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Archive for November, 2009

PRO BONO : THE HEIDELBERG PROJECT

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

PRO BONO PUBLICO : For the public good or well being, and more commonly understood in the world of professional services as ‘free’.

DEFINING PRO BONO. We all understand disparities in wealth and access to professional services. To some, these disparities compel a moral imperative to provide professional services to under-served communities. Many architects regularly perform pro bono services for a variety of ends. While certain firms focus on needs of the international community, such as Japanese architect Shigeru Ban and his disaster relief housing for Japan, Turkey, and India, others focus on issues specific to the United States. Auburn University’s Rural Studio has been designing and building housing and civic buildings in rural Alabama since 1993, while Yale University has an even longer tradition of volunteering their design/build services to their local community. While globalization has increased the reach and scope of the architect, it has also brought to the forefront the major issues that plague our societies. A great need exists globally and locally, and architects are more capable than ever to affect change.

FOR-PROFIT ENGAGEMENT. Even as a number of non-profit firms work diligently across the country, almost exclusively for other non-profit organizations, the for-profit environment has yet to wholly embrace the social and moral side of architecture. Public Architecture, an organization founded in 2002, has initiated a 1% commitment for all for-profit architecture firms. They strive to commit the resources available within the field of architecture to act as advocates for social justice, thereby improving communities locally and globally. “The 1% program of Public Architecture connects nonprofit organizations in need of design assistance with architecture and design firms willing to donate their time on a pro bono basis.” Public Architecture speculates, “If every architecture professional in the U.S. committed 1% of their time to pro bono service, it would add up to 5,000,000 hours annually – the equivalent of a 2,500-person firm, working full-time for the public good.” (more…)

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chinaHAA : Design, China, and Details

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

chinaHAA. A few weeks ago, two of our employees trekked 24 travel hours across the globe to Hefei, China. Upon arrival, HAA commenced an innovative cross-cultural, cross-professional exchange. For the next four months, these employees will be working directly for the Hefei University of Technology within their architecture/design department. During this time, they will be posting illustrative photos that speak to Design, China, and all of the discovered Details. (more…)

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HAA ANNOUNCES LECTURESHAA – EVENT 04

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

lecturesHAA is dedicated to creating a broader creative discourse through open and collaborative dialogue. The program includes lectures and discussions throughout the year that will consider important contemporary design issues associated with the urban environment.

The initial program for 2009 will be “Challenging Detroit: (Re)generating Urbanism.” This program will provide an important platform for consideration of innovative, multidisciplinary strategies designed to help the city not only create reinvestment and redevelopment, but also begin to regenerate the social, economic and environmental attributes that define it. Now, more than ever, we need to come together to understand how we can effectively participate in the thoughtful, creative regeneration of Detroit.

The public is encouraged to attend these free events. Please return to rogueHAA for future dates and topics. (more…)

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reFACING DETROIT : A HOUSING NARRATIVE : PART 1

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

HOUSE NO. 1 : I step out of my car and glance at the address listed on my clip board. I then compare that number to the faded house number adjacent to the front door. It’s a match. My partner and I glance at the neighborhood and quickly assess our surroundings. We traverse the short front walk, step up the slightly deteriorating stoop, and ring the doorbell. It doesn’t work. I tap my clipboard hard against the locked storm door. I stand square with the front door, my Detroit Housing Commission badge daggling from my shirt pocket. Like standing before a metal detector at the airport, I allow a stranger to scrutinize my intensions. I give ample time for them to complete their security check through the peephole. As I stand there, my mind wanders. What will I find on the other side of the door?

REHABILITATING DETROIT. In 2009, the federal government passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It was enacted as an economic stimulus package and immediately pumped $12.7 billion towards the modernization of the nation’s public housing. New leadership at the Detroit Housing Commission (DHC) has earmarked $8 million toward breathing new life into a scattered sites housing program that has proven national success. Through this capital outlay, the DHC is continuing its mission to provide quality housing for all Detroiters. Hamilton Anderson Associates is one of four teams of architects asked to take this journey of rehabilitation with the DHC. Our specific task is to assess the physical condition of 80 homes, but as our work continues, we realize our assessments are also about restoring the human condition.

HOUSE NO. 14 : The door opens and I walk in. Countless clipboards have already ‘surveyed’ their living conditions only to leave and never to be seen again. A woman in a hospital bed lies on her back, head propped up by a pillow so that she can listen and watch the small television on the opposite side of the room. The gurney is squeezed in amongst living room furniture. Her eyes follow me as I survey the room.

(more…)

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Walter Hood Lecture @ UDM

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

On Friday, November 13, Landscape Architect Walter Hood will be lecturing at the University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Architecture.

As stated on UDMSOA’s website, Walter Hood is a Professor and former Chair of Landscape Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and principal of Hood Design in Oakland, CA. Hood has worked in a variety of settings including architecture, landscape architecture, art, community and urban design, planning and research. He was a fellow at the American Academy in Rome in Landscape Architecture, 1997. He has exhibited and lectured on his professional projects and theoretical works nationally and abroad.

Location:
University of Detroit Mercy | School of Architecture
Genevieve Fisk Lorenger Architecture Center
4001 West McNichols Rd
Detroit, MI 48221

Friday, November 13, 2009
NOMA reception @ 5:00 pm
Lecture @ 6:00 pm

For more information, click here

(image provided by Hood Design) (more…)

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Behind the Scenes

Friday, November 6th, 2009

I peer out the window of my downtown apartment, across the street I observe 20 men suited in military gear. Overcome with curiosity, I immediately head outside to survey the situation. Just as I turn the corner to view the activity, someone yanks on my sleeve, allowing a military tanker to continue its charge down the street. Later, I am enjoying dinner with family. We pause in conversation after a huge blast rattles the building. The following weekend, I relax while enjoying a glass of wine. Rapid gunfire is heard in the distance and a director shouts ‘cut’.

Michigan’s film incentive offers a 40%-42% tax credit, making many areas throughout the state an appealing film set. As a Detroit city resident, living amongst the ‘Red Dawn’ set is an interesting experience. The bizarre juxtaposition of real and surreal transforms the city and alters all urban interactions. Gun shots and explosions are now an expected reality. It only took a short time to become desensitized to the implications of those sounds. Vacant buildings – normally void of life – become beautifully lit backdrops, integrating a previously scattered downtown landscape. From time to time it’s a bother getting from point A to point B, but overall the experience is pretty spectacular. The downtown liveliness resulting from ‘Red Dawn’ is a reminder of Detroit’s potential. More importantly, these productions allow out-of-state film crews (and their support staff) to experience the greater qualities of Detroit. We want them to return again and again. (more…)

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