Tag Archives: community development

housing knowlege at aia 2016 convention

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The first time I registered to attend an AIA (American Institute of Architects) convention, wading through course descriptions (and checking which ones I could afford) took up more than my lunch hour. Now, AIA offers “tracks” to help you select a specific type of learning experience. Similarly, the Housing Knowledge Community (HKC), compiled the following list of housing related programs for those interested in housing and community development.

We are especially excited about our own pre-convention workshop, described in the postcard below. There’s still time to sign up.

AIA-WE115 postcard-031616

HOUSING KNOWLEDGE COMMUNITY SPONSORED SESSIONS
Pre-Convention Workshop
WE115 Housing, Community Development and Design: Case Studies from Philadelphia Wednesday 5/18, 8AM-12PM, Pennsylvania Convention Center 3.75 LUs/RIBA

Housing Awards Ceremony & Reception
EV313 – The Best in Housing Design: AIA and HUD Housing Awards Friday 5/20, 6:30-8:30 PM, Philadelphia History Museum, 15 S 7th Street

OTHER HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SEMINARS
Wednesday
WE307 – Strengthening Design through Community [3.75 LUs/RIBA]

Thursday
EV213 – CRAN Forum: Focusing Exclusively on the Practice of Residential Architecture EL101a/b The Architect’s Guide to Managing Risk on Residential Construction Projects TH203 – Accessible Homes: Lessons from the Field
TH208 – Converging Innovative Health Care Delivery and Green Urban Design
TH217 – Passive Housing: Affordable Fenestration Solutions
TH305 – The New East River: Transformative Waterfront Design
TH408 – DesignVoice: Serving Your Community through Public Interest Design

Friday
FR109 – Green Residential Trends: Opportunities in a Rapidly Growing Market
FR110 – Small Firms Achieving Zero Net Energy through Creative Residential Design FR115 – The NEW Collaboration Between Residential Architects and Custom Home Builders
FR204 – Fabulous Pre-fab: Applying Modular Construction to Multifamily Residential Projects
FR303 – HOUSE: Adaptive Reuse from Residential to Academic at Penn
FR322 – Making Room: The Housing Crises in London and New York
FR411 – Smaller Residential Unit Design Principles as a Key to Sustainability
FR415 – Community Invigoration: Pop-up Impact on Communities
EX108 – Emerging Trends in Package Management and Equipment for Multifamily Housing

Saturday
SA108 – Social Impact: A Philadelphia Tradition [1.00 LU/RIBA]
SA206 – What’s Driving Home Improvement? Results from Major New Houzz Research

HOUSING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT TOURS
GT203 – Tour of Social Impact Development
ET228 – Cira Green: Green Infrastructure as a Public Amenity
ET222B – High-Performance, Affordable Housing for TOD: Paseo Verde

 

keep dreaming, houston: a CIRD recap

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pano at CIRD

Even impending ice storms didn’t keep residents of Houston, Mississippi from participating in the Citizens Institute on Rural Design hosted in their community February 22, 23, and 24.  One of only four such events to be held in the US in 2015, the Carl Small Town Center partnered with the Chickasaw Development Foundation to pair local passion with expert knowledge from around the country in the fields of bike and pedestrian transit, signage and wayfinding, and community development. Many thanks to Project for Public Spaces and the National Endowment for the Arts, the organizations who brought this much-needed program to life.

Over the course of three days, social, environmental and economic factors were all considered as the team discussed the terminus of the Tanglefoot Trail (just minutes from downtown Houston), and design implications for the city as a whole. The CSTC will continue to develop the design with the community throughout the spring and summer, so images are still to come, but here are a few of my favorite quotes from our expert panelists at the event.

“Building a park or a building and then thinking you can just walk away is like thinking you will never need another hair cut.” – Cynthia Nikitin, Director Citizens Institute on Rural Design

“Even the most expensive mile of bike and pedestrian infrastructure is about 1/50th of the cost of a mile of car infrastructure.” – Heather Deutsch, Sustainable Transportation Planner, Toole Design Group

“Our task is to hear what this place is all about. Let’s create a singage kit of parts based on the unique crafts and craft people here.” – Andrew Barresi, Principal, Roll Barresi & Associates

The most important quotes come from local residents though. Two images of our Houston Candy Chang-style “photo booth” are below. More of these to come as well.