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The Second Annual JADE-PHL Symposium will once again take place at the Center for Architecture and Design in Philadelphia. The purpose of the event is to convene the region’s design schools, non-profits, and industry associations to address the challenge of social inequity in design education. Last year, the focus of the symposium was on authentic community engagement. This year’s symposium will focus on moving towards building a multi-disciplinary approach to achieve a broader, more widespread level of impact. We will hear from local and national leaders on their efforts to bring more equity, diversity, and justice to design education. We will also hear from educators from the region as they share examples of how they advocated for higher levels of social equity in design schools.
08:30 - 9:00: Arrival & Coffee
09:00 - 9:30 Welcome, JADE 101, and Ice Breakers
09:30-10:00 - Penn State University
10:00-10:30 - Drexel University
10:30-11:00 Break
11:00-11:30 - Temple University
11:30-12:00 - University of Pennsylvania
12:00-12:30 - Thomas Jefferson University
12:30-1:00 Lunch
1:00-1:30 Community College of Philadelphia
1:30-2:15 Jack Travis Keynote and Discussion
2:15-2:45 Break
2:45-3:00 Workshop Intro
3:00-3:45 Break-out sessions
3:45-4:15 Share Out
4:15-4:30 Next Step Actions
4:30 Close/Happy Hour
Penn State University
"About Us: Celebrating the Works of the Global Majority" by Cathy Braasch
Celebrating the Works of the Global Majority is an ongoing collaboration between students and faculty to build a public database of high-quality documentation of the work of underrepresented designers (defined in this project as Asian American, Black, Latinx, and Native American people working in the United States). The project responds to the need for more equitable and accessible educational resources. A group of architecture, landscape architecture, and graphic design students, with the support of a faculty advisor, conducted the research. Initially, we created a static PDF as a resource guide and have developed an expandable online database since then. An important secondary objective for our undergraduate researchers, who are all underrepresented students, is to learn about these designers' trajectories, challenges, and successes by interviewing them. In our presentation, we'll discuss two key hurdles in the project - lessons learned in the interview process and the miscommunications in our initial static edition.
Drexel University
"Learning From Mantua: Community Engagement with Students on Workforce Housing" by De’wayne Drummond, Charles Lomax, Uk Jung, Rachel Wenrick
The presentation will be taking lessons learned from two classes revolving around community engagement for a real development project at 3600 block of Mt. Vernon for workforce housing. We partnered with Writers Room, the developer, the architect, and local community members to explore ways to inform the design of development projects in Mantua and similar neighborhoods facing rapid development. We will bring lessons learned and open questions for discussion to inform similar classes in the future.
Temple University
"The Living Learning Cabin Prototype" by Ulysses Sean Vance
Awardee: National Endowment for the Arts Grants for Arts Projects
The Urban Workshop at Temple’s Tyler School of Art and Architecture is collaborating with Variety the Children’s Charity of the Delaware Valley to design an innovative Living Learning Cabin Prototype that will serve children and young adults with diverse physical and cognitive disabilities. Variety is now commencing a full rebuild of its 77-acre campus in Worcester PA that houses both summer camp and school year learning support for its special needs population.
The Living Learning Cabin Prototype will be the first of several such buildings to be constructed on the site, and it will provide an adaptable, inclusive, and sustainable space that can transform according to the changing educational and recreational programming activities. The Urban Workshop’s research team will formulate findings for spatial patterns that address the needs and diverse diagnoses of disabled children, leading to a designed environment that enhances their development and learning, and brings the greatest possible joy to their experience.
"Urban Informality at the Southeast Asian Market" by Jeff Richards
Students engaged in a course of research on the site of FDR park, including meeting with Allison Schapker of Fairmount Park Conservancy to discuss future plans for this urban landscape. This research was in support of considering a future home for the Southeast Asian Market, a community of refugees and immigrant members who have created a cultural hub for social gatherings, sharing of ethnic cuisines, and business opportunities through vending. Students met with James Onofrio of the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, Sarun Chan, Executive Director of the Cambodian Association of Philadelphia, and the SEA vendors themselves, in order to provide speculative designs to help shape the market’s future.
University of Pennsylvania
“How to heal a complex border with the tool academia” by Ariel Vazquez
Border healing is a complex and multifaceted issue that affects individuals, communities, and nations on multiple levels. From an academic perspective, border healing addresses historical and systemic injustices, such as land dispossession, forced migration, and discrimination. In addition, it involves recognizing how these injustices continue to impact present-day realities and contribute to ongoing societal divisions. Academically, border healing also involves understanding the relationship between policy decisions and their impact on communities living in border regions.
Thomas Jefferson University
“Ending Homelessness” by John Dwyer
The City of Philadelphia is approaching a critical point in its history with homelessness. The opioid crisis continues to rise. Affordable housing is becoming increasingly scarce and healthcare labor shortages continue post-pandemic.
While all act as forces to increase homelessness, one of the greatest challenges continues to be the lack of data. Existing data contains several large blind spots which prohibit urban development strategies to end it. Recognizing housing-first as a proven solution to homelessness, there is a current and urgent need to develop comprehensive data and generate new typologies of non-market housing.
Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture, John Dwyer, along with Master of Architecture student and Graduate Assistant, Stephanie Catrambone, summarize their findings and discuss the many challenges with understanding homelessness, along with architecture’s potential role in ending it.
Community College of Philadelphia
Report from Community College of Philadelphia by Elizabeth Masters and Paula Behrens
Keynote Speaker: Jack Travis
“Atmospheres + Perspectives”
The presentation and discussion of this talk, focusing on the intersection of Black Culture and Design Culture in the environmental design disciplines, will center on 3 main themes:
-Legacy
-Resistance
-Methodologies for inclusion
In addition, Ten Principles of Black Cultural Design Investigation will be offered along with a pedagogical framework for design studio exploration.
Workshop
The Symposium will end with a workshop on the JADE City-Wide Studio which includes an update on the Drexel Pilot Studio. This will be followed by a collaborative work session focused on how to take the next steps in developing the City-Wide Studio.
Carly Clifford
carly@philadelphiacfa.org