Events News

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

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.

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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.

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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

These two dynamic experts will talk about creating and managing downtowns, discussing the necessary collaboration, processes, organizations and strategies for success.  On the macro level, Reim will share his wealth of experience designing and operating vibrant retail centers in environmentally and financially sustainable large scale mixed - use projects located in the United States as well as other countries.  Fowler will talk on the micro level about his work which has centered on the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he has been involved in coordinating projects in the downtown. He has also been a key player in the creation of a vision plan for the downtown and the implementation of plans, which over time, will achieve long term goals

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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.

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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.

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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

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.

Dear Colleagues:

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

[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

1. Generation of Live Project Pedagogy Charter
2. 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:

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!

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 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.

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

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

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

[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.