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Design Activism conference in DC

nightrain

Structures for Inclusion 10 will be in DC on March 27. Presenters include Francis Kere (schools in Burkina Faso, Africa), Studio Gang, Tulane City Center, Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, and new group formed by GSD students called MASS (building a hospital in Rwanda).

www.designcorps.org/sfi-conference

http://www.kere-architecture.com/publication/Gando_extension.zip

http://www.mass-group.org/butarohospital.html

Reduced hotel rate until Feb 25.



 
Feb 19, 10 7:48 am
palito77

I pass, most of the time is a bunch of bla, bla, bla, and marketing for others.

cheers

Dr. Loco77

Feb 19, 10 9:37 am  · 
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annabelle2

Dr. Loco77,

The conference actually allows groups who are working on community design projects to get feedback during extended workshop sessions - see Sunday's schedule....

http://www.designcorps.org/sfi-conference/schedule

best,
Anna

Feb 19, 10 10:17 am  · 
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mantaray

Wish I could go to this. Are there plans for the Structures of Inclusion conference to expand to any other cities?

Also -- just a random side note -- what is Studio Gang working on in regards to design activism? I'm not familiar with their current projects, just curious as to what they're up to.

Feb 19, 10 11:14 am  · 
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chris5100

Not so Dr. Loco. I've been to the last two conferences in Dallas and Boston and have found them very engaging. For students and young professionals, there's no other conference that is so accessible that provides a window into community design.

The keynote may be interesting, but the strongest part is usually the smaller presentations and panels. Really a good way to find out about some up-and-coming projects and firms and learn about how they're overcoming the challenges they face.

Feb 19, 10 11:18 am  · 
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chris5100

@mantaray- SFI is held at a new university or city each year. So far they've been to Princeton, Penn State, UVA, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, UNC Charlotte, Harvard, Dallas, and now Howard University.

Feb 19, 10 11:22 am  · 
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sahar

@nightrain

Where did you find the discount hotel information. I went to the website, and under hotels it said coming soon.

Feb 19, 10 1:25 pm  · 
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nightrain

Sahar,

The hotel link is http://www.hotelpalomar-dc.com/ It looks very nice, is near Dupont Circle, and is on bus route right to Howard (H1). (Rate is $149/night.) Cheaper places but not as nice on travelocity etc.


Mantary,

SFI 11 might be in Chicago, home of Studio Gang. At SFI 11 they will present their SOS Village project: http://www.studiogang.net/projects_b2.htm

Their other community projects are on their website: http://www.studiogang.net/projects.htm

SFI 12 might be on west coast with Public Architecture.

Feb 19, 10 2:19 pm  · 
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nightrain

Sorry, I meant Studio Gang will present SOS Village at SFI 10. They might present a new project in India also.

Feb 19, 10 2:22 pm  · 
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annabelle2

Thanks for the details, @nightrain!

How did you come to partner with Howard? Is U of Maryland also involved?

best,
Anna

Feb 19, 10 4:44 pm  · 
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nightrain

Howard and Design Corps submitted a grant to the National Endowment for the Arts, so that is how it is at Howard. Students from U Maryland, Catholic, and VA Tech are all on the steering committee and picked the speakers. UMD in fact made most of the suggestions. The ten selected were from 40+ nominated.

Other sponsors/supporters are SEED Network, Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship Program, Architecture for Humanity, Yetermorrow amd Public Architecture.

Thanks to these sponsors, the conference is free. The small fee is to pay for two full brunches and the coffee breaks.

Feb 20, 10 12:36 pm  · 
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annabelle2

@nightrain,

Are SEED presenters part of the SEED Network? Maybe folks who will be part of the SEED website?

best,
Anna

Feb 22, 10 11:16 pm  · 
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nightrain

Great question. Because the SEED (Social/Economic/Environmental Design) Network is so new, the answer is no, most of the presenters are not members (yet). But we believe they represent the principles of the Network:

Principle 1: Every person has the right to live in a socially, economically and environmentally healthy community.

Principle 2: Advocate with those that have a limited voice in public life.

Principle 3: Build structures for inclusion that engage stakeholders and allow communities to make decisions.

Principle 4: Promote social equality through discourse that reflects a range of values and social identities.

Principle 5: Generate ideas that grow from place and build local capacity

Principle 6: A community’s design should help conserve resources and minimize waste.

Joining this network is free: www.seednetwork.org

In the Sunday SFI workshop, many great projects will be presented and discussed in the context of SEED using a new tool to guide, evaluate, and measure the positive impact that design can have on communities. Filling this out gives designers an effective way to communicate with communities about what design can do for them. (It also lays out a great grant application.) By the conference, this tool will also be on-line at the site above.

Starting next year, projects submitted to the conference or to be published in next book will need to use this format.

Feb 26, 10 10:16 pm  · 
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