Search for Shelter
SEARCH FOR SHELTER Last weekend, Kyle and I enjoyed participating in the Search for Shelter Charrette. Search for Shelter is an AIA sponsored even for non-profit organizations in need of ideas to help further their missions and goals. Design professional volunteer for a single weekend charrette, using design to solve a problem. This particular design weekend has been active for 31 years. Non-profits across the state of Minnesota submit projects for 7 or so volunteer teams to take on. We drove over to the University of Minnesota after work to join one of 7 teams for collaborative design. Saturday morning we each visited our non-profit’s site and immersed ourselves in the challenges we had been asked to address. We spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday morning creating what you see below: This year my team explored potential projects for the Midtown Greenway. This 5.5 mile bike path sits in a former railroad trench. We were asked to look at one of the 46 bridges and create a transit and affordable housing connection along the Greenway. 17 neighborhoods participate in the Greenway Coalition. They desire people and developments to see the Greenway as the “front porch” and orient their businesses to this unique bike trail. This adds a level of perceived security and safety. We presented renderings of our design to the Midtown Greenway Coalition on Sunday. The affordable housing included a sub-level that opened up to a patio at the Greenway level. Paths and patios were designed to activate the space below one of the 46 bridges along this well known bike path. Kyle’s team explored options to develop affordable housing near a vacant industrial space, part of the Upper Harbor Terminal revitalization by the City of Minneapolis. The non-profit asked the team to seamlessly integrate sustainability into the […]