October 2008
Dear Friends of Public Architecture:
 Late last week, I had the honor of addressing the CEOs of the AIA Large Firm Round Table (LFRT), during their annual meeting, which took place in Vail, Colo. The LFRT, is comprised of chief leaders from more than 50 major architecture firms beyond the threshold of 150 employees. Although we are proud to count hundreds of small and mid-sized firms as members of The 1% program, large firms collectively represent a powerful source of pro bono service. LFRT members HKS, HOK, and Perkins+Will have already signed on to The 1% program, and firms like HGA have provided past support. We hope to announce new additions shortly.
This month, HOK and Perkins+Will, alongside McCall Design Group, are profiled in a groundbreaking Architectural Record article, "Professionalizing Pro Bono Practice." This is precisely the kind of article that we hope to see more of in the future; articles that profile firms that have made pro bono practice a priority and detail their tactics for integrating pro bono service into their business models. The article can be viewed on the Architectural Record website, which links to a discussion forum. Whether through article comments, discussion forum posts, or letters to the editor, we want to ask for your help in encouraging Architectural Record and other design publications to continue and expand their important coverage of pro bono practice.
John Peterson
Founder & President
Contents:
1. USGBC Grant Advances Public Architecture’s Material Reuse Design Campaign
2. 14 Firms and 14 Nonprofits Join The 1% in September
3. SRG Partnership Pro Bono Project Profile
4. 2009 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Call for Entries
5. Sign the ServiceNation Declaration of Service
6. Current Exhibition & Upcoming Presentations
7. Support Public Architecture
1. USGBC Grant Advances Public Architecture’s Material Reuse Design Campaign
 The U.S. Green Building Council recently announced the recipients of its 2008 Green Building Research Fund grants. The $2 million Fund was created by the USGBC to spur research that will advance sustainable building practices and encourage market transformation. Public Architecture is honored to announce that its material reuse research project was one of 13 selected from an applicant pool of 216 proposals. The $100,000 grant requires matching contributions, which are being sought from a range of entities, $10,000 of which have already been generously donated by Bovis Lend Lease, one of the world’s leading project management and construction companies.
The research project--the basis for our evolving "Materials Reuse Design Campaign"--builds on Public Architecture’s work with ScrapHouse, the TAF Community Learning Center in Seattle, and other projects. Starting this fall, and over the course of the next 20 months, Public Architecture will work with the Building Materials Reuse Association, a range of partners, and local, state, and federal agencies to increase the rate of reuse of existing building materials in construction projects. The research will include process-oriented case studies documenting reuse efforts as well as suggestions for improving credits related to resource reuse in the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) certification system. Overall, the project seeks to increase rates of material reuse and encourage its integration within the sustainable design agenda.
Click here for more information.
2. 14 Firms and 14 Nonprofits Join The 1% in September
 The 1% program continued its growth in the month of September, with 14 firms pledging their time and 14 nonprofits seeking pro bono design assistance.
Nonprofits also continue to express appreciation for the resources that The 1% provides. “When we first came upon this program, we thought, ‘wow, we can’t believe this exists.’…There is a level of expertise we needed to tap into and we weren’t sure where to get it,” said Alexandra Gray, Development Director of Fractured Atlas, a New York-based national arts organization. Fractured Atlas, along with the other 13 nonprofits that joined The 1% last month, believes that design professionals have a role to play in helping achieve their organization’s mission.
Visit www.theonepercent.org for more information.
3. SRG Partnership Pro Bono Project Profile
 The 1% Annual Firm Survey revealed a strong trend of firms meeting their pro bono commitments through projects with education or sustainability-related agendas. Having joined The 1% program in 2007, SRG Partnership, a mid-sized firm with offices in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, has taken on a project that uniquely marries both issues.
Highlighted in the Portland edition of the Daily Journal of Commerce, the SRG’s ‘High Performance Music Classroom’ at da Vinci Arts Middle School has been noted for its role as a novel and sustainable alternative to traditional trailer classrooms. The classroom, which will utilize low-energy heating and cooling strategies as well as photovoltaics will be the first LEED platinum-rated public school in Portland.
According to Tim Grinstead, a designer on the project, the classroom is “meant to be a prototype,” for both the design community and the public education system, “we can learn lessons from it and be able to refine it accordingly.”
Click here to read the Daily Journal of Commerce article.
4. 2009 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Call for Entries
 Application Deadline: December 15, 2008
The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Design Excellence is given to urban places that demonstrate the successful integration of effective process, meaningful values and good design. RBA winners are distinguished by their social, economic and environmental contributions to the urban built environment, and often provide innovative solutions to our cities most challenging problems.
The RBA awards one Gold Medal of $50,000 and four Silver Medals of $10,000 each. Case studies of winners are published online and in a book distributed by the Bruner Foundation.
Visitwww.brunerfoundation.org for more information.
5. Sign the ServiceNation Declaration of Service
 In conjunction with the recent ServiceNation Summit & Presidential Candidates Forum, described in Public Architecture’s September newsletter, two major follow-up efforts were launched. The first is a bipartisan bill, expanding service opportunities nationwide. The second is an opportunity for everyday people across the country to pledge their support through a “Declaration of Service.”
The Declaration leads off with the following statements:
WE BELIEVE in the ideals that define America: liberty, equality, and justice.
WE BELIEVE the idea of America is ennobled, and the future of America is strengthened, when Americans come together to serve their country.
WE BELIEVE there is no challenge that cannot be met with the energy, creativity, and determination of the American people.
WE BELIEVE all individuals can make a difference and anyone can be great because anyone can serve. Click here to read and sign the Declaration of Service.
6. Current Exhibition & Upcoming Presentations
 Public Architecture’s Day Labor Station is currently on display in San Francisco. A three-quarter scale model of the Day Labor Station, hand-built by UC Berkeley graduate student Nathan Brown, is showcased along with the other winners of the 2007 Spark! Awards in a stunning gallery located in the new Autodesk space at One Market Street in San Francisco. The gallery is open to the public on the first Wednesday of every month from 1 to 5pm.
Bowdoin College | Brunswick, ME | October 6, 2008
Invited speaker
University of Toronto | Toronto, Canada | October 20, 2008
Invited speaker
AIA Austin Luncheon Series | Austin, TX | October 21, 2008
Keynote speaker
Columbia University | New York, NY | October 25, 2008
Invited speaker, Ecogram: The Sustainability Question
OWP/P | Chicago, IL | October 30, 2008
Keynote speaker, Environmental Awareness Symposium
Click here for a complete list of upcoming presentations.
7. Support Public Architecture
Click here for 10 ways to contribute to our work.
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.
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