Sunday, April 5, 2009
Come See Our New Blog!
To check out the newest edition of the Urban Design Center's blog, go to www.clevelandurbandesign.com!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Coming Soon to the Blogosphere!!!
A new blog format is in the works at the CUDC mind factory! I know, this one is still relatively new… but we’re getting a bigger and better and sweeter one because the CUDC is all about redevelopment and continual improvement.
CUDC designers are still hand-crafting some of the final designs for the new blog format, but when it’s ready, you’ll see the difference!
CUDC designers are still hand-crafting some of the final designs for the new blog format, but when it’s ready, you’ll see the difference!
Feet, Unicycles, and Miniature Ponies
The CUDC is borrowing a couple of miniature ponies – just because we could – for Designarosa, which will be at the storefront of our soon-to-be (October) office location at the corner of Euclid and E. 13th St. So get excited.
Designarosa, in case you don’t know yet, is part of the colossal umbrella event called Mobile Encounters, which is an array of activity stations dispersed around Downtown Cleveland that people are encouraged to get to by various means of transportation (think bikes, buses, unicycles, horses, feet, etc.).
All of this (Mobile Encounters and Designarosa) will take place between 2-5pm on April 5th, so get your steeds ready. Our Designerosa event will be an all-you-can-eat buffet themed release party for our new Pop Up City book. (Yes!) If you bring food to this potluck all-you-can-eat, then you win. As a reward, you get your very own Pop Up City book. For Free. (Yes!)
Designarosa, in case you don’t know yet, is part of the colossal umbrella event called Mobile Encounters, which is an array of activity stations dispersed around Downtown Cleveland that people are encouraged to get to by various means of transportation (think bikes, buses, unicycles, horses, feet, etc.).
All of this (Mobile Encounters and Designarosa) will take place between 2-5pm on April 5th, so get your steeds ready. Our Designerosa event will be an all-you-can-eat buffet themed release party for our new Pop Up City book. (Yes!) If you bring food to this potluck all-you-can-eat, then you win. As a reward, you get your very own Pop Up City book. For Free. (Yes!)
Designarosa: All-you-can-cr(eat)e buffet release party!
All-you-can-cr(eat)e buffet release party will be an event anchor for Mobile Encounters, an urban obstacle course which will turn downtown into a multimodal urban playscape. Visit our MobileMap for more Mobile Encounter event locations!
Vacant storefront @ 1305 Euclid Ave., Downtown Cleveland
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
2pm-5pm
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Another Taste of the Upcoming Pop Up City Publication
This is an excerpt from Philipp Oswalt, Klaus Overmeyer, and Philipp Misselwitz's article "Patterns of the Unplanned" that will be published in the Pop Up City journal to be released in February. Be sure to pick up a copy in order to learn more about temporary use strategies for vacant land!
"Temporary uses are unplanned, but they are present in every larger city. Often, they play an important role in a city’s public and cultural life as well as in its urban development, but they have thus far been almost completely ignored in official policymaking and city planning circles. But why do temporary uses occur in the first place? And how do they develop? Can structures be discovered in the unplanned?"
"Temporary uses are unplanned, but they are present in every larger city. Often, they play an important role in a city’s public and cultural life as well as in its urban development, but they have thus far been almost completely ignored in official policymaking and city planning circles. But why do temporary uses occur in the first place? And how do they develop? Can structures be discovered in the unplanned?"
A Taste of the Upcoming Pop Up City Publication
This is a taste of Jennifer Malloy's article "What is Left of Planning?! Residual Planning!" that will be published in the upcoming Pop Up City publication:
"Temporary space practitioners are dispersed throughout the shattered remains of shrinking cities in the United States and Europe, within eddies of vacant lots, abandoned buildings, and radical space strongholds - where community and social relations flourish through the production of art - and thrive as a counterculture of resistance to capitalist circuits of place-making. They temporarily remediate the leftovers of capitalism through radical interventions in urban spaces that begin to poke holes in the dominant frame of the city as an avenue for competition and exchange. Instead, the city is viewed as a place where community can be built and experienced, temporarily, while simultaneously creating alternative temporary uses for, and opportunities within, disused urban spaces. This paper discusses such countercultural urban development strategies through two case studies: the Midwest Radical Cultural Corridor in Chicago, Illinois and Hotel Neustadt in Halle, Germany."
To read the rest of this article and to read others, be sure to pick up the new Pop Up City journal that will be coming out in February.
"Temporary space practitioners are dispersed throughout the shattered remains of shrinking cities in the United States and Europe, within eddies of vacant lots, abandoned buildings, and radical space strongholds - where community and social relations flourish through the production of art - and thrive as a counterculture of resistance to capitalist circuits of place-making. They temporarily remediate the leftovers of capitalism through radical interventions in urban spaces that begin to poke holes in the dominant frame of the city as an avenue for competition and exchange. Instead, the city is viewed as a place where community can be built and experienced, temporarily, while simultaneously creating alternative temporary uses for, and opportunities within, disused urban spaces. This paper discusses such countercultural urban development strategies through two case studies: the Midwest Radical Cultural Corridor in Chicago, Illinois and Hotel Neustadt in Halle, Germany."
To read the rest of this article and to read others, be sure to pick up the new Pop Up City journal that will be coming out in February.
Second Issue of "Pop Up City" Coming Out in February
The second issue of the CUDC's journal, Pop Up City, is in production and will be published by the end of February. The urban designers are planning a Pop Up party in March to commemorate the release of the journal.
The CUDC recently replaced their quarterly newsletter with this NEW journal in which they can publish articles written by international experts in urban design and development covering various themes. The theme of the first publication was Shrinking Cities, and the second issue is about Temporary Use Strategies for vacant land. There will be a few Special Edition handmade books of the publication which will include pop-up features (like the ones in children's pop-up books!).
The articles in the upcoming publication include:
The publication will be available on Amazon, as well as at most of the conferences and events attended by the CUDC. You can also find past publications online at http://www.cudc.kent.edu/shrink/.
The CUDC recently replaced their quarterly newsletter with this NEW journal in which they can publish articles written by international experts in urban design and development covering various themes. The theme of the first publication was Shrinking Cities, and the second issue is about Temporary Use Strategies for vacant land. There will be a few Special Edition handmade books of the publication which will include pop-up features (like the ones in children's pop-up books!).
The articles in the upcoming publication include:
- "Patterns of the Unplanned" by Philipp Oswalt, Klaus Overmeyer, and Philipp Misselwitz.
- "What is Left of Planning?! Residual Planning!" by Jennifer Malloy.
- An article about the German design firm Complizen's experiences in Cleveland during the temporary use workshop by Tore Dobberstein and Andreas Haase.
- "Dolmusch Xpress" by Elke Knöß & Wolfgang Grillitsch of Peanutz Architekten (http://www.dolmusch-xpress.de/). The article will describe a pragmatic transit model for a shrinking, dispersed population.
- "Pop Up City" by Terry Schwarz.
The publication will be available on Amazon, as well as at most of the conferences and events attended by the CUDC. You can also find past publications online at http://www.cudc.kent.edu/shrink/.
Monday, January 5, 2009
An Urban Planner's Favorite Spots in Cleveland
If asked to name some of the most treasured locations around Cleveland, many people would reply with answers including Ohio City, Tremont, Coventry, Cedar and Lee, University Circle, and downtown around East 4th Street, West 6th, and West 9th. But for Senior Planner Terry Schwarz of the CUDC, Cleveland holds some lesser known treasures that have become some of her favorites over the years.
Terry: "It’s a beautiful bridge. It’s the only suspension bridge in Cleveland. You see it sometimes; if you ride the rapid from the eastern suburbs you get a glimpse of this strange bridge that looks like a hallucination, but it’s real! It caught on fire sometime in the 60’s, and has been closed to traffic ever since. It’s barricaded from both ends, but it’s beautiful! It’s one of those places hidden in plain sight. Thousands of people drive down the street and never even see it."
Terry: "They're working on turning it into a community center and retail space. But right now, the way that it is this very minute, it’s perfect! It’s so beautiful! It’s a big empty space, and I’m sure when they finish it will be nice and shiny and new, but I like it just the way it is!"
Terry: "It’s giant and brick, but it’s not used and the whole thing is covered with plants – completely, ceiling to ground. It’s totally green, like a Chia Pet building! And when the wind blows, the thing ripples! It’s just remarkable."
Terry: "It’s this amazing neighborhood where there’s been a lot of demolition. It seems like it would be this heavenly place to live if it were revived. It’s beautiful! Along the edge of it, along Ashland Avenue, is the old Ashland Chemical Plant, which is this giant hulking edifice, which in New York would have been converted to artists’ lofts a long time ago. Apparently it’s pretty toxic. There’s a lot of stuff that’s been left behind, but together, it composes this perfect industrial neighborhood with low-scale housing. The industrial use tells the story of Cleveland with immigration and housing and industry and jobs. It’s a Cleveland that doesn’t exist anymore, but there are these remnants that are partially intact. It’s a pretty neat little enclave. All these places are hidden in plain sight. It’s tucked behind, and you don’t really know it’s there, but it’s pretty cool."
Terry's involvement in the Pop-Up City events has given her the opportunity to highlight some special areas in the region that are similar to these. Bringing these spaces to life through Pop-Up City has allowed many people, not just potential developers, to see not only that their city has the potential to be great with future development, but that it already is, and sometimes all it needs is to be noticed.
- The Sideaway Bridge: In the forgotten triangle, crossing the Kingsbury Run from Kinsmen to the Hanson Park Neighborhood.
Terry: "It’s a beautiful bridge. It’s the only suspension bridge in Cleveland. You see it sometimes; if you ride the rapid from the eastern suburbs you get a glimpse of this strange bridge that looks like a hallucination, but it’s real! It caught on fire sometime in the 60’s, and has been closed to traffic ever since. It’s barricaded from both ends, but it’s beautiful! It’s one of those places hidden in plain sight. Thousands of people drive down the street and never even see it."
- The Battery Park Powerhouse: Part of the Battery Park development.
Terry: "They're working on turning it into a community center and retail space. But right now, the way that it is this very minute, it’s perfect! It’s so beautiful! It’s a big empty space, and I’m sure when they finish it will be nice and shiny and new, but I like it just the way it is!"
- The Quincy Board of Education Building: A building on Quincy that used to be the Board of Education building.
Terry: "It’s giant and brick, but it’s not used and the whole thing is covered with plants – completely, ceiling to ground. It’s totally green, like a Chia Pet building! And when the wind blows, the thing ripples! It’s just remarkable."
- The Poet Streets Neighborhood: Along Ashbury, which is just off of the intersection of Cedar and E. 55th Street.
Terry: "It’s this amazing neighborhood where there’s been a lot of demolition. It seems like it would be this heavenly place to live if it were revived. It’s beautiful! Along the edge of it, along Ashland Avenue, is the old Ashland Chemical Plant, which is this giant hulking edifice, which in New York would have been converted to artists’ lofts a long time ago. Apparently it’s pretty toxic. There’s a lot of stuff that’s been left behind, but together, it composes this perfect industrial neighborhood with low-scale housing. The industrial use tells the story of Cleveland with immigration and housing and industry and jobs. It’s a Cleveland that doesn’t exist anymore, but there are these remnants that are partially intact. It’s a pretty neat little enclave. All these places are hidden in plain sight. It’s tucked behind, and you don’t really know it’s there, but it’s pretty cool."
Terry's involvement in the Pop-Up City events has given her the opportunity to highlight some special areas in the region that are similar to these. Bringing these spaces to life through Pop-Up City has allowed many people, not just potential developers, to see not only that their city has the potential to be great with future development, but that it already is, and sometimes all it needs is to be noticed.
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