Penn Urban Studies Program interns Rachel Zurier and Liz jacobs.

Two students from the Penn Urban Studies Program spent their Spring Semester interning with us.  Below, Rachel Zurier reflects on what she learned from local nonprofits about the impact of our design services and Liz Jacobs reflects on the power of interviewing our nonprofit clients at the actual sites they are working to improve. 

Thanks Rachel and Liz! We’ll miss you and wish you the best at your next internships at the Philadelphia City Planning Commission and TED Talks. 

Rachel Zurier

I’m wrapping up my time at the Collaborative, and the weeks have really flown by! It seems like just yesterday I was cataloging competition entries for our Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! Design Awards, and marveling at all the innovative designs submitted by teams from across the nation.

While my work on the Design Awards was focused on those imagining a greener future, my other major project at the Collaborative this spring has focused on the past. I’ve been going through the Collaborative’s last decade of projects and analyzing their outcomes. Where do these hundreds of conceptual designs stand now? Do they actually stand, as physical structures, in our city’s neighborhoods? Are they being used to garner financial support from funders and community members? If not, have they served another purpose? I was also interested in how the Collaborative collects  post-project data and how it is collected at similar organizations across the country.

Beginning to answer these questions meant reading through much of the information stored in the Collaborative’s database, including project outcome emails, past reports, and media coverage. I also spoke with community design centers across the country to see how they evaluated their own community impacts. Finally, I sat down with members of three nonprofits from the last 10 years of Collaborative projects to discuss what successes and challenges they have since faced in implementing their projects.

After conducting these interviews, I was impressed and heartened by the dedication that volunteers, nonprofits, community members and Collaborative staff all showed for each project. The plans were always well-illustrated and contextualized, and exhaustive in their detail. Each design was sensitive to the specific needs of each community.

It was also surprising just how many ways organizations could use a Collaborative report. Some I expected, like taking the report to meetings with potential funders, and using it to mobilize the community around a common goal. But some organizations employed the report in ways I’d never imagined, like using it as the impetus to entirely re-brand their organization, inspire new programming, and form new partnerships in their neighborhoods. Some also expressed frustration with the difficulty of securing funding for community development in a bad economy. More than anything, everyone I spoke to said it was rewarding and inspiring to see their dreams for their communities on paper.

My experience working at the Collaborative has been just as rewarding. More than anything else, I enjoyed learning how design could help real communities in the city I call home. My favorite part of the internship was going to the Tuesday project review sessions, and seeing design professionals so invested in giving each other feedback and volunteering their time in service of their city.

At my upcoming  summer internship with the City Planning Commission, I’ll be looking at community design from a much more zoomed-out perspective, so I’m glad my time with the Collaborative has given me so many specific examples to fill in the gaps. I’m also grateful to the awesome Collaborative staff for all the mentoring, pre-interview pep talks, and motivational cookies along the way!

Liz Jacobs 

Four absorbing months interning at the Collaborative have brought with them a number of fascinating experiences and learning opportunities. From observing a jury choosing the finalists in the Soak It Up! design competition to interviewing clients, I have been exposed to a number of powerful and fascinating ideas about urban planning

My primary responsibilities as focused on conducting a series of video interviews with past clients, exposing me to the wide variety of organizations that the Collaborative works with and approaches that it takes in its work. These interviews both offered me an opportunity to learn about these nonprofits and different design aspects, and to support the work of the Collaborative by making this information available to the general public on the Internet.

These client interviews sent me all over the city, ranging from Tacony in the Northeast to Graduate Hospital in South Philadelphia. Visiting the actual sites was a powerful learning experience for me — it allowed me to see the challenges and opportunities that different spaces in Philadelphia present. It also introduced me to new neighborhoods I had never visited before in the city I grew up in.

What I was most interested in exploring through these interviews was the experience that the clients had working with the Collaborative — did they feel empowered by their experience and more aware of the role design can play in their lives? From Alex Balloon of Tacony CDC to Amy Hirsch of Community Legal Services to Rachel Dukeman of Plays and Players, what I observed time and again was yes, the Collaborative’s inclusive exploration of preliminary design options creates a space for community members and nonprofit.

One of my most rewarding experiences of the semester was having the opportunity to interview Chris and Emily Stromberg, architects and Collaborative volunteers involved in a number of projects in their own back yard.

The ideas and skills I learned here will stay with me as I graduate in a few weeks. My internship has changed the way I view cities and the space we live in. I’d like to thank the Collaborative staff for the support they’ve given me over the past four months, and the exposure to such incredible opportunities!

Editor’s note: We’ll be highlighting Liz’ interviews with Bill Porter of the Belmont Village Community Association and Chris and Emily Stromberg in the coming months.

Since the new Center opened in February, Amy observes, it has brought a new dimension to serving the community. “People come to us because they are in crisis… it’s just been interesting to see how much impact being in a calmer, nicer space has had.”

CLS was committed to staying in the neighborhood, which it has served since the ’70s.  So everyone  rejoiced when CLS found a vacant lot nearby to develop near its aging facility in 2009. But the staff, long-accustomed to an inadequate, dim workplace, needed a framework for thinking beyond the basics.

CLS called on the Collaborative to help them envision the new Center. ”The Collaborative was fabulously helpful to us,” says Amy, “the design team spent a lot of time with the staff talking about what their needs were.”  The result was a conceptual design for an accessible facility with an airy stairway and courtyard to let in more light.

Mindful of the workplace it wanted to create, CLS ultimately hired Atkin Olshin Schade Architects  to design the new facility, located near Broad and Erie.

Video interview by Liz Jacobs, Penn Urban Studies Program Intern. 

Making the connection between land and river: The Hidden River Plaza is an element of the Stormwater reStore               team’s winning entry for retrofitting a retail site.

Thanks to everyone who has already participated in Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up!, a partnership of the Philadelphia Water Department, EPA Region 3, and the Community Design Collaborative.

A key part of the initiative was a national design competition with a focus on green stormwater infrastructure. More than 300 design professionals from the fields of civil engineering, landscape architecture, and architecture teamed up on 28 innovative entries.

On March 7, more than 300 people attended the Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! Design Awards at the Academy of Natural Sciences to hear the finalists present and discover who would win the prizes. If you weren’t able to attend, you can get a taste of the evening through an excellent video produced by Green Treks or these stories in Archinect, Next City, and Plan Philly.

Here’s what’s next for Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up!

The Collaborative is working with Grid, the Philly region’s sustainability magazine, to produce a special supplement to its August 2013 issue. The supplement will serve as our report on the initiative and its programs. It will feature  winners, finalists, and cool ideas from the design competition, projects from last fall’s precedent exhibition, and the Transforming Urban Schoolyards and Urban Remix design charrettes.

Be sure to join us on Thursday, July 11 at 6:00 pm at the Academy of Natural Sciences for the launch of the supplement at Grid Alive!, a quirky talk show format party.

Consider placing an ad in the supplement. Mention us and you’ll get a 10% discount. Ad rates range from $90 to $1,250. Your ad will help defray publication costs and get your firm or organization in front of an audience of 75,000 readers. Ads and artwork are due June 22. Contact email hidden; JavaScript is required for details.

Finally, we’re curating a capstone exhibition about Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! in October and November 2013 to coincide with Design Philadelphia and Greenbuild. Contact email hidden; JavaScript is required if you’d like to help out with the show.

17th Annual Bowling Ball
Saturday, June 15, 2013
Erie Lanes, 1310 E. Erie Avenue

Mixer at 6pm | Ten Pins at 7pm

All proceeds from this event support the
Community Design Collaborative.

Image courtesy of Residential Architect

In Blazing Trails: A dedication to social justice propels today’s young professionals Cheryl Weber takes a look at  the current practice of public interest design.

Cheryl writes, “Public interest design—which focuses on the needs of the community rather than the individual—is not new, but the next generation of designers sees it as integral to practice. Young people have always been attracted to humanitarian causes; coming of age in a time of climate change and economic unrest, however, has made today’s graduates view socially conscious design less from an idealistic perspective than as the third leg of sustainability—environmental, economic, social.

Perkins+Will principal Meg Brown, director of human resources, is seeing this trend. “Within the first two sentences of their cover letters, nine out of 10 young job applicants mention the firm’s commitment to social responsibility, she says. ‘It’s a real hook for us. They’ve been to our website; they’re doing their research, and that’s what’s connecting with them.’”

Cheryl interviewed the leaders of nonprofits (including the Collaborative) and private firms, capturing a snapshot of public interest design as it makes the transition for movement to practice. Her interviews yield some intriguing  examples of public interest design’s growing role despite—or because of—a punishing political and financial environment.

A recommended read!

Our service grant will help Columbus Square Park in South Philadelphia devote every piece of open space towards sustainable, people-friendly programming.

A “destination” public park seeking still more games, gardening, and gatherings;  the playground of a school saved from closure by its strong parent-advocates, and a future three-acre urban farm… that’s a sample of the Collaborative’s spring crop of service grants.

Here are the nonprofits, people, and places that Collaborative volunteers will be working with over the next six months:

Brewerytown/Sharswood Community Civic Association | Lower North Philadelphia
Conceptual design to spruce up storefront façades at the intersection of N. 25th Street and W. Thompson Streets

Columbus Square Park Advisory Council/Passyunk Square Civic Association | South Philadelphia
Conceptual design to improve Columbus Square Park

E.M. Stanton School Advisory Committee/SOSNA | South Philadelphia
Conceptual design for a sustainable outdoor space with curriculum integration opportunities and a safe and engaging play

The Friends of Bainbridge Green/Queen Village Neighbors Association | South Philadelphia
Conceptual design to support greening and gathering places on the 300 and 400 blocks of Bainbridge Street and a gateway to Fabric Row

Islamic Cultural Preservation and Information Council | West Philadelphia
Conceptual design to create a mixed-use commercial/residential building and expand the New Africa Center

Urban Tree Connection | West Philadelphia
Conceptual design for an urban farm and center for an urban food producer’s cooperative

About Our Service Grant Program
The Community Design Collaborative’s Service Grant Program provides critical information to neighborhoods and nonprofits at a critical time—the very beginning of the project.

The Service Grant Program helps to answer practical questions: How’s our roof? What will the code allow? What’s our best option? How much will our project cost? But it also helps address less tangible but equally important questions:  What do we envision?  How can we engage my community? How can we win over potential funders?

The Collaborative awards up to 30 service grants of preliminary design services to nonprofit organizations each year through its Service Grant Program. These service grants respond to the unique needs of each grant recipient, typically providing $15,000 – $25,000 in pro bono preliminary design services.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Grants are awarded four times a year. Grant recipients must pay an administrative fee at the start of the project to offset direct costs. Learn more!

Now in its thirteenth year, the Tacony Community Development Corporation aims to revitalize its historic Northeast Philadelphia community. The neighborhood dates back to the 1870’s, when it was founded as a planned industrial community. Many of the homes and buildings retain original historic architectural features. With easy access from Center City and New Jersey, housing options ranging from rowhouses to mansions, and neighborhood green space, the community has a lot to offer. But it was hit hard by the economic recession, and the neighborhood has seen a number of foreclosures, vacant properties and quality of life issues as a result.

Alex Balloon, Commercial Corridor Manager for the Tacony CDC, has spent his one-year tenure focusing on revitalizing the Torresdale Avenue Commercial Corridor, located at the heart of the community. From planting new trees to launching a marketing campaign around the Hoagie Trail to attract new visitors to the area, he has worked hard to highlight and promote the great things Tacony has to offer.

DeNofa’s Deli is the first of six Torresdale Avenue businesses to get a facelift.

Central to Alex’ work is a storefront revitalization project launched with help from the Community Design Collaborative. The Collaborative consulted with six storefront owners, who responded to Alex’ call to corridor businesses refresh their facades.  From removing aluminum siding to improving signage, Alex says the Collaborative offered “realistic and modest” suggestions for improvements that stayed within Tacony CDC’s recommended budget.

All six of the storefront owners who received design advice from the Collaborative are moving forward. Their financial investment in their facade has been supplemented by grants from the Commerce Department Storefront Improvement Program and Tacony CDC.

DeNofa’s Deli, one of the corridor’s anchor businesses, recently started construction, and the other projects expect to receive bids from the project’s contractor in the next few weeks, with work set to start immediately following. The hammers and drills you hear behind Alex during our video visit to Torresdale Avenue are  music to his ears!

Explore green stormwater infrastructure, right at your desk!

EPA will feature the winning teams and organizers of the Infill Philadelphia; Soak It Up! Design Competition in a G3 Academy webcast on April 4, 2013 from 1:30 to 3:00 PM EST.

The Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! design competition challenged architects, landscape architects, engineers, and other sustainability professionals to show how green stormwater infrastructure could transform the city. This national, interdisciplinary design competition was created by the Philadelphia Water Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Community Design Collaborative.

This webinar will bring professionals from around the country together discuss the design and technology behind the three Infill Philadelphia; Soak It Up! Design Competition winners and strategies to spur innovative thinking about green stormwater infrastructure.

Join us if you are a professional interested in pursuing green infrastructure as part of an integrated community or watershed plan. Register here.

AFTER: A simplified window display packs more punch.

Subtract eight mannequins and add a rainbow backdrop made from plastic tablecloths and you get a crisp, fanciful, and low-cost window display.

Community Design Collaborative volunteer Kara Angotti recently guided the display window makeover of Jerry’s Fashions on North Fifth Street commercial corridor, also known as the Centro de Oro . With support from the Collaborative and HACE – the Hispanic Association of Contractors and Enterprises – Jerry’s storefront went from “busy to streamlined and simple” in just three hours.

With a three-pronged goal of low-budget, visual impact and ease of installation, Kara incorporated simple and cheap materials into an eye-popping design that created a buzz in the store and surrounding commercial corridor. Be sure to check out Kara’s YouTube video and blog post about her experience.

BEFORE: Jerry’s, a thriving apparel store on the Centro de Oro, sought a window display makeover.

Old bones and new ideas: Our March 7 reception and exhibition of all 28 design competition entries in the Academy’s Dinosaur Hall.  Photo by Mark Garvin.

On March 7, Philadelphia Water Commissioner Howard Neukrug and US EPA’s Jon Capacasa ripped open the envelopes from the judges and announced the winners of the Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! design competition. Over 320 people attended the Design Awards to see the three winners revealed and learn what’s on the horizon for green stormwater infrastructure in Philadelphia. Check out more photos from the event and the winning entries here.

This video from the event shows the rock star response to the winners and the Collaborative’s partners in Infill Philadelphia: Soak It Up! saying, “Bring it on!”

The ingenious design solutions offered by the 28 entries in the competition exceeded our expectations and imaginations—exactly as we hoped! We gratefully thank every team who committed their time and talent to this competition.

You get another chance to see presentations by the winning teams. Join us at the Academy of Natural Sciences on March 21 for Green City, Clean Waters: What’s the future of Philadelphia’s waterways?. Register here for this free event, which will also feature Eric Sanderson and The Manahatta Project.