Good morning everyone,
I hope and pray that all of you and your families are safe, healthy and navigating these unprecedented times effectively and productively!
The
dreamARCHITECTURE
initiative is alive and well- relatively speaking. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic the Shaker Heights School District schools have been closed since March 13th and appears as if they will remain so for the remainder of the school year. This unfortunate situation forced us to scale back and attempt to salvage our dreamARCHITECTURE plans. Our objective is to primarily focus on celebrating and collaborating with Woodbury Elementary School grades 5
th
and 6
th
regarding their WCC (Woodbury Creating Change) Project. We have coined their project the ‘dreamPLAZA’. We initially planned to envelop that effort into the broader Pre-K through 4
th
grade and 9th grade initiative. Our augmented approach has been one that we have been able to develop and nurture remotely and it appears that we can continue to the complete the design process despite the current circumstances.
THE PROJECT
Students were tasked with “designing” their very own outdoor plaza individually or in small groups. Our collaborative idea is to capture the essence of the top three or four student designs in an AIA CLE/NOMA led design charrette- keeping in mind that the ultimate goal is to construct the plaza as soon as possible. Members of our AIA CLE Team will complete the construction documents and specifications for the District and subsequently garner plan approval, assist in acquiring the building permit, Bidding and Negotiation, as well as Construction Administration for the project.
The students were exposed to national and international renowned architects/designers for inspiration. Through that exposure the students were able to incorporate and express their respective influences within their design process. “Ms. MC” and “Mr. B” (as the students so affectionately refer to their art teachers) led them through an exploration of design strategies, understanding of materiality, scale, texture, geometry etc. The results were very interesting and some were stunning! I only included their graphic designs, but please be aware that their arguments for their designs were equally, if not more so, enlightening and quite frankly entertaining to read…
THE JURY
I culled the most interesting solutions from approximately 800 entries and narrowed the selections to 30+. As a committee, we are seeking your assistance in narrowing the selections even further. I have attached a document containing additional information and the students artwork itself, as well as a Submission Scoring Sheet. We would appreciate if you would take the time to review the material, score the submissions and return the Score Sheet to us by May 1, 2020- please include your name on the Score Sheet. Thank you in advance for your participation.
Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.
AND
, thank you once again to those who participated in the Career Day(s) at Woodbury- the children were truly appreciative! I still owe you guys lunch…hopefully, we can get together and I can fulfill my commitment in the future…
With regard,
W. Daniel Bickerstaff, II
AIA, NOMA, NCARB
Founder and Principal Architect of Ubiquitous Design
NOMA National Co-Chair Advocacy Committee
AIA Cleveland Director Community Outreach
Read more about dreamARCHITECTURE by clicking
HERE
