March 2010

Dear Friends of Public Architecture:

With this newsletter, we are proud to release preliminary results of The 1% Third Annual Firm Survey, conducted with researchers from Harvard Business School. The survey represents over 200 firms participating in The 1% program, a 36% response rate.

Social relevance continues to top the list of variables considered by firms when selecting a pro bono project. As for why architects are drawn to pro bono work, the leading two motivators were personal satisfaction and giving back to their community. Firms reported that they would like to see more client options and an improved matching process.

Capturing the spirit of many respondents, Ruhl Walker Architects in Boston remarked, “We are a small design studio and have spent over 2,000 hours and tens of thousands of dollars of our own to travel to and work on the Hawai'i Wildlife Center. It has been a real source of pride in the studio, and even to potential and existing clients of ours. Doors have been opened, and we look forward to our next pro bono experience.”

We thank all respondents for taking the time to complete the survey. Check our website for the press release and a graphic summary of key points early next week.

John Peterson
Founder & President

Contents:

1. The 1% Program Welcomes 17 Firms and 12 Nonprofits in February
2. Market Street Revitalization
3. Volunteer Spotlight: Julia Howe
4. Partner Spotlight: Studio Lin
5. Call for Summer Associates Extended
6. Reminder: Structures for Inclusion 10
7. Upcoming Public Architecture Presentations & Participation

1. The 1% Program Welcomes 17 Firms and 12 Nonprofits in February

Since our February newsletter, The 1% program has grown by 17 firms and 12 nonprofits, bringing the program to a total of 736 firms and 340 nonprofit participants. Click here for a complete list of new participants.

The 1% program of Public Architecture has grown as a national grassroots effort, where architects and allied design professionals contribute pro bono design services to communities in need. Like many of The 1% success stories, this partnership began after the nonprofit simply Google’d “pro bono architect” and found TheOnePercent.org website.

The India Basin Neighborhood Association (IBNA) was up against San Francisco City Planning Department and San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, and felt “out-gunned” in their effort to preserve their vibrant mixed-use neighborhood in San Francisco. Through The 1%, IBNA was introduced to architect Ralph Belton, a principal at SRG Partnership, Inc, and the collaboration took off. The San Francisco office of SRG has since donated design services and advised on a community vision document that informs the City's zoning proposals for this shoreline neighborhood. SRG’s work enabled IBNA to win a grant from Lennar Corporation, which in turn paid for two additional consultants. The firm’s staff loved having a local project as a counter balance to their projects abroad.

Visit www.theonepercent.org for more information.

2. Market Street Revitalization

Last week, several Public Architecture staff members participated in a discussion and charrette at the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association (SPUR), co-sponsored by Next American City, to re-envision Market Street in San Francisco. The charrette at SPUR follows a vow made earlier this year by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to make significant changes to Market Street before the end of his term in 2011. Improving the quality of the pedestrian and transit conditions along Market is something that has been discussed by many mayors preceding Newsom, but has never come to fruition. Newsom said he would focus efforts on a struggling stretch of the street between the Union Square district and Civic Center in downtown San Francisco.

The City has already begun efforts to revitalize the streetscape along Market Street, including a Pavement to Parks initiative at 17th & Castro, designed by Public Architecture. Beginning last fall, experimental traffic diversion measures were initiated to reduce congestion along the Market Street. In addition, a number of programming initiatives involving street art and music events are already underway and the City is considering the possibility of new public amenities, including street plazas, at strategic locations along the thoroughfare.

3. Volunteer Spotlight: Julia Howe

Every Friday for the past six months, Public Architecture has benefited greatly from the contributions of volunteer Julia Howe, whose thoroughness conducting research for Public Architecture’s forthcoming Design for Reuse Primer has been critical to the progress of that project. Julia assisted Public Architecture staff by researching and documenting reuse resources and projects, which will be featured in the Primer.

Julia earned her Master of Landscape Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design and works part-time at an environmental consulting firm that is involved in planning, renewable energy development, and scientific research. Her interests include infrastructure, environmental restoration, and cross-disciplinary design. Julia was recently offered a great opportunity to spend her Fridays working for landscape architecture firm Fletcher Studio, but we are grateful for the valuable contributions she made to our work.

4. Partner Spotlight: Studio Lin

Public Architecture would like to thank and recognize Studio Lin, the NYC-based graphic design practice of Alex Lin. Last fall, Public Architecture engaged Studio Lin to work with us on the refinement of our most valuable outreach tool: our presentation. Since then, Alex and the Studio Lin staff have worked tirelessly on a pro bono basis to develop a robust style guide and template for our presentation.

Studio Lin’s award-winning work spans across a variety of media including web, social media, advertising, publishing, video, and environmental. Alex has collaborated OMA Rem Koolhaas, SANNA, Studio Gang, Grimshaw Partners and others. One of our favorite pieces by Alex is the “Mies Face” mural he did while he was a designer at 2x4, for the IIT Student Center designed by OMA.

5. Call for Summer Associates Extended

Application deadline: March 22, 2010

Public Architecture is extending the deadline for applications to our annual summer associate program to accommodate students that are overloaded with work until spring break. The summer associate(s) will work closely with and support Public Architecture’s fulltime professional staff of seven. Past projects led by our summer associates have ranged from conducting interviews about pro bono design with some of the country’s top architects to creating renderings and models.

All application materials must be received no later than 5pm on Monday, March 22, 2010. Required materials include a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and design work portfolio or samples. A short-list of candidates will be interviewed by phone, unless local. Final determination is expected in late April.

Click here for more information.

6. Reminder: Structures for Inclusion 10

March 27-28, 2010 | Washington, DC

The tenth annual offering of the Structures for Inclusion conference series will take place March 27-28, 2010. The two-day conference will be hosted by Howard University in Washington, DC, uniting both seasoned and aspiring community design practitioners. The theme of this year’s conference is SEED--Social/Economic/Environmental Design.

The keynote speaker is Francis Kéré , a young architect from Burkina Faso, Africa, and winner of the 2004 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. The conference will involve three interactive panels, provocatively titled: "Design Activism: Don’t wait for the phone to ring, take action," "Development as a Change Agent for the Good: Developers have a bad reputation among architects, but is it deserved?" and Politics and Policy: Like it or not, design is a political act."

Click here to register or visit www.designcorps.org for general information about the SFI conference series.

7. Upcoming Public Architecture Presentations & Participation

Teknion | Dallas, TX | March 24, 2010
Invited speaker

University of Texas at Austin | March 25, 2010
Invited lecturer

University of Kansas | Lawrence, KS | April 2, 2010
Invited lecturer

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

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

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.