May 17, 2012

AIA R/UDAT Program 45th Anniversary Video

Today marks the first official day of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention, a three-day trade show taking place in Washington, DC. In addition to electing its future leadership, the AIA is also taking the opportunity to look back at the 45-year history of its Regional/Urban Design Assistance Teams (R/UDATs). In the five-minute video above, we hear from several of R/UDAT co-founders, among which there is not a single woman or person of color despite an expressed interest in serving communities of color.

Since 1967, R/UDATs have helped more than 140 communities nationwide to become more livable. They have addressed a wide variety of community issues, including urban growth and land use, inner-city neighborhoods, downtowns, environmental issues, waterfront development, and commercial revitalization. More than 500 professionals representing over 40 disciplines have donated more than $3.5 million in services as members of R/UDAT teams.

Click here to watch the R/UDAT 45th anniversary video.

May 16, 2012

Cary gives Minnesota commencement address

T’is the season for commencement addresses. Following-up on yesterday’s post about Emily Pilloton‘s commencement address at UC Berkeley, we’re happy to share that our own John Cary gave this year’s commencement address at his alma mater, the College of Design at the University of Minnesota. A video of his talk is posted above, and is available in text form here at MetropolisMag.com.

Graduates, you are the next generation of designers. But I think you can be much, much more: You can be the pioneers of an entirely new way of designing for the public good–at a scale and a pace that we’ve never seen before–at a scale and pace that the world needs and deserves. If we’re going to achieve this, you all as the next generation will need to be far more entrepreneurial and think far more systemically than designers ever have before.

Click here to read or watch John Cary’s University of Minnesota College of Design commencement address online at MetropolisMag.com.

May 16, 2012

Register now for Catapult Labs, this Saturday

This Saturday, May 19, California College of the Arts (CCA) will host “Catapult Labs 2012,” a special day-long series of labs organized by Catapult Design, a Bay Area organization profiled here previously. The nine lab topics or titles are so refreshing that each is worth recounting here:

Lab 01: “Democratizing Design: Co-creating With Your Users”

Lab 02: “Creating Better Futures: Foresight and Insight for Social Change”

Lab 03: “Change: the good, the bad, the ugly”

Lab 04: “Sustainable Design with Intent”

Lab 05: “Creating Interactive Visualizations”

Lab 06: “Measuring Social Impact: How to Integrate Evaluation & Design”

Lab 07: “Game Mechanics: Designing for User Engagement”

Lab 08: “Three Cups, Rosa Parks, & the Polar Bear: Telling Stories that Work”

Lab 09: “A Top Ten List for Aging By Design”

Click here for more information or to register for Catapult Labs. The cost for professionals is $125 for an all-access pass (or $95 for a half-day pass), and $62.50 for students.