UrbanFAB [Workshops]

I wanted to share a really interesting project that I will be collaborating on this summer as a facilitator. There are still a few student slots available.

UrbanBuddy[workshops] and the Live architecture Network are collaborating to organize a series of cost-effective design workshops for participants and other interested parties, held in locations around the globe each year. Participants in urbanFAB [workshop] 2010 will travel to either, Barcelona, Chicago, or New York City to simultaneously research and explore our unique definition of urban fabrication. The UrbanFAB [workshop] will reveal global urban systems while fully exploring the local phenomena that are distinctly Spanish and American.

[question]
Urban systems are being redefined by new digital design and fabrication tools; how do our cities, and their dynamic and informal character, inform these new models of design? The urbanFAB [workshop] will focus on the complex urban systems that support the everyday life of millions of residents, all-the-while reflecting their distinct urban culture.

[overview]
urbanFAB [workshop] will engage in a close-up examination of the existing urban factors that drive new models of digital design and fabrication. These factors include physical, social and climatic influences (among others), but most importantly you’ll be observing what makes your city unique in global systematic design, both natural and human produced. The urbanFAB [workshop] is a unique look at the interface between the built form infrastructures and the physical & social systems of our urban environment.

More Information from Urban Buddy

Infrastructures for Change Symposium 2010 - June 3rd

This second installment of the Infrastructures for Change Symposium focuses on the Chicago and Great Lakes Region. From the website, the symposium:

will focus on the design and planning of the next 100 years of Chicago, Lake Michigan, and the built urban environment within the Great Lakes Basin. Infrastructures for Change will initiate a new blueprint for action toward imagining and inventing a 21st Century Great Lakes Model for global city building.

The program begins at 8:30 am on June 3rd at the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning with introductions followed by an opening keynote by Cameron Davis, J.D., Senoir Advisor to the US EPA Administrator. More information on Archeworks' website.

2010 Architecture for Change Summit

From the organizers:

Register now for the Architecture for Change Summit:

Join architects, developers and affordable housing activists on September 22-24, 2010 in Chicago to address the affordable housing crisis.

Affirm the ways design matters in the affordable housing crisis; Hear about the dedicated work of nationally recognized affordable housing design advocates; Understand how conventional housing development practices and policies impede affordable, appropriate and sustainable housing design; and Mobilize support for meaningful and inclusive change in these practices and policies.

Design Corps Founder and Executive Director and 2010-2011 Loeb Fellow Bryan Bell is confirmed and will be presenting information on his SEED program. See you there.

Resource Center Fundraiser

From Resource Center:

Only a few days remain to register for the Resource Center's annual spring cocktail party, ReCreate 2010!

Please join us in celebrating the work of the Resource Center while meeting new and old friends. Register at today!

Details:
ReCreate 2010
***Friday, May 21st, 5:30-8:30 p.m.***
Archeworks
625 North Kingsbury Street
Chicago, IL 60654
(convenient public transit access;
valet parking available 1/4 block east at Reza's for $9)

Please note: The evening will include a very brief special meeting of Resource Center members. Members will be asked to consider amended Resource Center bylaws, a draft of which is available on our website.

NEW CITY FARM VIDEO
Check out the wonderful new video piece about City Farm, courtesy of our friend Christine Malone

OTHER SUPPORT
If you can't attend, please consider a donation to support the Resource Center

SHOREBANK AWARD
Resource Center was recently named as the recipient of the Green Neighbor Award from ShoreBank for our contributions to the Chicago community and our efforts to "build stronger, healthier communities.

Archeworks Project to be Exhibited at Venice Biennale

Congratulations to Archeworks for their project, Mobile Food Collective, being included among work from other architects as part of the American Pavilion at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition of the 2010 Venice Biennale. The exhibit will feature work from architects that involve "trans-disciplinary" collaboration. Here is their full Press Release.

Volunteer Help Needed for Newhouse Exhibit Installation

The CAF needs help during the day on Thursday, May 27th and Friday, May 28th to install the Newhouse Exhibition at the gallery of Robert Morris College: 401 S. State Street.

You can sign up for as many hours as you are able each day. They essentially need help hanging up the projects in the gallery. They plan to open the show on Tuesday, June 1st and will not be able to install over the weekend.

Contact Krisann.

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.

Design Exposed: SOM Blackbox Lecture

Yesterday evening, the AIA Chicago chapter sponsored a lecture conducted by Keith Besserud of SOM on recent work done in the arena of parametric modeling and performance simulation in the Blackbox Studio, which is an in-house group of specialists who focus on advanced modeling, simulation and analysis across a range of scales from urban design, to building massings, to individual wall components.

Description from the AIA Chicago website:

Keith Besserud, AIA, head of the Black Box Studio at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP, will discuss projects on which his group has collaborated and the advanced computational design technologies the studio has developed. What is the role of design research and a specialized in-house “consultancy” within the context of an architecture firm? We will also look at the interdisciplinary approach towards algorithmic/parametric design as well as tools to create and investigate the “optimal” and the “novel.”

Besserud began by giving a general overview of parametric design and diagrammed the relationship between simulation and analysis, data management and geometry control. He highlighted a number of SOM projects undertaken by the Blackbox Studio including the post-rationalization of complex curvature for a feature ceiling in the lobby of the recently completed Burj Khalifa, a parametric roof for a convention center in Tanggu, China that is visually striking while accommodating program and optimizing structural performance and, finally, a more theoretical urban design project titled Growing Cities where the Blackbox Studio simulates the emergent growth of a city based on the "happiness" of buildings as determined by nature of their immediate surroundings.

The conclusion of the presentation and the subsequent Q&A took an interesting turn as questions were asked about the reaction to this way of working among designers at SOM. Besserud responded by saying that the response is generally positive. He went on to say that given the particular culture, it can be challenging to implement due to the front end time commitment to construct the "intelligent framework" needed to work this way. Offices that involve themselves in time-sensitive competition commissions can find it challenging to find the time for this. That said, Besserud remained optimistic going on to point out that SOM is actively pursuing grants to further their research into biologically inspired growth models. Additionally, in an attempt to foster a more robust local community of computational designers, he mentioned the Chicago Computational Design Forum (CCDF) which aims to be a multi-disciplinary forum for professionals that use computational methods in a variety of ways.

Sidebar Updated with Many Volunteer Opportunities

Enjoy!

UHC Workshop 2010 - 1) Seedlings to Vermicomposting: A 3-Part Series

A timely workshop by our friends over at Urban Habitat Chicago. When is the workshop for keeping the squirrels off my tomaters?

Saturday, April 17, 2010 · 10:00 AM
Play in the mud with the staff and volunteers of UHC! These one-hour workshops will cover everything from seedlings to vermicomposting. Bring your lunch and partake in a discussion about the sustainable actions you’re doing at home. A sampling of workshops:

START YOUR SUMMER SEEDLINGS
10:00am - 11:00am
Tomatoes and basil are irresistible, and taste best fresh from the garden! Learn how to create your own soil mix to start your seedlings indoors, then we’ll be planting seeds. After a month and a half they’ll be redy to move outdoors, or to a sunny window in a larger pot. The earlier you start the sooner you can be enjoying a caprese sandwich! We’ll discuss plant care and disease control for your plants so you can better tend them as they grow. Fifteen max particpants - register early! Pesented by UHC’s urban agriculturalist, Emily Lake.

AGRICULTURE, BIOSYSTEMS, COMPOSTING - THE ABC’S OF ORGANIC GARDENING
11:00am - 12:00pm
What makes something organic? This workshop will introduce you to the basic methods and fundamentals of organic gardening. From preparing the soil, understanding how and what to plant, to au naturale pest control, this workshop will enlighten you to what organic entails. Mike Repkin, UHC’s president-emeritus and President of Repkin Biosystems, will demystify organic. Fifteen max participants - register early!

VERMI-COMPOSTING = PLAY WITH WORMS!
12:00pm - 1:00pm
Like dirt? Like worms? The benefits of vermicomposting far outweigh the gross factor. Worms take your produce waste and turn it into rich, fertile soil that is ripe for planting. Create your home vermicomposting kit with the help of UHC co-founder, urban composter, gardener, and designer Anna Glenn. Anna will teach you how it’s done, and you can even take home a small beginner kit for a small extra fee (worms not included). Fifteen max participants - register early!

Where & When
Date: Saturday, April 17, 2010
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm (each workshop is one hour)
Location: Northside College Preparatory High School
(Workshops will be held behind the school)
5501 N. Kedzie Ave., Chicago, IL 60625
Cost: Please pay with cash or check at the door.
MEMBERS: $7.00/workshop or $16.00 for all three
NONMEMBERS: $10.00/workshop or $25.00 for all three
REGISTER NOW for one or more workshops!