Archinect - News

Harvard GSD "Future of the American City" initiative begins in Miami with $1 million support from Knight Foundation

2018-03-20T15:20:00-04:00

The "Future of the American City" initiative led by Harvard Graduate University School of Design will begin in Miami with $1 million in support from the Knight Foundation. The project will engage Miami residents in creating new approaches to address pressing urban issues including affordable housing, transportation, and sea level rise.

With this funding Harvard GSD will send urban researchers to Miami and Miami Beach to understand the city's strengths and challenges as part of a 3-year study towards building solutions. The initiative aims to help cities tackle sustainability and resiliency challenges beginning this spring.

Building on the school’s multi-disciplinary model, the effort will use architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning and design to come up with efficient solutions that take into account community needs. This research can also be shared with cities across the nation facing similar challenges.

Harvard GSD’s upcoming Miami research will be phase one in...

Thirty-three projects win $5 million prize in 2017 Knight Cities Challenge

2017-06-12T13:04:00-04:00

The Knight Foundation held another successful Knight Cities Challenge for the third consecutive year...Starting with a staggering 4,500 design ideas in the open call, the jury narrowed down the competition pool to 144 finalists. Now, the 33 winners have been revealed and will share the $5 million cash prize that will help implement their projects in 19 Knight-invested communities.

The winning ideas range from an urban beach along Detroit's Atwater Street to a new public space in Columbia, South Carolina that connects two isolated neighborhoods. See all the winning projects on Bustler.

144 finalists advance in 2017 Knight Cities Challenge

2017-01-19T12:53:00-05:00

Now in its third edition, the Knight Cities Challenge asks one question: “What’s your best idea to make cities more successful?”. Every year the Challenge's national call for ideas attracts a staggering number of applicants, who submit their strongest written ideas that they believe can improve everyday living in cities across the U.S. — particularly the 26 Knight communities. Out of more than 4,500 hopeful ideas, the jury narrowed down the competition pool to 144 finalist ideas.

Check out the full list of finalists on Bustler.

158 finalists revealed for the second Knight Cities Challenge

2016-01-12T12:41:00-05:00

The second Knight Cities Challenge is ready to create a bigger impact in neighborhoods across the U.S. The Knight Foundation announced today a hefty shortlist of 158 Challenge finalist initiatives, which were selected out of a staggering 4,500 applicants who responded to the national call for ideas last October. Open to anyone, the Challenge posed one question: "What’s your best idea to make cities more successful?"

The winners, who will share a $5 million prize to launch their projects, will be announced in the spring. Check out the full list of finalists on Bustler.

UMSoA to Propel Neighborhood Revitalization with $650,000 from Knight Foundation

2015-04-16T12:56:00-04:00

“The School of Architecture has a long history of helping to reshape and revitalize the South Florida community,” said Rodolphe el-Khoury, dean of the University of Miami School of Architecture. “We are pleased that Knight Foundation has chosen to support this unique project that will have a lasting impact on communities in need of assistance.”

The University of Miami School of Architecture today announced a plan to bring “third places” – community spaces, marketplaces, incubators and training centers – into two underserved Miami neighborhoods with $650,000 from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The Third Place Project will create spaces that provide resources and support to entrepreneurs, creatives and civic leaders in these neighborhoods, as a way to foster their ideas and break down barriers. It will also help transform these neighborhoods and create opportunities for local businesses, by establishing inexpensive spaces for startups and hubs for arts, culture and entertainment. The grant will support Momentum2: The Breakthrough Campaign for the University of Miami.

“A major challenge in the Miami metro area is the disconnect between extraordinarily wealthy neighborhoods and boom areas and long-struggling urban neighborhoods such as Allapatah, Little Haiti and Opa-locka,” said Charles Bohl, associate professor an...

Knight Cities Challenge announces its selection of 126 finalists

2015-01-14T13:49:00-05:00

How do you choose 126 good ideas for cities from the more than 7,000 proposals submitted to the first Knight Cities Challenge? It wasn’t easy. But, as of today, we’ve asked 126 happy finalists to submit final applications in three weeks with more details about their ideas. [...] Each of the 26 Knight communities had at least one applicant named as a finalist, and Detroit had the largest number of applicants: 1,365! Detroit also had the largest number of finalists: 25.

These are the 126 finalists for the inaugural Knight Cities Challenge:

Aberdeen, S.D.

Aberdeen SD Welcome and Relocation Center by Aberdeen Area Chamber of Commerce (Submitted by Gail Ochs): Strengthening newcomers’ attachment to Aberdeen by creating a new welcome and relocation center.

Akron, Ohio

Akron League of Creative Interventionists Headquarters by the League of Creative Interventionists (Submitted by David Swirsky): Establishing a space for the creative community to hold meetings, workshops and programs, and brainstorm interventions designed to break down barriers between diverse populations.
Better Block International Hostel and AirBnB by Team Better Block (Submitted by Jason Roberts): Strengthening the city’s sense of place by turning a vacant property into a cultural hub and hostel centered on a specific immigrant population.
Chickadee Society (Submitted by Chris Horne): Fostering a love for Akron through a subscription service that delivers Rubber City goods and opportunities ...

Healthcare.gov aside, government and tech are starting to get along

2013-12-04T15:00:00-05:00

At the intersection of these two domains – technology and civic life – a small and fascinating sector has been taking root for the last few years. [...] Together, these types of companies and organizations have loosely come to define "civic tech" – and the potential for a future where technology finally, seamlessly, significantly alters how we relate to government and our neighbors.

Not without its growing pains, the U.S. government is slowly learning to effectively use technology to connect to its citizens. The expanding field of "civic-tech" focuses on the sharing and distillation of government data, to grease the bureaucratic wheels and ramp up personal civic engagement.

Explore the world of civic tech with this interactive network map, courtesy of the Knight Foundation.