“Public Interest Design by Mainstream Firms”

Panelists
Anne Fougeron, Principal, Fougeron Architecture (San Francisco, CA)
John Peterson, Principal, Peterson Architects (San Francisco, CA)
Anoo Siddiqi, Director, Robin Hood Foundation L!brary Initiative (New York)

Moderator
Brandy Brooks, Interim Director, Boston Community Design Resource Ctr.

At Fougeron Architecture, the making of great architecture means designing spaces that people occupy and that move them--rather than demonstrating purely theoretical constructs. This insight has led to my conviction that principles of design are integrally connected to principles of democracy in beautiful spaces. This philosophy is clearly demonstrated in Fougeron Architecture’s partnership with Planned Parenthood Golden Gate, a collaboration that has lasted over a decade and produced a dozen award-winning environments: from clinics and administrative offices to call centers. We approach every job for PPGG with as much creative and critical thought as possible. The challenge with the Planned Parenthood work is to create beautiful, unconventional environments on limited budgets; environments that support the full range of their inhabitants’ needs--their psychological and emotional responses to form and space as well as their social and physical requirements. We believe that Planned Parenthood spaces should reflect our society’s highest standards of beauty They should delight all the senses and awaken the spirit. They should live as perceptually rich spaces full of all the elements and phenomena most often associated with great architecture for the wealthy: light and transparency, richly textured materials and details. This is not just architectural theory. A building that is exciting and full of life communicates respect for all individuals within a community; an environment that is harmonious and reassuring to everyone within reinforces the principle of social equality. Good design should belong to all.

Anne Fougeron has provided architectural services in the Bay Area since her graduation from UC Berkeley over 15 years ago. Prior to starting Fougeron Architecture, she worked as an associate for the firm of Daniel Solomon & Associates. She has also worked as an architectural consultant and urban designer for the San Jose Redevelopment Agency. Currently, her firm’s work ranges from feasibility studies to new construction projects in commercial, health care, and residential work. Anne has taught architectural design to both undergraduate and graduate students at UC Berkeley and California College of the Arts. She earned her Bachelor of Art from Wellesley College and Master of Architecture from UC Berkeley. She has been a registered architect in California since 1988 and is a member of the AIA. Anne was raised in Paris, France.

Last April, Public Architecture received a phone call from Laurence Kornfield, San Francisco’s chief building inspector, asking us to get involved with an effort to build a house out of scrap and salvage material. What started as invitation to be involved with the project, quickly evolved into Public Architecture playing a leading role. And so “ScrapHouse” became a project of Public Architecture. Our challenge was to design and build a temporary demonstration house on Civic Center Plaza, immediately across the street from City Hall--in just six weeks. Six chaotic weeks later, ScrapHouse opened its doors to the public, though for just four days before it was disassembled. Overall, it was a clear departure from Public Architecture’s typical project type and approach. We would almost certainly never do it again, at least not under the same circumstances. But for all of its challenges, ScrapHouse offered us many important lessons. It brought people together--design professionals and lay people alike—in ways we never could have imagined. Today, ScrapHouse lives on in print, film, and soon as a part of a 25,000 square foot community center outside of Seattle. John Peterson will cover these lessons along with other increasingly important, but less traveled paths that should be explored through the architectural landscape.

John Peterson is principal of Peterson Architects as well as the founder of Public Architecture, both of which are based in the South of Market neighborhood of San Francisco. Established in 1993, Peterson Architects is a traditional architecture firm that has dedicated an extraordinary amount of time to pro bono work, serving arts institutions, city agencies, community development corporations, nonprofit organizations, and social service agencies. This unorthodox pro bono work inspired the creation of Public Architecture, a nonprofit organization that acts as a catalyst for public discourse through education, advocacy, and the design of public spaces and amenities. John serves as a member of the San Francisco Mayor’s Office Green Vision Council, Urban Solutions board of directors, South of Market Business Association board of directors, and as a technical consultant to the Mayor’s Partnership for Affordable Nonprofit Space. John earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is also a registered architect. During the 2005-2006 academic year, John is a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

The Robin Hood Foundation targets poverty in New York City by finding and funding the best community-based groups and partnering with them to maximize results. All administrative and fundraising costs are underwritten so 100% of donations go directly to programs helping New Yorkers build better lives. The L!brary Initiative seeks to reinvent the public school library as a resource to encourage reading and improve the academic performance of every child. The Initiative began with the notion that by affecting 5-10% of a school’s real estate, you could affect 100% of its students. In order to create places where typically underserved children are challenged, supported, inspired to learn, and more fundamentally, are invited to embark on an enthusiastic, lifelong process of learning, a design vision for a new kind of “place” has been developed and tested by some of the world’s leading architects. The chief architectural objective is to make a library that more than merely functions well; it invites, it inspires, it loosens the imagination, and it relaxes the mind in order to allow it to grow.

Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi is the director of The L!brary Initiative, a partnership of Robin Hood Foundation and the New York City Department of Education, which brings thoughtful, award-winning design to the poorest neighborhoods of New York City by rethinking the function and architecture of the school library. While in college, Anoo worked in homeless shelters and befriended many people who were just looking for a place to sleep that was protected, private, clean, and accessible. She would ride the bus around DC, scoping out abandoned houses that looked like they had solid foundations that might be rebuilt cheaply. This early spirited, but misguided research led to the study and practice of architecture. After many years in practice and teaching (in Bangalore, India, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York) she feels fortunate to have the opportunity to return to that original spirit, putting her experience to good use serving people who don’t typically experience “architecture” and teaching the discipline to younger people who are beginning to find their way. Anoo earned her Bachelor of Arts in English from Georgetown University and Master of Architecture from the University of Washington. Born in Madras, India, Anoo is now a registered architect in New York and lives there with her husband, Dr. Asif Siddiqi, Professor of History at Fordham University.

Brandy Brooks is the interim director of the Community Design Resource Center of Boston. CDRC-Boston provides services and resources that assist communities to envision, advocate for and implement high-quality design solutions and ensure equal access to healthy, sustainably built environments. CDRC-Boston achieves its mission through education, technical assistance, collaborative design, and community service. Brandy also works as the part-time Marketing & Communications Director for Loheed Design Partnership, an architecture and urban design firm in Somerville, Mass. She has attended Harvard University and will receive her Bachelor of Design Studies in design computing from the Boston Architectural Center this May. Brandy is a native of Worcester, Mass., but travels frequently both nationally and internationally. She loves being able to serve God and others through her work in community design.