Overview
Structures for Inclusion 10 Conference Announced Structures for Inclusion 10 will be a tenth anniversary celebration hosted by Howard University on Saturday and Sunday, March 27 and 28, 2010. Three panels will discuss the theme: “Social Economic Environmental Design: SEED” and how to build on the success of the Green design movement in addressing critical social and economic issues through design. Structures for Inclusion (SFI) conference is a forum to present and discuss current architectural practices that are intended to reach a more diverse clientele. SFI is a forum to present, discuss, and seek new thoughts, strategies, and ideas for the future of the profession. In 2000, Design Corps first initiated the conference series at Princeton University with a day of panels under the theme “Designing for the 98%.” Since then, the National Endowment for the Arts has provided major funding support for this annual conferences held in collaboration with architecture schools and community-based organizations around the country. SFI 10 will bring together and share the best ideas and practices that are reaching those currently un-served by architecture. These are diverse and disparate efforts, but four threads have consistently run through presentations:
SFI 10 doesn’t claim to answer all of these difficult questions once. Instead, inspiring projects will provide a forum for discussion of these questions and to teach designers skills that will allow them to forge their own answers. Attendees will be challenged to participate and to question the relevancy of the architectural profession and the value of design in today’s society. Our relevancy is directly related to the choices we make as designers – particularly regarding those we choose to serve. Currently, design is a service that is out of reach for 98% of the population. At this conference we will be exploring the ways in which design is being made accessible to a more diverse clientele and pertinent to a larger audience. By creating dialogue, cultivating collaboration, and challenging the existing stigma of exclusivity, we may expand our scope of work and increase the positive impact of our efforts. The significance of our role, however, also depends on our ability to adapt, to be flexible in addressing the needs and circumstances of our clientele and to be sensitive to our changing environmental, political, and cultural landscape. We must recognize that architecture, or the making of place, is not static and fixed but in a constant state of flux and transition. SFI will present innovative examples of design processes and products that are breaking away from the rigid limitations of existing architectural definitions. We will hear from those who are forging a path that celebrates the value and the potential of design as a tool for improving our communities and the built environment. The SFI speakers will have unique stories to tell, but all will relate to these common goals. This unifying aspect, contrasted with speakers’ individual differences, creates a provocative chemistry and lead to lively discussions and interactions with participants. Each project will illustrate an intimate understanding of a particular community achieved through a successful process of sharing between that community and the designer(s). It is understandably difficult for an underserved community to envision a prosperous future when it often does not even have the means to meet current challenges. By utilizing design as a tool to encourage positive place-making, the evolving needs of a community can be met in a collective effort that can indeed empower, inspire, and challenge both the designer and the larger community. In the end, conference participants will be asked: Where are we to go from here? Do we remain as we are now, serving the same small group of wealth and powerful clients? Do we become even more exclusive as builders and manufacturers successfully compete against us for more and more of the public? Or do we find the means of bringing quality design to a greater number?
Contact: Bryan Bell, 919-637-2804, bryan@designcorps.org |
Major funding provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
SFI10 PAGE LINKS Overview
SFI ARCHIVE LINKS |
