Funny bus stop

So far, this is the funniest bus stop I have come across in Asheville. It's on the north side of Haywood Road in West Asheville, not too far after the bridge. In the image at right the sign is circled in red. (Click on an image for the larger view.)

Third Community Meeting

Where's a stadium full of Romans when you need one?

Tonight we held our third meeting with the community, including our transit contact in Asheville, who offered his design affirmations and concerns for the first time. This week's meeting followed a weekend spent combining three project proposals into a single design. In reality television architecture, this design would have survived because it beat out the competition. It would be one of eight designs that, from week to week, modified according to what else was in the running in hopes of brawning over the other proposals.

But at Design Corps, as in other practices and collaborative design-build projects, resolving a design is not a matter of weeding out the inferior. Despite the myth of the starchitect, there is no such thing as a flawless design, if only because the users of space are as diverse as the somewhat 'idiosyncratic' people who dream of its assembly and construction. When designing for a community who must live with the results long after we have all gone back to school, the best design comes together by maintaining ideas that work for that community. And just as every design has its weaknesses, for lack of a better term, every design represents genuine and creative ideas that come from people invested in problem-solving. It is these ideas that, when aligned to the assets and challenges of the community, are maintained and developed into a next step.

This process has happened once already when, working in small groups, we condensed eight idea-rich designs into three. Over the weekend, the entire team gathered and hashed out a single proposal to present to the community. When eight people, especially students, are pitching in to harmonize a single design, there's sure to be debate, hearty discussion, and a little frustration, but our entire team was pleased and encouraged by how well we collaborated over the weekend to produce a design to which the community, as well as city representatives, responded very well tonight. As we head into a week of big decisions--materials and connections, detailing and possibly even site--the team appears comfortable and mutually minded enough to make a strong step into uncertain and inexperienced terrain--constructing our design for real people, in a real community, with real steel, concrete, and probably lexan, and with our real hands and shoulders, and feet (maybe even elbows and wrists). Stay tuned as we hoist the sails.

Bryan Bellisms

'Heroic failure is always better than smug resolution.'

Smug resolution means that you knew what you were going to do, you did it, and you didn't learn anything from doing it. It is much better to just try stuff, because even if you 'fail,' you have learned something.

Community Context

Another post not about the bus shelter

Here are some scenes from the past weeks' activities outside of community meetings, classroom and lab time. These include the Friday drum circle in downtown Asheville, a daytrip to a mountain blue hole, our two-day trip to Kentucky, and an evening spent on the French Broad.

Week Three

Still moving quickly, this week saw the completion of shop orientations and community context classes. Furthermore, an in-studio accomplishment was combining eight individual designs into three group collaborations. [Ideas from the 2nd pin up]

A neighborhood meeting was held on Tuesday, and although no one who attended the first meeting was able to make this second one, each resident we've met has been enthusiastic, inspiring, and insightful. We discovered that Livingston is a community with many assets. Beyond the close knit residents, the area has three parks, an arts community center (and many talented children), and many well established trees. It is a location convenient to downtown, Mission hospitals, five churches, a planned greenway, and more.

We anticipate having a meeting next Tuesday to present one design that responds to feedback we've received thus far and brings the favorable ideas forward.

Week Two

The first round of design was this week - a quick, dirty, and individual exercise. [Ideas from the 1st pin up]

From there the studio went mobile and visited the greater Appalachian region - from Appalshop in Kentucky, to a retired coal miner (and longtime friend of two of our instructors) in Virginia.

Saturday was Neighborhood Housing Service's 'Neighborworks Weekend' in Shiloh and the Summer Studio was able to build and erect a tool shed for their garden. This year's students were able to tour the first bus shelter, have the satisfaction of doing some 'neck down' work in week two, and meet the community we worked with last year.

Week One

Week one was a crash course in Asheville history and Livingston Street history. In a short amount of time, the studio has sought to understand the community context through articles, discussions, talking to neighborhood residents and bus patrons, and hikes off the Blue Ridge Parkway...

We've brainstormed and discussed bus shelter site possibilities. As the studio comes together, our collective goal is to not only provide seating and shelter from sun and rain, but from commmunity input, figure out where best we can help and how a bus shelter can enhance the area.

Bus Route 18 (2 MB)
Site Opportunities & Challenges (11 KB)
More about Bartlett Arms site (4 MB)

Opening day! (My tick count: 1)

The Design Corps Summer Studio officially happens as an 8-week project, but we hope its contributions are more enduring. What exactly is the Summer Studio? Who are we? We are a group of design students and professionals from across the country who want good design to be socially relevant. We also like to build stuff.

We think an individual's identity is defined by her community. We want design that is not temporal. We are motivated by people. We want to cooperatively utilize architecture, planning and interior design expertise. We love the Appalachian region. We want to be designers who know how to put things together; both builder and architect. We realize architecture has a lasting effect and have seen the reality of a built environment that is oppressive.

This summer, from June 4 - July 29, we'll be designing and building a bus shelter. This is the second time we've worked with the city transit department, but our first time in the Livingston Street neighborhood. We believe the design process is empowering and this bus shelter a catalyst for further community visioning.

Revised Goals & Expectations (24 KB)