AIA Dayton - A Chapter of the American Institute of Architects

BLUEPRINT FOR YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: A GIFT TO OUR COMMUNITY

AIA Dayton organizers would like to thank the following design firms that participated in Dayton's AIA150 event:

MATRIX ARCHITECTS
APG OFFICE FURNISHINGS
E. LYNN APP ARCHITECTS, INC.
EDGE & TINNEY ARCHITECTS, INC.
ELEMENTS IV INTERIORS
GREG L. LAUTERBACH, LLC.
JEFF WRAY ARCHITECTS
LEVIN PORTER & ASSOCIATES, INC.
LORENZ WILLIAMS, INC.
ROGERO BUCKMAN ARCHITECTS
SHARP CONWAY ARCHITECTS, INC.
THE ARCHITECTURAL GROUP, INC.

Below you will find a record of the 2007 AIA150: Blueprint for Your Neighborhood: A Gift to our Community events which began in February and culminated at the Block Party celebration at South Park's Blommel Park on May 12.

FEBRUARY 7 FIRST AIA-SOUTH PARK TEAM MEETING AT HOPE LUTHERAN CHURCH

On Wednesday evening, February 7, AIA 150 committee member and AIA Dayton Secretary Tim Bement facilitated a story boarding session with AIA 150 committee members and South Park neighborhood representatives. Sixteen were in attendance to hear the background and overall project purpose of AIA150 and begin the planning process for the project. The purpose of AIA150 Dayton is to complete and document a community design project that can be replicated, to make recommendations and designs for several community projects and to give South Park residents skills, ideas and documents they can use to advance future projects. The group discussed measurements of success, project ideas, expectations, and capitalizing on group strengths.

FEBRUARY 15 FIRST AIA TEAM MEETING AT ELEMENTS IV

The AIA150 Volunteer Meeting was held in the lower level of Elements IV newly renovated offices. Fifteen professionals, representing firms that have committed to provide design services to this project, assembled to listen to a project overview by Will Kaly, AIA Dayton President, and Tim Bement, Secretary. Mr. Bement gave an historical review of Dayton's AIA150 process to this point. He provided a summary of his February 7 meeting with the South Park neighborhood representatives. Mr. Kaly reported on his recent trip to Washington, DC where the AIA150 National Committee shared their excitement about the AIA150 efforts nationwide.

MARCH 10 KICKOFF AT SOUTHPARK'S EMERSON ACADEMY

March 10, 2007 marked the beginning of an event that will certainly be recognized for years to come in the history of AIA Dayton. Over 140 individuals comprised of South Park neighborhood members, City of Dayton officials, local project supporters, and AIA Dayton members and professional affiliates gathered to volunteer their time to make a difference in a community interested in improving their quality of life through design. The gathering also marked the start of AIA Dayton's local celebration of the 150 year anniversary of the AIA by giving back to our community. The goal: to create a unified vision for South Park fueled by the desires and needs of the community.

AIA Dayton President and local AIA 150 Champion, Will Kaly, AIA, began the day by asking everyone to imagine South Park in the future and the amenities it could have and be a shining example of a Livable Community.

Bob Steinbach, an accomplished facilitator, provided guidance and interactive sessions throughout the day that fostered group collaboration and laid the framework for successful group interaction for the upcoming weeks.

Among the day's attendees was Tony Costello, FAIA, who sits on the National AIA 150 committee. His presence brought legitimacy, credibility and humor to the National Blueprint effort and provided examples of the range of projects being undertaken in places such as Alaska and Puerto Rico. Tony also drew from his strong background in charrette programs to provide examples of successful projects and to reinforce the powerful changes a dedicated group of citizens and volunteers can influence through collaborative projects such as this.

Five Design Teams were identified to be led by AIA Dayton volunteers. Their goal is to study five separate project areas: Commercial/Public structures, Green space areas, Residential Infill construction, Residential Rehab construction and Boundary/Edge conditions. Community members and AIA volunteers were aligned with a Team that fit their interests and worked to develop a target list of projects to be completed over the course of the subsequent charrette sessions.

Karin Manovich, President of the Historic South Park Neighborhood Association, and many dedicated members provided support for the project through volunteers helping with preparing Emerson Academy (formerly Dayton Christian) for the day's events. Through an extensive phone campaign, strong community participation was assured and made the day an incredible success. The entire group was fed an excellent lunch, donated by Bill Daniels, owner of the Pizza Factory in South Park. He also agreed to provide lunch at all subsequent Design Sessions.

The first Design Charrette Session was held on March 24 and represented the first opportunity for the South Park neighborhood members and AIA volunteers to actively engage in design discussions specific to their project type. The morning session lasted from 9:00am until noon at which time the community members were excused while the AIA volunteers regrouped and discussed over lunch the topics raised earlier in the day.

All Teams then took advantage of the beautiful Spring weather in the afternoon and visited project areas, toured relevant houses in the community or conducted field measurements of key structures or community features that could influence the design concepts.

The second Design Charrette Session was held on April 14. This session put the spotlight on the AIA volunteers as they presented their first round of concepts based on the ideas generated by their community team members. The entire group was then able to "round robin" and learn about what each Design Team was doing and given the chance to provide their own input about the concepts presented.

Morgan Howard, a South Park resident from WHIO-TV, has also attended the first two sessions and has graciously volunteered to document the proceedings on high quality video for possible use in the future by the AIA150 Committee.