Architecture Commons^™

Table Of Contents And Prologue, Nathan Geier, Sandy Lam, John Cary

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Editorial board, Table of contents, and a Prologue on Public Design Interest by John Cary

Radical Incrementalism: An Open Letter In Defense Of The Small, Dan Etheridge, Emilie Taylor

Oz

Dear Urban Change Agent,

We know you have big ideas, we do too. You think good design can make a difference. You see the work of others in the world, folks like Rural Studio, MASS, or the Center for Urban Pedagogy and you think, my community has needs and opportunities that could be addressed by design.

Where We Stand, Mike Newman, Rashmi Ramaswamy

Oz

We are at a unique moment in global history. Against the backdrop of social and economic upheaval, there is growing awareness that our current systems and lifestyles disempower us and are not sustainable. The world’s resources are finite and inequitably distributed. People throughout the world are embracing their inner activist and demanding the right to shape their own destinies.

Architecture’S Direct Impact, Holly Jacobson, Alan Ricks, Mass Design Group

Oz

How valuable is architecture? The effects of the 2008 recession, namely sustained unemployment in the profession still lingering around 13.9%, have forced soul-searching within the discipline. Recent headlines in the New York Times: “Want a Job? Go to College, and Don’t Major in Architecture” lay bare the value proposition of the profession—the public doesn’t see one.

Engaging Haiti: How Designers Facilitate Long-Term Disaster Recovery, Karl Johnson, Stacey Mcmahan

Oz

There is a reason why Pétionville is the center of the recovery effort in Haiti. Its perch in the hills above Port-au-Prince offers relative isolation from the metropolis, in addition to the mind-boggling panoramic views of the basin and bay from which that city has grown—qualities enough for establishing a national financial center, and some of Haiti’s most luxurious hotels.

Contributors

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Biographical information on contributors to volume 35, and a list of benefactors and donors

Re-Considering The Unity Of Architecture And Human Well-Being, Susanne Siepl-Coates

Oz

Over many centuries people have shared the belief that there are significant connections between human health and the physical environment. Based on this belief, architects of the early Modern Movement such as Richard Neutra (Lovell ‘Health House’), Johannes Duiker (Zonnestraal Sanatorium), and Alvar Aalto (Paimio Sanatorium) have designed buildings with the explicit intention of positively impacting human health and well-being. In fact, improving human health was one of the primary tenets of the Modern Movement.

Reclaiming Urban Settings: A Community Based Public Space, Bedour Ahmed, Basil Kamel

Oz

The modes of production of urban spaces today have shifted from being initiated by institutional and formal production entities and has been transferred into the hands of the community. This change is widely represented in pocket urban spaces that have developed in inner cities and under bridges, overpasses, and highways. The utilization of these spaces unites the community and allows its inhabitants to reclaim public space.

Principles For Integration: Learning From Public Interest Design, Jill Sornson Kurtz

Oz

As the mementoes of the assembly line approach the past, the last century’s building portfolio epitomizes the industrialized era in which it was produced. Isolating energy systems and siloing disciplines from each other for efficiency’s sake has resulted in a collection of buildings that are anything but efficient.

Less Is More: A Vision Rethought For The 21st Century, Beat Kämpfen

Oz

“Less is more”—Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s famous statement—defined the paradigm with the largest influence on design of our cities and architecture over the second half of the last century. During this period, the main public interest in architecture was to be found in rapidly increasing the speed of production while at the same time lowering construction costs.

Towards A Cultural Value Of Design And Democracy, Bryan Bell

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In October of 2000 Design Corps held a conference at Princeton University called Structures for Inclusion and made the challenge that we should “design for the 98% who were currently un-served by architects.” This slogan has served as a rallying cry for a growing Public Interest Design movement over the last 13 years.

Forging A New York City Practice Rooted In A Social Agenda, Kimberly Murphy, Claire Webb

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Need architects adhere to a social agenda, or any agenda at all? Driven by an ideal of achieving harmony of material and form, architects seek to improve the built environment. How can an architect’s ambitions of reaching “the ideal,” and an impulse to inject theoretical architectural ideas into projects, collide with practical realities of creating progressive educational centers, or housing the homeless and other underserved groups?

In Praise Of Getting Lost: Sven Hedin And The Lowline, James Ramsey

Oz

This article represents Ramsey's design for the Lowline, a vast underground reuse of New York’s abandoned trolly terminal on the Lower East Side. It is partly inspired by notes from Sven Hedin’s celebrated expedition into Central Asia in the early 1900s.

Flexible Design And The Role Of The User In House Design, Javier Sanchez

Oz

Collective housing became relevant to architecture at the moment of the transformation of production, the moment that Walter Benjamin has characterized as one of technical reproductibility, which formed part of the urban revolution that created metropolization.