transformation

Our Community by Design collaborative met last night to continue working on a project we started earlier this summer: revamping the local office of the National Conference for Community and Justice. Our ultimate goal is to transform the space in such a way that it better reflects the group's noble work and mission: to build a community free of bias, bigotry and racism.
These are a couple of the quick sketches we put together during the meeting to better share our collective vision with the client. [Ahem, to anyone who's ever taken a drawing class with me : let this serve as a reminder that the old adage about the importance of hand drawing for designers...even in this technology-driven world...still applies!]
I am very proud to work with such a passionate group of designers on community-driven projects like this one. This is where our design skills can have a true impact.

nest sweet nest

One of the things I like best about our neighborhood is the diversity of houses in it. While all were built in the 1980s, the spectrum of styles and colors is quite broad. And, as I noticed this morning on my walk with Buddy Boy and Moppy-Mop [aka Pokey and Reilly] the same holds true for the multitude of birdhouses and feeders in each of the yards. After I dropped the dogs back off at home, I headed out a second time with my sketchbook to document the dwellings.

I tried my best not to look like Creepy McCreepyton as I peered into neighbors yards and sketched. Luckily, for my sake, most of the humans had gone to work, and the birds, well, they didn't seem to mind.

wednesday mornings

...are reserved for working with my dear pal Patrick one of several undertakings I'm pretty darn excited about at the moment. I promise to be less cryptic, and share more details of this project as our ideas take clearer shape [fingers crossed], but in the meantime, here's some thumbnails based on our shared vision to date.

the jetta went down to georgia

First Day of Kindergarten : August 1985 : Same haircut.

I won't be posting anymore this week as I'm heading out of town today to a conference in Athens, Georgia. My friend Debbie [who, like my sister in 1985, also happens to drive a Jetta] and I are presenting about the ways in which design thinking applies to all community-based projects. We're hoping the presentation we make can turn into a series of workshops to share with schools, non-profits and community organizations elsewhere. Do you represent one of these groups? Have any interest in learning more?

It's all very exciting...so let's see!

Also, this is my first time in Athens. Any recommendations on where to go, what to see...what to draw?

community by design logo

A few days ago I doodled about some logo ideas for Community By Design, a non-profit organization I belong. As you may see we are looking at the idea of a postmark as we intend to mark our communities with the stamp of good design. Please take a look at it and let us hear your thoughts!

flipping the page

12/12 @ 12, the deadline for the last school project, marked the end of a five year journey with Interior Architecture. I must admit that many times I would say: "can't wait for this to be over", but today I experienced something totally different and unexpected. While I observed the bus shelter I have worked on as a project manager along with other colleagues, I felt a piercing nostalgia. I realized this project was more than just a bus shelter. It represented the collaboration of numerous people that care about making a difference; it signified the end of a journey; it symbolized the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. Damn... I hate good-byes.

a man of process

This semester I have had the privilege to be part of the Community by Design teaching team, a studio course for the second year students in the Department of Interior Architecture at UNCG. At this stage in their careers, second year students are challenged with large scale design-build projects. This semester's second year class has been assigned to design and build a bus shelter in Greensboro, NC. These sketches are some of my contributions in helping facilitate the design team's ideation process. If you are interested in more information, please refer to the Community by Design blog.

close to home exhibit

The Close To Home Exhibit took place last November at the lobby of the Maud Gatewood Studio Arts building at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro as well as several other locations across the city of Greensboro. The city celebrated many things: modernism in Greensboro, the life and work of the Chicago native architect Edward Loewenstein and the rich history of the ever growing city of Greensboro, NC. This is a schematic floor plan I proposed for the exhibit, which was in fact the chosen one for further development.