: we need to stop talking about “alternative practice,” and start validating and accepting these ideas as part of the mainstream options for the design field. Casius is an architecture graduate who chose to blend design with law, and now uses both in his work on aff ordable housing; as he points out, no one tells a lawyer that they’re going into “alternative practice” if they choose to work in legal aid or do pro bono through their fi rm. These options have become part of the norm (and in the case of pro bono service, part of the ABA Code of Ethics requirements) for how lawyers can choose
to use their training, and its about time we bring a similar culture into the design professions.

The summit hasn’t changed architecture – yet. But it offered some clear examples of the ways that architecture is beginning to change, and provided an exceptional venue for challenging all of our notions about what designers can do and be.

This summary was originally published in four parts, the first of which may be found at: http://katherinerw.com/2010/10/13/guest-post-architecture-for-change-pt-1/

Sustainable Landscape, Sustainable Community- Awaji, Japan

University of Minnesota — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:03:22 GMT

Sustainable Landscape, Sustainable Community: Reflections on the 7th Pacific Rim Participatory Community Design Conference- Awaji, Japan

Courtesy of Shu-Mei Huang, Doctoral Candidate in Built Environment, College of Built Environments, University of Washington

Three years after its last meeting in Quanzhou, China, members of the Pacific Rim Community Design Network gathered again in Japan in September, 2010. Thanks to Awaji Landscape Planning and Horticulture Academy (ALPHA), more than 150 faculty, students, and practitioners from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, USA, Sri Lanka and Indonesia participated in the conversation regarding “Sustainable Landscape, Sustainable Community” on Awaji-shima, a beautiful island that is re-identifying itself as a land for sustainable and slow life in the midst of reconstruction and redevelopment after the Great Hanshin-Awaji earthquake.

The first theme is “green community building” with cases of engaging local people in horticulture and farming collectively and thereby building the community. John K.C. Liu suggests that notions of “green” and “community” cannot be separated, that is, an ecological and sustainable process of place making cannot be achieved without community building. Cases shared by participants support this view, such as community garden in Taipei and Seattle, “open garden” in Awaji, greening projects in Seoul, and “Satoyama” (community forest) in Japan. More than considering greening or urban farming in its conventional sense, this kind of practices also involves issues of aging community, food system, health, etc.

Landscape practice that touches our “heart and soul” is another theme. Community designers and workers should not avoid working with myth and belief, which are actually a fundamental part of a meaningful life as Randy Hester reminds us. Capable professionals find more promising ways to inclusive design by not giving up communicating with every possible being related to its practice. The commitment brings about a mutual beneficial process to both the people and the nature. The specific initiative of horticultural therapy developed in ALPHA is one such case showing how nature heals people as people heal nature. Similarly, we also learn that it is very important to pursue beyond felt-good design on small scale, by working toward activist ecology that links issues across scales, local knowledge, and conservation biology.

The network recognizes politics of community and landscape. With machizukuri as an inspiring example showing the necessary political aspect of community participation in city planning and place making, community design for democracy is re-affirmed as an ongoing process that acquires great attention to power and social inclusion. Cases about aboriginal people in Taiwan and the homeless in Japan demonstrate possibilities of empowering marginal social groups in design by and for themselves. Oftentimes community designers learn much more from working with them.

As usual, the conference ended in Professor Yasuhiro Endoh’s keywords that represented the ethos of the exchange, from which he presented lifescapes as a result of seven initials from seven observations at the conference. By lifescapes he means the healthy environment that nurtures community empowerment and a body-mind-spirit framework for considering participation and sustainability. Diverse lifescapes require a reciprocal and recombinant process and transformative spaces like ENGAWA. With that we know community design is never closed. For next time, we hope to see more communities we work with participating in the networking speaking for themselves. It will be an exercise of making the networking itself a lifescape.

Access the Pacific Rim Participatory Community Design Network on the Web: http://faculty.washington.edu/jhou/pacrim.htm;
and on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group. php?gid=160680570612513

Association for Community Design Events News

Community Built Association 2012 Conference I May 30 - June 2

Community Built Association 2012 Conference May 30 - June 2 - Portland, Oregon

ACD 2012 - Call for Proposals

Call for Presentations: ACSA/AIA Housing Research Lecture Series

Call for Presentations: ACSA/AIA Housing Research Lecture Series

8th Conference of the Pacific Rim Community Design Network, Aug 22-24

Design Corps continues Public Interest Design Institutes®

Announcing the 7th Annual Reshaping Rochester Series

SPEAKERS

Thursday, January 31st, 7pm

Peter J. Park

Monday, February 27th, 7pm

Wednesday March 21, 11:45am-1:30pm

Tuesday, April 24th, 7pm

Two Evenings, Two Events! "Movers and Shapers"

Tuesday, May 15th, 7pm Film: Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City

Public Interest Design Institute: Yale University, January 13-14, 2012

Office of University Partnerships to Host "Anchor Institutions" Empowerment Series - Dec. 1

"re:inventing architecture" AIA South Atlantic Region 2012 Conference Call for Presentations

AIA CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA recently wrote, “It’s a fragile time for architects.”

re:ignite re:think re:form re:act re:create

Evaluation Criteria

Submission Contact

Presentation Format

Funding & Expenses

Collaborations in Service-Learning Webcast - a.LINE.ments Studio, Clemson University - Thurs. Nov. 17

Community Outreach and Design: Service-Learning in the Landscape Architecture Studio

Call for Abstracts: Architecture 'Live Projects' Pedagogy International Symposium 2012

Critical reflections on Live Projects with a view to co-creating a pedagogic best practice framework

Thursday 24th - Saturday 26th May 2012 Oxford Brookes University, Headington Hill Campus.

Themes include:

Overview: Why do we need critical live architecture project pedagogy?

Benefits to clients

Benefits to the profession

Benefits to students

Benefits to Universities

The knowledge gap

Format of Presentations

Conference highlights:

Two-Week International Live Project Summer School 2012: Montana State University & Oxford Brookes

Architecture tours of 'secret' Oxford

Symposium Outputs

CALL FOR PAPERS

Deadline for abstracts: 8pm (GMT) Monday 28th November 2011

Submitting your abstract:

Submit abstracts to:

Announcing: Structures for Inclusion 12, March 24-25- Austin, TX

The Public Interest Design Institute: Upcoming Dates

Public Interest Design: Training Program

[UN]Restricted Access: The 2011 Open Architecture Challenge

2011 ACD National Conference: Call for Proposals

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

WHO SHOULD SUBMIT?

HOW?

PRESENTATION

WORKSHOP/GROUP LEARNING ACTIVITY

WHAT?

New Partnerships

Instructive Failures

Emergent Approaches

Exemplary Projects

Practical Wisdom

SUBMISSION FORMAT

Leverage: Strengthening Neighborhoods through Design Exhibition- Call for Entries

Upcoming Event: 2011 Planners Network Conference May 18-21 in Memphis

Structures for Inclusion 10+1 Conference- Chicago

Seeds of Change: The Architecture for Change Summit- Chicago, Illinois

Sustainable Landscape, Sustainable Community- Awaji, Japan

Community Built Association 2012 Conference
May 30 - June 2 - Portland, Oregon

Two Evenings, Two Events!

"Movers and Shapers"

Tuesday, May 15th, 7pm
Film: Make No Little Plans: Daniel Burnham and the American City

AIA CEO Robert Ivy, FAIA recently wrote,
“It’s a fragile time for architects.”

Thursday 24th - Saturday 26th May 2012
Oxford Brookes University, Headington Hill Campus.