Blog: Field Notes
What are our Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellows up to? Find their notes and photos from the field here. And stay connected to the Enterprise blog, @the horizon, for more stories and updates about affordable housing, sustainable design and community development.
Community Supper
Theresa HwangApril 23, 2012
This past year, we’ve started holding Community Suppers, to bring together residents of downtown, volunteers of the Trust, Trust employees and other people interested in ending homelessness in Los Angeles, to share a meal and connect.
The most recent Community Supper featured our new class of Resident Ambassadors. It was a great evening of shared stories and meeting amazing people who have called Skid Row home for many, many years.
I sat with Lawrence, a resident of the New Carver Apartments. He shared his path to recovery and words of wisdom. He talked about how he is seizing every opportunity that crosses his path and that as a Resident Ambassador, he wants to share how he’s been able to transform negatives into positives and work with his community to help others move past the rough periods of their life. My largest take-away of the evening was the lesson that everyone struggles, everyone needs to struggle, in order to understand what their purpose is in life. Once we understand that purpose, we can begin to not only transform our own lives, but the world around us.
Rural Aging
Sam BeallApril 18, 2012
Aging in America isn’t easy. Frankly, getting older is never easy, but aging in rural America can be harder than in more urban parts of the country. Long term disability and chronic illness rates are higher in rural than urban areas, in part due to the fact that rural areas tend to have an older population. Tack this on top of the fact that many rural environments are less forgiving to a disabled population, and you have a recipe for isolation and a low quality of life.
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Two To View. Tout de Suite.
Daniel SplaingardApril 16, 2012
This week marks the second annual Chicago Architecture and Design Film Festival. If you call this city home or are in town I recommend checking it out. If not, take a look at the lineup and create your own syllabus. Last night I made it out to finally see The Pruitt Igoe Myth. The film made my head spin with the thoughts and emotions packed into the 83 minutes of interviews and historic footage of the famous St. Louis public housing site.
The feeling reminded me of If God is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise, a 240-minute Spike Lee joint about New Orleans that is encyclopedic in its reach focusing on post-Katrina education, housing, and health care through a wide array of interviews. In both cases the attempt to tell a nuanced story through film challenges the relationship between the film-makers intent and the audiences endurance. Each rewards the viewer with a unique insight into the headlines and a lot to consider for those involved in the design and development of urban housing.
Community Based Design: A Look at Where We Are and Where We’re Going
Nathan PoelApril 13, 2012
I was nearly a month into my fellowship and could not take it anymore. I was already a part of several different project teams and diving into office work but in the meantime, no one had thought to introduce me to our users, that is, farmworkers. To be fair farmworkers are not our clients. Our clients are the housing authorities, non-profits, and growers that manage farmworker housing. They, I assume, have staff that meet with farmworkers on a regular basis but in our office, we are at least two steps removed from this interaction.
As a designer interested in the participatory design process I was rather perturbed so I called up one of our clients and asked if he could show me around some of their developments. They readily agreed and so two weeks later we set out on a road trip to visit a few communities. At the first site we did not even get out of the car. I had to ask to stop so we could get a couple pictures of the houses before moving on. The same thing happened at the next site. Finally I asked if we could stop in and at least talk to one of the site managers and so we tried, but no one was there. It is common in rural Washington for one manager to be in charge of housing in several towns. By the end of the day I had seen the full tour, half a dozen developments in all, and we had not talked to a single resident.
This drive-by-develop approach is indicative of how farmworker interaction is viewed during the design process right now. I find it unacceptable that these families have no direct say in their built environment and so I am embarking on a quest to break down the social, economic, language, and cultural barriers that keep tenants out of the loop. Here are some ideas I have found that will help in this process. If you have any other insights or ideas, I would value your feedback.
1. Continued site visits with client organizations. Despite my initial frustration I still believe there is much to be learned both by us and a host organization by visiting families together. Obviously dropping in with a family’s landlord is going to keep them from sharing some concerns but it allows us to see people in their homes and educates the client on how much they can learn from just a few visits.
2. Volunteer with after school programs. A lot can be learned from kids who are often very direct about how they feel in one place or another. Simply seeing how kids interact in a place can tell a lot about how it is viewed. Plus it’s a ton of fun.
3. Traveling design center. I recently saw a fantastic way for community engagement presented by Amy Fredrick at the Hester Street Collaborative in New York. Their team built a scale model of a riverfront development then hitched it to the back of a bike and brought it around to various events in the neighborhood. Kids and adults had the chance to design their own ‘riverfront’ and then place it in the model to see how it worked. All the while the designers were learning what is important to the residents. Brilliant.
4. Move in next door. This may be the most extreme action but it is hard to match the amount of insight you can gain by interacting with neighbors on a regular basis. Besides gathering knowledge it also allows you to build trust and understanding outside of formal meetings and gives you a stake in having a positive outcome.
5. If nothing else works, have a party! Hats off to the anonymous participant at the Public Interest Design Institute who suggested this one. Nothing says community engagement like eating food and sharing time together. I am not sure how to convince the office to fund a neighborhood BBQ but I’m sure we can find a way to make it happen.
This is obviously an abbreviated list and I am still deciding which of these are most appropriate and time effective. Ideally we could do all of them and then some. The most critical piece for any approach is to foster a relationship of trust and understanding while still being able to recognize differences. In a few days our office will kick off the effort by participating in a service day to help several farmworker families with a park they have been building for the past year. We are all looking forward to it!
Strong Cities, Strong Communities
Wayne MortensenApril 11, 2012
In the summer of 2011 the Obama Administration unveiled a program designed to assist “neighborhoods, towns, cities and regions around the country by strengthening the capacity of local governments to develop and execute their economic vision and strategies.” The Strong Cities, Strong Communities (SC2) initiative is the latest in a series of programs designed to help communities combat the damaging effects of the foreclosure crisis and recession. The program challenges the traditional roles of federal agencies by exploring methods of interagency collaboration meant to present a more effective interface to local governments. The pilot project aims to assist the realization of largely economic development goals in six communities:
Chester, Pennsylvania- Local economy diversification, small business development, and downtown revitalization.
Cleveland, Ohio - Coordination of workforce, economic development to leverage the potential of the Cleveland Port.
Detroit, Michigan- Alignment of development issues and leveraging of high speed rail investments to revitalize downtown corridor.
Fresno, California- Leveraging a new rail station to improve downtown and enhance the neighborhood development program.
Memphis, Tennessee- Strengthened educational system and attraction of new industries.
New Orleans, Louisiana- Leverage existing investments to improve health service delivery, public safety, and rebuild infrastructure.
To facilitate this work, SC2 utilizes four primary components:
1. Community Solutions Teams- Federal government employees will be assigned to each city, acting as a liaison to their respective department, such as health, education, or transportation.
2. SC2 Fellowship Program– Experienced community development professionals anchored amongst the Mayors’ staffs that will interface directly with the solutions teams and provide additional capacity to those cities.
3. Economic Planning Challenge Grant– Competitively awarded grant funding available to facilitate the creation of comprehensive economic strategies eligible in communities without a current strategy.
4. National Resource Network– A “one-stop-shop” of technical assistance and tools available to local governments everywhere.
I was pleased to attend a recent convening of the pilot cities in Washington, DC. The one-day event brought Mayors, senior staff, and community solutions team members from each of the pilot cities together with senior government officials and topical experts to discuss early progress and reaffirm the administration’s commitment to finding an effective way to improve the resilience of American cities. In fact, following a panel discussion of Mayors facilitated by HUD Secretary Shawn Donovan, the President himself dropped by to reiterate his intent to succeed. The overriding theme of the EEOB event seemed to be “whatever it takes”. This administration—and this President—are willing to consider anything and everything that can potentially help our proud cities regain their luster.
Given the community-based pedigree and urban background of the man currently in the oval office, it is hard to think of anyone that I would rather have in our corner.
E + Symposium | Charrette
Mark MatelApril 9, 2012
Earlier this month I was fortunate to ‘observe’ the Boston Redevelopment & Housing Authority (BRA), Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) and the local Enterprise Community Chapter conduct a community-oriented design process focused in the Mission Hill and Fort Hill neighborhoods of Boston. Although I’ve been to numerous design charettes, I’ve never been to one with such focus on sustainable development and aimed at residents to champion sustainability in their own neighborhoods. The end result of the charrette will develop into a Request for Proposals (RFP) to build out the parcels designated in both neighborhoods.
The ‘Team’ (BRA+DND+Enterprise) conducted a symposium prior to the design charrette entitled, Envisioning E+ Green Communities, bringing energy, environmentally, and social equity positive development to Boston’s neighborhoods. The symposium brought three professionals from community planning, landscape and urban planning to discuss how each field addresses issues of sustainability. Topics ranging from grassroots to top down processes of various scales provided examples relative to underlying concerns in the two communities. This discussion was a great primer for the design charette as it gave the community residents great talking points, questions and suggestions to bring to the table during the community design event a week later.
The charrette was split into two sections: Mission Hill (Parker and Terrace Street sites) and the Fort Hill Parcels. Each section attracted a specific group of individuals. The Mission Hill Parker site attracted mostly residents and abutters who had specific concerns about height and to ensure that the development did not include student housing. The Mission Hill Parker Site attracted business abutters interested in the vacant lot and artists who wanted to preserve the beautiful murals and decorated benches on the site. The second group (Fort Hill Parcels), which I observed the most, compiled of resident abutters, an architect, BRA staff and multiple developers building in Fort Hill. Each group had a facilitator from New Ecology, a green consultant, to guide the group on topics of sustainability.
The range of experience in the Fort Hill group provided multiple viewpoints and knowledgebase for discussion. The developers were able to balance the conversation with financial reasoning of why or why not an idea would work. The residents, whom I remember from the symposium, brought up great ideas they learned and evolved from the symposium. The architect was able to quickly diagram ideas and convert the sustainable discussion into a visual one. The ideas were documented on large pieces of paper on the wall and voices and opinions were heard, resulting into a fruitful design process that presented ideas both from residential and developer perspectives.
The beauty of ‘the teams’ community design process is that they took the time to listen and engage with the two communities about their ideas of sustainability prior to engaging in a design charette. Community oriented charrettes can be difficult to manage and predict due to the varying levels of opinions and charrette experiences but, it seems the idea of a symposium prior to a charrette helps to manage expectations and goals during the process. A small change in community oriented design. A catalytic change!
Industrial Reuse + Community Development
Ceara O'LearyApril 6, 2012
This past month, I attended a conference in Chicago hosted by LISC’s Institute for Comprehensive Community Development. Entitled “Getting It Done II: Building Strong Communities in a Changing World,” the conference convened hundreds of community development professionals from across the country, as well as overseas. Government representatives, funders and nonprofits working within the scope of neighborhood revitalization contributed to the conversation.
The first breakout session I attended focused on “IMPLEMENTING your plan by leveraging and deal making” and resonated with my work in Detroit, as well a broader conversation at large in the city. During the session, Pam Kramer from Duluth LISC spoke about the implementation of a quality-of-life plan for the city’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Pam focused on one shining example of a redevelopment project in particular: the redevelopment of the former Clyde Iron Works into the Duluth Heritage Sports Center.
Clyde Iron Works dates to the turn twentieth century and contributed equipment at the height of the timber industry and to the construction of many major American buildings. In 1981 the 10-acre industrial facility closed, untouched until recent years. Since the turn of the twenty-first century, the historic campus has seen a rebirth, thanks to the attention of Alessandro Giuliani, a private developer with an ambitious vision. With the help of both New Market and Historic Tax Credits, as well as EPA Brownfield clean-up assistance, the redevelopment project led by Giuliani and LISC transformed the Iron Works into the lively Duluth Heritage Sports Center and growing entertainment center featuring a handful of locally-owned businesses. In fact, Giuliani donated much of the space to a youth hockey outfit, an amenity central to Duluth residents. In the first year, the $46-million development saw 84,000 visitors, nearly equaling the city’s population.
Watch more about the transformation here:
In addition to a benevolent developer and municipal support, Duluth’s Lincoln Park neighborhood further benefited from community support as well as Duluth's Sustainable Community initiative, which unites more than two dozen organizations working toward the revitalization of the city. Although the process of redeveloping Clyde Iron Works was surely ridded with frequent challenges and occasional setbacks, it provides an exemplary story of positive adaptive reuse in the realm of aging industrial structures. Such stories are exceedingly relevant to Detroit’s state of affairs.
Indeed, recent news of the possible demolition of the well-published Packard Plant and former Brewster-Douglass public housing complex only adds to the list of historic and industrial buildings that have been razed—or are at risk of future razing—in Detroit. While many buildings in the city likely warrant demolition as they decay beyond repair, many more have good strong bones, historic integrity and embellishments, and high potential for preservation. Such structures would also certainly benefit from a benevolent developer championing redevelopment coupled with community programming, all backed by a municipal and nonprofit support network. While such a concoction is hard to come by, there is considerable room for increased preservation via adaptive reuse, as well as more selective demolition throughout the city. I look forward to gaining a more nuanced take on Detroit’s building stock as I continue to become acquainted with the city and engage with the development community.
Read more about salvaging industrial plants:
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012120317019
Image Credits:
www.duluthheritage.com
www.duluthclydesdales.com
www.businessnorth.com
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012120322055
http://www.architectureunderdevelopment.wordpress.com
Fellowship as Scientific Method
Sam BeallApril 4, 2012
Architecture is not a precise science. Many variables contribute to the human experience; we all see the world differently based on prior stimuli. That said, while we can’t perform a simple, reproducible experiment like Mendel’s investigation of genetics, we can use the scientific method as a framework for exploring an issue. This in mind, I have two questions that relate to the design of senior housing:
1: How does senior housing differ from other forms of housing?
2: How can the design of senior housing improve public health?
I will focus on the first question in this blog post, and explore the second at a later date.
Below is a process of experimentation that allows for peer review.
- Define a question
- Gather information and resources (observe)
- Form an explanatory hypothesis
- Test the hypothesis by performing an experiment and collecting data in a reproduciblemanner
- Analyze the data
- Interpret the data and draw conclusions that serve as a starting point for new hypothesis
- Publish results
- Retest (frequently done by other scientists)
Property A, built in 1989
Property B, built in 2007
So, we’ve defined the question, and now must gather information. A key distinction between multi-family housing and senior housing lies in the use of common, shared spaces. Senior housing typically has a shared lounge and kitchen. To understand these spaces better, we performed an audit of the common spaces at 5 different properties. I looked at the character of the spaces – dimensions, materials, use. I also looked at the properties holistically, calculating population density and percentage of shared space.
As you can see here in this comparison between two properties, our buildings have changed quite a bit in the 20 years between completion dates. We’ve consolidated our footprint dramatically by placing parking underground, increasing the amount of permeable surface. Our newer properties tend to be more suburban, which has led to a lower density / acre.
When we divvy up the buildings into their constituent parts, it’s clear that common space was not a priority at property A. Common shared spaces only comprise 4% of the building. The evolution to covered parking means that a large percentage (22%) of property B is devoted to this amenity. If one were to compare apples to apples, and throw covered parking out of the calculations, property B is approximately 8% common space. That property B has twice as much common room as property A represents the direction that the organization has pursued, something we want to expand and explore further.
In summation, while the analysis may seem obvious, re-presenting this information to my host organization has been hugely helpful in understanding our next steps. Diving into an analysis of our existing properties was a great primer on what works, what doesn’t work, and where we’re going. Next time I’ll discuss the lessons learned from observing our residents use of space at different properties.
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