Design Corps

SFI6 PANEL V

“Starting & Maintaining an Inclusive Practice”

Panelists

David Baker

Casius Pealer

David Perkes

Katie Swenson

Moderator

Bryan Bell

Formed in 1982, David Baker + Partners is a mid-sized firm with three partners. Our staff is well-versed in the personal, political, and commercial dynamics of bringing new architecture into diverse, urban environments. Our work combines social concern with a signature design character, resulting in distinctive, high-quality buildings that provide residents with a strong sense of community. In this way, our work acts as an advocate for improved urban planning, where looking good only counts if it does good, too.

David Baker has been practicing architecture for 28 years. Over the course of his career, he has received numerous awards, and in 1996 became a Fellow of the AIA. David founded San Francisco-based David Baker + Partners in 1982, and now leads the firm with Peter MacKenzie and Kevin Wilcock. DB+P is known for combining social concern with a signature design character. David has also been teaching at the California College of the Arts since 1999, and lectures across the west coast. From 1977 to 1982, David was principal of Sol-Arc, a firm dedicated to energy-efficient architecture. He earned his Bachelor of Philosophy from Thomas Jefferson College and Master of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. Before becoming an architect, he was a union carpenter.

This session provided an overview of the major legal and tax issues regarding incorporation, including the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of entities, legal requirements for creation, and what to do to maintain the relevant status. Additionally, since incorporation is often done primarily to limit personal liability in the event of an accident or bankruptcy, the session highlighted considerations for individuals serving on boards of directors, including the duties of volunteer directors and questions to ask when reviewing Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws.

Casius Pealer is an attorney with Reno & Cavanaugh, PLLC, based in Washington, DC. His practice focuses on mixed finance transactions as well as real estate and administrative law. While in law school, Casius also worked for the District of Columbia Housing Authority and served as a student member of the University of Michigan’s Legal Assistance to Urban Communities (LAUC) Clinic. Prior to attending law school, he taught small business skills to artists and craftspeople in the West Indies as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps from 1999 to 2001. Casius is also a co-founder of ArchVoices, and a leading advocate around issues of architectural internship and licensure nationally. He currently serves on the advisory councils for both the University of Texas at Arlington and Tulane University Schools of Architecture. Casius earned his Bachelor of Architecture and Master of Architecture from Tulane University and his Juris Doctorate, cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School. He is a member of the New York State Bar and his admission to the District of Columbia is pending.

Following Hurricane Katrina, David Perkes has been leading the effort to establish the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio, a design service arm of Mississippi State University College of Architecture, Art, & Design. David has been directing the Jackson Community Design Center for seven years, therefore, the technical tools, beginning staff, and contractual and administrative support from the university was already in place to redirect attention to the Gulf Coast. The ingredient that was needed was the creation of partners and the building of trust in the local community. The HUD Universities Rebuilding America Partnership grant announcement formalized an early partnership between MSU, the Enterprise Foundation, Architecture for Humanity, and a local community organization--the East Biloxi Relief and Coordination Center. However, because of the urgency of the work and also as part of the commitment to work in the community, the work needed to be done and could not wait for the funding. When the grant announcement was eventually made we were already well into the work. The establishment of the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio is a case study in creating partners and building trust by demonstrating commitment and delivering useful work to the community. We are in the middle of a community planning process, a lot-by-lot property assessment, and detailed GIS mapping of East Biloxi. At the same time, we are provide immediate assistance to many of the volunteer building organization to help with house design and specific professional assistance. This presentation will explain the work in progress as a way to describe the unique situation brought about by the hurricane of starting up the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio as we are already doing the work.

David Perkes is an architect and Associate Professor for Mississippi State University School of Architecture. For the past seven years, David has been the director of the Jackson Community Design Center, and since Hurricane Katrina, has been leading the establishment of the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio. As director of the Design Center, David has overseen projects that range from neighborhood planning to feasibility studies to affordable and sustainable housing. His work now focuses on rebuilding Mississippi Gulf Coast communities devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The work that initiated in the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio includes housing and community planning in Biloxi, Miss., and other communities, working with Architecture for Humanity and with other local and national partners. David earned his Bachelor of Science in civil and environmental engineering from Utah State University, Master of Architecture from the University of Utah, and Master of Environmental Design from Yale University. During the 2003-2004 academic year, he was a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He is also a registered architect and member of the AIA. Born in Utah, David now lives in Mississippi with his wife, Linda, and their five children.

The Charlottesville Community Design Center brings together citizens and design resources toward the creation of equitable, sustainable and beautiful communities. CCDC provides technical assistance to communities, groups and individuals seeking to implement best practices in participatory design. As a flagship project for CCDC in its first year, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville and the Charlottesville Community Design Center created the URBAN HABITATS Design Competition in search of realistic, innovative, universal models for multifamily housing that prevent gentrification and displacement. Habitat is transforming Sunrise Trailer Court into a renewed community called Sunrise Park that will incorporate sustainable building methods, community green space, and commercial space for service providers of children, youth, elderly, and health needs. For Habitat and local Sunrise residents, the competition served to create transparency, dialogue and trust in the redevelopment process. With over 160 entries from the international design community, the local community was able to engage in a conversation regarding the best possibilities for equitable design and development in our region while designers confronted the pressing issues of density, sustainable site development and affordability.

Katie Swenson is Executive Director and Founding Partner of the Charlottesville Community Design Center (CCDC). Started in the fall of 2004, CCDC is an educational and advocacy initiative that brings together university, city government, the professional architectural community, the development and building community, and the residents of Charlottesville in a dialogue establishing best practices for design and development. Monthly gallery exhibitions, lectures, design competitions, design services, youth education programs, and design assistance workshops in the corner storefront on Main Street combine to create a vital center of art and architecture in Charlottesville. Katie recently completed a Frederick P. Rose Architectural Fellowship from the Enterprise Foundation, working with Piedmont Housing Alliance on affordable housing and architecture. She earned her Bachelor of Art from the University of California, Berkeley, and Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia. Katie lives in Charlottesville with her husband and their three daughters.

Bryan Bell is the founder and executive director of Design Corps, based in Raleigh, NC. Established in 1991, Design Corps as a nonprofit agency whose mission is “to provide the benefits of architecture to those traditionally unserved by the profession.” Bryan has also started an internship program with the AmeriCorps national service program for young designers interested in the social application of architecture. His effort to share ideas with the newest generation of architects led to the establishment of the Structures for Inclusion conference series which is a forum for students and recent graduates to learn about grassroots efforts making architecture more accessible. The results of these, thirty essays by twenty-eight authors, Good Deeds, Good Design, is to be published by Princeton Architectural Press in the summer of 2003. Work by Design Corps was included in 2003 in the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt Design Triennial exhibit. Bryan has also held a chaired position in ‘Activist Practice’ at University of Chicago, Illinois in 2002, and taught a design/build studio at North Carolina State University in 2001. From 1998 to 2000, Bryan taught at the Auburn Rural Studio teaching twenty-two thesis students for twelve design/build projects. Bryan earned his undergraduate degree from Princeton University and Master of Architecture from Yale University. He lives in Raleigh with his wife, Victoria Ballard Bell, currently a Rose Architectural Fellow with Design Corps, and their daughter, Sky.