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SFI 10 + 1 Conference
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, JANUARY 24, 2011
CONTACTS: Bryan Bell, bryan@designcorps.org
Emily Axtman, emily@designcorps.org
WEBSITES: http://www.designcorps.org/sfi-conference
http://www.designcorps.org/sfi/winners
www.seednetwork.org
SEED Awards demonstrate that new Public Interest Design field has emerged to be presented at conference in Chicago, March 25-27, 2011 School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The Social Economic Environmental Design Competition (SEED) Design Awards, an international competition focusing on Public Interest Design, were announced today. Six projects were selected and will be presented at the Structures for Inclusion conference in Chicago, Friday through Sunday, March 25, 26 and 27. The three regional projects and three international projects highlight the important role design can perform in the public’s interest, and show that a renewed interest in contributing through architecture has reached a critical mass.
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 Kitchen 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, 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, TX; Rehabilitation of Bhaldi Village in Bhuj India; Roche Health Center in Roche, Tanzania; Student Organic Farm in Clemson, SC.
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.
Structures for Inclusion Conference
Structures for Inclusion (SFI) is the eleventh conference in an annual series covering the role of architects as a change agent in overcoming the most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges of the world today. SFI goes beyond the green design movement to include the social and economic impacts of design.
SFI 10 + 1 will bring together design professionals and students, community activists and nonprofit organizations alike. The three day conference will cover questions such as: How do we make positive change happen through design? SFI 10 + 1 will challenge participants to take action in their own school, practice and community to be agents of change.
The Competition is being organized by the Social Economic Environmental Design Network and Design Corps.
Sponsored by:
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Enterprise Foundation and the SFI 10+1 Committee.
For more information, go to http://www.designcorps.org/sfi-conference or contact:
Bryan Bell, Executive Director Emily Axtman
Design Corps Design Corps
919-637-2804 919-641-1368
2243 The Circle 2243 The Circle
Raleigh, NC 27608 Raleigh, NC 27608
Calling all architects, students of architecture and architects-at-heart to volunteer at Young Architect's Day at Wonder Works. They are a small non-profit children's museum. They have an event coming up on January 15, 2011 from 10am - 5pm where they will be showing young children how to build with legos, kapla blocks, lincoln logs and various other blocks and materials. For more information:
Jessica Taylor
Education Coordinator
Wonder Works, A Children's Museum in Oak Park
6445 W North Avenue
Oak Park, IL 60302
ph. 708.383.4815
fx. 708.383.5730
jtaylor@wonder-works.org
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
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.
In case you've been living under a rock lately, which would explain my recent proclivity for scattered posting, the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo is in Chicago this week. In association with the conference is the following networking opportunity in which our old friend Daniel Splaingard, Enterprise Rose Fellow for Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, will be presenting:
USGBC and Enterprise Community Partners cordially invite you to Take 5, a special event for students and young professionals.
Take 5 introduces a new and innovative style of presenting. Each speaker will have five minutes (300 seconds) to present, no more, no less. After all individuals have given their presentations, the audience will have five minutes to ask presenters any outstanding questions.
Attendees will have the opportunity to network with others both before, and after, presentations; you’ll also have the chance to give feedback to presenters.
This event includes an open bar and heavy hors d’ oeuvres.
You had me at open bar.
If there are any young prefessionals left out there spread the word.
Tuesday, November 16th
6 PM until 9 PM
Greenbuild International Conference and Expo
Room W196-B in McCormick Place
2301 South Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Illinois
Please RSVP
Saturdays in the Studios is upon us which means it's time to decide on the programs for which you will be volunteering. This is also an excellent opportunity for me to introduce "the new Krisann". Krisann Rhebein is still with the Chicago Architecture Foundation but has been promoted to a new position, Manager of Community Partnerships.
Mike Nourse is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, and program manager. Originally from Montreal, Mike moved to Chicago to complete his BA in Communication from DePaul University, and then his MFA in Visual Communication from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). As a fine artist his video and transfer art have been shown locally, nationally, and internationally. As an educator he has worked formally with high school to graduate level students at Marwen Foundation, DePaul, and SAIC. As a program manager he has overseen studio and exhibition programs for Marwen and Digital Media Academy (at University of Chicago), concentrating on innovative approaches for 21st century learning. In 2003 Mike also co-founded an arts lab called “Chicago Art Department”, which leads informal explorations in studio, exhibition, and learning practices for new and emerging artists in Chicago. At CAF Mike concentrates on teen program management, online development, and strategic partnerships.
It would be hard to find a replacement for Krisann but as CAF President and CEO Lynn Osmond will attest Canada is a good place to start. To Mike's credit I only vaguely caught his accents on his "abouts" which need a little polishing. This is due to my rigorous training as a Minuteman on the northern border. As further proof that this town is even smaller than we think I have had Mike's CAD group on my radar for some time now.
Now that Mike has settled in and the honeymoon is over it's time to get to work. The first workshop will occur on Saturday, Nov. 20th. There is a planning session this Monday, Nov. 8th that there isn't much time for you to RSVP for so you should probably just show up. See you there.
As part of the AIA Illinois Annual Conference, a panle discussion on community engagement in architecture and why they do it. The press release:
This Community Engagement panel discussion will explore the practice of community based projects by Architects. The panel is composed of a diverse group of professionals with practical experience in pro-bono, reduced fee, and community based work, who use their skills to contribute meaningfully to improve their communities. The panelist include: Susan King, Principal at Harley Ellis Devereaux; Patricia Saldaña Natke, Founding Partner and President of UrbanWorks; Mike Newman, founder of SHED Studio; and William Sindelar from Ragnar Benson Construction and Chair of and AIA NEI Community Outreach Committee. Matt Dumich from Valerio Dewalt Train and the AIA Chicago Community Interface Committee will moderate this session. The panel will discuss the value of community engagement and how and why they are involved in this community-based work. They will review best practices for working with community groups and non-profit organizations.
Attendees will learn how to evaluate a community group or non-profit organization to work with, how to structure projects and determine fees. They will also understand contractual and potential liability issues involved.
The Community Interface Committee is dedicated to increasing the visibility and participation of architects within community groups and non-profit organizations. The Committee acts as a network and forum for exchange of knowledge related to public interest work; a point of contact for community groups and nonprofit groups that seek design solutions; a liaison between the AIA and established pro-bono design groups; and support for architects’ involvement in civic activities.
Community Engagement: Design, Practice and Outreach panel discussion
November 05, 2010, 2:45pm at iHotel, 1900 South First Street, Champaign, IL
More information and register online.
If you haven't heard much about Haiti lately here's why: nothing is happening so there is technically no news to report. From a friend:
I am sad to inform you that not much has changed since the earthquake. I've traveled through parts of Port-au-Prince and most of the collapsed homes have not been touched, meaning that there are still corpses buried under the rubble. The hospital is still in ruins; the people are housed in tents still. the German professionals who are staying with my mother went there expressly to rebuild the local hospital but [redacted] did not give them permission to do so. I'm sure you are probably asking who is running the country.
No, I'm pretty clear on that.
I am happy to say that little Architecture for Humanity Chicago competition win I was part of still has momentum. AFHCC meets every third Tuesday of the Month (that's this Tuesday!) at 6:30 at Brehon Pub, 730 N. Wells.
From Resource Center:
Saturday, October 9, 4:00 - 9:00 p.m.
Please join your friends at City Farm and Resource Center for an outdoor fall celebration. We’ll start with fun activities for the kids and follow with music for the adults. Light food and beverages will be served, courtesy of Resource Center partners.
City Farm is at the corner of Division and Clybourn, on the #70 bus line and just 4 blocks west of the Clark and Division Red line stop. Parking is available.
Schedule:
4:00 p.m. Children’s Activities Begin
6:00 p.m. Music and Night Lights for Adults
Registration Fee:
Adults (19 and Over) - $35
Youth (12-18) - $10
Children - Free!
To Register:
http://cityfarmurbanharvest2010.eventbrite.com/
