Blame Vitruvius. In his treatise De Architectura around 27 BCE, the three elements critical to architecture were utilitas (function), firmitas (stability), and venustas (beauty). While so easy to articulate, in practice this harmony in buildings and places was and is so hard to achieve. Fast forward to Colonial America. Many prototypes for buildings and plans for cities hearkened back to
Market Lands is a project of the Centre Venture Development Corporation, meant to facilitate public private partnerships in downtown Winnipeg. Some interesting pre-vitalization activities occurred on the site. A shipping container complex provided space for community engagement to occur. Pavement painting with red arrows drew people towards the containers, and enlivened the paved area around them. A design competition was
The University of Winnipeg Student Association Bike Lab is an on-campus location for students and community members. The lab is inside of two conjoined shipping painters that are artistically painted on the outside. A glass door between the containers provides entry. Established in 2011, the Bike Lab hosts workshops for all skill levels and is open for cyclists to drop
This camp in Winnipeg, Manitoba was for people displaced by a recent natural disaster. They situated their camp in front of the Manitoba Legislative Building to draw attention to the needs of survivors.
Half a year after our inaugural Better Block Middlesboro event in 2013, we were back at it with a second Better Block event. This time it was a new location and whole new projects across the street from where all of the activities had happened before. Here is the story of how we build a better block again. April 2,
Better Block Middlesboro was a community planning event that mobilized over 100 volunteers and attracted more than $25,000 including an award from the Successful Communities Contest which Middlesboro won, that helped to fund this project. In a two month period ideas were rapidly iterated, proposed, refined, and fully implemented to demonstrate to the community that positive change was possible and
A spirit of harmony can only survive if each of us remembers, when bitterness and self-interest seem to prevail, that we share a common destiny. Barbara Jordan, 1976