Author Archives: Emily

want to be a public interest architect? here’s one path

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The new class of Enterprise Rose Fellowship opportunities was recently announced. Six exciting positions in Boston, Oakland, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Detroit, and Slayton, MN will offer early career public interest designers opportunities to accelerate a career path in design leadership and community engagement.

More information is below, and the detailed work plans are available on Enterprise’s website.

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Applications are now open for Rose Fellowships for 2015-2017. Apply by July 10th 2014!

Questions? Contact the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship office at (781) 235-2006 or rosefellowship@enterprisecommunity.org

The highly competitive Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship develops the next generation of leaders in community- based design. Rose Fellows take part in a unique three-year experience offering unparalleled learning and networking opportunities. As integral members of their host organizations’ staff, fellows gain practical experience in site acquisition, site planning, architectural design, developing financial pro-formas, applying for financing and obtaining public approvals. Fellows also typically help their hosts improve standards and practices for design excellence, sustainability and community engagement. Rose Fellows also gain a national support system of colleagues who share their passion for public interest architecture and community development.

As full-time employees of their host organizations, fellows earn an annual stipend plus the standard insurance and benefits package provided by their host organization. The stipend for fellowships beginning in 2015 is $50,000.

Timeline

May Fellowship opportunities posted
July 10 Fellowship application deadline 11:59 p.m. EST
September Finalists selected
October Interviews/Final decisions/Notifications
January 2015 2015-2017 Fellowships begin

 

modern mississippi

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MODERN MS poster

Earlier this year four architecture students at Mississippi State University’s College of Art, Architecture and Design compiled photos of modern architecture in Mississippi. Our state is better known for antebellum homes than the clean lines of the mid-century modernists, but this exhibit shows that Mississippi has beautiful examples from this time period as well. Fifteen buildings are displayed through thirty 18″x24″ black and white images, as well as hundreds of 4″x6″ snapshots of building details.

We are excited to currently be hosting these images throughout downtown Greenwood. The exhibit opened last weekend with the help of Mainstreet Greenwood during the annual Que on the Yazoo bar-b-que festival. Images are free to visit and can be found at ArtPlace Mississippi, Mississippi Gift Company, The Winery at William’s Landing, Beard + Riser Architects, and Howard and Marsh Exchange.

future thinking in baton rouge

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The National Alliance of Community Economic Development Associations (NACEDA) held a Southern Community Development and Affordable Housing Symposium on April 24th. The event, co-hosted by NACEDA’s Southern Caucus and the Southern Regional Office of NeighborWorks America, included leaders in affordable housing and community development from South Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Texas, Mississippi and Washington DC. The symposium was broken into two segments, “The Next Generation of Neighborhood Level Community Leaders” and “The Intersection of Community Development and the Affordable Care Act”.

As a member of the millennial generation pursuing a career in the community development field, I was a panelist during the first session (pictured above), described below in an excerpt from NACEDA’s most recent newsletter.

Texas Association of CDCs Executive Director Matt Hull moderated the session on developing the next generation of neighborhood-level leaders. The panel included Joy Banks of Mid-City Redevelopment Alliance in Baton Rouge; Emily Roush Elliott, Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow in Greenwood, Mississippi; Jenna Emmons of Ability Housing in Jacksonville, Florida; and Dr. Alicia Petersen of Howard University in Washington, DC, who oversees the university’s community development minor. Ideas included offering a career ladder of opportunity, quality of life benefits, incentives involving student loan repayment, inclusion in meetings and networking opportunities, and professional development training.

Asked to discuss what I believe attracts young people to the field of community development, I shared a perspective I have gained through teaching undergraduate students over the last few years. While there is no disputing that community development work focuses on the needs of groups and individuals who struggle economically, the younger generation baulks at language that characterizes this group as “those poor people”. Young people today are drawn to a rhetoric that eschews words such as charity, benevolence, and altruism, for a deeply rooted understanding of the interdependence of people and groups of people. In order to draw the next generation of community leaders to the field, and to have those leaders make unprecedented strides, organizations need to revise their vocabulary (and their mission and programs if necessary) to reflect views of partnership and respect, rather than aid.

Many of the organizations present at the NACEDA gathering are at the forefront of the curve in terms of making these types of changes. Despite these challenges, the variety of ages of attendees at the symposium suggested that attracting young people to the field of community development will be less of a challenge than harnessing the potential of all involved to realize tangible community level change.

a goal we can agree on

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Working in rural areas, particularly communities in which little new development has occurred for many years, often presents challenges that surprise me despite extensive experience in these settings. I am presented with points of view, biases, and opinions that I could not anticipate. In the community of Houlka, we have received lots of support and positive feedback, but we have also gotten a lot of questions over the last few weeks. Primarily, “Why aren’t the lines straight?”

Conceived of as a means to clarify uses (parking, driving, biking, and walking) within the square, as well as an eye-catching way to draw visitors from the Tanglefoot Trail into downtown, the student design features undulating yellow and white lines for a wide bike lane and walking area. Though this functional public art  is as unexpected to Houlka residents as the desire for only straight lines is to me, there is one thing we can easily agree on: a design that will decrease the risk of collisions between vehicles and bicyclists or pedestrians.

A little research reveals that from rural to urban and across the country, many issues are constants. In San Francisco, Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects is working toward similar goals, and even has proposed a solution that shares some of the traits of our downtown Houlka project. An image of their proposal is below, alongside recent photos of the CREATE class in New Houlka. 

Read more about Ogrydziak Prillinger Architects concept on Fast Company Magazine’s website. 

New Houlka photo credits: Leah Kemp

the value proposition of design

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All of this…demonstrates the tremendous ROI of architectural fees. Indeed, while most clients view fees as an expense that they need to minimize, they should be putting architecture fees on the savings side of the ledger, as an investment that brings a handsome return.

 
This is a quote from Thomas Fisher, professor and dean of the College of Design at the University of Minnesota, in the article “Value Added” in the March edition of Architect Magazine. This intelligent and succinct article focuses on the part architects have played and will play in saving billions of dollars through reduced energy consumption in buildings as a direct indication of the value added by the architect. Fisher goes on to discuss the ways in which we, as a field, make it difficult for ourselves to associate a clear value with our process and our products. The article ends on a positive note regarding a Minnesota initiative to commit to research and demonstration of the architect’s value proposition.

value_addedThe commitment by this consortium is good news, but it’s also a call to action. As architects, particularly public interest architects, we should all be measuring our impacts and building a resume that not only demonstrates our design skills, but also ties them to concrete examples of value added. Linking architects to energy use savings, improved health (particularly in affordable and senior housing), occupancy rates, increased sales tax revenue, increased property value, and other metrics provides an avenue to answering long-standing questions in the architecture field regarding legitimizing design fees for both public and private projects.

 

 

painting the town square

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Work began on the CREATE: New Houlka project on Tuesday. The design, which delineates a walking path, bike path, and parking areas around the historic downtown square, is the result of a design-impact seminar I am co-teaching with Leah Faulk Kemp through MSU’s Carl Small Town Center. Students learned about and implemented community engagement activities throughout the first few weeks of the semester and then worked together to design a response to the needs and aspirations expressed by residents.

Based on community feedback, the primary goal of the project became to attract both local and non-local people (walkers, bikers, drivers, and festival go-ers) to the square. In particular, residents and community leaders hope to attract bicyclists from the new Tanglefoot Trail (a 43.6 mile Rails to Trails conversion that opened in October 2013) to visit New Houlka, even if just for a spin around the newly painted square.

Here’s a link to the video of some news coverage we got yesterday!

a big step forward

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On March 17th, 2014 a piece of legislation was passed in the Mississippi State House of Representatives that will allow the project partners committed to bringing healthy, affordable homes to the Baptist Town neighborhood to move forward with the long-planned Mississippi Cottage initiative.

Through this effort, the Greenwood-Leflore Fuller Center for Housing (previously a Habitat for Humanity Chapter) will manage the construction and the mortgages for twenty-six Cottages that were donated to the City of Greenwood for use as affordable housing by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency in 2011. Since the homes were donated, the project has encountered numerous unexpected complexities and hurdles (cataloged here). Despite setbacks, project partners, home-owner applicants, and Baptist Town neighborhood residents haven’t given up on seeing this much-needed effort come to fruition. With the passage of legislation that will allow the City of Greenwood to donate the homes to the local Fuller Center chapter, the project is now poised to be completed in 2014.

Just as the project takes this exciting step forward, the Fuller Center Bike Adventure, an annual bicycle ride that incorporates a day of volunteer construction, came to Greenwood to build what else, but steps. During the Spring Ride (follow them on Facebook from March 14th-23rd), the thirty-three participants will ride over 350 miles in a week, raising funds and awareness about Fuller Center projects and programs. Included in this week is one build day, and the Greenwood-Leflore Fuller Center was honored to host the group here in Greenwood. These hard-working volunteers completed twenty kits of step parts, and assembled seven of them. Once the Cottages are installed on permanent foundations these steps will be attached. Many thanks to everyone who helped us kick off an exciting season of Cottage construction work!

who are all those people?

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The Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship began in 2000. As of January 2014 there are now 50 combined current and alumni fellows scattered around the country leveraging design to improve the state of affordable housing and community development. Last week, they convened here, in Greenwood, Mississippi.

As our large, energetic group was seen around Greenwood I overheard many locals ask, “Who are all those people?”. The answer is those are my people. I am more proud to be a part of this group than any other. I am proud because though we have diverse methods and work within a variety of frameworks, we share a commitment to providing our expertise to under-served populations, to working toward equitable housing solutions, and building partnerships that will result in stronger communities. The Fellowship has a legacy of excellence, and what is magical about this is that in order for any of us (whether an official “fellow” or an ally in the social impact design field) to achieve his or her goals, positive change within the communities we serve is a prerequisite. 

Many thanks to Enterprise Community Partners and Katie Swenson for giving Greenwood the opportunity to host this event.

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Here’s a little bit more about our week:

Monday through Thursday afternoon, current fellows spent time together discussing their work and the challenges they encounter. We visited Mississippi State University’s College of Art, Architecture and Design where the fellows provided feedback to students in a class I co-teach with Leah Faulk Kemp of the Carl Small Town Center, and four fellows gave a lecture to share their work. We toured Baptist Town and the projects I have been dedicated to for the last year, and we visited an ancient swamp, the BB King Museum, and the first Freedom Trail marker in memory of Emmett Till.

Thursday evening we were joined by alumni and special guests at the delicious Delta Bistro to kick off the weekend. We spent the day Friday discussing the future of the Fellowship, and in break-out sessions related to the diverse work fellows lead. The weekend wrapped up in Baptist Town on Saturday where fellows put their expertise to work, meeting one on one with future home owners to listen, draw and provide design assistance.

Photo credit: Harry Connolly

gas station information

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In a community as small as New Houlka, MS (population 617), it can be difficult to plan a community engagement activity that more than a handful of people get involved in. The CREATE: New Houlka class was struggling with not only this, but we also needed an introduction to this rural community. Last Sunday, the students found a way to solve both problems.

First, they identified a place that is a hub of public activity, and then researched when the most people visit. The answer: David’s One Stop after church on Sunday. David’s is more than a gas station, offering hot plates, homemade desserts, and tables to stay and mingle. David’s welcomed us to set up outside of their store on what turned out to be one a beautiful, warm day.

Students researched methods of community engagement a formulated a plan in class. Each developed a component of the engagement and on Sunday we had a large arrow that said “Tell us about Houlka.”, a map with push pins, a string of questions on colorful paper, and cookies to help draw people in to share their thoughts. For two hours, a constant stream of welcoming residents shared their ideas about what makes Houlka unique, the assets, the eyesores, and more.

Students also drew on some of the work of artist Candy Chang, and created “tablecloths” that we left at David’s to get responses beyond Sunday’s event (pictured below).

Throughout the day, a few themes emerged. Houlka is hopeful though it’s population and economy continue to shrink. Houlka is welcoming; residents were not skeptical of us and they are optimistic about how the new Tanglefoot Trail could impact downtown. The residents of Houlka support each other. Benefits for residents who have had a misfortune are held as often as biweekly.

A big thank you to the residents of Houlka for their warm welcome. Our class is excited to partner with you, and deliver a project that reflects the spirit of your community. Visit our facebook page for updates throughout the semester.

cottages not forgotten

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It has been a long time since I posted about the Cottages, donated to the City of Greenwood for use as affordable housing, and a big part of my fellowship work plan. This is because a resolution needs to be passed by the Mississippi legislature (typically in session from January through March) to allow the Cottages to legally end up in the hands of the organization that will install and sell them. As with many affordable housing projects, we have run into unexpected snags, policy that never predicted our specific circumstance, and skepticism. A recent letter to the editor of the Greenwood Commonwealth voiced some very real concerns about the homes regarding their durability, safety in regards to resident health, and cost. As I continue to build relationships with our legislators and we hopefully move closer to successful passage of our bill, this letter also provided me with an opportunity to publicly respond to these concerns. Below are some important facts about the cottages and this project that I highlighted in my response in a letter to the editor run on Sunday, February 9th, 2014.

  • The Mississippi Cottages are high quality homes. They were designed not as temporary shelters, but as a way for Gulf Coast communities to build back better than they had been before Hurricane Katrina. I spent a significant amount of time in the homes while working in Biloxi, and I would not be dedicated to this project if these homes were not of a quality that I would live in one myself.
  • From a technical standpoint, it should be clarified that the homes are “modular”, not “mobile”. This means that they conform to the highest building standards, and will meet all code requirements in any area of the United States.
  • In regards to finances, the Cottages themselves were donated, but the land on which they will sit, their foundations, driveways, steps, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing connections were not. These items combined will cost an estimated $25,000 for a two-bedroom Cottage. Pending passage of a bill currently in the MS legislature, the Fuller Center will sell the homes to applicants for only the costs that they invest in the items listed above. The mortgage the Fuller Center will offer will be for 15 years with 0% interest. It is our projection that the actual per month cost will be approximately $120-$160 in mortgage principal payment plus $60-$120 in monthly payments for insurance and property taxes.