Meetings and agendas

Most of us met with Gale at the Neighborhood House yesterday. We presented our revised plans for our site designs which were met with support and positive comments. Our challenge is either to incorporate a unified identity for the Circulator stops or to present an alternative for addressing the sites as circulator sites. Is this something where the community would like to have a say?

I went back over to the Winifred/Bidwell location, where I'd like develop my version of the stop. It's a quiet little nook up on top of the hill, directly accross from the West Side Community Organization offices. I'd still really like to meet with the director of the organization and try to get some background on the area and the neighborhoods involved.

Does anyone have experience with public art installations in St. Paul? Any inforamtion on height restrictions or material restrictions or permits that need to be pulled to place an "artpiece"? Comments would be helpful. I've placed a call to the city inspector to get some insight. I'll talk with the head of Building Inspections for St. Paul in the coming days. Apparently this sort of thing does have regulations and falls under the Department of Safety and Inspections which is governed by State Building Codes.

Another day and more to do

Our mission, for now, is to revise our presentation boards, to show the Neighborhood house staff next week, and to write a summary of our design intent. In addition to those tasks we are supposed to be confirming and really thinking about materials. What is constructible? What is feasible to work with in the given time frame and actually create a some mock up for the end of the semester. The project is very challenging because we're being asked to consider something that would likely be larger (in scope) than we can realistically build, transfer, or pay for.

So we're being asked to design something respectable and produce the equivalent of set-design models for display and critique. It's not a unique experience as part of the larger design process, but it is kind of unique to design for an end result that's really only a facsimile. Kind of an esoteric and philosophical gateway. Enough of that though.

Part of the larger project and how (it is expected) we'll be thinking about the work, is to consider the community and their stories. As it is we are all removed from the community in geography cultural considerations. I don't think this is a hindrance or that we can't be effective because we aren't part of the story but it must be noted that we have somewhat limited resources to fully explore the community and gain their perspective. If anyone reading this has suggestions for how to get "in" with the locals... and for now I'll presume that you are locals, let us know how we can best work with you. Feel free to share your stories with us. Use this site to send us e-mail or leave comments about you. What you want, which bus stops are near your home. What do you like about the neighborhood. What would you like to change.

This isn't a forum for venting and your comments can certainly be kept confidential but we're open, and somewhat eager to hear from you.

The area

Here's a map of the area, created by the previous 3302 class and edited by me.

The previous study

This project has been in the works since last Spring. Tom Rose's class at that time began the process of community engagement and working to understand the issues and possibilities of these bus stop locations and what the mean in the larger and smaller community. If you want a copy of this report we can make it available.

This picture is an example of current signage at the Circulator stops.
The signs are plastic and therefore easily (and often) broken or missing.

The Mission, as developed by the previous participants states:

• "[We are a] collaborative class of students
  
• exploring the process of community engagement
• educational ([making] youth culturally/geographically more aware; we learn how to engage the community: youth, parents, committees
• engage the community and youth in the process of design (maps, signs, [bus] stops)
• provide a framework of community building/discussion/network
• making the kids aware/proud of the fact that they are part of the community (bridging disconnections and engaging [in] design)

We use the West Side Circulator to accomplish the goals state above through bus stop design, bus design, and map design."

Personally I would alter the mission to be a little clearer about the process of design and the end results. The class that formulated the mission and the associate report had 8 students, two professors, and both the good fortune and unenviable task of getting the ball rolling. Our class consists of four students in various academic disciplines and substantially different backgrounds to make our efforts pretty individual and unique.

We are working closely with staff at the Neighborhood House, who run the Circulator and related programs, and we will hopefully be working closely with neighborhood group leaders as we progress through this process.

The process has been a little awkward for us so far as we've wrestled with our own ideas of what it's really all about, what expectations there are for end-products, and how we'll actually engage the community. As we know it we will each design a bus stop, and potentially elements to decorate the Circulator bus which is leased and therefore can't be permanently altered. Oh, and we're working with a conceptual budget of $1,000 for each of six sites. That includes materials and installation and fabrication labor... which could include getting students involved in the construction and delivery process.

These deceptively simple tasks present a number of challenges. We must each consider what the focal point of our designs will be (what is the thing at it's essence?). We have to determine what materials will be appropriate for year-round use and exposure. How easy will they be to maintain (low maintenance)? We have to engage the neighborhoods wherein they're located to ensure that these ideas are suitable for the neighborhood. They have to be safe for children and not interfere with traffic. And they should include some participation if not just background information from students (the User) in the community. These concepts can't be permanent. And we, the student designers, need to be able to fabricate a scale mock-up to be installed at the Neighborhood House at the end of the semester (December 2007).

We've devised a few concepts and had some studio critiques (pretty easy when only five people are involved) and are currently refining our designs to present to the program directors. Hopefully we'll be posting those ideas as we go forward.

I'll add more photos and information soon.