April 2010

Dear Friends of Public Architecture:

This month we are trying something completely new. In an effort to give a more transparent and human perspective of our organization, we have created a videocast to familiarize supporters of Public Architecture with our staff, current projects, and daily antics. Operations Associate Cali Pfaff developed the concept and narrates the inaugural episode. A special thanks to volunteer Meghan Hade who edited the video. Over the next six months, each member of our staff will direct an episode and the program will build from there.

The videocast is the most recent of our ongoing outreach efforts. Our strategies range from posting new participants in The 1% program on our Twitter and Facebook, to invited lectures at universities and conferences across the U.S. These events and networking platforms give Public Architecture the capacity to share the work we do, but also connect with other architects designing for the public good. That said, enjoy the video and please feel free to write in with any feedback.

John Peterson
Founder & President

Contents:

1. The 1% Program Welcomes 16 Firms and 14 Nonprofits in March
2. USGBC Podcast on Material Reuse
3. Volunteer Spotlight: Bess Weyandt
4. Partner Spotlight: Webcor
5. Upcoming Public Architecture Presentations & Participation

1. The 1% Program Welcomes 16 Firms and 14 Nonprofits in March

Public Architecture welcomed 16 new firms and 14 nonprofits to The 1% program in March. Click here for a complete list of new participants. The 1% program is witnessing a growing number of Habitat for Humanity affiliates joining the ranks nationwide. Setting the bar is Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia (HFHP), which recently posted their first 1% project: ten new affordable homes in North Philadelphia with JBA Architecture and Consulting based in Sea Girt, N.J. This project comes on the heels of a recent success. HFHP, partnering with 1% firm member Wallace Roberts & Todd (WRT) and the Energy Coordinating Agency of Philadelphia, completed Philadelphia’s first low-income, green homes last September in historic East Parkside. The match was made possible through the Community Design Collaborative of AIA Philadelphia. Working within the constraints of Habitat’s materials and construction techniques, WRT infilled the vacant site while maintaining sensitivity to the surrounding neighborhood. They adapted the area's row-house model, with brick facades, continuous porches, and on-street parking. Three of the seven houses are now built and on track to receive LEED Silver certification.

Visit www.theonepercent.org for more information.

2. USGBC Podcast on Material Reuse

Public Architecture’s Associate Design Director, Liz Ogbu, recently participated in a interview with the USGBC’s Research Program Specialist, Tom Dietsche, on material reuse. The conversation was released earlier this month through the USGBC Knowledge Exchange as one of their inaugural podcasts. The Exchange features conversations with leading figures in the environmental sustainability movement. Liz discusses the details of Public Architecture’s ongoing research project, the Design for Reuse Primer, which seeks to more clearly understand and address obstacles to material reuse in order to promote it at a commercial scale.

The Primer will ultimately be available for free online as a downloadable publication. Drawing from a series of process-based case studies, the Primer will explore twenty projects across North America that successfully incorporated reused building materials. A team of Public Architecture staff and volunteers are currently conducting in-depth interviews and research as fodder for these case studies. Stay tuned for the release of the Primer late in the summer of 2010.

The Primer will also be featured in presentations at the USGBC Federal Summit in May as well as the Real Green Conference in June.

3. Volunteer Spotlight: Bess Weyandt

Bess Weyandt volunteered with Public Architecture for six months this winter, providing well-needed development support. While working remotely, Bess partook in weekly phone meetings with VISTA Resource Development Fellow Nick McClintock to discuss funding prospects and review foundation research.

Bess graduated from Smith College in 2004, where she majored in American studies and spent time studying abroad in the Czech Republic and in Durban, South Africa. After college, she joined a Cape Town NGO, where she was a liaison between rural community groups and Parliament. Bess recently earned her Master of Interior Design from the Savannah College of Art & Design. A LEED Accredited Professional, she is interested the role of sustainability in the built environment.

4. Partner Spotlight: Webcor

Webcor is a California-based contractor, recently ranked among the Engineering News Record’s “Top 10 ‘Green’ Contractors” and the Forbes “Top 500 Privately-owned Companies.” Webcor is committed to “hands-on” building, sustainable development, and cost-effective solutions. It has been involved in a number of signature projects, including San Francisco General Hospital and the California Academy of Sciences.

Webcor proactively courts new partnerships and projects to green the construction industry at large. For the past six months, Public Architecture’s Associate Design Director, Liz Ogbu, and Webcor’s Sustainability Engineer, Ted Huang, have brought together local reuse activists and stakeholders with the dream of creating a commercial materials reuse exchange in the Bay Area. Once operational, the program will be one of the first in the country to target commercial reuse materials and will serve as a model for communities nationally.

5. Upcoming Public Architecture Presentations & Participation

Humanscale | Charlotte, NC | April 7, 2010
Invited speaker, "Design Smart Seminar Series"

Humanscale | Raleigh, NC | April 8, 2010
Invited speaker, "Design Smart Seminar Series"

Activism in Architecture Symposium | Portland, OR | April 9, 2010
Invited panelist, “Activism within the Profession”

Click here for more information.

Established in 2002, Public Architecture identifies and solves practical problems of human interaction in the built environment and acts as a catalyst for public discourse through education, advocacy, and the design of public spaces and amenities. Visit www.publicarchitecture.org for more information.