Achieving Design Excellence in Affordable Housing

This weekend's SFI Conference will be preceded by a special session by Enterprise Community Partners:

On Friday, March 25, Enterprise Community Partners will be hosting a one-day symposium on Achieving Design Excellence in Affordable Housing at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, IL.

Local Chicago leaders will join national innovators for a day of panel discussions that will explore new approaches and opportunities in affordable housing design, addressing topics ranging from asset management to foreclosure response, and from community engagement to designing for the most vulnerable. The day-long symposium will conclude with a keynote address by architects Patrick Tighe, AIA and Ric. Abramson, AIA. Tighe is the principal and lead designer at Patrick Tighe Architecture and was recently awarded a 2011 AIA Honor Award in Interior Architecture. Abramson is the founder of Workplays studio*architecture and is on the Board of Directors at West Hollywood Community Housing Corporation (WHCHC). Together, they will discuss WHCHC’s Sierra Bonita Apartments, a 42-unit apartment building designed by Tighe for low-income, physically disabled residents. This keynote will conclude our day long symposium, and kick off Design Corp’s Structures for Inclusion Conference.

The conference is free and open to the public, but does require registration. To register for the Enterprise conference only, go to: http://www.designcorps.org/sfi-conference/registration and selected “Enterprise Attendee” as the registration type.

Structures for Inclusion 10 + 1 this Weekend

This year's annual conference takes place right here in Chicago at the School of the Art Institute over three days, March 25-27 (that's this weekend so hurry up and register). The Press Release:

Structures for Inclusion 10 + 1 (SFI) is the eleventh conference in an annual series featuring architects as change agents addressing the most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges of the world today. SFI enlarges the scope of the green design movement to consider the broader social and economic well-being and sustainability of communities and cities.

SFI 10 + 1 will bring together design professionals and students, community activists and nonprofit organizations alike. The three-day conference will cover topics such as: making change, learning from community, working in interdisciplinary environments, and innovation. It will include a wide variety of keynotes, panels, hands-on workshops, tours, and opportunities for informal conversation and networking. SFI 10 + 1 will challenge participants to take action in their own schools, practices, and community, and invite them to share ideas and brainstorm about different approaches to community-based design.

SFI 10 + 1 will feature winners of the Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED) Award, chosen through an international competition in January. The winning projects showcase sustainability through interdisciplinary collaboration, ecological innovation, and community engagement, illustrating high impact work accomplished through an economy of means. Each highlights the important role design can perform in the public’s interest and speaks to a renewed concern in the architectural and design community for making a contribution to promote social change. The six SEED Award Winners are: Café 524 in Pittsburgh, PA; Congo Street Initiative in Dallas, TX; Studio H in Bertie County, NC; Growing Home in Chicago, IL; Inspiration Kitchens East Garfield Park in Chicago, IL; St. Joseph Rebuild Center in New Orleans, LA. These projects demonstrate how design is playing a role in addressing the most critical issues around the globe today: job creation, hunger, education, health, disaster relief, and the environment.

In addition to the designers and community partners involved in the awarded SEED Competition projects, the conferences keynotes, panels, and workshops will include the participation of:

Opening Keynote: Patrick Tighe, Tighe Architects
Tom Fisher, Dean, College of Design, University of Minnesota
Andrew Freear, Director, Rural Studio
Christine Gaspar, Executive Director, Center for Urban Pedagogy
Trung Le, CANNON Design, Co-author, The Third Teacher
Liz Ogbu, Associate Director, Public Architecture
Sergio Palleroni, Co-founder and Director, BaSiC Initiative
Quilian Riano, DSGN AGNC
Michael Zaretsky, Co-author, New Directions in Sustainable Design

SFI 10 +1 will be a dynamic array of nationally known speakers and innovators and feature several emerging local designers.  From big-picture discussions to hands-on workshops, the SFI conference will be a storm of ideas.

SFI 10+1 will be preceded by a session  with a focus on affordable housing, co-presented by the Enterprise Community Partners and Structures for Inclusion. Various panels and discussions with national and local housing non-profit developers and designers will be featured during the day on Friday March, 25. The main SFI conference will start Friday night with a reception and a keynote.

The SEED Competition is organized by the Social Economic Environmental Design Network and Design Corps.

Location:    SAIC Ballroom, School of the Art Institute, 112 South Michigan Ave., Chicago

More info.

Big Events this Week

LOTS going on this week beginning with our friends at Enterprise Community Partners and culminating with the Structures for Inclusion conference.

Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellows 6x10
Monday, March 21, 6:00 pm-7:30 pm.

Ten-minute presentations by six recipients of the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship, including Daniel Splaingard, a Rose Fellow currently working at Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation in Chicago. You will have the opportunity to learn about community design projects all over the country - and about applying to this three-year fellowship program.
      The Rose Fellowship fosters a unique partnership among a fellow, a host organization, and Enterprise to carry out a three-year fellowship plan. The fellow contributes his or her time and energy to work as part of the host organization’s staff, building capacity and bringing fresh experience and ideas to the organization. The host provides mentorship and guidance, supporting the development of the fellow’s career by providing meaningful experiences in design, development, financing, construction management, resident engagement—and in some cases—community planning. Enterprise provides an annual stipend, coaching, training and opportunities for sharing and learning among the fellows. Applications for 2012 Rose Fellowships will be accepted beginning May 1, 2011.

Refreshments will be served.
This event is sponsored by Community Interface Committee
Learning units: 1 LU
Location: AIA Chicago, 35 East Wacker Drive, #250
More info.

SEED Competition Deadline Approaching

Hopefully my last post got you intrigued enough to start poking around the web to find out what it was all about. If you don't know what I'm talking about it's probably because SEED is relatively new. SEED, Social Economic and Environmental Design, can be thought of as the social equivalent to LEED – get it? (my analogy). SEED is the brain-child of Bryan Bell, yes, THAT Bryan Bell of Design Corps. It was launched a few years ago and he is now developing it further as part of his research as a Loeb Fellow at Harvard. The inaugural SEED competition was launched this fall and the results will be announced at this year's SFI right here in Chicago. This is an incredible opportunity to be part of this exciting new program. If that isn't enough to get you going, here is a personal invitation from the indefatigable Monica Chadha:

On behalf of SEED and the SFI Steering Committee I would like to invite you to submit a community based project for the SEED Chicago Competition. SEED stands for Social Economic and Environmental Design and has been developed as a tool to allow community based projects a method to evaluate their impact, successes and lessons learned. The basic goals of SEED are to build a national network of resources; to provide a means to measure, evaluate and certify great community-based projects; and to celebrate the successes of these projects. While there are a number of evaluatory tools out there, SEED has been developed for the type of work you and your organization support.

SEED evaluation and certification will allow all of us to better promote our work, to apply for further funding opportunities and to share from each other’s experiences. SEED is aimed at providing recognition for all of the critical criteria in community based projects beyond sustainability. By nationally recognizing and certifying projects based in the community it is possible to convey the importance of this work to a wider audience. SEED is intended for all types or projects, whether a community initiative, a local planning project or a built structure to name a few.

In the Spring, Chicago will be hosting the national Structures for Inclusion Conference [SFI 10+1], a conference that celebrates community based projects and provides a place to discuss, learn, develop and share both the successes and challenges of this work. In advance of the conference, the Driehaus Foundation, among others, is supporting the chance to promote Chicago and Midwest projects; this is a perfect opportunity for projects like those you work on to be a model for others and find some recognition in the larger community based design field.

There are two parts to the applications process, which is explained in more detail on the website. The $25 competition entry fee will also count toward conference registration for one community partner. All projects entered that reflect SEED goals will be promoted nationally. The three winning projects of the Chicago Competition will receive a $1,000 honorarium and the opportunity to present at the SFI conference in March. All projects submitted will be showcased nationally on the website and through publication.

Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or to send any competition questions to Emily Axtman, Design Corps Fellow at emily@designcorps.org. The competition website can be found here: http://www.designcorps.org/sfi/

Sincerely,

Monica Chadha

SFI 10+1 Steering Committee
SEED Evaluator

Pecha Kucha Night This Tuesday

Poster by Aya Yamasaki.

Join Peter Exley and the gang for the final Pecha Kucha of the year (there won't be another until March).
The 16th installment of Pecha Kucha Night Chicago is this Tuesday, December 7th at Martyrs. Tickets are $10 at the door or online.

Architecture for Change Summit a Stone's Throw Away

The speaker list has been expanded and scholarships are available to attend. More informatiopn on their website.

Chicago ACE Mentor Program Fourth Annual Summer Fundraiser

Join the ACE Associate Board and ACE Mentors for a little summer cocktailing and a good cause.

The ACE Mentor Program serves Chicago area high school youth who are exploring careers in Architecture, Construction or Engineering. The mentors are professionals from leading design and construction firms who volunteer their time and energy. The program is designed to engage, inform and challenge youth.

Join us and make a difference by supporting our efforts to provide scholarships to these students. Many of the students are the first in their family to attend college, and explore the career of their dreams.

For more information on the ACE Program, please visit our website at www.acementor.org/chicago

Date: Wednesday, August 11
Time: 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Place: Hub 51: Lower Level - Sub 51 51 W. Hubbard Street, Chicago
Admission:
$30 each in advance
$40 each at the door
includes two drink tickets and appetizers

purchase online at www.signmeup.com/71230
or
make checks payable to ACE Mentor Chicago and mail to:

Whitney Lang @ HOK
60 E. Van Buren, 14th Floor
Chicago, IL 60605

Come for the drinks - stay for the raffle! Including great prizes such as event tickets, restaurant gift certificates, art work, furniture pieces and more. If you are unable to attend, but would still like to make a donation, please visit www.signmeup.com/71230

Winning Entry: École Saint Joseph, Petit Goâve, Haiti

Architecture for Humanity Chicago facilitated a charette and competition in May to design a school to replace one that had collapsed during the earthquake in Petit Goâve, Haiti. École Saint Joseph was a not-for-profit school that provided free education to all. Team members of this winning entry include the talents of Marissa Brown, Marlon Giron, Steven Pantazis and Dena Wangberg.

Rebuilding Together this Saturday!

All our efforts from the past year with Rebuilding Together will culminate this Saturday for their National Rebuilding Day. Come on out to work with like-minded architects and others as well as the homeowners themselves. Don't be shy, anyone can swing a hammer or a paint brush, there's something for everyone. Several groups that have previously been featured on this blog will be hosting homes. To get involved please contact their team leaders: AIA - Holly Genc and AfH - Brian Landwehr.

All of the homeowners have been screened to meet income requirements and many of the ones I met were simply incapable of doing the work themselves do to some sort of physical ailment or old age. This is a great cause.

Archeworks Summer 2010 Internship

Archeworks is seeking an intern for Summer 2010. The intern will work with the Archeworks Director to generate content for a new publication highlighting alternative urban design and architectural strategies for 21st Century cities. The intern will be responsible for creating graphic diagrams, editing lecture transcripts, soliciting quotes and project documentation, and synthesizing and distilling information from various sources, amongst other tasks. The intern must be motivated, self-sufficient, detail-oriented, and comfortable working with minimal supervision.

The ideal candidate has a strong writing background and is currently enrolled in an architecture, landscape architecture, or urban design graduate program or is a recent graduate. Successful candidates will have a keen understanding of urban and environmental issues and a passion for resourceful urban design as a means of enhancing quality of life in the contemporary American City. Proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite is necessary.

The internship will start in early to mid-May and end in early to mid-August. Exact dates to be determined. The intern will be based at the Archeworks studios in Chicago's River North neighborhood, with occasional flexibility to work remotely. Archeworks can provide a modest stipend for this position.

The application deadline is 5 p.m. CST on Monday, April 19, 2010.

Applicants should submit cover letter, resume, two short writing samples, and digital portfolio or work samples to Katie Vail, Archeworks Program Manager.

Questions can be directed to Katie Vail. No phone inquiries please.

Archeworks was founded in 1994 on the premise that good design should serve everyone. Over the past 16 years, Archeworks has completed over 40 community design projects addressing universal design, sustainability, urban agriculture and ecology, early childhood education, neighborhoods with limited resources, micro-enterprises for women and minorities, and other community-based needs in the urban environment.

Saturday, April 10: Chicago Avenue Urban Farm - Community Conversation

The proposal presented to Fourth Presbyterian a few weeks ago.

This design charette is a result of the AIA Bridge Program. See previous posts as well as Michael Burlando's shared photos from Growing Power's farm near Milwaukee. This is an open invite:

Saturday, April 10, 2010The purpose of this conversation (“charrette”) is to gather input from the Cabrini community and other interested parties about the establishment of a new Urban Farm on Chicago Avenue. We would like you to help refine and develop an initial design plan for what we would like the Urban Farm to provide to the community and how to meet our collective vision.

You are here today to help us:

Clarify vision elements. The community stakeholders have already outlined a basic vision for the Urban Farm, but elements of that vision need further definition and illustration to reflect community wants and needs. The vision includes providing affordable, fresh produce in the neighborhood through year-round food production; developing neighborhood youth through learning about sustainable agriculture and gaining job training skills, and laying the groundwork for several micro-enterprises.

Identify preliminary action program steps. Help prioritize what steps we should take to implement the plan. The results of this charrette will be reviewed by the Chicago Avenue Urban Farm Advisory Council.

Let us know you whether you plan to join us by contacting Natasha Holbert, Program Director, at 312-274-3831.

Saturday, April 10th, 2010 - Schedule
8:30 a.m. - Coffee & Meet/Greet
9:00 a.m. - Welcome & Introduction: Introductions and Presentation of Background
9:30 a.m. - Charrette 101: Introduction to the Terminology and Language of Planning & Design
10:00 a.m. - Break
10:15 a.m. - AIA Bridge Presentation: Engagement Exercise – Presentation of Chicago Avenue Project
11:15 a.m. - Goals and Issues: Small Group Exercises and Report Back
12:00 p.m. - Synthesis: Facilitated Integration of Concept Plans by AIA Bridge
12:30 p.m. - Action Program and Next Steps: Facilitated Discussion of Implementation Priorities
1:00 p.m. - Adjourn

8:30am to 1:00pm
Chicago Avenue Urban Farm
444 W Chicago Avenue (Chicago and Hudson)

Archeworks Exhibit and Open House

Winning Entry: CarbonTAP by PORT Architecture and Urbanism

Archeworks is hosting a presentation and panelist discussion as part of its exhibit, WPA 2.0: Working Public Architecture - Chicago Edition, on April 6th. This is the featured program of Archeworks' 2010 Spring Open House. The topic involves the recent Working Public Architecture (WPA) 2.0 competition by CityLAB of UCLA and will feature the work of several Chicago architects that participated, including UrbanLAB's entry, which was selected as a finalist of the first stage, and Port Architecture and Urbanism's entry which was selected as the winner.

Steven Pantazis Architecture: Highway Reclamation/Racial Reconciliation

As I am a Chicago architect and entered the competition I was asked to participate. I will be presenting my project titled Highway Reclamation/Racial Reconciliation. The event will be moderated by Greg Dreicer, Vice President of Exhibitions and Programs at the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The show starts at 6 and is free and open to the public. Seating is limited so RSVP online.

WPA 2.0: Working Public Architecture - Chicago Edition
April 6th at 6pm
Archeworks
625 N. Kingsbury (at Ontario)
Free Admission

reamscapes Exhibit

All photos courtesy David LeFevre

From the press release:

Six carefully selected teams of up-and-coming designers from the Chicago area working in the field of architecture have been invited to take a ream of standard copy paper and render the banality of 500 sheets of paper into a thought-provoking and arresting temporary installation.

Carlo standing.

Some time contributor and full time reader David LeFevre is part of a team called Fold 500 (what a coincidence) that has an installation on display in the reamscapes exhibit. The reception is tonight, Friday, March 12th from 6-10pm and coincides with the Chicago Arts District monthly 2nd Fridays event in Pilsen.

Carlo observing.

Team Fold 500's Project Statement:

“This is not a plane” embraces the symbiotic relationship between the digital and the physical. The construct expresses one of the most primitive notions of the physical --the fold. Through the repetitive transformation of 500 sheets of paper into paper airplanes, one large gestural fold creates a spatial condition where the inherent dichotomy of the physical and digital interface.
In this installation, paper embodies, among other things, the physical manifestation of digital design, the uniqueness of the instance, and the joy of spontaneous human creativity through a physical reaction with the content -- scribble, tear, crumple. Fold.

And Bio:

Fold 500 is made up of Carlo Parente, David LeFevre, Jessica Hogue, Luis Palacio and Nathan Bowman --5 architects working together in the office of AS+GG who share a passion for digital technology, physical media, paper airplanes and Bloody Marys.

Carlo trying to get bad luck.

Bloody Marys? That explains the Project Statement. The show runs through April 3rd but the free wine is only available during the opening reception. See you there!

reamscapes - 6 designers + 500 sheets of paper + creativity
Mar 12th-Apr 3rd, 2010
ShowPODs
1822-43 S. Halsted St.
Chicago

Last Chance for Actions

Photo by Michelle Litvin

This Saturday, March 13th, will be your last chance to view the exhibit Actions: What you can do with the City. The exhibit has landed here at the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts after its debut at Montreal's Canadian Center for Architecture. Don't worry, the documentation is in English. Actually the exhibit consists of contributions, or "Actions", by artists, architects, designers, activists and others from all over the world.

The vast majority of the Actions work to make the city more humane, sometimes using grass-roots geurrilla urbanism such as activists dressed as city workers using a home-made stencil to paint bicycle symbols on heavily trafficked streets, thereby creating a bike lane. To balance out the exhibit, some actions actually work toward the opposite effect, anti-sitting Actions for example, placed on private property to prevent people from sitting on things. The photo below is an interesting dichotomy of the exhibit.

On the one hand, the Action works to overcome an anti-lying-down-device, the handrails along the bench, while the handrails, not part of the exhibit, work to prevent people from lying down. This resourceful individual's Action is not only functional but highly fashionable.

I found the exhibit entertaining, engaging and participatory. It's definitely something that generates a good amount of conversation afterward, such as, what to do with the exposed backs of street signs?

Sticker Graffiti by MELT

You only have four days left to see it and what better excuse than before and after a related lecture being held at The Graham Wednesday night (March 10th) at 6pm by Amy Franceschini called The Revolution Will Be Cultivated. Find out what she's all about here and here. Admission to both the exhibit and the lecture are free.

Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
Madlener House
4 West Burton Place
Chicago, IL 60610
Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.
Free Admission.

More reviews:
Lauren Weinberg for Time Out Chicago
Jason Foumberg for New City
Ryan LaFollette for The Architect's Newspaper
Architect Magazine
Bert Stabler for Proximity Magazine

A+DEN/AAO Conference Revisited

In keeping with the spirit of revisiting this past jamb-packed fall architectural conference season, we revisit the A+DEN/AAO conference. If you couldn't make it or you want to hear the speakers again, click on the individual sections labeled Read More, scroll to the bottom and check out the audio recordings. Memorable speakers include Carol Coletta, CEO, CEOs for Cities; Damon Rich, Founder, Center for Urban Pedagogy; Maurice Cox, Director of Design, National Endowment for the Arts and more.

Global PechaKucha Night for Haiti Tomorrow

PKN for Haiti logo by Studio Number One

20 seconds, 20 images, 200 cities, 2000 presentations, 200,000 people - with the aim to raise $1,000,000 for rebuilding Haiti.

The event was realized after an email from Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity to Mark Dytham, co-founder of PechaKucha, asking for help. Within minutes they hashed out a plan and sealed the agreement, how else, with a joint PKN presentation at Tokyo's SuperDeluxe. The mission was announced by Mr. Sinclair later on at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Watch the joint announcement:



The 24 hour-long streamathon will be available online LIVE beginning simultaneously in Tokyo, with a presentation by PechaKucha Founders Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham, and in New Zealand's most eastern city. From there the "PechaKucha Presentation Wave" will travel westward hitting every city in the PK Network along the way for approximately 10 minutes each.

According to the Global PK homepage, the stream will begin at 2am Chicago time and can be viewed here and here as well as on your iPhone or smartphone by using this free application here.

It will catch up with Mr. Sinclair and Architecture for Humanity headquarters in San Francisco at about 10pm Chicago time, 1pm Tokyo time, where there will be an event in Tokyo focusing on Haiti.

PKN Chicago Global Day for Haiti Poster by Visualized Concepts

PechaKucha Night Chicago is, of course, participating and this time has teamed-up with PechaKucha Champaign-Urbana. It is being held at its usual spot, Martyrs', 3855 N. Lincoln. The presentations begin at 2pm with doors opening at 1pm and is all ages this time so be on your best behavior. The cost is $25 or $100 for VIP (those tables and seats in front of the screen) and tickets can be purchased online or at the door. The list of presenters is composed of "guaranteed notorious" special guests and can be found here.

There is also a new Donate Button posted on the global and city PechaKucha websites if you can't make an event and want to contribute. All proceeds go to the building of buildings in Haiti. AfH's funding is usually divided into design services, marketing and travel with funding for buildings coming from outside sources. In this case ALL money raised from Global PKN goes to the building of buildings in Haiti.

Don't get Haiti Fatigue. AfH has committed itself to long-term sustained architectural aid in Haiti. Show your support.

Staurdays in the Studio - Model Making

Volunteers are needed for the Model Making session of Saturdays in the Studio at IIT on Feb. 20th from 9:00-3:00. There will be a planning meeting on Wednesday at 12:30 at CAF in the 4th floor conference room. Anyone interested should contact Krisann.

Saturdays in the Studio
model-making @ IIT
Crown Hall
3300 S. State St
February 20
9:00 - 3:00
(workshop is from 10:00 - 2:30)

Architecture for Humanity - Chicago Competition: Street Furniture

The Chicago Chapter of Architecture for Humanity is happy to announce a public competition to design street furniture!

The Problem:
The fabric of any city has underutilized and neglected spaces. These vacant pieces of the city are often intended for development at some point in the future but currently sit empty and unused. Left unattended, they can become dangerous and unwelcoming areas along the streetscape. Through small acts of community we can repurpose these empty spaces and imagine for ourselves a better streetscape.


The Challenge:
Design one or more pieces of "street furniture" that can be easily distributed to vacant sites and parks throughout the city for two months during the summer. Your goal: to initiate a dialogue about how we use our space and encourage community participation in the decisions that affect our civic life. As such, these installations are intended to be temporary and inexpensive. Designers should consider what will happen to the materials at the end of the two month time period.


Designs will be due no later than 5p, Friday, February 26th via email to furniturecomp@afh-chicago.org.
Winners, decided by a jury, will be announced at the March chapter meeting (Tuesday, March 16th, 6:30p). Winning designers will have at least one piece (potentially more) of their street furniture built and distributed to a park space in the spring for a period of two months. Best of luck to any of you who are interested! If you have questions, please direct them to Kathryn McRay or Laura Bowe.

The Rose Fellowship Makes its Way to Chicago

I was invited to attend a reception by The Enterprise Rose Fellowship in Community Architecture at the Ransom R. Cable Mansion last month to welcome Chicago's new Rose Fellow, Daniel Splaingard, as well as recognizing the inaugural Fellowship in Chicago.

Katie Swenson, Senior Director of the Enterprise Rose Fellowship and co-author of Growing Urban Habitats, Seeking a New Housing Development Model was nice enough to make herself available for an interview. Here is a summary of our coversation

Steven Pantazis: When the Fellowship was first formed, did they imagine it being as far reaching as it is today? Is it as far as they wanted it to be?

Katie Swenson: I think the original concept of the Fellowship is unchanged and that's something we're very proud of. We wanted to give young architects and designers a full experience in community development, not just an experience in one component of architecture, drafting for example, as they normally would coming out of school. So when we place them in a Community Development Corporation, they are exposed to design, construction, maintenance of the buildings upon completion, providing mortgaging and credit counseling to potential residents. In this way they walk away from the program with a much broader experience. We felt it would be useful for emerging architects to have experience from the developers' perspective.

One thing Jonathan Rose mentioned recently that was unintended as a huge benefit to the program is the network amongst the fellows that has developed and is maintained over the years. As far as the program being where we thought it would, you know, the original funding for the Fellowship was thought of as seed money so, yes, we are very happy with how far it has come. We have programs all over the U.S. and this year we are planning a Fellowship in Puerto Rico. We're also working with six tribal groups in the southwest to establish sustainability programs. This program spawned from what was originally a one-off resulting from one of our Fellowships.

We have a new program with the National Endowment for the Arts called the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute which pairs a team of resource practitioners with Development Directors for a few days in an exchange of knowledge similar to the Mayors' Institute.

SP: You mentioned Fellows being exposed to multiple disciplines, are Fellows expected to be generalists upon completion of their term?

KS: Not necessarily. The goal is to provide the Fellows with the tools they will need to make educated decisions, and very specifically, where they want their careers to go. Some went on to work for firms that work with community developers. Fellows are engaged with community development corporations which are mostly non-profits and some have stayed in that field. In fact, 85% of CDC's go on to hire the Fellow after the term which I think is a testament to the success of the program. CDC's don't realize the value of having an architect on staff until they have a first hand experience with it.

SP: So it's a learning experience for both parties.

KS: Exactly. And the focus of Enterprise has always been to support CDC's. Architects understand good design but you don't always have a developer that appreciates the benefits of good design.

Daniel with Joy Aruguete, Executive Director, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation. Photo by Harry Connolly.

SP: As a Rose Fellow Alumnus, what impact has the Fellowship had on your life and career?

KS: Well, first of all, I think it's impossible to separate a career between a personal and professional identity. So in that regard, the Fellowship allowed me to unite my personal mission and professional mission. It gives you the ability to say you want to use your work and career to make a difference by giving you the opportunity to develop skills, vision and confidence. The three years allows you to have the experience and make it into a career path so that, after the Fellowship, you can be more specific about what you want to do.

SP: The Fellowship is nearly 10 years old, why is Chicago just getting the opportunity now?

KS: Chicago had not been on the Fellowship's radar before, but it is the heart of American architecture and has such a robust community development world. But there's always room for more. That's why Enterprise has a local office in Chicago. And, of course, Monica [Chadha] was instrumental in bringing the Fellowship to Chicago.

SP: What have some of your favorite projects been? Who has set the bar for Chicago?
KS: San Francisco has been an important model for us. We started there with one Fellow in the first class and because of him another CDC came forward. From there another foundation stepped forward. So it grew upon itself rather organically. And San Francisco is an incredible leader in design excellence in affordable housing.

L.A. and Portland are really excellent examples.

We found CDC's often don't look outside their own cities. Looking nationally works to encourage an exchange of ideas so we've been encouraging CDC's to look to what is being done in other cities.

SP: How can other cities get involved?

KS: It works in different ways. Sometimes we identify a city or sometimes a CDC comes to us. For example, in Puerto Rico we started by working with a CDC based out of New York. On the other hand, in Cleveland, we new we wanted a Fellow deeply engaged in the foreclosure crisis there, so we started by identifying the city and the problem and potential CDC's we could work with.

We rely on government, local and national support and actively fundraise at the local level for each fellowship. So it's really important, for the fellowship to work, to have a commitment from the community as well as from Enterprise.

SP: This is one of the worst years the architecture profession has ever seen. How many Applicants did you get?

KS: Lots. We received more applications for the CHicago Fellowship, many more, than we had ever received in any other year. It felt almost brutal the amount of incredibly qualified people that applied. But, we decided, from the very beginning, that we wouldn't question their motives on how they got interested in working in public housing. We just looked at every applicant as we normally would and tried to select the best candidate

SP: Can you describe the selection process? What made Dan stand out?

KS: The way it normally works is a local committee narrows down the selection of applicants before they are placed in front of the national committee. They then go over the list with the host CDC. This year was different in that they got down to four and couldn't get any further. We just had so many applicants and so many of them were extremely qualified. They interviewed the four finalists in Chicago and it was the CDC who made the final decision.

Dan understood the broad range of a project from the big idea at the beginning to the final minute details, maintenance on the final building, for example, at the end. He was able to connect the entire process from the design to the living experience of the residents to the maintenance of the properties. One of the things he said was, from his experience at the [Sam Mockbee's] Rural Studio [at Auburn], he called himself both a dreamer and a janitor. So Bickerdike believed he had qualities that would make him both a team player and a leader.

Chicago-based Rose Fellow Daniel Splaingard with Andrea Traudt of Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, Daniel’s host organization. Photo by Mitchell Canoff

SP: How did you select Bickerdike?

KS: The CDC selection is a more closed-door process but I can tell you that Bickerdike embodies so much of what we look for in a CDC; a combination of deep, long term real estate development and neighborhood focus. Plus their executive director is on our national board so she had worked with Enterprise before. Also, this was the second time they applied. They applied initially seven or eight years ago so this told us they were familiar with the program and really interested in participating.

SP: Have you received any feedback from either the Fellow or the host on how things have progressed thus far?

KS: Yes, Dan is deep "in it" which is the best sign. I know that they both have a sense of the long-term commitment so from Bickerdike's perspective they have identified what he needs to learn early so he can be more effective later. But Dan is being more proactive as well. He has identified areas, such as Revit, that he needs to improvement on and is working on those areas. He also decided on his own accord to take the LEED right away and not wait.

SP: When will there be another Rose Fellowship to apply for in Chicago?

KS: I don't know. I can’t answer that at this point.

SP: Will there be another Urban Habitats Competition?

KS: I don't think so. The competition was more theory and I'm more interested in applying that theory to practice. The competition was great; trailer parks are fertile ground for either good or bad design. They're not like normal neighborhoods because the people living there have no rights to the land so the developer can do whatever he wants.

Some of the experiences coming out of the fellowships is theory and research in a way, though. We're learning how we could better hone our skills to make the areas of design and practical construction not so divergent and how we can pass on that knowledge.

SP: Does that mean another book could be on the way?

KS: I certainly hope so. Right now we're more concerned with matching Fellows with CDC's.

SP: You mentioned, at the reception, the desire for Enterprise Community Partners to work with emerging architects. How does an emerging architect go about getting noticed by Enterprise?

KS: The CDC's are finding that in order to develop high quality, green affordable housing, they have to be more savvy about design. Our goal is to have all CDC's have someone like a Fellow on their staff. I would advise emerging architects to expand their horizons a little bit to understand policy regulations, financing, etc. You know, I think I mentioned Shaun Donovan at the reception and he's a prime example that if you broaden your experience to understand the other aspects that go into public housing, then you're perhaps better prepared to make a difference in the areas you want.

SP: Enterprise has a presence in cities all over the country, are they actively seeking to do more work in Chicago?

KS: Absolutely. We have a local office there with multifamily mortgage and asset management. We've been working on the green retrofit funding with Chicago. We also look for a bit of guidance from local agencies, the CHA for example.

SP: So, what I'm getting from you is, if we wanted to work with Enterprise your advice to any CDC's in Chicago would be to be a bit more proactive and reach out to Enterprise rather than to wait for Enterprise to reach out to them?

KS: Absolutely, it couldn't hurt.