Engaging Them. Becoming Us. An Architect’s Role.
Jason Klinker Master of Architecture Final Creative Project Major Advisor: Dr. Wes Janz Minor Advisor: Anthony Costello, FAIA Submitted: May 04, 2011
Abstract
Money is tight, hunger pangs are creeping in, the middle of December and that horrible decision has to be made – are the kids going to be more upset if they are hungry, cold, or without a present this Christmas. The painful truth is impossible to avoid – life can be hard. As the vast majority of us will go through hard times at some point or another, it is important to remember that the one resource we have plenty of in this world is that of human energy – when life has pushed us down, our human energy is where we need to turn to carry on. One of the main ideas that drew me to architecture was the ability to design structures that would affect people on a daily basis. For me, that amount of interaction translates into an unbelievable potential to have a positive impact on the world. It also means there is a tremendous responsibility. This is a responsibility that I take very serious. Unfortunately, our profession has only recently started to actively engage the potential of architecture in the areas where it is likely needed the most – the Midwestern industrial town, the blighted city neighborhood, the village recovering from natural disaster. I am confident that architecture has a special role that it can play as a spark for these areas, for the small Rust Belt town. That role is where I have focused my energy. I see many of the current attempts at socially engaging, humanitarian architecture to be top down master planning, often lacking the engagement at the base. With this final project, I am presenting a socially engaging architecture, and more importantly, a socially engaging architect, starting at the base and working up. I have utilized this final creative project as an opportunity to immerse myself into the local Muncie community. Facilitating collaborative efforts of clients, volunteers, and board members, we have made physical changes to the dining room at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. Serving as an engaged case study, this project is put into a taxonomy of architects that are dedicating themselves to similar work.
Table of Contents
I.
Abstract
II.
Table of Contents
1.
3.7
3.
3.7.1
Callout Meeting – Establishing the Dining Room Club
3.7.2
Redesigning the Dining Room
Introduction (pages 001 - 008)
3.8
Personalizing the Relationships – Redesigning the Dining Room
1.1
Introduction
3.9
Growing and Building Together – Remodeling the Dining Room
1.2
Thesis Overview
3.10
Observing the Response
1.3
General Methodologies 4.
2.
Dissolving Boundaries – Challenging Existing Social Structures
A Shared Perspective – Practitioners Focused on Non-Traditional Clients (080-153)
Literature Review: Understanding Perspective (009 - 029)
4.1
Creating a Taxonomy
2.1
Questioning the Perspective
4.2
Profile – Jason Klinker
2.2
Understanding Them
4.3
Profile – Ryan Ellsworth
2.2.1 Pecha Kucha Exercise
4.4
Profile – Hector LaSala
2.3
Becoming Us
4.5
Profile – Mike Halstead
2.4
The architect’s Role
4.6
Profile – Emily Pilloton
4.7
Profile – Bryan Bell
A Model for Engagement: The Harvest Soup Kitchen Project (030 - 079) 3.1
Introducing the Cast
3.2
Researching and Understanding
5.1
Soup Kitchen Future
3.3
Saying Hello
5.2
My Future
3.4
Establishing Core Friendships
5.3
Taxonomy Conclusions
3.4.1
5.4
Academic Relevance
Giving Cameras to Johnny and Loretta
3.5
Establishing My Place
3.6
Discovering Boundaries: Understanding Existing Social Structures 3.6.1
Giving Cameras to Regular Diners
3.6.2
Surveys
5.
Conclusions (154-160)
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Thesis Overview
Chapter 1 is an overview of the project, general methodologies and reasoning that are behind this thesis in both formulation and execution. My initial interest for this thesis project was to gain understanding of how I, as a person formally trained in architecture, can utilize these new tools to make a difference and help
Chapter 2 talks more specifically about questioning current accepted perspectives
people out. That said, this project has focused less on developing a physical piece, and
when dealing with non-profits and potential clients who are not typically served by the
focused more on developing a process of engaging a local non-profit, in this case the
architectural profession. It also touches briefly on developing an understanding of the
Harvest Soup Kitchen.
architect’s role.
As the semester progressed and I found some success in the project done at Harvest,
Chapter 3 discusses in detail the project that took place at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. This
I became curious how what I was doing related to other folks doing similar work. I was
project is framed as a series of steps that I used as a method of engagement.
curious to see, if they too have gone through this process, how they’ve handled the tough situations that undoubtedly arise when working with people and situations that
Chapter 4 provides further research in the form of six profiles of professionals trained
are financially and emotionally stretched thin. As I looked closer into some of the other
in architecture that are focusing their energy on non-profit, homeless, and the type of
architecture professionals in the world engaging in this work, I found that they all had
clients that I am interested in serving with my degree. This section will compare my own
some pretty unique ways that they were taking a traditional degree and using it in a non-
profile to the other architectural professionals working on similar projects in order to better
traditional manor to achieve similar goals.
understand how my efforts fit in to a broader body of work, as well as, allow me to better understand how to pursue this interest further in my career.
As I pushed further with the research, I began to put together a small taxonomy of these people. In the mix, I have placed myself as a way to compare the things I am doing to
Chapter 5 is a series of conclusions and predictions in terms of the Harvest Soup Kitchen’s
the established professionals. It also provided me a platform to formally layout some of the
plans as a direct result of my project, my personal goals and aspirations, and the more
things I have done, while challenging me to determine where I am personally going after
immediate steps I am taking as I transition into a professional career. It also will present
graduation.
some conclusive evidence as to the academic and professional relevance of this project.
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1.3 General Methodologies
develops slowly and with a very high level of interaction with the community. I believe that it is this dedicated approach, becoming a vested member of the project and involving the members of the community, that will be the most successful way to empower these citizens and arm them with the tools needed to succeed in a new world. There are many critiques to this method of engaging a community, from others as well
My initial research included the review of standing theories in pedagogy and educational
as from myself. This method requires a drastically increased amount of time and personal
systems, architectural and planning theories that relate to the role the physical environment
dedication, mostly due to a relatively small understanding between the formally educated
plays in community development, and theories of environmental psychology and social
architect and the more simplistic perspectives of many blue collar workers. This lack
organization regarding how people place value in their individual and communal lives.
of understanding goes both ways. The important role that architects can play is often
Aside from these three, a base understanding was also sought in understanding some of
overlooked as ‘fluff,’ while architects tend to dismiss those less educated as lacking the
the works in sociology that focuses on community transitions, times relation to personal life
ability to understand what they want. We both have much to learn from each other. It
perspective, and perspectives of the leaders in discussions based on city decline and the
also becomes very difficult to support a professional career while doing this type of work
dynamics of social movement in our modern time.
as these communities and clients often lack the funding necessary to pay for architectural services.
From the beginning I knew that I had an interest in researching, and better understanding the relationships and workings of neighborhoods and communities – specifically
Despite this skepticism, I find that this method of dedicated engagement becomes vital to
communities in the Midwest that have a strong working class demographic. Being
the success of these projects. As many in the ‘working class,’ are feeling neglected by their
brought-up with Midwest, working class morals, I wanted to understand how this group
government, and in many ways their country, they need to be given a voice that allows
can make the necessary transition from a predominately production based economic
them to take control of their world. The ultimate goal is not for me to have control over my
model to one that is focused in the services sector and information sharing. I hope to one
environment, but to help provide others the tools, both physically and emotionally, to take
day understand how these communities can maintain the strong morals that hold them
ownership of theirs. This project has shed some light on the potential roles the architect
together, yet still find their place as the world they once knew slips away. Understanding
can play. As I continue in my career, I hope to investigate these roles further. This ‘call to a
that there is a complex system of forces at play in these communities, and with the people
greater cause’ is what has drawn many students to the profession of architecture. I hope
that inhabit them, is what led me to such a wide range of investigation for my initial pass
to help the profession realize its potential to answer this call.
at relevant literature. I feel as though this breadth of this exercise has played an important part in developing a basic working knowledge of the situation.
To balance the loftiness of the literature review and the seeming disconnect between what was being said and the lack of what was being done, I began, and continue to
Another reason for the range of this investigation was a response to the vast difference
volunteer in the local Muncie, Indiana community. Originally I had identified the Harvest
in beliefs as to the role of the profession in addressing social issues. With the range of this
Soup Kitchen as a site for my research project, and ultimately found it to be a place that
working knowledge, it allowed me to develop my own ideas into where architecture as
could utilize my architectural skill-set. My initial observations gave me reason to believe
a profession and architecture as a physical environment fit into these communities. From
that there was some disconnect between the three primary groups in the social structure -
this base, I have developed my stance that an appropriate position for architecture, if
the board members, the volunteers, and the diners. Also, the physical appearance of the
it seeks to be successful and relevant to the shrinking Midwest industrial city, is one that
dining room was tired and aged. It seemed more appropriate that this room have some
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excitement to its décor, even if only slightly.
to move along fairly quickly. In retrospect, I think this worked for the best because it kept everything at a manageable scale. It also allowed us to start doing work, and let others
Making these general observations allowed me a platform to start testing the theories and
see the things we were doing. I noticed that there was a very big change in perception
understandings that I had been reading. I decided to more openly approach the people
towards me as I began explaining the changes we were making, and diners were able to
at the Soup Kitchen, mostly the volunteers at first, with this idea of doing a project in the
see that I was dedicated not only to Ron and Dave, but also to improving their space. We
dining room. Having had several other volunteer groups (the boy scouts, church groups,
were not focusing just on function or security, but looking at spatial quality and also making
etc.) work on many of these small projects, the volunteers and board members seemed
efforts to get to some of the issues that were outlined in the survey results; specifically,
to be comfortable with the idea. There was some hesitation though; as I began to turn
issues like being more accommodating to smaller scale groups, understanding that they
down offers from outside volunteer groups, and insisted that I wanted the people that
desired something that was new and changed, etc.
were dining there, the patrons, to be very involved in the process. I explained to Loretta and Roseanne, the assistant manager and board president, that I had little interest in,
As the dining room project moved into the construction phases, I realized that the method
‘giving’ them a nicer dining room. It was important that the men and women that were
of engagement I had taken was proving successful. We were getting a project done for a
using the facility have some possession of the space. It was important, for at least a few
minimal budget and fairly quickly. Also, the project was doing most of the things that I was
of them, to be able to point to something that was in a public place, and say, “that is my
hoping it would do. We were giving a sense of worth to Dave and Ron, as they received on
work.” This idea for empowerment seemed to make sense to Loretta and Roseanne, but
going compliments from their fellow diners, the volunteers, and the board members. It also
their hesitation often came from the limited reality of actually making it happen. In many
provided a conversation starter that was leading to an increased interaction between
ways, it felt as though they were still looking at our diners through a single lens - a mistake
volunteers and diners at Harvest, including Ron and Dave. The board, at least in terms
that I have found can be fatal to these types of projects. Every person coming through
of Roseanne, was taking an increased interest in the day to day workings and began
our meal line, much like diners at a local restaurant, is different. If you take the time to get
making more frequent appearances at the kitchen. As her attendance increased, so did
to know them, you very likely will find good people with valid opinions and points of view.
the interactions she was having with diners and the volunteers – two groups that the board typically was not having repeated interactions and engagements. It was truly starting to
My methods of engagement throughout the semester have been fairly organic in nature.
bridge the gaps that were separating these various groups in that social structure.
This was for various reasons - the primary being the need to negotiate my relationship with the diners. Because my efforts at the soup kitchen were primarily from the position of
I understood that this success was coming as a response to a very specific scenario at the
‘volunteer,’ there were preconceived perceptions of me as a volunteer that separated
Harvest Soup Kitchen at that point in time. The outcome could have been very different
me from them, the patron/diner. This was made clear when I first attempted to hand out
if there was a different board president or if there would have been a generally different
cameras to some diners that I had seen coming through the line fairly consistently. Based
demeanor amongst the diners. This was part of the motivation to do some further research
on the negative response, I understood that I needed to introduce myself in a much more
on other professionals that were working in non-profit type sectors. I wanted to better
formal and engaging way. This was done with the disbursement of a survey that allowed
understand how the things I was observing compared to what others were finding. As I
me to take that next step - having a callout meeting.
moved through this research, I found that they were all confirming that the most successful component in empowering and making a difference was through a high level of personal
I decided that even though we had a fairly small group, two diners (Ron and Dave) and
interaction across the spectrum of non-profit inhabitants – board members, volunteers,
me, it was important that we move forward with the project. The size of the core group
and clients. This was also the case when larger projects were done that provided more
helped to keep the scope of work fairly minimal. The small scale and budget allowed us
physical need than emotional need. In these cases, there was more focus on the middle to
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upper end of the social scale, but efforts were still made to include everyone as possible. Being interested in non-profit/volunteer based work programs, I was curious to better understand how I could move into a career where I was able to support myself, while also having the benefits of working with this sector -- being surrounded by people that generally love what they do and seem more concerned with the promotion of better living, not simply a bigger pay check. As I continued my research with the taxonomy, I was finding that there were a variety of ways people were accomplishing these careers. From college professors, to directors of non-profit organizations, to more traditional architects that were just really good at writing grants and getting through the process, there were many avenues that I could take as I continued.
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Chapter 2
Literature Review: Understanding Perspective
2.1 Questioning the Perspective
the profession. In his essay ‘Poor Not Different,’ Wolfgang Sachs makes a statement about poverty. “When the size of income is thought to indicate social perfection, as it does in our economic model of society, one is inclined to interpret any other society which does not follow that model as ‘low-income.’ In this way ‘poverty’ is used to define whole peoples, not according to what they are or want to be, but according to what they lack and what they are expected to become (Sachs, 1992, p. 162).” This is a perspective that I feel
As I am sure many have, throughout my life I have looked at architecture as a tool that I
many of the people in our profession understand to be true. Until recently I would have
could use to help people. By enclosing them within the right form, and by providing the
included myself as having this understanding. I was looking at situations of ‘poverty,’ and
right details, I would inspire people to be everything they could ever want to be. Through
not looking at people. If we hope to make legitimate, lasting progress in these areas of
my designs, I would bring meaning to their lives. It is true that architecture is because
society, changing this perception will be one of the key challenges, as this very personal
people are, and people are because architecture is. One cannot survive long without the
perspective often contrasts the ideas of popular culture.
other. Architecture is important as it mediates and protects the delicate human body from an often unforgiving natural environment. However, architecture as protector is different
“In many ways the challenge of changing our personal and professional perceptions starts
than architecture as inspirer. Architecture as inspirer is in the details, but not in the way the
with our educations, “Anisur Rahman, an economist/planner, writes in an essay, ‘People’s
column connects to the beam. It is in the nuanced relationship between architecture and
Self-Development.’ He continues with: “the best promise for development lay with the
person -- that is where inspiration resides.
initiatives of the ordinary people…As economist [planners] we were trained mainly in this kind of deficit and dependent ‘development’ planning. We had not learned how to
I have struggled to understand how the details of my architectural work were that inspiring
plan the mobilization of the human energy of the people, to plan to develop with what
to me, but seemed to leave others indifferent. I have grown to understand I had been
we have, not with what we do not have (Rahman, 1992, p. 167).” This is, if anything, a
looking at the wrong relationship. I was looking at my relationship with the architecture
gracious description of my educational experience. I was rightfully trained in necessary
not their relationship with it. I was on the outside looking in, they were on the inside looking
architectural practices (like spatial arrangements, materials, mechanical and structural
out. It was the seeing of myself in the details that inspired me. It was having the ability to
systems, etc.), but when it came to the social aspects of architecture, there was a huge
manipulate the environment that empowered me. It was only after looking at the work
void: invented clients, fictitious sites, and buzzwords like “poverty,” “homelessness,” and
from a different perspective -- from their perspective -- that I realized that my relationship
“community development,” were being used to superficially teach me these very complex
with the environment was much different than theirs. I now see that if I want to really inspire
concepts. I was given client needs on a piece of paper, conveniently listed out. It is as
people with architecture, it is by giving them the power to go through the process that I go
if we my instruction had missed one of the key components of architecture – people.
through when designing. It is the process of critically evaluating an environment, then with
Many professors would express concern as a model would lack scale figures, but can we
a creative, personal intervention, responding to that evaluation that is important. If I want
really understand how to work with the multiple personalities of a church board, or how to
to inspire and empower people with architecture, I need to stand next to them. I don’t
decipher the words of an ER doctor, by putting scale figures on a model?
need to explain my perspective of the world, but to challenge myself to understand theirs. There have recently been educational models that begin to challenge these common This thesis, for me, has grown primarily from two concerns. Early in the process, it was a sense
perceptions in the university. The Rural Studio at Auburn University under the direction of
of discomfort that I found in the work I was doing, both collegiately and professionally.
the late Samuel Mockbee and now directed by Andrew Freear, is one of the most well-
Later in the semester, I began realizing that the discomfort was with me as much as it was
known of these programs (Dean & Hursley, 2005). Hector LaSala and Geoff Gjertson’s
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Building Institute through the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is less established, but still
An example of this is the SEED program developed by Bryan Bell and Design Corps. This
very effective. As described on the Building Institute’s web site, the aims of these design/
program is based on a collective knowledge, gained by bringing together a board of
build studio formats are addressing the gap that often exists between theory and practice.
individuals that have done engaging, successful work with the traditionally underserved.
This is achieved through hands-on service-learning, countering “theoretical detachment”
Bryan is at the forefront and is the face of this program, but his goals and the goals of the
and nurturing “social critics.” They charge students to build, but even more importantly to
SEED Network are to, “build and support a culture of civic responsibility and engagement
“act.” This stems from a belief that “the act of making meaningful architecture requires
in the built environment and the public realm (Design Corps, 2011).” Collaboration in a
students to take responsibility for their designs: cultural, social, political, fiscal and technical
regulated, yet open forum is one of the few ways I feel an effective method of propelling
responsibilities, to name a few. “[And,] the act of designing and making meaningful
national and international movements can be achieved, and these often are based on
architecture requires rigor and tolerance - from both faculty and students (University of
very small scale, grass root efforts.
Louisiana at Lafayette, 2006).” The SEED program establishes its network by finding people involved in all the design fields, As students move through these curriculums, “they are placed into a social context that
including architecture, industrial design, communication design, landscape architecture,
they have rarely encountered in any meaningful way: the world of chronic poverty,
and urban planning. The participants are asked to, “take the pledge.” This pledge indicates
homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and the non-profit agencies that are the
that participating members actively engage and promote the five seed principles in their
trenches of these societal battlefronts (University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2006).” With
work. The principles are based on the mission, “to advance the right of every person to live
these encounters, students are developing understandings far greater than just building
in a socially, economically and environmentally healthy community.” The five principles
techniques and design. They are developing an empathetic perspective towards people
are:
living in poverty. This understanding develops not from the use of over simplifying terms such as ‘homelessness’ and ‘poverty,’ that beg for a sympathetic relationship, but from a
1.
Advocate with those who have a limited voice in public life.
face to face, empathetic relationship. This empathic perspective places value in the other
2.
Build structures for inclusion that engage stakeholders and allow
and challenges students to first understand the people at the scale of “a first name basis,” and then respond from this understanding. This is a process that requires students to step
communities to make decisions. 3.
out of themselves, and be reflective of the things they do from the client’s perspective.
Promote social equality through discourse that reflects a range of values and social identities.
Although this can be a very difficult thing, I feel it is an essential step in creating a truly
4.
Generate ideas that grow from place and build local capacity.
socially responsible architect.
5.
Design to help conserve resources and minimize waste.
It will take time and convincing, though, before these programs, or at least the essence
For those who are doing projects and wish to get some recognition or confirmation that
of social engagement, begin to really get implemented into standard architectural
their work is meeting the goals of the program, SEED offers the SEED Evaluator, “That
education. There is a general lack of consistent, quantifiable evidence to support these
provides guidelines for pursing a design process by inclusivity and participation.” The
programs and with most efforts still relatively young, the ability to see results might take
program also provides opportunity for SEED Certification and guidelines for documenting
some time. There is also an extremely complex set of forces at play when dealing with
and submitting these projects. (Design Corps, 2011)
“growing communities,” so incubator caliber results will likely never be available. On a broader spectrum, there have been many efforts to establish a system for measuring There have been attempts to create standard guidelines for ‘humanitarian architecture.’ 011
social value. One of the leading models is the Social Return on Investment (SROI). These, 012
and many systems like it, are meant to be used by non-profit agencies as a way to provide
2.2 Understanding Them
quantifiable data to potential funders and as a base for grant funding selections. Defined by Claudia Wood and Daniel Leighton in their paper, The Gap between Policy and Practice, SROI is an analytic tool for measuring and accounting for a much broader concept of value. It incorporates social, environmental and economic costs and benefits into decision
Muncie, Indiana, with a population of just over 65,000 people, is a classic example of
making, providing a fuller picture of how value is created or destroyed. SROI is able to
a Midwestern industrial city. Like most of these once booming Rust Belt cities, Muncie
assign a monetary figure to social and environmental value which is created. For Example,
has a shrinking population, -4.0% from April 1, 2000 through July 1, 2006. This decrease is
New Economics Foundation (Nef) research on the value created by a training program
in stark contrast to the growing populations, 5.6% and 9.1%, in Indiana and the country
for ex-offenders revealed that for every [English Pound] invested, 10.50 [English Pounds] of
respectively. Hand in hand with the shrinking population is the humbling difference in
social value was created (Wood & Leighton, 2010, p. 21).
median household income rates from 2008. Muncie hovers at just over $26,000, compared to a $52,000 national median household income, and has nearly 1/4 of the population
SROI is still in its youth, and is in definite need of refinement, but I believe that the scale of a
living below the poverty line (US Census Bureau, 2010).
measurement system of this sort will prove crucial in efforts to promote future work in ‘the third sector.’
Many of my experiences professionally, and even more so educationally, have determined the aforementioned demographic description to suffice as ‘understanding’ the population and the people that are Muncie, Indiana. I believe that there are some things to be gained from these numbers, but as designers that are focusing on the scale of community, or many times smaller, we need to gain that scale of understanding. A relationship based from the data above might be appropriate when developing national policy. It is not appropriate when working to stimulate a struggling neighborhood or design an outreach center. If we wish to be catalyst in these cities and neighborhoods, we need to start with the people that are there. The people and the existing organizations are the foundations from which we must build. This means we must engage the communities and with them design and develop community goals. Even more importantly, we need to work with them in the physical creation of design interventions. These strategic manipulations of the environment do not necessarily require great size or cost, but must prove to the people that the power to change their communities lies in their hands. They need to hold the hammers and push the designs that recreate their environments. I think that this is the only way we will be able move these communities over the “I can’t” hump to understand that “we can”.
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To help explain this concept a little better, I am going to quote an excerpt from Paulo Friere’s Pedagogy of Hope. Friere is a progressive educator that has done extensive work
“Now Doctor, look at the difference. You come home tired, sir, I know that. You
with the oppressed working class in many South American countries. In this excerpt, he
may even have a headache from the work you do. Thinking, writing, reading, giving
reflects on a presentation arguing for a “dialogical, loving relationship between parents
these kind of talks that you’re giving now. That tires a person out too. But, sir, it’s one
and children in place of violent punishments (Freire, Pedagogy of Hope, 1994, p. 23).” The
thing to come home, even tired, and find the kids all bathed, dressed up, clean, well
presentation was to a group of Brazilian workers.
fed, not hungry – and another thing to come home and find your kids dirty, hungry, crying, and making noise. And people have to get up at four in the morning the next
My actual mistake was, first, in my use of my language, my syntax, without more
day and start all over again – hurting, sad, hopeless. If people hit their kids, and even
effort to get close to the language, and syntax of my audience; and second, in my
‘go beyond bounds,’ as you say, it’s not because people don’t love their kids. No,
all but oblivion of the hard reality of the huge audience seated before me.
it’s because life is so hard thay don’t have much choice.”
…. When I had concluded, a man of about forty, still rather young, but already worn
This is class knowledge, I say now.
and exhausted, raised his hand…and gave a talk that I have never been able to
…
forget.
Even when one must speak to the people, one must convert the “to” to a “with”
…
the people. And this implies respect for the “knowledge of the living experience” of
“We have just heard,” he began, “some nice words from Dr. Paulo Freire. Fine words,
which I always speak.
in fact. Well spoken. Some of them were simple enough for people to understand
…
easily. Others were more complicated. But I think I understood the most important
That night in the car, in the car on the way back home, I complained to Elza [his wife]
things that all the words together say.
rather bitterly. “I thought I’d been so clear,” I said. “I don’t think they understood me.” “Could it have been you, Paulo, who didn’t understand them?” Elza asked, and she
“Now I’d like to ask the doctor a couple of things that I find my fellow workers agree
went on: “I think they got the main point of your talk. The worker made that clear in
with.” He fixed me with a mild but penetrating gaze, and asked: “Dr. Paulo, sir – do
what he said. They understood you, but they needed to have you understand them.
you know where people live? Have you ever been in any of our houses, sir?” And
That’s the question (Freire, Pedagogy of Hope, 1994, pp. 24-27).”
he began to describe their pitiful houses. He told me of the lack of facilities, of the extremely minimal space in which all their bodies were jammed. He spoke of the lack
Freire’s recognition and reflection, although in a different time and context, is still very much
of resources for the most basic necessitates. He spoke of physical exhaustion and
applicable to the work that we strive to do when working with the people in poverty. If we
of the impossibility of dreams for a better tomorrow. He told me of the prohibition
really wish to have a positive impact on the lives of those people, we must first understand
imposed on them from being happy-or even of having hope.
them and their world. As Paulo described the worker’s comments, “He spoke of physical
…
exhaustion and of the impossibility of dreams for a better tomorrow (Freire, Pedagogy
He paused a few seconds, ranging his eyes over the entire audience, fixed on me
of Hope, 1994, p. 28).” This is a very powerful statement, and one that I don’t believe I
once more, and said, “Doctor, I have never been over to your hose. But I’d like to
can truly understand. Living without a dream of a better tomorrow is something that is
describe it for you, sir. [He goes on to describe what he understood to be Paulo’s
very foreign to me, but for many of the people that came through the soup kitchen, I
house]…There was nothing to add or subtract. That was my house. Another world,
don’t believe the idea is that strange. Therefore, it is something that I must be able to be
spacious and comfortable.
empathetic towards. To gain that empathy, I need to understand better the person that
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2.2.1 Pecha Kucha Excersice
speaks the words. We have to know them as more than a number. Freire’s two primary works, Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Pedagogy of Hope, shared many stories like the one above. He wrote about first hand encounters of engaging with these groups; working to earn their trust and then finally opening up conversations in regards to the oppression they found themselves. Many of the approaches I took at the soup kitchen were based on the successes and failures Paulo shared about his work. In his story telling, Paulo made it clear that he easily learned as much if not more from the peasants and workers that he spoke with throughout his career, as they learned from him. This is very much true with the work I have done at the soup kitchen. As I come to a better understanding of that place and the people there, I find that I more fully understand myself. I have had to acknowledge that I, too, have preconceptions of people. I am judgmental. I have a perception of the world that I think is ‘right.’ Through the semester I have taken great strides to step back and look at myself, as Paulo did. I have pushed myself to see myself and the things that I do through another’s eyes. From this thesis, this understanding of and the practice of being self-reflective, is easily a great accomplishment for me personally (Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed , 2000) (Freire, 1994).
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The following excerpt is from an exercise done with the hope of developing a greater empathetic understanding by imagining the world through another’s eyes. It was also a way for me to begin grasping what these initial projects might look like in terms of scale, while suggesting how people might find the influence of and connection to their physical worlds different than I would. The challenge was to create a 20-second story for each of twenty images. The story would be from the perspective of a person who had a strong connection to a specific physical space, and was to describe that connection, why it was important to the person, and how that connection had come to be. The images were from a set of shots I have taken in various places over the years. I wanted to push myself to see a built environment from another person’s perspective, not from my perspective as a designer.
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“Cool lock, did you have to pay extra for the color?” “Ya, it was a couple bucks more, but I don’t know man. I mean I think it looks pretty cool. Plus this way people know this is my spot. They tell us what to wear and what to do. They don’t let us be us ya know, I got them though, because this right here, this is me, colorful!”
A short morning rain rinses the dust from the produce. The clean, vibrant colors seem to shine in contrast to the dull gray plaster. On mornings like this I will often take a moment and remember years ago when my father taught me to carefully stack the crates. “These must look good” he would explain, “this fruit shows the city who we are.”
Dad kept nagging about not having enough space in the shop. Of course he is too busy keeping up on orders, so here I stand with Grandpa. You have to make sure that line is taught he hollers, thats how we keep the damn thing straight. He ties the knot and walks over; let me tell you a story. I never knew my grandfather had been a mason. I order coffee as I sit-down, this is my first Live in handyman for the summer doesn’t sound bad, as it turns out they needed a gardener. This is the third time I have planted these pots since my plane from O’Hare landed in Philly. I don’t know anyone here and had been worried that I would not last the summer. They look
time at a Downtown Business Owners meeting. Started my shop last week and my membership came with the lease. The head of the group looks at me across the table, the window decorations look good – we are glad you our part of the group. The rest gather in with compliments.
delightful the old lady grins. You know I think I like it here.
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020
2.3 Becoming Us March 23. It is cold and rainy. My hands shake as I pick slowly at the weathered letters. This had been our spot – I have countless memories to prove it - our first kiss, conversations under the stars, the after, after-prom, it was in here where I
I have read, listened to, and talked with several people this semester. They all echoed the
asked her to be my wife. It has been 3
importance of “working WITH not FOR” a person, and in their own unique ways, explained
years since she passed; I always leave a
how they accomplished that task. At a glance the concept of with not for, seems
flower for her.
pretty straight forward. As my advisor, Wes Janz, pointed out in our correspondence this semester, “it’s respecting another person, believing all people have intelligence that you don’t, moving lightly yet substantially and critically through the world, these, and many more, approaches are necessary.” I found that it was much more challenging than I had
I hate the violence. I hate the anger.
anticipated.
Today, you and I are going to start an artistic campaign. We will let the
I believe that one of the biggest misconceptions, and most difficult things that I have
city know that we no longer want the
faced this semester, was accepting the realities of the situation. I have been doing work
negative any more. From here on out, we
with people in the lower economic class, on and off, for a few years now, but it had always
are going to look at the positive, and we
been through organizations like Habitat for Humanity or Rebuilding Together. In these
are going to challenge to everyone else
situations I was always one of many volunteers that were just like me, and my interactions
to do the same.
with “those in poverty” were minimal. They mostly took place from the comfortable position of being in the majority. I had always tried to convince myself that I was doing this work with these people, so by default I had to be free of prejudice and of preconceptions towards them.
I stand back and admire my work. Some of the paint is mine, but most of it comes from my friends. My buddy and I set up this spot for emerging artist. We often will gather around, have small concerts, compliment and critique our newest additions. It was just an old warehouse; we wanted to give people a voice. I wanted to be heard.
This semester I have really pushed myself to be aware of the way I feel as I work on these projects and interact with people, whom in my mind were very much different than me, these “people in poverty.” My first step was to accept the fact that I did possess these prejudices. They had made themselves clear many times in my life, but I paid them no attention. They were the fear and judgment, irrational or not, that ran through me when I would walk down the dark alley home of “social misfits,” or when I would encounter a group of young black men with saggy pants and bandanas talking loudly on the train. These feelings re-emerged when I first approached some of the diners in regards to the cameras. This was really the first time that I had moved out of my comfort zone while at
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022
the soup kitchen. It was the first time that I had stepped out of my socially given ‘place of
I will do as an architect regarding the soup kitchen. It is important for me to get ‘real,’ data
authority.’ This is when I realized that I had a lot to learn about myself before I could ever
and information from them. For that to happen, they must trust me. I have come across
fully work WITH the diners at Harvest.
many different approaches to gaining this trust, but most of them contain a lengthy period of adjustment and the need for the client/patron to perceive a genuine commitment.
Hector LaSala, a professor of architecture at the Building Institute at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette describes this situation for many of his students as they worked on a
In one example, Paulo Freire developed this trust by first completing a general survey to
small outdoor performance space with inmates. He explains that the inmates were part of
determine what the peasants liked to do - which was play cards on the weekends. His
a work release program and were selected because they had been on ‘good behavior.’
small group then spent the next five months playing cards with these peasants (Freire,
“They actually wore the striped suits when they came to the site,” he explains. “You know
Pedagogy of Hope, 1994, pp. 128-131). Hector LaSala recognizes that in many cases, “a
the ones you see in cartoons. It was initially a shock to them, the students. It was about
much bigger need of them is to see that somebody cares (LaSala, Interview, 2011).” So
11:30 when they showed up. We had gotten some pizza and drinks, you know, we figured
his group was able to develop this trust when the residents, “saw the students…working
they had probably not had a good pizza in a while. Of course, when we saw them with
that summer. They were just in awe. That these young kids were actually sweating and
the striped suits, it really freaked them out. So there was some of that initial stereotype that
building this thing in the middle of the summer (LaSala, Interview, 2011).” Mike Halstead,
these are inmates. Yes, yes there was at the beginning, but it did not last for long.” Hector
an Indianapolis architect, explains that the relationship will often develop naturally as,
continued in the interview that many of the inmates had been carpenters or had other
“they see that you are still doing work [when not getting paid early in a project] and
experience in construction before getting caught up in drugs. Describing that most of the
suffering alongside them (Halstead, 2011).” Loretta, a cook at Harvest and the founder
residents of the half-way houses and the students lacked these construction skills, “the
of the Sunday Supper, realized the importance of the clients being familiar with her face.
inmates were the ones that were teaching our students and the residents there (LaSala,
She knew she had to put in time as a regular volunteer for that to happen (Parsons, 2011).
Interview, 2011).” The ideas of becoming us and working with not for are very real and very achievable, I believe that these feelings and fears of what is unknown are to be expected from most
but these will likely not happen without us understanding and overcoming the prejudice
people in these foreign experiences. For many, it’s a perception of a potential problem
that is inherent when referring to people with umbrella terms. “People in Poverty,” as a
that becomes a real and insurmountable fear in one’s mind, and in that way, far more
term, has a place and scale at which it is appropriate and sometimes necessary. There
difficult to overcome. Fear tends to define attitudes and reactions. As a profession that
are certain needs that are not being met for those struggling to get by financially and
is striving to work with the “the landless, the homeless, the schooless, the foodless, the
often are outcast by society. However, we will likely never have a substantial and lasting,
jobless,” to borrow terms from Friere, it is not enough to simply work on behalf of them,
positive effect on them until we push past the umbrella terms and begin working on a first
because ‘they’ are only half of the situation (Freire, Pedagogy of Hope, 1994). The other
name basis.
half of the situation is us. It is me. Pushing through these uncomfortable times at the soup kitchen, Hector’s students pushing through the shock of working with the inmates - these are the steps that teach us about ourselves. Understanding that we are uncomfortable, as I mentioned, is half of the situation. The other half is for those we are engaging. For me, at Harvest, it was the clients that come through the line. Ultimately, these patrons are the ones that benefit the most from the work 023
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2.4 The Architect’s Role
development and social empowerment with participatory architectural design, would fail. The community involvement would often lead to the identification of the personal taste of the masses in the terms of a past style or a particular color palette – even then, these ‘decision makers’ often lacked the ability, financially and socially, to have much of an impact on the final architectural product. As Crawford states, “radical architects
As an underlying theme through my work at the Harvest Soup Kitchen and my research this semester, I have been trying to understand what my role as an architect is or can be. My professional experience has taught me that I have very little interest in doing architecture for clients that are large retailers, developers that create suburban strip centers, and cookie cutter stand-alone buildings around which we place parking. As I have found, this disinterest has little to do to the physical nature of the structures, although I don’t care much for it either. My largest disconnect from this work is the relationship it fosters with the client, and in the cases listed above, the lack of relationship between myself as the designer and the ultimate user of the space. I believe that the process of designing architecture needs to be an engaging experience for the architect, the client, and the user. This is one of my largest motivators to working with lower income clients. I understand that for many of them, the process of having a voice and a hand in the creation of their physical world is very important. From my experience, this is much less the case when working for the regional manager of construction for an international retail chain. Thus, this thesis and creative project aims to better understand the architect’s potential and role in engaging a client that typically cannot afford architectural services. In an essay featured in Out of Site: A Social Criticism of Architecture, Margaret Crawford asks the question “Can Architects Be Socially Responsible?” With a summary of architectures current structure and past attempts to involve the profession in the role of dealing with social dilemmas, she supports her argument that “Given the situation, the answer to the question…is, as is presently constituted, no. Both the restricted practices and discourses of the profession have reduced the scope of architecture to equally unpromising polarities: compromised practice or esoteric philosophies of inaction (Crawford, 1991, p. 43).” She describes architecture’s past attempt, carried on the shoulders of Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus, to address low-income housing and other areas of society that were falling short. She proceeds to summarize some of the critiques of modernism in application to social needs. She explains that situations where radical architects would attempt community
025
replaced modernism’s welfare state with a marketplace, in which, unfortunately, their ideal client did not have the means to purchase architectural services (Crawford, 1991, p. 39).” This becomes an obvious problem if a profession is trying to support itself. In her closing statements, she offers some suggestions for the profession. First she suggest that, “the architectural profession must establish new connections with the existing technical and economic practices of building…that are based on an analysis of existing material conditions rather than on idealistic projections of future technical capabilities.” She then offers some words that defend the ability of the profession to play a role in the social arenas that are often untouched by the profession. In opposition to generic masses the modernist sought to impose mechanical design, too. She suggests that we find specific groups where architectural services can be utilized, but currently are not. She makes the claim that, “Identifying these ideal clients is an important first step toward creating a discourse adequate to the enormous tasks faced by the architectural profession if it accepts the challenge of reshaping society and the built environment (Crawford, 1991, p. 44).” Additional research and my experiences lead me to agree with Crawford, both in her assessment of the current, popular model of architecture, and her suggestions for the profession. I feel that there are many trained architects that are stepping up to the challenge Crawford laid out in 1991, twenty years ago, in her essay. Firms like Halstead Architects in Indianapolis, as I profile more thoroughly later on, are doing work with many in the non-profit sector. This work, although being funded primarily by grant money, is establishing a name and significance for architecture with this “ideal client.” Although many of the projects done at the firm may not be featured in design magazines, they are connecting to a client base much larger than those whom actually read design magazines. Firms similar to Halstead Architects are out there, and I believe are growing in number. As a broader spectrum starts to understand the value in having an architect as part of an overall construction process, the market will likely begin to become more self026
supportive. It is difficult to do at these early stages because our skill sets are often difficult
be utilized. For me personally, I have found that working at the Harvest Soup Kitchen, face
to qualify.
to face with both the clients and users, has been very rewarding. Consequently, this is a sector that I plan to work for some years to come. I cannot guarantee to what extent my
Regarding Crawford’s, “esoteric philosophies of inaction,” educators, following in the
career will be the physical creation of buildings, but it will use my skill set none the less. A
footsteps of Samual Mockbee and The Rural Studio, are pushing the limits of the current
rule of thumb that M. Scott Ball provides in his essay, Expanding the Role of the Architect,
educational model. Hector LaSala at the Building Institute in Louisiana, and a growing
“if it looks like it could use the help of an architect, it probably is architecture (Ball, 2004,
number of others, are calling for and implementing design/build studios early in the
p. 140).”
educational process. They are actively engaging an “ideal client,” by providing volunteer service, based on student participation, to outreach centers, soup kitchens, and community markets. In an essay, “Beyond Design-Build,” LaSala describes the important role of these relatively new programs when he describes how they, “deliberately place [students] into a slice of present day America where physical and societal conditions are at a crisis point. While their motivation, initiative, design and constructing skills generate the most visible outcomes, this should not diminish the impact that these participations have had on their capacity to reflect on their culture, social conditions, and communal needs. This sustained encounter has altered our students’ critical and ethical thinking in ways that are hard to measure but are real nevertheless.” As I described in the “Becoming Us” portion of this work, one of the core issues that must be addressed is the ability of young professionals to enter the world with an empathetic viewpoint. Only when they have this understanding of the world are they going to be up to the challenge of engaging these larger social issues (University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2006). If we want to be serious about giving attention to these issues – we must do so both in debate and scholarly reflection, but also in on the ground action. Mark Taylor speaks to this case in The Moment of Complexity: Emerging Network Culture. “All of these [60s’ social and political] efforts failed because they lacked constructive programs of social engagement and political reform. In hindsight, it is clear that criticism alone is not sufficient; what is required is the articulation and formation of alternative systems and novel networks that can function creatively (Taylor, 2003).” In my humble opinion, I believe that the profession of architecture can benefit greatly by reaching out and engaging in the lower economic sector. Not only will it undoubtedly teach us about ourselves and develop a more holistic and adaptive professional, but it will open up the doors to a much larger market where the skills of a trained architect can 027
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Chapter 3
A Model For Engagement: The Harvest Soup Kitchen Project
3.1 Introducing the Cast
Roseanne is the board president for the Harvest Soup
Loretta is the Assist. Manager and cook at Harvest Thursdays,
Kitchen. She was in attendance for the call out meeting of
Fridays, and Saturdays. She also started the Sunday Supper
the Dining Room Club (described in more detail later), and
at the soup kitchen (meal 3rd Sunday of the month) after
has played a critical role in the logistics of the changes at the
her husband Gary passed away. She is retired from the Ball
soup kitchen.
Corporation where she was an inventory manager. She earned a business degree from Ball State.
Ron is a regular diner at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. He is
Johnny* has been coming to Harvest for several years now.
relatively reserved and soft-spoken. He was one of the three
Originally a more traditional diner, he has transitioned to the
primary members of the Dining Room Club (described later),
‘morning security,’ assisting Deb and Loretta as they arrive.
providing insight into the daily activities. Ron is a lifetime
Johnny is a Vietnam veteran and has spent time in several
Muncie resident. He was laid off from Borg Warner and
states. Johnny was born in the south then moved to California
currently is unemployed.
when he was a youth. He was raised there until joining the army.
Dave is also a regular diner. Outgoing and spirited, he played
Angie + Deb have been working
a critical role in the Dining Room Club (described later)
at Harvest for 16 and 10 years
offering his artistic hand in the painting of the mural. Dave
respectively. Deb is the Manager
has worked on and off in construction as a laborer. He has
and
plans to either apply to art school or attend a trade school,
volunteers Mon and Wed. Angie is
ultimately owning his own HVAC company. Dave attended
the comedian of the group, Deb
Ball State for one year where he studied psychology.
her more reserved counterpart.
Jason (me) volunteers on Mondays, Thursdays, and
Doug + Bobby have been
Saturdays at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. He currently is studying
working at Harvest for 6 years
architecture at Ball State where he will earn his master’s
each. They grew up together,
degree at the end of the year. Jason started the Dining Room
worked in the same factory for
Club (explained later) with the interest of better understanding
years, and now are the core for
some of the diners that he was serving.
the Thursday volunteer group.
cooks
Mon-Wed.
Angie
These two are hard to separate! 031
* Johnny requested not to be photographed. This image is of Willie, another diner.
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3.2 Research and Understanding
in this description out of place in the actual time line. (Please see the inserted graphical timeline of my presentation boards for this project.) This was an additional attempt to put on paper how I moved through the last few months and how my interactions and actions
kitchen
influenced myself those around me.
Early in the process I had established that I wanted to discover how I could be an architect, and help people at the same time. By default, it seemed like the best way to do that was to work with homeless people. So I began doing research on different homeless shelter projects and community centers. I had acquired what I believed to be a decent understanding about working with the homeless, at least in terms of doing architecture. As I began getting deeper into my research, however, I found that most people were talking
Ball State
Muncie
about the importance of small scale projects. Working from the ground up and being
soup
engaged. I was still using the blanket terms and looking at ‘designing a community center that would bring people together.’ Engaging and developing a real understanding of the
ma
people I was going to be working with, I found was very much lacking in my understanding.
dis
This led me to shift my focus from ‘designing a building,’ to ‘understanding people.’
on
I stuck with my original clients: the homeless, underemployed, and in general, society’s
walnu
issues that I generally lack a personal familiarity with: Drugs, prostitution, psychologically
c h a r le s
unease, mentally and physically handicaps, heightened crime and violence, etc. I found
t
that in many ways, my lack of understanding with many of these issues, despite the fact that they likely are all around me, began to push me to really engage and understand them better. Based on this growing interest in these people that I felt I did not understand
hac
and the fact that I was approaching a topic that many were saying can only be done
kle
by getting your hands dirty, I decided that I needed to have closer contact with that
y
community. I was not sure if I was going to do a project or just gain some understanding by doing it, but I needed to stop looking at this from behind a computer and books. The following information is a selection of components from my work and experiences while volunteering at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. The arrangement is intended to be a series
harvest
‘misfits.’ Based on my experiences through my life, I understood that I would likely run into
t charl
es
of steps taking as I moved through the process. They are primarily in chronological order, but due to the necessary organic nature of such a project, some components appear
033
Site Location Keyplan 034
3.3 Saying Hello
of East Charles Street and South Hackly Street in downtown Muncie. To the south of the building is the Mid-city plating plant. The soup kitchen shares a parking lot with the St. Lawrence church and a small children’s’ clothing store. There are roughly four other churches within a four block radius, plus the Minority Health Coalition and the United Daycare Center. The area is primarily residential, with a few scattered empty lots including
So I took the next step and dove in. I established a location at the Harvest Soup Kitchen in downtown Muncie. This was a good place where I could be un-intrusive as a volunteer, yet still immersed into the culture. I approached the soup kitchen understanding that I needed to do so with respect and sincerity in my efforts, I did not want to simply be there “studying people.” I also recognized that I was essentially going into someone else’s house, and more importantly, someone else’s life. From reading Freire’s experiences, I assumed that I would be seen as an outsider, and would need to therefore first establish trust with the people there. In these early steps, I did my best to keep quite the fact that I was doing a thesis project and basically trying to gain an understanding of homeless people. I worked instead to let myself be there in the moment the same way I would have been if I was just volunteering with no affiliation with school. My selection of The Harvest Soup Kitchen was not based on an exceptional amount of research about the organization specifically. From their very limited web presence, I was able to gather that they offered some free meals, Monday through Saturday between
a rundown parking lot to the east of the soup kitchen, and a grassy lot just to the north of that. To the north, there is a cluster of two houses with a shared fence. From what I have been able to gather, there is some informal ‘taking in,’ going on there. They have recently started to plant their large garden that is just to the east of the houses. The existing building is three floors total. The basement extends about 3’ above grade with windows providing natural daylight. Grading on the site is pretty consistent creating a first floor - about 4’ of stairs to enter in the front entrance. The main floor is home to a thrift store. The store is open for longer hours than the food kitchen. The drop-in center has a small office in the basement next to the soup kitchen. They run the same hours, but are closed on Saturdays. The upper floor of the building houses a voucher based clothing center for school children. The drop-in center is an extension of Meridian Services, a larger provider of mental health services and other services to the community. The drop-in center has an on staff police officer and psychiatrist. They usually will show a movie in the mornings and offers free haircuts on the third Thursday of the month.
9:30am and 11:00am. I was able to gain some very general demographic information about Muncie, Indiana, but nothing specific to the neighborhood that the soup kitchen is located. My assumptions, based on a few afternoons spent driving around the area, was that this was on the lower end of the economic scale for Muncie. These trips revealed that the housing stock was in fair to poor condition with a fair number appearing vacant as windows were either boarded up or broken out. I am sure some of the people living in these structures are housing squatters, but was never able to determine anything more specific in that regard. My conversations with Loretta and others revealed that we primarily serve the ‘working poor,’ and only a few are without a place to sleep at night. My assumption is that many more are residing on couches and in the garages and spare rooms of family and friends. The soup kitchen is located in the basement of the old St. Lawrence School on the corner
035
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3.4 Establishing Core Friendships
This step came fairly naturally for me. It began my first day at Harvest. Johnny, one of the diners, had intercepted me at the car and warned me of the dangers of some of the individuals at the kitchen before I had gotten in the door. I was to find out later that Johnny comes with a, likely warranted case of paranoia and cynicism. Once I was inside, I met Loretta. She is one of two managers and cooks Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Johnny stuck around for about an hour, telling stories and taking out the trash. He is a ‘client,’ that has been coming around for a couple years now. He shows up every morning, Monday through Saturday, and provides, in a sense, a secure male figure early in the mornings. Deb and Loretta, the two managers, usually will show up a little earlier than the rest of the volunteers. Johnny considers their protection to be a priority on his daily list. My conversations and relationships with Johnny and Loretta grew fairly quickly over the next month or so. I was receptive to Johnny’s stories, and I provided a reliable volunteer for Loretta. I was there three days a week. These two became the core of my initial relationships at the soup kitchen, and were able to provide insight to their respective places there. Johnny knew the ins and outs of most of the clients as he was, involuntarily, a significant part of their world. He lives down the street from many of the other clients and frequented many of the same social service institutes as they did. Essentially, he was their neighbor. Loretta had the scope on most things volunteer and quite a bit about the members of the board. Her personality was warm, accepting, and in general positive – although now and then a “So and so drives me nuts,” would slip out. As my schedule became more routine after the holidays, my core group expanded a little further to include the regular volunteers from Monday – Deb and Angie. There were always one or two other semi-regular volunteers on Mondays, but the less consistent nature of their time resulted in less intimate relationships. The crew on Thursday’s, Loretta, Doug, and Bobby quickly became a good fit. Doug and Bobby were old high school and then factory working buddies. They always had good stories to tell and were a lot of fun to work
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Loretta - Assist. Manager & Cook (Thurs, Fri, Sat - 6 yrs)
Angie (L) - Regular Volunteer (Mon, Wed - 10 yrs) Deb (R) - Manager & Cook (Mon, Tues, Wed - 16 yrs)
with. Their knowledge of the soup kitchen was mostly limited to the things that happened on Thursdays, although they would have something to say about the larger concerns, i.e. the trustees not mopping when they came in. The trustees were a group of ‘good behavior,’ convicts and people that are behind on payment to the city. They were used as labor for the general upkeep of parks, cemeteries, and other city run agencies. Bill, the man leading that group, was a member of the Harvest Soup Kitchen Board. As I moved through the first few months at the soup kitchen, I was a volunteer, and in many ways friend, first and foremost. I kept my school work and thesis ideas relatively quite as I did not want them to see me as just another student that was doing a school project. I am not entirely sure how they would have responded differently if I would have been more open about my ideas from the beginning, but this method seemed effective so I think I will be conscious of this as I move into these scenarios in the future. I have been questioning if it is best that these relationships form first or if it is ok to have a project and through that work the relationships form. My relationships with Ron and Dave, the two gentlemen I was most involved with in the dining room project, had developed around a project and they seemed to become sufficient as well, so I would say that this order probably plays a fairly insignificant role, as you are sincere in your general development of the relationships. The project, similar to volunteering, becomes the framework for those relationships to develop.
038
3.4.1 Giving Cameras to Johnny and Loretta
there, as always with uncharted territory, but it was not overwhelming. Today I chose to push the relationship a little further - this time it was with the presentation of the camera assignment. I have been very anxious about the approach of asking someone to do me this favor. Asking them, even if only slightly, to lower their guard, and
The following is an excerpt of a Saturday journal entry. It describes the process of providing Johnny and Loretta with disposable cameras and asking them to take images of what is important to them. Also, just to clarify, Loretta is the assistant manager and cooks Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. She is the first person I had contacted at the soup kitchen. Johnny is a regular client that comes in and helps Deb (the manager Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays) and Loretta early in the mornings. He does not get along with many of the other clients and so usually will stick around and talk for a little while then head out before others arrive. This step, giving them the cameras, allowed me to establish a very good working relationship with Loretta. It also pushed my relationship to a new level with Johnny. The images that were developed from Johnny and Loretta’s cameras can be found on the upcoming pages. January 15, 2011 The idea for the cameras had come up a while back, actually really early in the semester. My initial thought was that I could use this as a way to have people give me a somewhat candid peak into their lives, while still maintaining some of the privacy that the unwritten boundaries between people provide. I did not want to intrude on their lives, but I wanted to learn about them. No matter what the situation is, there is always a period of time that things are required to marinate before you can start feeling comfortable around someone. For Loretta and I, this took a few days working together. My relationship with Johnny has progressed with a couple ‘moments’, where I was able to tell him, in a very subtle way, “I am here because I care about you as a person.” It was giving him attention when he was telling a story, fully engaging in the conversation. It was seeing him standing by the door in the cold waiting for Loretta to show up and yelling over to him, “Come sit in the car while we wait – it is cold outside!” I had never been this physically close to Johnny in the past; we were sitting in a small car together. I was, at that point, fairly vulnerable, and so was he. The discomfort is
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let me see into their lives. I am a middle class, white man that is working on a master’s degree in architecture. Not too often do people of my background and standing have interest in being part of the life of someone that is on the lower ends of society. I knew that it would be awkward to approach the situation with the six unfamiliar volunteer faces sitting around the table, so I waited till Johnny went out into the hall to take out the trash. I had to act fairly quickly before he departed for the day. I grabbed a camera and the hand written questions and headed to the hall. “Johnny, I have a favor to ask of you man. I am trying to do this thing for a school project, and maybe more importantly, out of my own interest. Could you take this camera and take some pictures for me?” He seemed hesitant, but accepting, so I continued. I walked him through the directions: 2-pictures of things in your life you are proud of that you would show a friend that is visiting, 2 of what is important to you, 2 of places you like to be, 2 of places you don’t. The rest, well, just have fun and take pictures of anything you want. He looked at me puzzled for a minute. “I don’t know man, I don’t have anything to take pictures of, everything that is important to me is the people in that kitchen, Loretta, Angie, Deb. It is the people at these other places that help me out. That’s what I have.” I had to catch myself, I had always had a hunch this was the case, but to hear him say it almost takes your breath away. “Johnny, that is exactly what I want from you – take pictures of what you want, bring the camera back next week, I will get them developed, and then I want you to tell me some stories.” He laughed. “Stories, now that I can do!” I had talked briefly with Loretta last Saturday about the idea to bring in the cameras. She knew when I walked out there I was planning on doing that. When I got back in, she asked me if I gave him a camera. I told her I had and she seemed pleased. I asked if she would be interested in taking one of the cameras and doing it too. I explained the list of things I would like her to look at, and with not nearly the surprise, I got a similar response. “When do you need it back, my grandson and everyone will be over next weekend. Everything thing that is important to me is going to be there.” She happily agreed. 040
The following exert of a Saturday journal entry describes the process of providing Johnny and Loretta disposable cameras and asking them to take images of what is important to them. That Saturday we were joined by a group of six from Erie Insurance. They usually volunteer one Saturday every 4-6 weeks. This was the first time I had met them. Also, just to clarify, Loretta is the assistant manager and cooks Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. She is the first person I had contacted at the soup kitchen. Johnny is a regular client that comes in and helps Deb (the manager Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays) and Loretta early in the mornings. He does not get along with many of the other clients and so usually will stick around and talk for a little while then head out before others show up. I provide this fairly descriptive account as an attempt to illustrate some of the personal difficulties I faced when trying to push these boundaries past their comfortable points. This may or may not be the case for others that have pursued to push these relationships. Either way, these were important steps for me as I moved through the project. In the appendix, there are the images that came from each of the two cameras and some summarized transcriptions of the interviews that followed. This step allowed me to establish a very good working relationship with Loretta. It also pushed my relationship to a new level with Johnny.
Johnny’s nine images and the discussion that followed, focused primarely on stories from his past. These stories developed from introductions of the people important in his life now.
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Loretta’s seventeen images and the discussion that followed, focused primarely on things that were happening in her life right now - friends and family mostly. Most stories of her past were in reference to her late husband Gary who passed away a few years ago.
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3.5 Establishing My Place Everyone seemed very excited about these ideas and as the meeting concluded, several board members came over to discuss them with me a little further. Not wanting to get in over my head, I provided a little more information, but did not want to be put in charge of these efforts when I was limited to the duration of a semester. This has shown me that there After volunteering for about 2-months, consistently working three mornings a week, I established my place in the hierarchy of the Harvest Soup Kitchen. I had begun to speak more to Loretta about my interest in community development. I explained to her that part of my motivation for volunteering was to gain an understanding of the non-profit sector of the Muncie community and also to understand the inner workings of a place like the soup kitchen. She invited me to sit in on the next board meeting. Early in the board meeting they had me briefly introduce myself. I explained that I was working on a Master’s of Architecture and my thesis was focused in the role architecture can play in community development. I explained that I had been volunteering a few days a week at the soup kitchen and was at the board meeting just to gain understanding of the operations of a non-profit. I then listened for the next few hours. As the meeting was drawing close to an end, I chose to speak up.
is both a need and an interest for my skill set in this environment, and it is likely something that I will try to pursue a little further after graduation. My position was set with the board, including the new board president, Roseanne. My position had also been established in the kitchen as one of the regulars. All that required was for me to be consistent, reliable, and respectful. The third group that I was interested in getting to know was those ladies and gentleman that came through the serving line and ate lunch. Ultimately, my research was indicating that I needed to be engaged with this group. Despite being looked at as another server, and only occasionally having small conversations with some of the patrons, I had a relatively meaningless relationship with most if not all of our diners. I was running into the limitations my role as a volunteer would offer just by being there and doing the job. I realized I was going to have to make the push, or this would be as far as it went. I would be serving food to some underemployed and homeless people across a table.
They had been discussing a set of plans that were completed by a class in the family consumer science program at Ball State. They were options for remodeling the kitchen. The board seemed interested in doing the work proposed in the kitchen and were talking about having one of the board members write the grant. They all seemed to be relatively inexperienced with any construction processes, and seemed to be taking the drastically under developed plans as a final drawings. After reviewing briefly the submittals, I asked them I they had considered the possibilities of hiring locally, or even hiring clients that might have had construction experience in the past. I suggested looking around Muncie or creative materials that could add something fun and local to the project. I also made remarks with regard to the board’s concern over their financial situation. I had suggested the possibility of drop boxes or collect cans to be dispersed around the city. I mentioned that these could get their relatively unknown name into areas where they would be able to draw greater amounts of donations. I referred to the success that the Muncie Mission was having with their advertising campaigns around campus.
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3.6 Discovering Boundaries - Understanding Existing Social Structures
The two gentlemen I approached were eating their lunch, and I interrupted them. It is like having a door to door salesman interrupt a family dinner. The other thing that I noticed was that by being face to face they were forced to respond, and this can add a lot of pressure, especially to people with more reserved personalities. I had several hesitations when I first considering doing the cameras, but I went against those hesitations and ended
For me, this step was the most critical in the series, and it proved to be one of the most challenging. For this reason I believe it is the step most neglected by our current architectural efforts. My crossing of these boundaries, as a citizen and as an architect remains one of the cores of this thesis. If we are to truly understand and empower others, including the lesser class, we must first understand the culture and social construction that exist in that world. In the case of the soup kitchen, the boundaries that exist are again, class boundaries. I refer to them as the relationship between servers and served. This is a socially established boundary. It is nuanced, complex, and often loosely defined. It can be as literal as the placement of a table that physically separates the space, or as abstract as “no, you are only allowed one doughnut.” It is social construction of power and hierarchy. It is constantly negotiated and can vary from individual to individual. The challenge is crossing this boundary. It is interacting with a ‘them’ in the same way that I interact with an ‘us.’ This has and will continue to demand that I confront some established stereotypes that are a result of my life experiences. The most appropriate approach to crossing this line varies based on the specific situation and my personal comfort level. For me at Harvest, my first attempt was by handing out a camera and asking some of the patrons to take some pictures of things that were important to them. This attempt was ultimately not successful, but still revealing. I will provide more on this later. After reflecting on the outcome of the camera exercise, I came to the following conclusions. First, presenting the guys with a task as a way to ‘break the ice’ was not a good idea -- at least not a task that required such a large commitment and personal exposure into their
up putting myself and the others in a very uncomfortable position. A positive to this was that I had pushed up to that boundary, and could now try again with a different approach that would need to be less formal. I had considered a conversation based approach, but in a much more casual manor. After thinking about this, I felt it would still create the discomfort of requiring a response, and would likely take a lot of time to produce any meaningful conversation. Instead, I chose a more standard approach of a survey. The survey questions were introduced by a few paragraphs about of me, what my intentions were, and why I had these intentions. I was giving the patrons and staff members my name and my background, but more importantly, I was establishing that I wanted the information so that I could make our space better. I was interested in doing a project, and most importantly, I was interested in getting to know them. I was simply putting myself out there, and had to wait to see how they would respond. The survey method had relieved the pressure of forcing someone to respond, and allowed the subjects to do the survey on their terms and at a comfortable pace. As some of the clients are unable to read or write, this extra space that I was giving them was likely pretty important. In terms of wording, I made sure it was simple and approachable, and also a little revealing about me. I tried to use a tone that conveyed I was willing to open up to them, and I was hoping they would do the same. The information collected helped me to move forward with the dining room project as I will describe below. In many ways, I was more satisfied when I received generally positive response. As I overheard the diners reading and explaining the surveys to others, I knew that there was a sincere concern for what I had handed them and the things that would happen in the space where they ate most of their meals. Their willingness to complete the survey was an indicator to me that they trusted me enough to take that next step.
lives. Second, the context in which the conversation was presented was not appropriate.
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3.6.1 Giving Cameras to Regular Diners
that just sat down. “Ask _____,” [this was Bruce, but they gave me a different name] he said. He might take some pictures for ya. This new fella looked at me and asked me to explain my ideas just as Willie walked in. A bit more outgoing, Willie started immediately talking to Clifton. My current conversation was now being led by this other guy; he was asking me if I was religious. My most earnest reply was that I believe in God, but I don’t
The following excerpt is part of a journal entry from the day I had first attempted presenting the cameras to a few of the patrons at the soup kitchen. I did this later on the Saturday that I had given Johnny and Loretta cameras, as I described above. The discomfort here was the same as when I approached Johnny about the camera. This time slightly worse, as I was walking up to a group of guys that I only knew from the few times a week I would see them come through the line. These men, as I later found out, were Clifton, Mr. Hibbs, Bruce, and Willie. January 15, 2011 …My next challenge was…well it was a challenge. It was going on 10:00am, and we were past the early rush. I noticed a couple of guys that come through pretty regularly. They got their food, went in and sat down to eat. I grabbed a couple cameras and a sponge to wipe their table. I then started some small talk about some the coffee that was spilled and nervously asked: “Hey guys, could I ask you for a favor” I sat down next to one of them, camera and list in hand. “I am a student over at Ball State and I am trying to understand some of the people in Muncie a little better. Clifton introduced himself, and nodding to the gentleman across the table, he introduced Mr. Hibbs. From there the conversation proceeded, uncomfortably. I explained briefly the nature of what I was trying to do, going through the list. Mr. Hibbs sat quietly. Clifford hesitantly played along. “What’s important to me? Shit man, it is Mr. Hibbs here, maybe my bicycle outside there.” I tried to explain that those were the things I was looking for without getting into a lot of detail about having an interest in trying to be socially responsible in architecture. I told him that I believed that most of the things in many people’s lives were the other people around them. It was not specifically a physical thing or place. Another gentleman came in the room and sat down. I could sense that the conversation with Clifton was getting moving towards uncomfortable for all parties involved. I said, well Clifton, Mr. Hibbs, I appreciate your time. Before I finished, Clifton directed me to the man
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necessarily follow an organized religion. He responded with, “So you have the higher power?” I looked at him puzzled and asked what he meant. He sort of shook his head, “ahhh man, ask Willie over there about the higher power.” At this point, the situation had become very uncomfortable. Their mannerisms neared mocking; I clearly was, at this point, outnumbered, and way out of my place. None-the-less, I pushed forward as I did not see an easy way out of this situation. I proceeded to ask Willie about the higher power. As the mockery toned down slightly, they explained to me that “the higher power” was a feeling. It was not material, but a feeling in your gut. Willie said, “Well that’s what they tell us.” They then moved into a playful dialog with regard to this other gentleman’s ‘break from that’ for a little while. Understanding that the Muncie Mission is one of the primary institutions in town that provide for men needing a boost, and that the Muncie Mission, based on what I found on their website, strongly encourages a ‘get well’ process that is based strongly on faith. I figured that this was the basis of both the inquiry to my religious standing, and the subsequent dialogue. As the talk about religion dwindled down, the conversation turned back to the camera project. This new guy was asking Willie if he wanted to take some pictures for me. He looked interested, at least interested enough for me to explain what I was doing. He gave m, what seemed a good 80% of his attention as I went down the list of things to take pictures of. At that point I was happy to just hand him the camera. I asked him to bring it back next week sometime. As uncomfortable as the whole interaction was, after some ‘cool-down’ time, I realized that I was pretty excited that I had a camera in the hands of one of our clients. I had taken the uncomfortable step, and now it was just a matter of seeing what comes of it. My aim with this journal entry is to provide a little more insight into the discomfort that comes with trying to cross some of these boundaries. I am not sure if there is a better way to go about this. Perhaps there is one that is less challenging, but I am not sure what it is. 050
3.6.2 Surveys
I can say that, although I never got Willie’s camera back, my relationship with these guys has improved. As I have moved through the dining room project, I have also moved to becoming on more comfortable speaking terms with these guys. Bruce and I speak now, but I still initiate those conversations. Mr. Hibbs approached me a few times regarding the project and we occasionally have short conversations I have not seen Clifton since that initial interaction. Willie and I are on good terms. He always acknowledges me with a cheerful hello. He eagerly helped with the dining room project by gluing a piece of cardboard to the wall.
The camera project had been successful in, at least, advancing my relationship with both Loretta and Johnny, but I had failed to make any substantial progress in getting to know the diners that I had a lesser amount of interaction with. As described previously, my next step was to administer a survey. The survey was handed out on a relatively slow day when 60 diners came through to collect lunch. I received a total of 30 responses that day. This was indicative of what I considered to be a good response. The next few pages provide a copy of the survey administered as well as the summary pages that were put together to share the results with volunteers, board members, and was a key component for the call out meeting for what would become the Dining Room Club.
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SURVEY Continued…
Harvest Soup Kitchen
Dining Room Improvement Survey
11. Describe briefly what things you LIKE about the Soup Kitchen:
Hello Ladies and Gentleman. My name is Jason. You have probably seen me around. I am the younger gentleman that helps serve soup Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. I have been volunteering down here for a couple months and plan to continue through the rest of the school year. I am an architecture student at Ball State. The Harvest Soup Kitchen board has been talking about doing some improvements to the kitchen space. If some of you are interested, I would like to try and organize some improvements to the Dining Room and Hallway as well. This improvement will be on a very limited budget – I know we are all familiar with limited budgets so we will need to be creative!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
I am handing out this survey to get an idea if any of you would be willing to help out. Also, I would like to better understand your perceptions of the dining room and how you would like to see it improved. By filling out the survey, you are NOT committing to anything, nor will any of this information be distributed or tied back to you. It is completely anonymous. I simply enjoy doing projects, would like to improve our space, and would love to get to know some of you better.
12. Describe briefly what things you DO NOT LIKE about the Soup Kitchen:
SURVEY (Circle Appropriate Answers then place in box marked “SURVEYS”)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. Your sex? MALE
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
FEMALE
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. How old are you? ________________ 3. How many times a week do you visit the soup kitchen?
1-2
3-4
5-7
4. In addition to you, how many people usually come with you? 1-2
3-4
5. After getting your food, do you stay at the soup kitchen to eat?
YES
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5-7
8+
NO
13. Any other comments or suggestions on how we can make our Harvest Soup Kitchen better: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why or Why Not? __________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. If you stay in the building to eat, which space do you use the most and why? THE DINING ROOM
THE HALLWAY
THE DROP-IN CENTER
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________ 7. Would you like to see the Dining Room and Hallway spaces changed?
YES
NO
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey. Hopefully this information can help us to improve our Soup Kitchen experience! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me. Again, my name is Jason, I am the young man that is in on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings.
9. Would you be willing to help make these changes?
Please return your completed survey to the box marked “SURVEYS”
8. If yes, briefly describe changes you would like to see. ____________________________________________________
YES
NO
10. If yes, what times are you most likely to be available (circle all that apply) MORNING
AFTERNOONS
EVENINGS
Thank you! Have a good day and try to stay warm -
PLEASE CONTINUE TO THE BACK FOR A FEW MORE QUESTIONS!
Client Survey - Front Side
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Client Survey - Back Side
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Client Survey Results
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Client Survey Results
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3.7 Dissolving Boundaries - Challenging Existing Social Structures
“increases ownership, improves the community, and improves the lives of those most in need.” We conveniently lack the tools to quantify social gain from these projects, so we ultimately can only critically evaluate their worth based on those glossy images and the published words that support them.
Like the cameras, the surveys were another moment when it was important to be critical in my position, and respond based on my assessment of the relationship that existed between the diners and me. It’s very likely that it would have been unsuccessful if I’d tried to do the project right after the camera exercise because we weren’t comfortable enough yet with one another to work together. Since the survey responses were positive overall, and expressed interest, I decided to move forward in the direction of doing a project in the dining room. It is important to note that if there was generally no interest -- if surveys were not returned or the feedback would have been generally negative, then it would have been the correct decision to stop and not try force a project. If I would have gotten a negative reaction, I likely would have read it as either their general lack of trust or respect towards me, or that there were truthfully no interest in changing the space. Since this was the essence of the response I received from the cameras, I needed to reformat my approach before continuing. Another, larger-scaled failed attempt would have led me to a different type of project. For the sake of the thesis, I likely would have returned to a larger-scaled project that focused less on engaging the diners and more on engaging the volunteers in redesigning the kitchen, or potentially a larger-scale master plan for a social service campus in the existing structure and the empty lot to the east. I think this is one aspect where we, as architects who are from a different class, often struggle and need to improve. It again comes back to the idea of working with not for. It might seem convenient that when working with a soup kitchen, many of the ultimate users of the space are either volunteers or those who are considered social misfits. I find that both groups usually lack the social weight, the voice, to have an active say in larger scale
Too often, I believe, we will push forward and do a project despite a lack of interest. We justify the progression on the premise that we know best, assuming that these people in poverty don’t understand what they want and need. Most likely there will not be a large amount of resistance, but there will also be a lack of engagement with the people who are supposed to be benefiting the most from the change. The lack of resistance can likely be traced to the servers/served relationship. In most aspects of their lives, the people in the lesser classes are served not in terms of being waited on, but in terms of being directed what to do. This controlling is the essence of oppression. We dismiss the general ‘disinterest’ as if they do not understand what is best for them. We push forward because we ‘know best’. My time at the soup kitchen has taught me that we, as a profession, can do better in this regard. I want to practice architecture on the premise that I can bring a technical knowledge to the table, and experience in the logistics of building, but ultimately my knowledge and experience is only a component of a large body of understanding. As a facilitator, it is my responsibility to help others articulate their ideas. It is also my responsibility to understand that sometimes an architectural response is not the correct response. I believe in the power of architecture and design, but I also believe it needs to be a component in the human lives that it affects. I am trying to understand to what extent of engagement is possible with this new client base. That said, after some time I received a nod by way of the surveys, indicating that these clients are on board for now. With that understanding I moved forward discussing with Roseanne and Loretta, and then setting up a callout meeting for what would become the “Dining Room Club.”
choices regarding facilities and program. This leaves the door wide open for architects to come in and design nearly free of restrictions. Presentations to board members are often met with little critique from an audience generally lacking experience in architecture. A few glossy images to ‘sell the space,’ and we are free to experiment within the budget. More glossy images in a magazine supported by the standard feel good explanation –
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3.7.1 Call Out Meeting - Establishing the Dining Room Club
a design for changing the scale of the space, further define the mural, and develop any other designs solutions that seemed appropriate. Roseanne asked that we present our ideas at the next board meeting. We agreed, and laid out the generic schedule that can be found on following pages.
The first Dining Room Club call out meeting was a success despite having a relatively small turnout. That meeting included, as pictured below, Rosanne, Ron, Dave, and me. I had planned the meeting with the expectation of introducing myself and speaking in front of a crowd of 20-30 people. That was the number that expressed interest on the survey. With the smaller group, I quickly realized that the format of this Dining Room Club, and the projects that would likely come from it, would be small scale and very informal. I handed out copies of the survey results and the four of us discussed the results. We discussed the general feeling of content with the space, staff, and overall service the soup kitchen was providing, but agreed that something small scale would be appropriate as many had expressed that they would like to see some change. I suggested that seat cushions had been expressed and would be a small scale addition. Also, I explained that painting would likely be within the grasp of our small group. Dave offered up to the group that he had previously won an award for a painting he had done in Richmond, Indiana. I asked him if he would be interested in doing a mural. He eagerly agreed, explaining that
Roseanne - Board President
Ron - Regular Diner
Dave - Regular Diner
Jason - Volunteer (me)
he had always been interested in doing something at the larger scale, but never had the opportunity. Sensing that he was already taking ownership of this portion of the work, I told him that he was ‘in charge of the mural” Before leaving, he was measuring the wall and had decided that he would do a 10’ x 6’ mural near the center. He wanted to do his impression of the biblical scene - The Feeding of the 5000. During the meeting I had also brought up an interest in breaking the space into smaller components to accommodate a greater number of smaller groups (5-7 people) who were typically using the space. They agreed, and understood that the space, as it was currently arranged, was set up for a large-scale, banquet style dinning. Although the meeting participants knew a fair number of the other diners, they explained that making smaller spaces would be good for people that do not get along with the others, or wish to eat by themselves. We agreed that over the next few weeks we would put together
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Dining Room Club First Call Out Meeting WHEN
This Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Feburary 24, 2011 Enlarged Dining Room Plan (Existing Arrangement)
WHERE
Harvest Soup Kitchen In the Dining Room - There will be a sign!
WHY
Improve Your Dining Experience I am looking for a group of people that want to help make some simple improvements to the dinning room and hallway. Bring your ideas! Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. Helen Keller
Thank you! Jason Klinker Call Out Meeting Poster
Basement Floor Plan (Existing Arrangement) 061
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Existing Dining Room 063
Existing Dining Room 064
3.8 Personalizing the Relationships - Redesiging the Dining Room
Preliminary Dining Room Club Schedule Thursday, Feb. 24
Call Out Meeting
Thursday, March 04
Thursday, March 11
planning
The next couple of weeks went well, but not quite how I had planned. When the schedule
Thursday, April 07
Thursday, April 14
build observe
Thursday, March 31
had been created, Ron, Dave and I would come together on Thursdays after lunch, and we would have discussions much like during the first week about design decisions and how we would proceed. We would work together to find materials, some on our own and some collectively. Also, we would work to develop some presentation materials for the board
Start working on some mock-ups, have paint or some funding located
Group to present ideas to board
Wednesday, March 16
Thursday, March 24
Discuss plans, progress on material collection, general planning
meeting. These would include some sketches and diagrams that we would work together on. I would supplement these with computer graphics. With materials located and some collected, we could work together to build mock-ups of proposals etc. In reality, the soup kitchen flooded twice over the next two weeks, eliminating two of the six days. . Dave didn’t make it to the meeting on the 4th, and Ron was not there on the 11th. Realizing early during the second week that these things were not going to pan out
Construction
Complete Construction
exactly as I had thought they would, I went ahead and developed some quick design concepts: a platform with partial height walls to break up the space, cardboard squares in a checker pattern to both frame the mural and tie the smaller seating arrangements together, and a bright colored paint to make the children’s area more fun. Each Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, I would come in with some sketches and ideas. I usually would run into Ron and on occasion Dave. I would run my ideas by them. Ron helped me work
Observe Reactions?
through some details for the platform -- the platform could have a wall, but there still must be clear visibility for Jeff, the security guard, to see through the space. It needed to be movable for a variety of reasons. In the nights leading up to the board meeting, I hustled
Complete Project
to locate and construct a full-scale, partial model of the platform (pallets and plywood). I put together a preliminary cost estimate based on paint and the little bit of plywood I would need to buy. And most importantly, I modeled the dining room to illustrate where the new paint would go, the effects the cardboard squares would have, the location and
Project schedule determined at call out meeting
scale of the mural and platform relative to the rest of the room. It was a tool to allow them to see what we were explaining at the meeting.
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As the board meeting snuck ever closer, I was starting to feel a little guilty. Outside of a few 15-minuite talks here and there, I had completely eliminated Ron and Dave from the design. I felt like I was falling into that same old trap of designing for them. Then the 16th came along. The board meeting was schedule for 5pm at the soup kitchen. I contacted Loretta to see if she could run over and let me in the building so I could set up the pallet mock-up and drop off some of the other materials. We went over around noon, an hour after the soup kitchen closes. I had been worrying about Ron and Dave working on the project at all, let alone showing up for the board meeting. There they sat; on the stoop of the soup kitchen, waiting for me to show up. For the next hour, we had our second group meeting. We assembled the pallets, talked about the model and the paint colors I had found. Dave showed us the sketches he had been working on of the mural. The way those two weeks played themselves out was a glimpse of what my role as the architect, and the facilitator would be. Getting input from them as I developed designs, having them involved in the development of the schedule and the overall plan, and trusting Dave to develop the ideas for the mural were enough to keep them involved.
(Opposite Page) Some quick perspectives were developed to describe the idea of the cardboard squares to Ron and Dave. (Above) Thumbnail sketches as we worked through ideas for creating smaller scale spaces. (Right) Images from the board meeting. Ron sits next to a board member above, the board discusses financial concerns below.
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3.9 Growing and Building Together - Remodeling the Dining Room
The weeks that followed the board meeting was where my relationship with Ron and Dave grew. We spent the next few weeks working together. Joined by one of my colleagues, Emily, we primed and painted, glued cardboard, and constructed a platform. During that time, there was growing support for the project. Ron, Dave and I received an increasing number of compliments from diners, volunteers, and board members. Other diners
Willie, a regular diner was eager for a photo shoot with Roseanne. Willie helped glue up a few squares. He also still has one of my disposable cameras!
frequently offered help as we were hanging cardboard squares during lunch. Some would pass squares up to me on the ladder. Others asked if they could glue a piece on the wall.
Ron quietly expressed some concern when Dave eagerly accepted the mural job. “I don’t know man, some of these artist, they are crazy with the stuff they make,” he would mumble. As Dave’s mural progressed, I would frequently catch Ron discreetly admiring it as he would walk by. His comments became less doubtful and much more proud as the mural was getting wrapped up.
Dave recently was asking me if he could put images of the mural in a portfolio for an art school application. I am not sure if he will get in or not, but applying is a start!
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Cardboard Squares and Mural (Nearly Finished Above, Progression Sequence on Opposite Page) 071
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Kids Area: Chalkboard Paint and Cardboard Paint (Finished Above, Progression Sequence on Opposite Page) 073
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Pallet Platform and Base Paint (Nearly Finished Above, Progression Sequence on Opposite Page) 075
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3.10 Observing the Response
Unfortunately, we have had some unforeseen events in the last couple of weeks. Insurance is covering having the flood damaged floors cleaned. Since those workers have been in and out of the space during the last few weeks, there has not been time to administer any formal observations like surveys and interviews. Based on the responses that we have gotten informally, I would assume that people have enjoyed the process and the final product that has come from the work The Dining Room Club has done. I believe that the soup kitchen project has done much more than the physcial results that are on the walls and floors. I believe it has sparked a lot of interest in doing projects at the soup kitchen. The board has put together a committee that is working on either doing extensive remodeling of the kitchen, or looking into buying a different facility that is ADA accessible. Dave has been excited by the response he has been getting and is feeling motivated to apply to art school, or if nothing else, pursue art a little more seriously. I mention to Ron now and then that he will have to take charge of getting some plants in the top of those pallets because I am leaving after the school year. I hope to still volunteer on Saturdays, so I am going to see if I can get him to help me get some in there. When there is a chance over the next few weeks, I hope to administer another survey similar to the one that I had done originally. This follow up survey will focus on quantifying some of the positive responses we have gotten.
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Chapter 4
A Shared Perspective: Practitioners Focused on Non-Traditional Clients
4.1 Creating a Taxonomy
As I was wrapping up much of the work in the dining room, I found that I had developed what seemed to be an effective way of moving through one of these projects. At least at a small scale as an academic study, fit within a semester. I was comfortable with many of the social relations and the what was seeming to work and not work in terms of engaging and motivating the diners and the people in need. I had even managed to understand better how to engage clients that are typically carry an incredibly heavy stereotype. I was curious though how this would apply all of this in a professional market, make money to pay my bills and support myself, and still manage to continue doing work that I found to be meaningful. The following was my approach to better understanding the professional possibilities. I identified and profiled five people, in various stages of their careers, which I felt were doing work that I could do and still feel I was meeting my personal goal of helping people and doing socially responsible architecture. Against that, I have put the work I have done at the soup kitchen and in the past through Habitat for Humanity, ReBuilding together, and through Freedom by Design. Freedom by Design was a project I co-captain for my third year of architecture school. Jamie and I organized a group of about twelve undergraduate students and led them through the design and construction of an enclosed canopy over a wheel chair ramp and remodeled a residential bathroom to make it ADA accessible. The goal of this juxtaposition of me and my work to the others was to better understand where what I was doing fit into that larger body of work that was being done.
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Introduction
Currently I am a Masters of Architecture candidate at Ball State, where I have pushed my focus to include a better understanding of the social dynamics of architecture. Being interested in both construction and volunteer work, I have volunteered with Habitat for Humanity as a general laborer. I have also done work with ReBuilding Together in Chicago. There I was a general laborer, assistant house captain, and a member of the
Jason Klinker
logistics committee planning for their one day building blitz. I find that I enjoy working for
Harvest Soup Kitchen
these organizations as it surrounds me with others that are volunteering. This translates into people that are excited to be there, not there by force.
Mission: Using architecture as a tool, I work to actively engage
My forth year at Ball State, while working on my BS in Architecture, I co-captained, with
people, providing them appropriate support as they move
Jamie Owens, the Freedom by Design chapter. Freedom by Design is a component of the
to shape their worlds.
American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) that focuses on bringing design solutions to the handicapped and elderly. Our group located a client on the south side of Muncie,
Location:
14-year old Chase, who had been hit by a car and was consequently paralyzed from his
Muncie, Indiana
waist down. We worked with Chase and his mother, Penny, to define a scope of work, design a solution, and complete the project. For this case, we built an enclosed canopy
Education:
over Chase’s existing wheelchair ramp. Also, we remodeled their bathroom, installing a
MArch, Ball State University (2011); B.S. Architecture, Ball
roll-in shower and ADA compliant sink, toilet, and grab bars.
State University (2008) My professional experience has included several years of work in a small Fort Wayne Professional Experience:
architecture office. I also spent a year working with a firm in Chicago. With this experience,
Architectural Intern [4 Years]
I have realized that I enjoy most components of the architectural process. Likely my future
Community Volunteer Work [2 Years]
professional work will be at a small scale firm offering a more holistic experience. One of my goals for the next 5-years is to get my professional license.
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Jason | Questions
to earn this trust. That first interaction, I was given a couple sentences from him, at best. Since that moment, I was sure to engage him, by name, every time I saw him. Last week I had a 5-min conversation with Mr. Hibbs about the changes in the dining room and if he liked it. It was mostly small talk, but relative to the first interaction, that level of trust is much higher.
1. How can an architect, with a relatively limited amount of time on a project, come to really know the place, the people that the design is impacting? After doing the work at the soup kitchen, I would say that in many ways it is more important to focus on earning the trust of those you are working with than trying to gather information. It seems like as the people there would gain trust in me, they would allow me to see more of who they are. This is a pretty straight forward concept, but I think we overlook it and only focus on getting information. 2. When the culture of a place sees relatively no value in Architecture (design), but basis its survival on architecture (shelter), what is the role we play as architects? How do we negotiate this line? Early in the semester, I thought I had figured it out in a way. No one was openly upset with the way things were and the soup kitchen was operating pretty efficiently for the most part. My initial response was that ‘it meets the basic needs,’ that is all these people seem to care about. Now, after seeing their reaction to changing the dining room, I see that there really is a place for ‘nice things’ in these scenarios too. I still am not sold on the idea that the specifics are that important. I think it is more the idea that people are making effort, they see the potential for things to get better and they are moving in that direction. I think our role, early in these projects, is to be the person that takes that first step. I think people will naturally follow, assuming that you continue to walk with them until they feel comfortable doing it on their own. 3. As a college graduate, a person of privilege, how do I earn the trust of someone who lacks most, if not all, social privilege? An example of this, when I first attempted to talk to Mr. Hibbs it was when I was handing out the cameras. My focus was getting them to provide me information. It failed. I realized that I was in “their house,” and they were going to be the ones that set the rules and the pace. I knew that Mr. Hibbs was going to be a good way for me to really see what it took
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4. What is a method for engaging; empowering and exiting that will maintain ownership and drive in others? I think the main thing, again, is getting them to trust you. Once you have earned their trust, then it becomes almost a game of confidence building. My assumption is that most people these days can use a little support now and then. It is good to be critical, but if you want them to take ownership, you want to make them proud of what they do. That does not happen when you take the paint brush away because they ‘are doing it wrong.’ 5. What comes first, the relationship or the project? I think it needs to be a back and forth. The relationship, most times, should precede the project if the goal is to build a sense of ownership. You have to establish enough trust to get them to work with you, then a small scale, faster moving project seems to be a wonderful way to grow those relationships. Spending 10-hours painting a room with a couple guys becomes a great time to learn about one another. 6. How do you determine an appropriate amount of work? This seems like something that you just have to feel out as you go. Hector had mentioned the importance of this being a very organic process. In many ways you just do something small and then one thing leads to the next. If you focus on getting the first steps right. I think the rest will just come naturally. 7. Implementing formalities of codes, insurance, liability, etc. in a very informal situation? I still am not sure how to handle this situation. Hector had spoken about just sort of going out and building stuff, never having insurance or anything. I think you just have to be responsible, if it seems dangerous, then you need act appropriately. I believe that getting a grasp of this is something you just develop over time. I have an understanding, but I have a lot more to learn in terms of construction, structures, etc. before I am ready to take on projects much larger than the soup kitchen. I think getting my license is maybe an 086
indicator for me that I am ready to start stepping out a little more.
Jason | Images
8. As you do more of these projects, is it ok to establish a ‘routine,’ or does each start the process open ended? I think you can routinely make it your goal to approach the situation with an open mind, earn the trust and get comfortable with the people and the situation, and then you can respond appropriately. I don’t think it is a good idea to go into a situation with a solution or project in mind. 9. How do you approach the timeline of projects? What is a good pace to move through the process – not to push to hard, but avoiding stagnation and loss of interest? I think that the pace I worked at the soup kitchen actually worked out really well. There has been some conflicting things, me in school, the floors being stripped and waxed, etc. that are slowing that pace a bit. I am starting to get the sense that most of us are ready to ‘cut the ribbon’ on the project. One of the mornings when it flooded, Johnny and I were mopping up the water. He stared getting frustrated when we had worked for a couple hours and had no visual improvement. He said, “I need to see that what I am doing is changing something.” I think that is a good rule of thumb for pace. If it is something larger that is not going to show a lot of change in the short time, then you want something small to give that sense of accomplishment as you are working towards the larger goal. 10. How does the work at the soup kitchen relate to larger scale issues? I think that the work that I am doing at Harvest, and really the work that everyone I have profiled is doing, it has a direct impact on larger issues. At Harvest, there is clearly a developing sense of worth, confidence, ownership. We have also created a lot of bridges between people where no relationship previously existed. I think anytime you are able to co-mingle with various age, race, and social classes and move in a positive direction, you are working on the larger issues.
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Jason | Characteristics Diagram
n io ot m ro /p ity ic bl pu
rly ea ian of ar e it ts al an ec sc um roj h p
“living wages� from produced work
Jason | Wordle Diagram
time with client
Jason Klinker
energy focused on relationships/ understanding place
s es es dr ssu ad l i ly cia en so op er rg la
w o cr rk e pr at foc ac ing us tit fu es io tu o ne re n rs
focus on discourse
A Wordle is generated by taking portions of text and sorting it out by word count. The larger words are words used most frequently in the body of text. It is a helpful tool because it provides a graphic snapshot of a theme. In this case, I have utilized it as a method of analyzing for six designers, including myself. Each Wordle is comprised of a range of text from the designer’s body of work. This provides a more general theme for the designer. My wordle, based primarily on my abstract, has an emphasis on community, project, people, and architecture. I believe this is a pretty accurate overview of my focus at this point in my career. This abstract was done early in the process, so it will be interesting to a compile a Wordle of my final manuscript. I feel that I have sense used more names, Ron,
characteristics
larger circle = greater level
Dave, Loretta, Roseanne, Willie, for example. These, and more specific terms like Harvest and dining room should replace generic terms like project and community.
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Introduction
Ryan is a recent graduate with his Master’s degree in Architecture from Ball State. He currently is working with Habitat for Humanity in Muncie, IN. As part of his service through AmeriCorps, Ryan is assisting with green building initiatives, designing neighborly housing options, and leading volunteer construction teams. Although currently looking for a more permanent position in a firm, Ryan expresses an eager liking for his current position at
Ryan Ellsworth
Habitat. He has described an interest in a position that puts him directly involved with the
AmeriCorps at Greater Muncie Habitat for Humanity
action, on site learning and building relationships with people. It is not surprising that a position where he is building houses and “kicking in doors” of abandoned houses fits well.
Mission: To practice as a registered architect specializing in
Aside from his current work with Habitat, Ryan spent a year in India as a Volunteer
affordable housing, design for aging, and community-
Intern Architect through the Engineering Ministries International. As part of this position,
based projects and to use architecture as a means to
he produced architectural renderings for new schools, health clinics, orphanages, and
serve the unique people and places in which I live.
administrative buildings. Aside from producing documents, he had significant contact with and become part of a local people. This was facilitated through the leading of
Location:
programming meetings and client presentations, while also volunteering with several
Muncie, Indiana
humanitarian efforts in the community.
Education:
Ryan’s time in India further expanded his already sensitive world view. As he describes
MArch, Ball State University (2010); B.S. Architecture, Ball
it, “this was the perfect place for me to cultivate ideas in architecture regarding cultural
State University (2009)
sensitivity, sense of place, regional identity, and the importance of human relationships to the built environment.” These concepts are the basis of much of his undergraduate and
Professional Experience:
graduate work including two papers, “Changing Neighborhoods & the Importance of
Architectural Intern [1.5 Years]
Place,” and “Architecture for Critical Relationship.” This work qualified him for a teaching
India Based Architectural Experience [1 Year]
assistant position in a series of Cultural and Social Issues where he presented class lectures
Teaching Assistant Cultural and Social Issues [1 Year]
on cultural interaction and social issues through design.
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Ryan | Questions
produced building materials that are available in every corner of the country... (not much you can do... and it’s convenient...i dunno... i digress). 2. Many ‘humanitarian efforts’ in architecture and design focus on international causes. In your opinion, do you perceive these efforts as being more helpful or harmful? How do
1. Your work to date expresses an obvious concern and fight against what you term a “global sameness.” Could you provide a few examples through your career where this fight was specifically challenged? Were there moments when you have had to compromise on this idea? I’m going to drop some quotes on you here just to help spell out a definition of place, global sameness, relationships, etc. “To love a person means to see him as God intended him to be.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“Beloved Architecture! In the end, it’s materials, it’s origins, it’s own relatively short life span seems so human and so touching that we are bound to consider it affectionately.” - Aldo Rossi
“What makes architecture particular? The possibility of building anything anywhere is architecture’s greatest crisis and challenge.” - Michael Sorkin
“Region inspires and grounds the American experience. Whether we are drawn to them or flee from them, the places in which we live etch themselves into our memory in powerful, enduring ways.” - William Ferris
I’d say my experience with global sameness just refers to a stabbing feeling in the gut when I feel like decisions are made to the built environment that have only to do with cost and profit margins and do not consider the people for whom they will serve. It also has to do with the environment. Building the exact same tract house in Indiana that you would build in Florida just because air conditioning will make up the difference does not pay any attention to place. Sprawling suburbs and McGalliard Streets are another example. Mass
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these efforts fit into your understandings of place and cautions of a global sameness? I believe that everyone, rich or poor, has the ability to take the resources available to them and use them to help others. In that light, I believe it is good that architects should desire to take their professional knowledge to help other people in different places and cultures. Humanitarian efforts however have the power to hurt or to help. Nobody going into a new culture for the first time should presume to know what it will take to provide “help.” Effective humanitarian aid comes through long-term commitments and careful relationships. It takes a long time to really understand what it means to be from a particular place with its history, culture, climate, etc. Those willing to really invest themselves in a particular place will in time be able to be helpful. 3. At these early stages in your career, what are your goals and objectives? Are there certain projects, firms, or opportunities that you are looking for and those you are avoiding? How have you been able to distinguish between them? At this point I am really looking to build experience in a traditional firm setting with the intent to be ‘more helpful’ in the future to other people and places. I’ve never been much of a corporate ladder climber and I prefer to work on relatively small-scale projects that impact local people and communities. 4. How do you view yourself and the work you are doing as part of a larger humanitarian effort? Is your role, a part of a larger whole, something you frequently consider, and if so, how do you adjust yourself to respond to these r¬¬eflections? I would say that the work I am currently doing for Habitat for Humanity is very much a part of a bigger whole. It is about mobilizing the entire community toward a greater goal or purpose. Habitat helps to bridge income and racial barriers; it also helps to provide awareness of Muncie’s ongoing needs. I do consider the impact of my role quite often. I would probably have a hard time if I felt like the work I was doing did not have a bigger purpose to it.
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5. You speak frequently of the importance of ‘place’ and ‘rootedness’. At what scale do you consider these themes to be relevant? Do you feel that this scale changes as we
9. Last question, if you could paint the perfect picture of yourself in 30-years, what would
become what many refer to as a ‘shrinking world?’
it look like?
I think the ideas of place and rootedness apply to every scale. To one’s own household,
Honoring God, loving my family and friends, serving people. If I can still manage to do all
to ones neighbors and neighborhood, to city, state, and country. Basically, I think that
of those things well in 30 years, I’ll be doing pretty good. If being an architect is still a part
while we become a more and more global society and the world continues to shrink, it
of that deal, so be it. Really you can have those values in any profession... I just happen to
makes some sense to try to maintain a sense of identity. I think every scale of place comes
like building and buildings...
with its own culture. When one culture comes in contact with another, they change. And
I might also add that there is nothing too scientific about my thoughts on place and
I think that’s a great thing. I would define rootedness as ‘having a sense of one’s self in a
rootedness. It starts from feelings and reflections and it’s a way to try and make sense of
specific environment.’ It seems to me that as we embrace a more global culture, it can
it all.
be easy to lose track of some of the simple things that link a person with a particular place. Capitalizing on the uniqueness of one’s identity within a place can be a great way to add meaning. For architects, capitalizing on place and roots adds richness and depth to a project and provides the client something they can truly identify with. 6. As a recent graduate, do you find personal finances something that causes concern on a fairly regular basis? What are some of the careers you have considered that will provide the funding you need to support yourself, but also allow you to do work that focuses on a client base that generally cannot afford typical design and architectural fees? Well, working or volunteering for Habitat is a great way! Perhaps another way is to simply understand that a traditional architecture firm exists because it can generate income. Working for a firm, or starting a firm, that values ideas such as ‘public architecture’ or social needs, can be a great way to channel resources into something you care about. 7. What methods have you put into practice to evaluate the success of your work both in meeting personal goals and professional goals? 8. Do you feel that you have a ‘partner,’ professional or personal, that helps you to manage what, for me, seems to be a pretty intense life path – humanitarian based practice? Well, having a wife that shares similar values is a tremendous help and blessing. We have very different professions, but in a way our outcomes are the same. Building relationships with people and learning from them tie it all together. Also, a strong mutual interest in new places and cultures means that we both have a desire to live overseas again at some point. 095
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Ryan | Observations
personal beliefs of place and rootedness, and to the people around him. I consider Ryan to be an underrated, almost ‘dark-horse,’ in the movement of humanitarian design. His dedication to those around him is at the essence of what this humanitarian, grass roots ideal is about. He is that one small voice that simply amplifies all the voices around him.
Ryan, like several others I have profiled as part of this work, is an inspiration to me, in many ways, maybe the largest of the group. Earning his Master’s in Architecture from Ball State only a year before me, I have had the privilege of sharing a classroom with him as we participated in a discussion based elective course led by Professor Olon Dotson. This course explored the depths of what Dotson refers to as “The Fourth World,” – third world conditions in a first world country. We touched on topics ranging from the effects of shrinking cities and sprawl to racial and class tensions. Ryan was passionate and insightful in his input. The following year, I sat in on several of Ryan’s thesis reviews where he did a wonderful project on senior housing and the importance of place making. The work Ryan has done in India and the work he is doing now with Habitat has a heavy focus on creating a sense of place while also addressing some of the larger issues that plaque those in poverty – a lack of identity and a place that is their own. It follows in many of the principles that have been outlined as key components to developing communities and empowering the people in them. The work he has done with the organizations focuses on participatory design that develops based on local material, sustainable building practices, vernacular architectural language. The construction and implementation of these designs have frequently been done by local workers. One thing that I find to be lacking ever so slightly is the application of a broader scale set of conditions that are consistent with work similar to this in other locations. Working to build a database of successful work based on an agreed upon quantitative and qualitative criteria, will help to build a stronger case for doing these locally based works. It is difficult for me to be critical of folks like Ryan. I find that he possesses an incredible, unfortunately rare, personality that pushes him to always search for an understanding of all people and things around him. Being rather reserved, I cannot imagine Ryan ever reaching the international or even national acclaim of a Bryan Bell or Emily Pilloton. This speaks not of an inability or lack of intelligence, but to an uncompromised dedication to 097
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Ryan| Wordle Diagram
Ryan | Images
Ryan’s Wordle is from his short autobiography. My understanding is that he compiled this autobiography as part of his thesis project. Although, I like his terms, people, place and relationships, better than the almost hyper generic words I use like community, they are still fairly generic in their true sense and understanding of place. My assumption is that the nature of Ryan’s work at Habitat would still be in ‘generic terms.’ His work in India appears to be much more personal. Would these ‘first name relationships,’ that I have at Harvest now, and Ryan likely had in India because of the level of need from our, the designer’s, perspective? At Harvest, I really needed, and worked hard to establish a level of trust from the onset. Without a name, it becomes much more difficult to move conversations past a simple ‘hello.’ Ryan in India is based on his need as well. Much more urgent, Ryan, as an absolute outsider, needed to establish those relationships quickly and with some merit. He likely needed this more intimate level of conversation to gain basic survival information. A good question for Ryan would be, “What are the names of your clients?” In ‘main stream’ practice, we need good working relationships with clients, they pay for our survival. A first step in working with a ‘non-paying’ client might simply be “call them by their names.” 099
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n io ot m ro /p ity ic bl pu
rly ea ian of ar e it ts al an ec sc um roj h p
“living wages� from produced work
Ryan | Characteristics Diagram
time with client
Ryan Ellsworth
energy focused on relationships/ understanding place
s es es dr ssu ad l i ly cia en so op er rg la
w o cr rk e pr at foc ac ing us tit fu es io tu o ne re n rs
focus on discourse
characteristics
larger circle = greater level
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Introduction
As a professor of Architecture at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Hector LaSala is a leading voice in the Building Institute Studio Program. This program is a design-build formatted studio experience through the universities architecture program. As listed by the website, the program finds its inspiration from the following quote.
Hector LaSala University of Louisiana at Lafayette
“What Michael Walzer calls ‘connected social critics’ [are those who,] unlike the armchair philosopher, disavow a posture of theoretical detachment, preferring instead to identify with and engage the historical experience and culture of his or her time. Occupying the contested terrain of
Mission:
social life, avoiding the blind loyalty to the status quo, the social critic sees political argument as a
The Building Institute’s goal is to create a setting outside of,
way of resolving pressing practical problems of human beings.”
yet built upon the traditional studio setting. In this way, a
- Jeffrey Isaac, ARENDT, CAMUS, AND THE MODERN REBELLION
student’s design approach can be expanded. In fact, the setting of the Building Institute and the new design process
The studio format aims at addressing the gap that often exists between theory and practice.
it endeavors to teach is an extension and transformation
This is achieved through hands-on service-learning, countering “theoretical detachment”
of the traditional studio. Design cannot be relegated to
and nurturing “social critics.” They charge students to build, but even more importantly to
only one locale; it is fluid, continuous and morphs to its
“act.” This stems from a belief that “the act of making meaningful architecture requires our
setting.
students to take responsibility for their designs: cultural, social, political, fiscal and technical responsibilities, to name a few. [And,] the act of designing and making meaningful
Location:
architecture requires rigor and tolerance - from both faculty and students.”
Lafayette, Louisiana As part of the Building Institute Studio Program, Hector has led, with W. Geoff Gjerston, AIA, Education:
a series of Acadiana Outreach Center Projects. These were an opportunity to achieve
B. Architecture, University of Louisiana (1973); MArch, Texas
another challenge the Building Institute has set for itself. That is aiming to open new
A&M University (1976)
paths for the students through the learning process. This achievement was met with the immersion of students “into a social context that they have rarely encountered in any
Professional Experience:
meaningful way: the world of chronic poverty, homelessness, addiction, mental illness,
Practicing Architect for 30+ years
and the non-profit agencies that are the trenches of these societal battlefronts.” In the fall
Professor for 25+ years
of 2003, there was an opportunity to do just that. The director of the Acadiana Outreach
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Hector | Questions
center contacted the School of Architecture in need of help designing a storage system to aid in donations. As the site observations were taking place, there was an observation that there was “a terrible contradiction: while the Center’s mission is ‘Giving People Back Their God-Given Dignity,’ the physical environment and facilities were depressing, coarse, and spiritually degrading. From this observation came the development of a master plan for the center, and over the next 3-years, seventeen, strategic, ‘fast-tracked’ projects on the site. The projects started at a small scale of $400 and $500 and grew into larger scale projects upwards of $10,000. All total, $76,956 was spent on projects over the 3-year period. Completed in 2006, the range of effects these projects have had on the 10,000 plus people it touched are beginning to show through. They estimate the value of the work at two to three times the cost of work.
1. It appears that this series of projects at The Outreach Center started from a request from Valerie Keller. Was there a previous relationship established with The Outreach Center, or was the project the first contact with the group? He did not know Keller, but she had just taken over the center. She was relatively young, 24-25. She had been there for like 9 months, and she realized that they needed better method for organizing the donations of clothes they were getting in. She was friends with someone that was a professor at the college, he recommended Hector. That is how it all started. The first time that I had seen the sight was when we did the first walk through. When he went there and walked around with her, he pointed out that the facilities were sort of in contrast to their very mission. He had suggested that she was addressing an issue, but they had a much larger issue that they could start to address. “Part of the reason that we were so successful, is because we let it all happen very organically, opposed to typically you usually finish the master plan and then sit and wait for funding to come through. We saw the need to do something immediately because we had built all this excitement, and did not want to lose that.” 2. From here, the completion of the 3-year series of projects, do you continue to do this sort of work with other organizations? If so, what is the approach to initiate these future projects? How do you spark these relationships when none formally exist? We had nine students, three did the bench, three the gazebo, and three the bus stop. Again, this is outside studio, these are just extra credit type projects. All of the work we have done has been done in this way. That summer we found an unused warehouse on the site. We suggested that they use this as a place to do a little store (donation shop) where they could do that donation redistribution. So we did a façade so that it would read as that. So by the end of the summer we had done three small projects and one medium sized project. So at this point is when things started to get pretty exciting. We had showed them that we were able to do some really good work for a pretty small amount of money
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and mostly just putting labor into it. At this point, people are getting pretty excited and
asked if we could get some help from them. So they went ahead and selected some guys
things are starting to get donated.
for us to use.
We were getting things donated like the chain link fence all was donated by a chain link
The actually wore the striped suits when they came to the site. You know the ones you
guy. The point where generosity was being aroused and that is how we were able to do so
see in cartoons ya know. It was initially a shock to them, the students. It was about 11:30
much, then the newspaper starts doing articles and so people you know, they just wanted
when they showed up. We had gotten some pizza and drinks, you know, we figured they
to join. They just wanted to be part of it.
had probably not had a good pizza in a while, so we got some pizza. Of course, when we saw them come with the striped suits, it really freaked them out. So there was some of that
Right now we are starting on a 74-Unit mixed use affordable housing project. It is a 12
initial stereotype that these are inmates. Yes, yes there was at the beginning, but it did not
million dollar project. The housing is not necessarily just for the clients but for people that
last for long.
are making 60% of the median income. So basically, anyone making less than $28,000 can qualify for this housing. It has all spurred from the work from the outreach center.
The other project that we did with residences was the mosaic. We had contacted a professor that has done a lot of murals. One of my colleagues, his father-in-law is a building
3. Could you provide more insight into the logistics of working with the ‘residents’ on
contractor, and so he loaned us a lot of scaffolding. Well one of the things that he said
projects? How did they fit into the schedule? What skill sets did they bring to the table, and
to us was that the contractors, they will have a lot of extra materials after projects and
how did you gain knowledge of these skills? How many residents took part, and how were
they can’t use them and the clients never want them…so that is how we got a lot of our
they selected?
materials. So using this, the university has established a good working relationship with a
Actually the residents participated in the third project that we did. The third project was
lot of contractors and builders that we are able to get materials and things. So the mosaic
a pocket park. There is a residential area the people there would move through this area
came from this, because we had a lot of flooring tiles.
from their residence to the areas where they would get treatment like AA and this was often at night. It was very dark and muddy. We found a $5,000 grant to do this park. We
4. Did you find that some of the projects were more successful in creating a sense of
did a vegetable garden and they helped us to.
ownership and place for the residents? What aspects of the projects do you feel was most successful in creating that sense of ownership?
The project after that was actually a small outdoor performance space. We actually had
First of all, I think that we were very receptive. We saw that there were 100 needs but
inmates that helped us on that. Ironically, a lot of them were in jail because of drugs.
because we felt the need to deliver something, we found that they had recognized 3
Many of them had been carpenters or had experience in construction. Then there were
immediate needs were 3-fold. So we did the bench and the bus stop because there was
the residents, some of them, of course, had never done work like this, as was the case
nowhere for people to sit in the shade while they were waiting for the bus. Then the third
with most of our students. So in a way, the inmates were the ones that were teaching
project, we had recognized that so many of these half-way houses were so crowded
our students and the residents there. We dedicated at the ceremony to the inmates, but
with 6-10 people in each and you know of course all of these people smoke. So what
when we asked if they could come and we could honor there were they said no, and so
we recognized that these people needed a place to get away from one another, so
that was sort of sad.
we made a gazebo. The three projects we chose were so tangible, so immediate to that need, they immediately accepted that we were able to understand what they needed,
It is sort of just a work release program. These are inmates that you know, have good
and then of course we went ahead and built it, ya know.
behavior, and so we had heard about the program and just contacted the prison and 107
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Then the great thing big thing was the garden. We knew that we had done something
do projects that matter, it is just not really what most firms do. So we said maybe we do
when we started to notice the residence cleaning things, cleaning the yard. Then one
something equivalent to doctors do. Where that internship process is doing work for the
of the half-way houses, 12-men, one Saturday, actually cleaned their yard, made some
poor, basically they learn medicine by providing service for people that cannot afford
planters, even had put up the little solar lights you know. This is awesome, for the first time
the doctors. So that is where our model had begun. Why do the universities not offer these
they are taking ownership of this house that is not even theirs. So that was, that was a
opportunities for architecture students and graduates to actually learn that level of training
pretty big deal!
that the internship provides, but instead of doing it with a firm, every university creates this opportunity to provide those services pro-bono. So I started doing this design build, which
We find that beyond the physical labor and the benefit of what we build, and it is a much
is good, but really is too small a scale to change the way things are.
bigger need of them, is to see that somebody cares. And so when they saw the students, especially when we did the warehouse, when they saw us working that summer, they were
So that is where we jumped into this next project. We had 3-4 students that had
just in awe. That these young kids were actually sweating and building this thing in the
worked with the design build projects, and they got IDP credits by working on projects
middle of the summer, it was pretty impressive.
for the outreach center, but at a much larger scale like a dormitory, bathrooms, and of course this last one, the downtown housing. He got not only pay, but also internship credit.
5. At what scale do you lose the opportunity to use student and resident labor? How do you handle OSHA, insurance, and other types of formal regulations when working on these
6. Do you think that your work that you did at the Outreach Center must be there first. As in,
pretty informal projects?
those relationships and that understanding has to be in place first, before moving to larger
Basically, there was a guy at your school, a professor that had asked this question because
scale projects?
he had been trying to put together a design build project and the university was not
Yes, absolutely. I will tell you what, the design build; we do it with our freshman with our
letting him because of the insurance and all of these things. The amazing thing, we were
sophomores. I think it is important at that level. That is basically how we did a lot of the
so naive, and that was one nice thing about being so organic we just didn’t know any
things at the outreach center. That is where you can make them aware of that whole
better, we were so under the radar that the university did not even really know what we
world that they are basically ignorant about. The horrible poverty and addiction and no
were doing. They really did not know what we were doing – I mean our guys were just out
profit, but the medical model is mostly for graduate school. You have to build when they
there building shit. It was really so modest in the beginning that by the time the university
have that initial entrance into the world of the profession at the level of altruism, and
had become aware of it, we had built all kinds of stuff. We never had insurance, we still
generosity, and caring. Then you have them hooked. Then when they get to graduate
don’t have insurance. Well now the university is so proud of our accomplishments but if we
school, it is about practicing at another level.
would have waited around for the school to get us insurance, I don’t think it ever would have happened. We never had a building permit, we never bought insurance, and we never went to zoning. Remember, this part of town is totally abandoned and overlooked.
7. In general, how do you finance these projects? How far do you plan a project before funding is secured?
(He begins talking about the coming about of the current transitional housing project.)
Most of the first small projects were just funded by the students. The park was the first one
At this point we had been published in Metropolis and had presented 3-4 papers at
we had gotten a grant on and then the amphitheater. We had a professor that had
universities and stuff. It had come to me and to a lot of my students that a lot of the
donated 1000 CMU’s, we had labor from the prisoners, the Outreach Center gave us
experience in the internship project, pretty much was awful. Some was ok but for the
some money to buy other materials. So it was like a complete diverse funding source. The
most part it is just so insensitive. A great deal of our efforts to instill the ideal of caring and
mosaic, we basically had all the tiles. The painting of the plaza, I think the outreach center
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gave us money to buy some house paint. The parking lot was interesting because we had
one weekend. So we gave them a little bridge that goes from the sidewalk to the street.
to borrow a back hoe from a contractor because to dig up the slab was just going to
So these guys did that. Then a couple people from Michigan did a memorial for all the
take too long. When we actually cut the ribbon to the park, the contractor came to the
Katrina and Rita volunteers. Again, just to reiterate, when it is organic and very processed
event and we obviously acknowledged him and thank him. He was so excited. He asked
orients, the right things just show up at the right time. We went to the boys and girls club
us what our next project was and we told him we needed to do a parking lot. Well, he
and they asked us to do a roof over the boys and girls club, and that court is big ya know,
says, tell you what, I will do it at cost, I won’t make any profit. I will just pay my workers and
like you have to be tall. So I remembered a student that I had that was doing a lot with
I will give you the concrete at the cost it comes to me. So it cost some money, but it was
tensile structures. So I called him to see if he was still doing it and he said yes, but that he
half of what it would have been, and the Outreach Center paid for that. So in a nut shell,
could not come out there to help. So we sent a couple students to him, and he taught
once you have a project that sounds true and right, people will come out of nowhere to
them how to do it ya know. So it is just symbiotic ya know, it just takes on a life of its own.
donate and participate. Once you start conveying what the project is about, people will
In a sense, it is really the only way you can do projects like this. You know, funds are short,
want to participate.
labor is short, and so you have to trust that you are going to get the help you need when you need it. So after we have done so much and there was all this press and excitement
In fact, one of Valarie’s sayings is that we talk about being more blessed to give
about it that it made us bold ya know. I told the board of directors, I said, look, this entire
than to receive, so by giving someone the opportunity to give is a good thing. People
thing is just band-aids, we need to really do housing. That is where we started going to
want to give. They just want to be told about the significance of what you are doing. So
D.C. and we got in contact with our senator and told her that she needed to come and
that is what she is so good at. She really paints the picture that you are going to be blessed
see what we were doing. By that time, we had completed almost all the small projects.
by giving to this thing.
She said that these were exactly the types of projects that she wanted to commit herself to. That is when we told her that our vision was to do urban affordable housing. This was
(When in the process for the pavilion project did you secure the funds?) Well it is just so
in 2007. She started giving us money to buy property. Right now we have basically all the
organic. I knew the professor for a long time; I knew his family owned this concrete factory.
property bought to do the housing. So you have to be flexible and tell a good story and
So we went to him, expecting that he would give us a discount. Basically the next time we
you know, just let these things happen. We had no idea that in 8-years it was going to be
heard from him, he just said we are going to give you 1,000 blocks just let us know where
anything like this.
you want us to deliver them. So for instance, when we were doing the Wall Mart, the way it works out is that we
8. You mention that a lot of these smaller projects are just Band-Aids, is doing the transitional
did several designs and it seemed like the most simple way to do this thing was to do the
housing the maximum reach that architecture and design has in terms of our ability to
chain link. So we went to the place that sells the stuff and we gave her the list of everything
engage those issues?
we needed and in the process of getting it, we talked about what it was for and he said
Addiction is a huge problem, it is a complex issue. Alcohol is kinda like an allergy or
that he would give us a discount. So there is no one way to do it.
diabetes, there is proof that alcohol behaves differently in different people. Drugs are different thing, it is much more willful and it then becomes addiction. The irony is that like
Like with the garden, we knew that we wanted to the garden, so we went to the
80% of our clients at the outreach center come from middle class, even upper middle
horticulture department and asked if they could give some students to work on that and
class families. These are people that have been having these problems for so long that the
of course they did. Also, there were some NC State students that were driving by and
families just give up on them.
had heard about the project and asked if they could do something that would take just 111
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Hector tells story about ‘beautiful 26-year old female that is married with a child
then at the same time ____.
working as a nurse, so she was stealing prescription drugs from the hospital. She obviously gets caught. So basically she went to jail, she went through a program for addiction
9. My understanding is that you have practiced architecture for many years (30+) prior
recovery, and she graduated like maybe a year later and was able to get her child back.
to taking on these projects that are highly socially engaging. Is there a certain level
She has lost her license now and there is no way that she can earn what she was making
of general ‘architectural knowledge’ that is learned in the years of practice, that is not
before. I mean this is a story we hear all the time. For instance the outreach center had its
usually a component of a formal education. Would you advise young architects to get this
graduation ceremony and 28 people tell their story. You know it is redeeming you know, it
general knowledge under their belts before trying to lead projects like those you led at
is amazing.
The Outreach Center? Oh ya, I mean I was licensed in ’78. Teaching I have not done a lot of practice, but I have
So to talk about her, she enters the job market at low wage positions. The problem is
built 2 houses and I know construction. It is very important, especially if you have students
that the least expensive apartments are farther then where she works. So if she works
working for you, that you know what you are doing. Our school though is very hands on
downtown as a waiter or a coffee shop, she can only affords an apartment in the suburbs,
though. Students are building things all the time. So there is a kind of ethic about being
not even the good suburbs. So then she has to have a car, and we spend more money on
responsible and doing craft, using tools. That is part of just how we teach it is just very hands
the car then the food. That is the message that we gave the senator. We said listen, if this
on.
is going to happen, it is going to have to be near transportation and around jobs. Some people can live without a car. So that is how we got her to start funding the project we are
Do most of the students end up going on and getting licensed? It varies, all you
doing now. So our projects are aimed at that people, the artist, the cooks, the bank tellers
can do really, is to instill into them a sense of caring. So even if they don’t necessarily
that work downtown. They make pretty good money but you know have to pay all this
do design build…let me give you an example. One student that helped with the master
money for a car and insurance and all of this. They have nothing left for anything else. For
plan in 2003 was a second year. He just got licensed so that took him 3 years after he
our clients who graduate, one of the dangers for them is economic insecurity. When they
graduated, and he is a very caring guy. He lives in New Orleans now, but he is involved in
become insecure there is a much higher chance that they are going to relapse. So one
so much additional work that he does over there has some sort of ____ work in it. We don’t
of the things that we wanted was to offer them a place that is 3 blocks from the main bus
have enough graduates yet, because it is fairly recent ya know.
station and 2 blocks from the main street downtown, and the downtown is pretty active. The whole idea is that they can actually live downtown and just walk to work.
California, I think is the first state, I am not sure if it is law yet, but they are required to do pro bono work. I think it is called the 1% solution. Architects have to donate 1% of their services to pro bono.
8. Do you believe that the work you are doing, primarily volunteer and donated support, is achievable in a professional world as a way to support oneself? How might the process need to change in order to accommodate a design fee? We have, my partner Corey and I, done all of the preliminary design for free, you know it was still part of our research. So now that we are in design development, the architect that was assigned the project has hired him and I to be consultants, so we are being paid by the hour. So what Corey and I are talking about is to creative a firm that is a ___ organization, so that we can do projects that are at a much more reasonable fee and 113
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Hector | Observations
Geoff, and Hector and Geoff are important to the people at the Outreach Center, so they will grant them freedom to do more than they might grant a ‘stranger.’ Creating a sense of ownership for the residents through active engagement is one area I feel that many of the projects might have fallen short. With exception to residents being
My understanding of Hector LaSala is fairly limited. With a relatively limited online presence, outside a few short articles, general information on the universities website, and a single paper that describes in a little more detail, the work at the Acadiana Outreach Center, it is difficult to provide very in-depth understandings on how the work that Hector, W. Geoff Gjertson, and their students have done. I am using Hector as an example of an ‘educational employee/architect.’ Operating through the university provides Hector some flexibility in his projects in that his personal finances are covered through the university. The work he has done for the Acadiana Outreach Center is funded through various means, mostly grant money for the larger projects with funding for smaller projects coming from private donations or the Outreach Centers funding. Early in the process, a point was made that they needed to approach the work at the Outreach Center as “accelerated fabrication. This approach was derived as a response to the semester structure of university coursing, but also developed from the understanding of how important it is to see tangible results. My approach at the Harvest Soup Kitchen was formatted in a very similar fashion, and was also a response to the same situational time frames. In both cases, this proves to be a very successful approach to engaging the client, especially when the relationship is relatively young. Another theme that is echoed at the Outreach Center and Soup Kitchen is the necessity to develop a trusting relationship. As fourth-year student Beverly Istre expresses, “They gave us so much trust, and by trusting us and letting us fail, they really allowed us to develop a
active participants in the completion of the Gazebo Project, the only other project that has been described as engaging was the larger scale Performance Space. The Performance Space is described as a very good example of local engagement at all levels, as it included support from local contractors, inmates from the local jail, in conjunction with residents of the shelter and students and faculty. Many of the other projects have been described as what I would consider a “hand out” not a “hand up,” to use a phrase from the Outreach Center. My work at the soup kitchen has demonstrated to me very clearly the difficulty in engaging residents of shelters and diners in soup kitchens. These interactions can be at various levels and range throughout the population of residents, but I feel like it is a component that is really essential to maximize the potential of these smaller projects. I am glad to see that this engagement was incorporated in some of the later projects. I am interested in how LaSala, Gjerston, and The Building Institute has continued to have a presence in the community now that the projects at the Outreach Center have come to an end. How do they respond to a new situation where they need to ‘find’ the project instead of the project ‘finding’ them? The Building Institute is one of only a few collegiate architectural programs that have placed their students in these ‘social context’ where architects and students rarely find themselves. They are in a unique position to continue to push this program while also closely monitoring the futures of these past students. How has this socially immersive experience influenced their future professional practice? As the profession and society in general becomes increasingly engaging in social service, it would seem logical that these design-build studios find themselves a more regular component of architectural education. If nothing more, I believe it is an effective way to develop emotional intelligence in students and also more empathetic professionals in the future.
sense of ownership.” I believe that this trust develops as the personal relationship develops. It is trusting that the students, under the guidance of LaSala and Gjerston, will do work that improves the physical environment, if even ever so slightly. Also, I believe that this trust is in many ways similar to one would trust a good friend. The project is important to Hector and
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Hector | Images
Hector| Wordle Diagram
Hector’s Wordle contains text that was gathered from the paper Design on the Societal Battlefront, written by Hector and his colleague Geoff Gjertson. This paper describes the work that Hector and Geoff have been leading at the Acadiana Outreach Center for over 8-years. Also sampled were Hector’s responses to a phone interview I conducted. From this graphic, it is clear that Hector is focused on teaching. Design-build is a significant part of the architecture program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and this is shown by the larger projects and work. Although Hector and his students are terrific designers, he rarely uses the word when describing the work. He refers to it in terms of projects that have a clear emphasis on students and people, and how they relate to knowing and justice. For Hector, design seems to be just another tool that is used to complete the project. Design becomes like a hammer. Also holding a little weight is his reference to place, Lafayette, and also outreach in this case is making reference to the Outreach Center. 117
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n io ot m ro /p ity ic bl pu
rly ea ian of ar e it ts al an ec sc um roj h p
“living wages� from produced work
Hector | Characteristics Diagram
time with client
Hector LaSala
energy focused on relationships/ understanding place
s es es dr ssu ad l i ly cia en so op er rg la
w o cr rk e pr at foc ac ing us tit fu es io tu o ne re n rs
focus on discourse
characteristics
larger circle = greater level
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Introduction
In 1993, Mike Halstead started Halstead architects in Fountain Square, a historic neighborhood in downtown Indianapolis. Considering themselves ‘general practice’ architects, they offer clients diverse problem solving skills. With a passion for projects in urban environments where the clients are not accustomed to professional design, Halstead architects have found their niche in Indiana’s typically underserved neighborhoods and
Mike Halstead
non-profits.
Halstead Architects While Mike and his colleagues push to keep up on the cutting edge of evolving Mission:
technologies, their real strengths lie in their ability to communicate with this unique client
Halstead Architects was founded in 1993 to provide reliable,
base. They have developed a business strategy that, despite delaying fees until later in
progressive, and community conscious architecture.
the process, gets much needed work done. The firm usually plays a very large role in the
Our firm aspires to be stewards of our client’s vision while
grant writing process and typically will go lengths of time early on as it takes time for grant
providing responsible, innovative and inspiring design. Our
money to be awarded and come in. As Mike describes, by continuing work with the client,
passion is to meld quality design with our individual client’s
even when not getting paid, the firm is often able to establish good working relationships
needs and budget. As a result, we lead a collaborative
with the because they are, ‘suffering alongside them.’
effort, customized to meet your needs. While much of the work the firm does is not ‘award winning’ in design, it is critically important Location:
to the advancement and maintenance of a growing population. The ‘award’ they do
Indianapolis, Indiana
continually receive is the return and word of mouth reference of most of their clients. This speaks immensely to the fact that their work is successful in meeting the clients goals – in
Education:
design, timeline, relationship, and budget.
B. Architecture, Ball State (1987); B. Environmental Design, Ball State (1986)
As an individual, Mike continues to lead and be involved in several professional and community organizations. These include the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and
Professional Experience:
Construction Specifications Institute (CSI), and also the Family Strengthening Coalition of
Halstead Architects [principle | 1993-present]
the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the
Woolen, Molzan, & Partners [project architect | 1987-1993]
Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center. In many ways, Mike has been successful at maintaining
USA Architects [designer | 1986-1987]
a private practice, doing socially responsible architecture.
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Mike | Questions
carrying some social weight? For example, when working on the apartment complex for veterans, who were relationships formed with? Is the focus on the owners, the workers in the adjacent office spaces, the veterans, etc.? I try to develop a relationship with everyone on the team. You can learn something from everyone – the executive director, maintenance crew, homeless veterans, staff,
1. How do you structure fees when doing work for not for profits? Is it the same rate as other for profit clients? Our standard fee for normal projects is 8% of construction cost. We give NFP’s a discount to 6% and our MEP/Structural/Civil engineers are ok with the “trickle down” effect. For Schematic Design our standard fee is 15% of the overall 8% fee, but for NFP’s we will work for $5,000 – or whatever they have available. Most NFP’s can get funding for their project if they have a professional submission, but they don’t usually have money to pay for it. We do this because they then see us as a partner and we are less likely to get paid fast and less likely to get sued for mistakes. 2. Has the structure of the firm been adjusted to accommodate clients that can be on very tight budgets? Yes – the partners may go a long period of time without getting paid. 3. Does the firm often take a larger role in ‘fund-raising’, i.e. grant proposals, loan accusation, etc.? Absolutely – the line between architect and grant writer/fund-raiser is very grey. The more we help the faster we get paid. 4. Your work seems to put an emphasis on having a strong understanding and relationship with the client. What are your methods for developing these relationships? I believe that every project, and every client, has a different problem and therefore the solutions should be different. That is why our buildings and designs don’t all look alike. Once you have some “skin in the game” at the front end by reducing or deferring fees the relationship becomes very strong naturally. They see that you are still doing the work and suffering alongside them. 5. Are consultation and relationship building practices done with all users or just with those
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contractors, etc. 6. Does your design process and the level of user engagement change in response to the social conditions of the client? For example, would the design process for a facility like the Mary Rigg Center be the same as it is for The Harrison Grille Bar at the Columbia Club? Are additional efforts made to create a sense of ownership and belonging to a larger range of users? I use the same principles on all of our projects – the social aspect of working for NFP’s has taught me to treat all clients the same regardless of the type or size. In the end I have found that everyone wants to be included. The best way to success is to be inclusive. That does make it more difficult when you are working with clients because consensusbuilding can be laborious, but when everyone on the team feels included success is almost guaranteed. 7. In what way do you see the work the firm does as a component of a larger picture dealing with such issues as homelessness, poverty, deindustrialization, loss of historical context, etc.? I was raised by a single mother who dropped out of high school at the age of 16 so I could be born. There is nothing worse than people thinking you are stupid or a criminal just because you are poor. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. I was lucky because the social aspects of architecture that I found just happened to co-align with my personal beliefs. I love designing projects in urban environments where the community is not used to quality. Many of our projects would not be built if we weren’t willing to reduce our fees and work for less at the front end and the community knows that. That is why our firm rarely competes for our work – it is usually a referral or repeat client who knows how concerned we are about the built environment and building for the community - not our egos. 8. What is your personal motivation for doing such a large amount of community based work? 124
My Mother – and the many people over the years who helped me get where I am today.
Mike | Observations
9. At this point, later in your career, what do you consider to be your bigger goal as an architect, professional, and active member of a number of community based organizations? I want others in our firm to carry on what I started after I am gone 10. How important do you feel architecture is in dealing with such social issues as mentioned above? Architects are problem solvers – we should be willing to find solutions regardless of what the problem is. 11. Our country is going through a pretty significant transition both in our economy and also in the way people are looking at the world. In this context, could you provide any insight or advice to a young architect that is interested in doing socially engaging architecture as a profession? Once you get to a certain age as an architect, and a person, you realize that money isn’t everything. The old sayings “you can’t take it with you” and “you only live once” are very true and as you age they become more obvious. I make a good living, have a beautiful home, a lake house, a nice car, my kids are out of college (almost), and I haven’t missed a meal in a long time. In short – “architecture has been very, very good to me”. Why not pay it back?
My understanding of Mike Halstead is based on a limited interaction including the question/ answers provided, a job interview, and any research I have found online about the firm and their work. Based on these exchanges, I believe that Mike is a good example of a commercial, for-profit architect, that has found a respectable balance between career and firm success and community responsibility as a civil servant. At this point in my life, I still question my personal values in ‘owning a lake house and nice car,’ and classify many things as ‘over the top.’ That said, I respect that Mike has determined what ‘over the top’ means to him, and has balanced that with a committed serving of those around him. It is apparent that Mike puts heavy emphasis on treating all people with respect and dignity, no matter who they are or where they came from. Based in this moral standing, Mike has made the observation that everyone wants to be included, and that putting in the extra time and effort to be inclusive not only is the right thing to do, but almost always results in a successful project. This notion that everyone wants to be included is an observation that I have come back to several times over the last few years. It, in many ways, seems to be one of the very few themes that can apply to nearly every person. It should be noted, however, that ‘inclusion’ can mean different things to different people, and the level at which each person must be engaged to ultimately feel important can be difficult to determine. As an example of this in my experience working with The Dining Room Club, I have found that Ron, one of the regular diners, tis a more reserved man and requires a smaller amount of interaction, but this interaction must be very focused and intimate. Dave, another frequent diner, on the other hand, is much more vocal and desires to be involved in a more ongoing dialogue. Dave is very eager to share ideas and is fairly confident in his abilities relative to Ron who is often hesitant to contribute. At the soup kitchen I have been, in many ways, fortunate that the core group has remained pretty small. It allows me the ability to more easily juggle the relationships. As the number of participants increases, the ability to meet the needs of everyone diminishes.
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That said, the work the firm does in the non-profit sector is at much larger scale. Although
Mike | Images
I have not had the opportunity to observe the firm while they work through a project, my guess is that it requires a different level of interaction than I am dealing with at the soup kitchen. Similar in that we work across the various levels of the hierarchy, I feel the larger scale projects focus much more attention on the upper ends of the spectrum. My work at the soup kitchen has been at the other extreme. I have focused attention, to the best of my ability, to develop relationships on the lower end of the spectrum. That does not mean to say that Mike’s work does not engage those served by the non-profits, nor that my work has not engaged the board members and many of the volunteers at the soup kitchen. It simply suggests that given a set amount of time, we allocate those minutes differently. I believe that there is a need for both strategies. Work at the higher end of the spectrum allows for larger projects as it gains access to the ‘decision makers,’ and often times, those whom have access to the funding. The work I have done at the soup kitchen, I believe, does a much better job at creating a sense of ownership, building esteem and confidence, for those whom the programs ultimately are there to assist. It is understood that there is a need to be included at all levels within the institution, but those at the bottom more commonly will find it much more difficult to find this positive support in other aspects of their lives.
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Mike| Characteristics Diagram
n io ot m ro /p ity ic bl pu
rly ea ian of ar e it ts al an ec sc um roj h p
“living wages” from produced work
Mike| Wordle Diagram
done for not-for-profit clients. Also, it incorporates his responses to the survey questions.
time with client
sections of his firm, Halstead Architects’, website, as well as a couple project descriptions
energy focused on relationships/ understanding place
s es es dr ssu ad l i ly cia en so op er rg la
Mike’s Wordle is a compilation of words gathered from the mission statements and about
Mike Halstead
w o cr rk e pr at foc ac ing us tit fu es io tu o ne re n rs
focus on discourse
Surprisingly, Mike’s Wordle has very small emphasis on architecture and design, but defines the design of the work in terms of space, needs, renovated, creativity and community. His definition of architecture is defined by his use of community, building, providing, service, and clients. This Wordle illustrates Mike and the firms understanding of ‘priorities’ when working with clients in the not-for-profit sector. The emphasis on service and meeting needs is very strong part of this sector’s cultural understanding. Less important, illustrated by Mike’s omission in
characteristics
larger circle = greater level
many ways, are things like design and architecture in a more formal sense. This in many ways could be the firm’s, likely unintentional, approach to avoiding client intimidation. Working with clients to find well thought out solutions is prioritized ahead of creating an image or building an ego. 129
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Introduction
Emily Pilloton founded Project H design after becoming frustrated with the accepted status quo of the profession. Feeling the traditional methods were lacking in a point, she focused Project H in the direction of “initiatives for humanity, habitats, health, and happiness.” With this in mind, Project H set out their six-tenet design process:
Emily Pilloton
1.
There is no design without (critical) action
Project H Design
2.
We design WITH not FOR
3.
We build, document, share and measure
Mission:
4.
We start locally and scale globally
Project H uses the power of the design process to catalyze
5.
We design systems, not stuff
communities and public education from within. WE BELIEVE
6.
We build
THAT DESIGN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD. With a belief that “Design can change the world,” the focus is “re-thinking of environments, Location:
products, experiences, and curricula for K-12 education.”
Bertie, North Carolina The last segment of this focus, K-12 education, refers to a 501c3 non-profit program that Education:
Emily set up with her partner, Matt Miller. The program, Studio H, is located the poorest
M.A. in Designed Objects, UC Berkeley; B.A. in Architecture,
county in North Carolina, Bertie County. Studio H’s website provides a brief description of
Art Institute of Chicago
the program:
Professional Experience:
Studio H is a public high school ‘design build’ curriculum that sparks rural community
Founder and Executive Director Project H Design
development through real-world, built projects. By learning through a design sensibility,
Managing Editor, Inhabitat.com
applied core subjects, and industry-relevant construction skills, students develop the
Adjunct Professor Designed Objects
creative capital, critical thinking, and citizenship necessary for their own success and for
Editor of Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower
the future of their communities.
People Over the course of one calendar year, students earn high school and college credit, and are paid a summer wage to build the community project they have spent the year
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Emily | Questions
designing and prototyping. Studio H is a different kind of classroom. We design, build, and transform. This began as Emily and Matt were invited by the new head of the public school board to implement a ‘learning landscape’ (a creative learning playground involving half buried tires), and the design of three computer labs. Critical that their work was not meeting one of their primary missions, to design WITH not FOR, Matt and Emily made the decision to establish a full-fledged design build studio that is preparing to construct a community farmers market. In its introductory year, the year-long class was offered as an elective to 13 high school juniors (the entire junior class).
*These questions have been sent to Emily. She has agread to respond to them, but due to the recent tornadoes in Bertie County, she has been busy working on those efforts. 1. Out of all of the project initiatives you have worked on thus far, which one do you feel has the greatest impact to the social environment? 2. As you have moved through such a wide range of projects in terms of scale, scope, promotional level, etc., what insight can you provide in terms of ways the profession could start to focus the increased interest in socially based design efforts. 3. What has been the most difficult component in the projects you have done? What methods/strategies did you use to push through these challenging times? 4. How do you feel the work at Project H addresses socioeconomic and political issues at a larger scale? 5. You had mentioned in a lecture at the IMA in Indianapolis that you believe that these types of work have the potential to be entrepreneur ventures, essentially self-supporting, but that you did not know how to do it. At this point, do you feel that it is important for this work to become independent from grant and foundation money? Have you and Matt considered with much earnestness the potential in this entrepreneurial arena? 6. Based on responses you had given at the presentation at the IMA, it did not sound as though there has been much work done in terms of setting up a system of quantifiable measurement that can gauge the project’s success in relation to the older models of classes. Do you believe that this is something Studio H is going to have to confront as the program matures?
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Emily | Observations
7. Are the goals of Project H to actively and explicitly seek solutions to larger socioeconomic, political, and ideological institutions that can be credited as the ‘roots’ of many of contemporary societies dilemmas (poverty, class and racial tensions, etc.)? If so, how have you and Matt been critically reflecting on the work in regards to these issues? 8. Do you feel that it is important for programs like Project H, that have become internationally known as leaders in the “design can change the world” camp, to also lead in the critical progression of standards of measurement and more specific in terms of the capabilities of design to address some of the larger issues. 9. I agree with you and others that design has the ability to “change the world.” I am curious, and have been trying to figure out for myself, can we define more specifically what that ability is? 10. What are your definitions of ‘design’ and ‘design process?’ In your experiences, especially working with the people in Bertie, do you find that these two concepts differ in their potential? Do you believe that one or the other is more suited to dealing with the “98% not typically served by designers?”
As outlined in many of the questions above, my primary critique of Studio H and similar programs is that they lack in a critical and explicit response to larger social issues. They often fail to identify specifically how they see their role in a larger context of social, economic, and political institutions. My work at the Harvest Soup Kitchen is in many ways lacks this same critical review. It becomes very easy, and often times necessary for these programs to get ‘caught up’ in doing the work, and the time necessary for critical reflection in relation to these larger roles. It is easy to become overly critical of this lacking reflection without the experience of pushing through one of these programs. Even at the relatively small scale, the work I have done at the soup kitchen has required a remarkable amount of work just in terms of logistics. Anytime a project really gets involved, the dramas of everyday life become unavoidable. Often the role of being simply a citizen and a person, a role often downplayed in academic and professional situations, becomes exaggerated when dealing with clients that are primarily at the base of the social pyramid. When you start working extensively with human emotion, the situation can become infinitely complex. Emily understands and speaks to this in her response to the Bruce Nussbaum’s blog post, “Is Humanitarian Design the New Imperialism?” Towards the end of her comment she states, “Humanitarian design is messy, wonderful, difficult, and a constant learning process for us as designers and the people we work with and for. I hope that in reading this article, we can all remember that it is not so black and white, and that there are groups (like Project H and Catapult, among many others), trying to get it right, from the ground up, in places we know and are invested in.” I believe that this statement is in many ways, the core of this debate over humanitarian design. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to fully understand the complexities of this work without being immersed into the very specific situation. This leads, in many ways, to a debate that has been one of the primary critics of humanitarian design efforts. What is the importance of scale, local, and cultural factors
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in these efforts. There has been a lot of criticism, which I find absolutely spot on, that we
those of us that had some familiarity with her work, it fell a little short and came across
have no business doing things in countries half across the world. Emily was called out in the
as lacking in depth. Based on the information, videos, blog post, etc. that can be found
previously mentioned Nussbaum blog post for Project H’s Hippo Roller that was designed
online, I don’t believe that Studio H is coming up as short in this department as Emily might
and delivered to South Africa. Emily’s simple response to a question regarding the debate
have presented. For me, in efforts to develop a stance that is ‘profound’ has been difficult.
at a lecture at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on March 24, 2011, provides example of her
Perhaps Emily’s presentation felt flat for this very reason. She was not presenting theories
criticalness in the work that she does and an appropriate stance on the issue. She states,
on “how to change the world,” she simply was describing the actions she has been taking
“The minute we finished it we realized it was a horrible idea and we made the decision
to change her world. A notion that I have been pondering for some time, is that what
that we were not going to do that again.” Since that point, Emily’s work with Project H has
really makes this work profound is that it is forces a designer, an architect, to become a
been exclusively done within the country by city scale efforts, including Studio H’s efforts
citizen and a person first and foremost. It requires emphasis on, as Giulia Fiocca mentions,
in Bertie County.
“building relationships, rather than building.” The most profound realization is that there is nothing really profound about it. It is remarkably simple in that it requires us to be humans
I appreciate greatly Project H, and Emily, and Matt, and their dedication to relentlessly
– a role we all have been playing most of our lives, but we often fail to acknowledge
document the work they are doing. I have been able to go to the website and blog and
as we move into professional, academic, and economic situations. For those of us with
watch videos of student presentations, design processes, etc. These are critical in providing
education and skill sets in the practice of building, it is through the active engagement of
insight to the inner workings of the program. Personally, I am quite envious of their position
this practice that we provide context for these relationships to exist.
to work with that media. I have found myself very hesitant to film and document my work at the soup kitchen in these formats as I feel they fail to respect many privacy concerns for the people I am working with. Much of this could be credited to the different client base – poverty stricken adults in the socially degraded context of a soup kitchen compared to poverty stricken children in the positive context of a school and an educational program. Also, Emily and Matt are much more ‘official’ in their roles with the high school. My position at the soup kitchen has been simply a volunteer, who happens to be an architectural student, who happens to be interested in working with some of the diners [who? – board members, staff and patrons?] to change the existing environment. The last thing that I believe needs some attention is the way in which we present this, often, very intimate work. This is another component I have found increasingly difficult as I attempt to present the work at the soup kitchen as a master’s thesis to reviewers that likely have had very little interaction with the project. In a limited time frame, a 20-min thesis presentation or a 1-hour public lecture, does it become more important to present the work that you are doing or a position regarding larger issues? Emily’s presentation at the IMA I feel is a very good example of this. The audience in this case ranged greatly in their experience and understanding of the work Studio H has been doing. I believe that Emily presented a ‘default’ presentation and resorted to a simple descriptive format. For 137
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Emily | Images
Emily| Wordle Diagram
Emily’s Wordle is derived from several components of the Project H and Studio H websites. These components included mission and descriptive verbiage about both projects and also pulled some smaller selections from sporadic pages on the sites. A quick glance is enough to get the thrust of the diagram - design. This is overly surprising to me based on Emily’s background in fields that often sell themselves using the novelty of ‘design.’ It becomes an interesting dynamic though as design as a novelty is juxtaposed with the very specific Bertie County. Other words public, and school, and even build in the context I think she uses it, are very outward and look at a larger scale. She sparingly uses students, but instead refers to Studio, as in Studio H, when referencing the project. This is suggest that ,similar to her use of Project, as in Project H, she sees these students as simply components in the project. This is not to suggest that she does not have a vested interest in the students. It seems difficult to spend a year at the level of engagement Studio H functions at and not develop some meaningful relationships. It does seem to emphasis that it is a project, whos ultimate goal is less focused on Bertie County, and more focused on gaining evidence that using the design process as a model, you can have a positive effect on kids. I have mixed feelings towards this, I understand the need for this evidence, but it feels empty to me!?
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n io ot m ro /p ity ic bl pu
rly ea ian of ar e it ts al an ec sc um roj h p
“living wages� from produced work
Emily | Characteristics Diagram
time with client
Emily Pilloton
energy focused on relationships/ understanding place
s es es dr ssu ad l i ly cia en so op er rg la
w o cr rk e pr at foc ac ing us tit fu es io tu o ne re n rs
focus on discourse
characteristics
larger circle = greater level
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Introduction
Bryan Bell paired with Victoria Bell to found Design Corps in 1991. Design Corps, a commissioned non-profit as of 1996, has been observing and attempting to engage with the local community in regard to the severe shortage of adequate housing for Mexican and other Central American immigrant workers in the areas around Raleigh, North Carolina. Over the last 10-years, Design Corps has established a Farmworker Housing Program. This
Bryan Bell
program helps secure funding while working hard to provide culturally appropriate housing
Design Corps
for the workers.
SEED (Social, Economic, Environmental, Design) The initial strategy was to petition the farmers to help build better facilities. As part of Mission:
the program, Design Corps completes a federal grant application that usually will end
To provide the benefits of architecture to those traditionally
up covering 50% to 100% of the construction cost. Anything not covered by the grant is
un-served by the profession.
covered by the farmer. As part of the contract, farmers agree to meet conditions for the standard of living as laid out by Design Corps. Agreeing to meet these minimum standards,
Location:
developed through interviews, questionnaires, and workshops is their ‘payment’ for the
Raleigh, North Carolina
new buildings.
Education:
By using this very engaging method, Design Corps is able to provide design that responds
MArch, Yale University (1988); B. Arts, Arts History, Princeton
to the specific needs of the place, improve living conditions in general, and recently with
University (1983), Summer Program, Harvard University
the addition of a fellowship program, are able to train young designers. Working hand in
[1983]
hand with people who are often overlooked by society is an excellent way, if not one of the only ways, to really develop emotional intelligence and level of empathy that can be
Professional Experience:
difficult to find elsewhere.
Not for Profit for 20+ years [1991-Present] Practicing Architect for 9 years [1985-1995]
In addition to Design Corps, Bryan Bell is a founding member of the SEED program. As
Architectural Educator for 4 years [1998-2002]
described on the program’s website, “SEED is a principle-based network of individuals and organizations dedicated to building and supporting a culture of civic responsibility and engagement in the built environment and the public realm. “ This outreach is engaging members in all of the design fields including architecture, industrial design, communication
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design, landscape architecture, and urban planning, by providing resources and
Bryan | Questions
guidelines. In exchange, designers are asked to take a pledge to practice under SEED’s Mission and five principles for practice. The mission, “is to advance the right of every person to live in a socially, economically, and environmentally healthy community.” The principles, as provided on the website are: SEED Principle 1: Advocate with those who have limited voice in public life. SEED Principle 2: Build structures for inclusion that engage stakeholders and allow communities to make decisions. SEED Principle 3: Promote social equality through discourse that reflects a range of values and social identities. SEED Principle 4: Generate ideas that grow from place and build local capacity. SEED Principle 5: Design to help conserve resources and minimize waste.
***Bryan is very invloved with several national efforts so attaining responses from him would likely take an extensive amount of time. To compensate for the inability to have my questions answered, I wil reference questions and responses from an interview Bryan gave through Metropolis Magazine. Also, some questions I had for Bryan are listed. Questions (My questions for Bryan): 1. The development of the housing for farmers appears to be based on a cycle of getting input, responding with a design, getting input, responding with a built design, getting input, etc… For how long does this cycle continue to loop? Is there a point where you stop and just say, ‘ok, this now can be considered adequate housing?’ 2. How do the social dynamics of immigrant workers, a hot political topic now, continue to change in response to the strong stance of many politicians against illegal immigrants? How has both local and national politics had an effect on the work you are doing? 3. Your work focuses on a primarily transient population. How would you say your approach to a transient population is different from other approaches for more permanent populations where a primary goal is developing a sense of ownership? 4. At this point, as you have gotten the Farmworker Housing Program well underway, what is your focus now? Questions (*Interview “More From the Notebook of Bryan Bell” was conducted by Kristi Cameron of Metropolis Magazine. It was posted online October 16, 2008.): I wanted to talk about the business side of things and whether or not it’s possible to do community-oriented work as a part of the mix of traditional practice. I can answer very simply. There are thousands and thousands of nonprofit organizations in the country that pay their staff living wages. The only thing it takes to be a nonprofit is
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Bryan |Observations
to serve the good of the public. We do housing, we do economic development, we do educational projects – we just prioritize design on all those projects. Believe me, I’m not inventing any business model here. I just have knowledge of how nonprofits run, and how they pay their employees. Our business model is very traditional. And when you left that nonprofit, did you take what you had learned and apply it to Design Corps? We got a National Endowment for the Arts Grant together, and I became a consultant. I wanted to start working with other nonprofits, so I consulted with Rural Opportunities, the local housing authority, and the other local housing groups, and realized that designers working with local nonprofits is a great model. Architects need nonprofits’ expertise, just like I needed Rural Opportunities’ expertise about migrants. Eventually I recognized that there were places where projects needed to happen, but there was no nonprofit to undertake them. I became a 501c3 myself, so that we could play both the design and nonprofit roles. We’re always teamed up somehow with the local community, but sometimes we take on the role of organizer, sometimes we’re more of the consultant. How much of what you do is devoted to finding funding, versus design time? Let me tell you simply what the grant application entails. It entails answering these questions: “Who are you trying to help?” “How are you trying to help them?” “What data can you show that this can help them?” “How much is it going to cost?” “When will it be done?” “How are you going to verify that you helped these people?” The questions are critical to what I do. If it happens to be that I put that information in an envelope, mail it off, and get money, that’s great-then it’s a grant. But still I need to do those things. Let’s say I had a million dolalrs, and I made up a project and I built it. In my experience, there’s a 99 percent chance it would sit empty. There’s no way that I could make up a solution and have it work without involving the people who would use it.
There are really three primary projects that Bryan Bell’s work is encapsulated in. His first work is what I find to be the most interesting and most successful in the engagement of those in need. This work is what he has done with the Farmworker Housing Program. Here he identified a place where his skills as an architect could be utilized in the improvement of the living conditions of migrant workers around Raleigh, North Carolina. Information found online provides some detail into the program and the process that the program has went through to get to its current state. Although the documentation shows that the program is still relatively small in its built work, it is engaging the inhabitants of the housing as well as their employers, local communities, etc. In this model, they have used a somewhat straight forward participatory design method of gaining understanding, designing, getting feedback from all parties, and responding. The design is done in conjunction with members of all the parties. I believe that their dedication to participation throughout the process will prove successful in time. As the designs and financing are continually redefined, this will also eventually redefine the housing methods for immigrant workers in the area. It will also serve as a strong precedent for migrant housing around the country – both in method of implementation and in design methodology. I believe that Bryan has advanced from this work with the migrant workers into a more ‘public eye’ with his continued work through Design Corps and now the SEED program. With these two programs, Bell is creating a lot of energy in many design fields, not just architecture. He is doing this at both an educational/student level and also at a professional level. The latest, eleventh round, of the Structures For Inclusion conference, located in Chicago, furthered this buzz as it brought together over 400 professionals, students, and community members that are interested in “design for social good” – the charge of the conference. I am excited by the energy that his work is creating in the profession and am excited that is bringing social components back into focus for architects and designers. I find that this component has been slowly dissipating from the profession as developers, budgets, and value engineering have been sweeping the market. SEED, while still young, is putting
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steam back into the ‘design for social good’ engine that began back in the 1960’s.
Bryan |Images
I do, however, have some concern with the way social responsibility finds its way back into the professional market. As I flip through some of the participating and award winning firms, it worries me that ‘socially responsible’ is finding its place next to ‘environmentally conscious.’ Is ‘SEED’ just another marketing ploy? Is it to follow in the “LEED” footsteps? With this, I don’t intend to tarnish the idea that social responsibility, like environmental consciousness, is not important. They are both very important, and I strongly believe the principles should be components of every design. I am just skeptical of seemingly inherent contradictions. For example, we reduce environmental impact with new machines and new technology. New technology and new machines is the very reason that we are ravaging the environment as it is. Socially, we argue for grass roots efforts, community gardens, and participatory design methods. We argue for these small scale efforts at large scale, national conferences where we award prize money to firms who designed, ‘the best’ new 50,000 s.f., green, low-income housing units. It is possible that these firms engaged future residents, janitors, employees, etc throughout the entire design process. It is possible that they can walk in the facility and be on a first name basis with many of the regulars. It is also possible that they gained understanding of ‘people that live in low-income housing,’ by reading a book or checking out a website. My experience has been that there are many things that can be learned from ‘people that live in low-income housing,’ that you really can’t fully understand by reading a book. You really need to look into their eyes, listen to their voice to get it. I sometimes worry that by providing a precedent, we often eliminate some very important educational components that can only be gained through face to face exposure.
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Mike| Characteristics Diagram
n io ot m ro /p ity ic bl pu
rly ea ian of ar e it ts al an ec sc um roj h p
“living wages” from produced work
Bryan| Wordle Diagram
time with client
Design Corps, SEED, and then his personal website. Primarily it is derived from mission
Bryan Bell
energy focused on relationships/ understanding place
s es es dr ssu ad l i ly cia en so op er rg la
Bryan’s Wordle is a collection of writing that is on the websites of his three primary works.
w o cr rk e pr at foc ac ing us tit fu es io tu o ne re n rs
focus on discourse
statements and descriptions of the programs. Very similar to Emily, Bryan is very much focused on design. Also like Emily, Bryan refers to his work, SEED and Design Corps, and those people that are involved, as a project and rarely seems to separate the people as having an independent identity. I believe the defiance between Emily and Bryan is in their past. Emily has, from the get go been shooting to ‘change the world with design,’ and that has been her target market. Bryan has spent much of his career doing smaller scale, community based architecture. His natural abilities, combined with this learned understanding is why he is one of the people at the forefront of this movement. After working with Steven Holl’s office, he stepped back
characteristics
larger circle = greater level
from design, got into the not-for-profit market, then realized where his skills could be used. It is important, as I believe he does in many of his ventures, he does not walk to the table wanting to apply design to every problem. He first understands the situation, then uses the tool of design to derive an appropriate solution. 151
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Chapter 5
Conclusions
5.1 Soup Kitchen Future
5.2 My Future
The Harvest Soup Kitchen is continuing to make minor changes to the facility based on the
Moving Forward is where my focus is aimed. Although my path will take several jogs along
plans and ideas that we began to propose while I was there. This includes painting of the
the way, this thesis has given me hope that I can make a living doing this humanitarian
kitchen and having the floors professionally cleaned (flood damage). In addition to these
based architecture. Ultimately, that could mean setting up a non-profit, it could mean
smaller projects, the board has set up a committee to handle future growth. They are
being a professor, there is a chance it put me in a larger organization like Habitat for
currently having discussions about doing substantial work to the kitchen, including some
Humanity.
much needed equipment. The other option they are considering is moving from their current location to a place that can accommodate growth and also be ADA accessible.
I currently have accepted a position with Mike Halstead to be their one man satellite office
The energy levels are high and people there are starting to understand that they have the
in Marion, Indiana. I am looking forward to this opportunity to learn many of the logistics
power to create their worlds.
and details of working for non-profits. I will have the chance to more fully engage in the process for a larger scale project. With that will come grant writing, historic preservation reviews and documentation and a better understanding of how the engagement process is undertaken with many, many more people involved. This will also serve as a home base to begin taking my exams, anticipating earning my professional license. I will be living in Muncie through the end of the summer. My goal is to continue volunteering at the soup kitchen on Saturday mornings. Hopefully, I can continue to help them get their goals lined up and then leave them at the end of the summer with a firm direction in hand.
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5.3 Taxonomy Conclusions
Index The World
Mike Halstead
n io ot m ro /p pu
City
focus on discourse
w o cr rk e pr at foc ac ing us tit fu es io tu o ne re n rs
Family
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
energy focused on relationships/ understanding place
s es es dr ssu ad l i ly cia en so op er rg la
Community
designer
time with client
Scale of Focus
Jason Klinker
State
ity
rly ea ian of ar e it ts al an ec sc um roj h p
Ryan Ellsworth
ic
Hector LaSala
bl
Bryan Bell
Country
“living wages” from produced work
Emily Pilloton
15
Time Focused on Socially Specific Work (Years)
This chart gives some insight into the where the more broad range of designers that are focused on humanitarian design might place importance. The darker the circle is at the outer rings indicate that most designers I studied were in that range. So most of the designers have a high level of interaction with client, but very few put in a high commitment This chart is an attempt to understand how the selected architects have moved through
in openly addressing larger social issues. Most of these designers have started with small
and are moving through their careers. It is typical that one will progress to a larger scale
projects that are very intense in their level of engagement. As they move to larger scale
of focus as they become more ‘known’ in the profession for the work they do. This does
projects,they maintain the understandings they gained at the small scale and apply it to
not necissarily indicate the physical size of projects but the reach of the work that they do.
larger scale scenarios.
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5.4 Academic and Professional Relevence
The intent of this project is to increase the body of knowledge in regards to the role of architecture in the rebuilding of communities. Much of the current methodologies have acknowledged the importance of community involvement, but focus mostly on design charrettes at a community scale. These often will create a temporary excitement in the community, but many critiques of the process question the ultimate outcome as the ‘design team’ is there only for a brief period and then disengage the project before any physical changes are made. My project will investigate the potential when the ‘designer’ engages the community through the whole process. In my model, the designer becomes part of the community and then, as a member of the community, can approach the design with the community, not for the community. I see this as a vital difference in the long term success of the project and empowerment of the individual community members.
159
Bibliography
LaSala, H. (2011, April). (J. Klinker, Interviewer) Mandell, J. (2006, April 17). Up to Speed. Retrieved April 2011, from MetropolisMag.com: http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20060417/up-to-speed Nussbaum, B. (2010, July 07). Is Humanitarian Design the New Imperialism? Retrieved April 2011, from FastCoDesign: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1661859/is-humanitarian-design-
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