Archinect - News

Dan Pitera appointed as University of Detroit Mercy architecture dean

2019-06-11T14:00:00-04:00

Dan Pitera, the director of the non-profit, community-centric Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC) for the past 20 years, was appointed as the new dean of the University of Detroit Mercy's School of Architecture and will begin his new position on August 1.

Described as “a political and social activist masquerading as an architect”, Pitera has led a successful career in architecture and urban development, with an expertise in public interest design and community engagement. He earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Architecture degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He then joined the University of Detroit Mercy in 1999 and has taught upper-level design studios. He served as a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University from 2004-05, and in 2010 was formally inducted into the AIA College of Fellows. He co-authored the book “Syncopating the Urban Landscape: More People, More Programs, More Geographies” and co-edited “Activist Architecture: The Philosophy and Practice of t...

Win John Cary's book, “Design for Good: A New Era of Architecture for Everyone”

2018-01-22T12:00:00-05:00

Esteemed designer and entrepreneur John Cary created the book “Design for Good: A New Era of Architecture for Everyone” to bring attention to impactful designs that address critical issues of inequity and accessibility, as well as challenge the widespread assumption that good design is a luxury. Thanks to publisher Island Press, Archinect is giving away five copies of the book to our readers!

The book starts with a foreword by philanthropist Melinda Gates. “Great design is not a finite resource; it is a choice we can all make by listening more, empathizing more, and demanding more for humanity,” Gates writes.

The book highlights 20 human-centered projects from around the world that not only demonstrate how design can elevate communities, but how it can be achieved. It features in-depth interviews with designers, clients, and users, alongside full-color photographs.

St. Jerome's Children's Centre in Murunyu, Nakuru, Kenya, by Orkidstudio. Photo: Odysseas Mourtzouchos.

Women's Opportu...

June honorees for 2017 Curry Stone Social Design Circle are announced

2017-06-01T15:04:00-04:00

The Curry Stone Design Prize just announced the latest group of designers to join the Social Design Circle. For June, the theme was “Can Design Reclaim Public Space?”.

Here are a few of the June Social Design Circle honorees:

Asiye eTafuleni

Photo courtesy of Curry Stone Social Design Circle.

Ecosistema Urbano

Ecoboulevard in Madrid, Spain. Photo: Emilio P. Doiztua

Interboro

LentSpace, New York, 2009. Photograph by Michael Falco.

Raumlabor Berlin

Photo courtesy of Curry Stone Social Design Circle.

Studio Basar

Tei Community Center, Bucharest, 2016. Photo credit: studioBASAR, Bucharest, 2016.

Find the rest of the honorees on Bustler, or check out previous announcements below.

Nine honorees join Curry Stone Social Design Circle for May 2017

2017-05-03T12:46:00-04:00

Another month has begun, so that means a new set of honorees for the Curry Stone Social Design Circle have been announced!...For May, nine new members — including Rural Studio, bcWORKSHOP, and Theaster Gates' Rebuild Foundation — were selected for the theme “Can We Design Community Engagement?”.

Here's a glimpse of the May honorees:

buildingcommunityWORKSHOP

Photo courtesy of Curry Stone Social Design Circle.

Fallen Fruit

Photo courtesy of Curry Stone Social Design Circle.

Farm Cultural Park

Photo Credit: Giuseppe Guarneri.

Institute of Play

Photo courtesy of Curry Stone Social Design Circle.

Project Row Houses

Photo: Peter Molick.

Public Works

Photo courtesy of Curry Stone Social Design Circle.

Rebuild Foundation

Photo via currystonedesignprize.com.

Rural Studio

Photo: Timothy Hursley.

Sergio Palleroni

Photo courtesy of Curry Stone Social Design Circle.

Learn more on Bustler, and check out honorees from previous months below.

2017 Curry Stone Design Prize announces Social Design Circle members for April

2017-04-05T20:22:00-04:00

April is already here, and the Curry Stone Design Prize just announced seven new members for the Social Design Circle. Instead of announcing only one winner for the 2017 Curry Stone Design Prize, the Social Design Circle was created to honor a total of 100 individual designers and practices across the globe whose work is dedicated to addressing an array of social issues in their local communities and cities.

Based on the Social Design Circle monthly question “Can Design Prevent Disaster?”, the seven designers who were selected to join the Circle include Denver-based Build Change, the Mississippi State University's Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, and Yasmeen Lari's Heritage Foundation of Pakistan.

See the rest of this month's honorees on Bustler. In case you missed them, you can find March and February's members linked below.

Center for Urban Pedagogy accepting applications for inaugural Change in Design Fellowship

2017-03-30T20:18:00-04:00

As many recent surveys have noted, the design world has been slow to incorporate people from historically under-represented communities into its ranks, particularly in leadership positions. While a variety of causes lead to this, and greater efforts are required to address it, we are committed to using our resources to contribute to and catalyze that change in design.

At a time when inclusion is as crucial as ever in the architecture community and beyond, the non-profit Center for Urban Pedagogy in Brooklyn is encouraging designers from historically under-represented communities in the design profession to apply to their inaugural Change in Design Fellowship, a yearlong career training and mentorship program.

The call for applications is open to anyone who identifies as a member of an under-represented community (including but not limited to people of color, people from low-income, immigrant, or LGBTQ communities, formerly incarcerated people, and others), with a strong interest in CUP's work.

The fellowship is probably the best fit for recent design graduates, but applicants aren't required to have a degree. However, applicants will need to submit a portfolio and any evidence that demonstrates their design abilities and proficiency in design software. The fellowship is also a full-time position that includes a monthly stipend and benefits.

The Fel...

2017 Curry Stone Social Design Circle adds eight more designers for March

2017-03-03T16:02:00-05:00

The Curry Stone Foundation announced eight new members who have joined the Social Design Circle for the month of March. Instead of announcing only one winner for the 2017 Curry Stone Design Prize, the Social Design Circle was created to honor a total of 100 individual designers and practices across the globe whose work is dedicated to addressing an array of social issues in their local communities and cities.

Throughout 2017, new members will be selected in relation to the monthly question addressed by the Social Design Circle. For March, the question was “Can Design Challenge Inequality?”.

The latest members include the Detroit Collaborative Design Center, design practice Project H, Kigali-based Active Social Architecture, and more. You can find February's honorees here.

See the rest of the March honorees on Bustler.

The latest Social Design Circle honorees for the 2017 Curry Stone Design Prize

2017-02-08T18:24:00-05:00

With so many designers who dedicate their work to tackling society's most pressing problems, it can be tricky to select only one winner for a top social impact award like the Curry Stone Design Prize. So for 2017, the Curry Stone Foundation decided to change things up a bit. Instead of awarding only one winner, they will announce a total of 100 Social Design Practices and/or Individuals as a member of the Social Design Circle, which acknowledges the most socially engaged practices.

Throughout the year, new members of the Social Design Circle will be announced every month in relation to the issue that the Curry Stone Design Prize is addressing for that particular month. For February, the topic is: “Is The Right To Housing Real?”

Here are the latest Social Design Circle members:

Asian Coalition for Housing Rights

Breaking Ground, New York, NY

David Baker Architects, San Francisco, CA

Jonathan Kirschenfeld, New York

L'Oeuf Architects, Montreal

Kraftwerk1, Zurich

Lacaton & Vassal, Paris

Learn more about the honorees on Bustler.

Waukegan, IL: future home of the Lucas Museum?

2016-05-05T16:02:00-04:00

With the future of a Lucas Museum on Chicago's lakefront in doubt, the city of Waukegan is asking the organizers to look a little to the north. Waukegan Mayor Wayne Motley reached out to Mellody Hobson, a Chicago financial executive and the wife of "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, about locating the proposed museum featuring digital, traditional and narrative art on Waukegan's lakefront, a city spokesman said on Wednesday.

After a shake-up Tuesday wherein Chicago-based Friends of the Parks (which was taking a 30-day break from suing to prevent the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art from being built) announced that it wasn't going to budge on its anti-LMNA position, George Lucas announced that he was seriously considering other locations. According to the Chicago Tribune Lucas' wife, Mellody Hobson, noted that "this process has been co-opted and hijacked by a small special interest group." On Thursday, The Chicago Tribune reported that Mayor Rahm Emanuel asked his Law Department Wednesday afternoon to ask a federal appeals court to reject the Friends of the Parks case before it is tried. Could the force be with the industrial shoreline of Waukegan, Illinois, population 90K?

You can conquer the box-office, but stakeholder groups are a whole different echelon:

buildingcommunityWORKSHOP launches The People's Design Library

2016-03-11T13:45:00-05:00

"The People's Design Library is a digital library maintained by buildingcommunityWORKSHOP for anyone looking for help in improving their community. The three collections - guides, inspiration, and [bc] publications - provide practical advice and examples of the wide range of resources out there for citizens doing community work. It’s the right of the People to shape their city, let's exercise that right and have some fun doing it!"

There are countless design, policy, and organizing guides created by different organizations to help citizens navigate how to make lasting change in their neighborhoods. We created The People’s Design Library to bring these resources together in one place. If you know of, or have created, a great guide, you can submit a resource to the library! The more people contribute to the library, the better it will be. Topics covered by the guides posted so far include how to conduct effective community outreach, how to convert underused street parking spaces to a public amenity, and how to map existing neighborhood conditions using balloons and kites. New resources will be posted every two weeks.

The People’s Design Library is the latest project of People Organizing Place (POP), the participatory city shaping initiative of nonprofit community design center buildingcommunityWORKSHOP. POP puts local stakeholders in collaboration with outside expertise to proactively shape their neighborhood’s ...

U.S. needs reliable rail systems where 'traveling 106 mph is considered slow', U.S. PIRG asserts amid Amtrak debate

2015-05-15T20:40:00-04:00

In an unfortunate sequence of events, reports earlier this week state that the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted to cut Amtrak funding by an estimated $260 million -- one day after a fatal Amtrak passenger-train derailment in Philadelphia on May 12. As investigations on the accident ensue, public debate regarding the nation's transportation needs has reignited.

In one response, the U.S. Public Interest Research Group consumer organization released their latest statement by Transportation Campaign Director John Olivieri. Olivieri stresses in a "if they can do it, so can we" manner that it's about time American policy makers catch up with international competitors and invest on designing a safe high-speed passenger rail system.

Below is Olivieri's statement from the U.S. PIRG website:

"'This is a horrible tragedy, and our condolences go to those whose family and friends have been lost or injured. Events like this must be prevented.'

'Our policy makers should take the long view. We...

Autodesk Foundation established to further support impact-design organizations

2014-03-07T18:16:00-05:00

Major 3D design software company Autodesk recently announced the launch of the Autodesk Foundation to further invest in influential individuals and non-profit organizations who use impactful design to find solutions for various pressing global issues. And to increase contribution to the Foundation's goals, Autodesk will encourage their more than 7,000 employees worldwide to volunteer with or donate to their organizations of choice.

Through the Impact Design Program, the Foundation will collaborate and provide select design-oriented non-profit groups with software, training, and funding to support the group's causes. Some of the Foundation's first grantees include initiatives like KickStart International, MASS Design Group, D-Rev, and the 20K House project from Auburn University's Rural Studio.

The Foundation will also incorporate Autodesk's Technology Impact program. Established during the 2013 Clinton Global Initiative, the Technology Impact program committed to donating $7.5 million...

SEED Award winners for Excellence in Public Interest Design

2014-01-31T18:58:00-05:00

The winners were recently announced in the fourth annual SEED Awards for Excellence in Public Interest Design. The SEED Awards acknowledges design projects that highlight pressing social, environmental, and economic issues in the world. Winning projects received a US$1,000 honorarium and an all-expenses-paid trip for one team representative to present at the Structures for Inclusion conference in New York City on March 22-23, 2014.

The jury selected six winning projects:

Pictured above: Towns Association for Environmental Quality Green Building Headquarters, Sakhnin, Israel

Comunidad Ecologica Saludable, Puenta Piedra, Lima, Peru

Can City, Sao Paulo, Brazil

Manica Football for Hope Centre, Bairro Vumba (Vumba neighborhood), Manica, Mozambique

Community How-To-Guides, Detroit, MI, USA

The Potty Project, New Delhi, India

Three honorable mentions were also awarded to: Dimen Kam Minority Cultural Heritage in China, Dimen, China; Walk [Your City], Raleigh, NC; and People Organizing Place, Dallas, Texas.

Find out more on Bustler.

Project winners announced for Public Interest Design Global

2013-12-12T13:35:00-05:00

After tight competition and vigorous deliberation from the jury, six Project winners were selected for the Public Interest Design Global. The winners will present their projects and discuss social impact design at a public global convening at the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris on April 18-19, 2014.

The six winners, announced by the Ecole Spécial d’Architecture, Design Corps, and the Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED) Network are:

Umusozi Ukiza "Healing Hill" - Butaro Doctor Housing - Burera District, Rwanda (see cover image)

Can City - Sao Paulo, Brazil

TAEQ Green Building Headquarters - Sakhnin, Israel

Walk [Your City] - Raleigh, North Carolina

Comunidad Ecologica Saludable [Healthy Ecological Community] - Lima, Peru

Joler Jonno Utshob - A Dug Well Pavilion - Dhaka, Bangladesh

For more, head over to Bustler.

Editor's Picks #293

2012-12-11T02:07:00-05:00

For the latest in the Showcase series Archinect featured Villa Solaire by JKA + FUGA as well as Folkwang Library by Max Dudler. The Folkwang Library took advantage of a special photographic/glazing technique to create the illusion of the facade being fashioned from the stone material itself. Save Western pointed out "It looks like the original proposal was for actual marble, which came back astronomically expensive, so they VE'd to curtain wall instead."

For the latest in the Showcase series Archinect featured Villa Solaire by JKA + FUGA as well as Folkwang Library by Max Dudler.

Villa Solaire in Pied de La Plagne, Morzine, France is an ancient farmhouse converted into a luxury rental villa. The project made use of a traditional technique of decorative cut-outs within the wood strips resulting in a uniform perforated cladding, which wraps the whole facade.

The Folkwang Library located in Essen-Werden, Germany is an institutional project which , combined musicological programs/collections from three institutions under one roof. The Folkwang Library also took advantage of a special photographic/glazing technique to create the illusion of the facade being fashioned from the stone material itself.

royc commented "it's a bit too literal of a reinterpretation for me...I love the knife edge though, it's nicely done. I'd be really interested to see the interior of that space, with the stairs/atrium". Save Western pointed out ...

Public Interest Design 100 honors people for their commitment to dignifying design for all

2012-12-06T13:07:00-05:00

There is a growing movement afoot in design. It has assumed many names over the years, all of which emphasize the public good and the engagement of too-often marginalized voices. Of late, we've seen life-saving products, more dignifying environments, and more efficient systems, all designed for the betterment of all.

The University of Minnesota College of Design, Tandus Flooring, and PublicInterestDesign.org introduced Public Interest Design 100.

The list is, a comprehensive look at 100 individuals and teams working at the intersection of design and service. While there are many designers, there are a great many more people working in roles essential to movement-building--as educators, communicators, connectors, funders, and more.

Dignifying Design

2012-10-07T18:54:00-04:00

Though unemployment is widespread among designers and architects, there exists a world of products, places and processes in desperate need of redesign. Imagine if designers — uniquely trained to listen and observe, and to improve the way things function, feel and look — were, like the Enterprise Rose fellows, embedded in schools, nonprofit organizations, health clinics, religious institutions and government offices, where they could experience community needs and behavioral patterns firsthand.

Public Interest Design: Products, Places, & Processes exhibition

2012-10-05T18:14:00-04:00

The heroes of public interest design are bringing the benefits of good design to those who need it most. Join us as we celebrate these design pioneers and unveil 12 new exhibits about their work.

Editor's Picks #270

2012-06-25T00:49:00-04:00

Günther Domenig passed away on June 15, 2012. Wolf D Prix, design principal at Coop Himmelb(l)au, released the following statement "I insist that Günther Domenig was one of the most important Austrian architects. Important in terms of being weighty. Meanwhile our own tammuz felt "his steinhous is an beautiful and seminal poem of architecture"

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Günther Domenig passed away on June 15, 2012. Wolf D Prix, design principal at Coop Himmelb(l)au, released the following statement "I insist that Günther Domenig was one of the most important Austrian architects. Important in terms of being weighty. In my opinion the former Z-Bank branch in the Favoritenstraße in Vienna was one of his best buildings. Long before the convoluted computer architects started using parametric tools to give their lame design a boost, Domenig had not only designed the first threedimensional facade, but actually built it, too."

Meanwhile our own tammuz felt "his steinhous is an beautiful and seminal poem of architecture" and Dimitri Kim wrote "Finally, an english speaking journal covered the late great Gunther's death. He's work was radical beyond he's time, beyond he's predecessors (Coop Himmelblau, Zaha hadid, EOM, and etc), and clearly beyond mainstream fabric of contemporary architecture."

The NYT Commercial section published a 30-Minute int...

Lessons from the Front Lines of Social Design

2012-01-16T15:56:00-05:00

In the last decade, much has been written about architecture for the greater good, and it would seem that the field, as a whole, is invested in bringing design to underserved communities. Yet all of this talk — at conferences, in the press, at universities — has focused hardly at all on how to put together a career in social design.

On Places, Virginia Tech graduate Will Holman gives an honest report of his experiences volunteering, studying and working at Arcosanti, Rural Studio, and Youth Build. Does the architecture profession need to do more to support young architects who take this path?