Socially engaged projects, 2009–2010 from the Department of Environmental Design, MICA

Title/Contents 1 Introduction 2–3

— H-Box 4 MEA Box 5 1812 Initiative 6 Maritime Museum 7 mica, icff 2010 8–9 Art, Artists and the City 10 re-stART with Art 11 Safety toy collaboration 12 19.6%...26.2%...? 13 River Cities at Risk 14–15

— Department Info/Credits 16

students

Axelrod, Zoe OhannesonBarron, Leah KatherineBasumallik, MouleeBrodowski, Samantha LynneBrooks, Whitney MorganChiarella, Michael JosephChong, Sunny HyunsunCook, Shawn ThomasDelinsky, TarynDombrowski, Andrea MarieDouka-Doukopoulou, VictoriaDunaway, William JamesEricsson, Carol LilyFauer, Allie MelissaFerebee, AshleyFoo, JaniceFord, Deunte AlexandriaFrost, Michael CoryGiron, Leslie MarieHagens, Katie LeeAnneHarland-Hue, Hans ThanhHeath, Antoine TyromeHong, PaulaHoward, Benjamin WilkesJackson, Anne BJian, CindyJun, Hye JiKaliczak, Lisa MarieKang, Moon JKeane, Katrina AveryKim, Bo RaLandry, Sophie A.Lee, BomyiLuo, MierMarkison, Ann LouiseMartinez, Christian JimMcCarron, Michael LucasMcGlew, John PerryO’Brochta, Garrett PaulPark, SuiPascual, Nicolas VPinto, Theo ChequerRichardson, Nicholas SinclairSarkissian, Karine TamarSong, Hae WookSternburgh, Kallie LinStorch, SamanthaTripodi, Tessa JadeWaters, Kurt LangenfelderWeinberg, Jacob NathanielWhiting, Katrinna—faculty

Timmy Aziz Inna AlesinaJohn ChowRyan HooverPavlina IlichKuo Pao LianDavid LopezKatie O’MearaFred ScharmenDaniel UmscheidJohn J. Wilson, Jr.

—Erin Gleeson, Adminstrative Assistant

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— Timmy Aziz, Chair

Many of the reasons for why the teach-ing of design should seek and embrace socially responsible foci, approaches, and methods is now well established. Design is a recognized part of the solution to some of the pressing problems facing us today. Problems such as global warming and rapidly deteriorating environmental conditions that stem from energy de-pendency and wasteful consumer habits or social inequity in access to well-de-signed and healthy urban environments will all benefit from greater involvement of designers and design thinking. So it is natural that in preparing the design-ers of tomorrow’s world, a design school should today teach students about the problems that we know will persist and intensify in the future.

However, for a design school to actively incorporate socially engaged projects—projects that undertake to solve real problems and are committed to tan-gible, implementable outcomes—into its design studios is a bolder step than merely expanding its syllabi.

It must first of all recognize that the design practice in the school is not a pretend world beyond which awaits the

real one, the domain of the profession. Rather, that the work of student design projects can have real outcomes that can directly serve to help communities.

One also needs to recognize that the models of design practice are themselves changing. In addition to the traditional mode of design practice of a commis-sioning client and service-providing designer, other important models of practice are emerging. In these models, the relationship of client and designer are less hierarchical and more partici-patory in nature. More often than not, the designer identifies and defines the design problem and the design solutions emerge from the labor of a team rather than being authored by a sole designer.

The socially engaged design project also fulfills the students’ desires to make a better world for all to live in and thus allows them to live design’s calling in the formative years of their experience as a designer.

MICA, Baltimore City, and its neighbor-hoods provide an ideal context for de-veloping a practice of socially engaged projects. MICA has long been commit-ted to community engagement and socially responsible design. Several of

the projects featured in what follows were done under the umbrella of MICA’s Center for Design Practice (CDP) which enables multidisciplinary design teams to undertake real, sponsored projects which can span multiple semesters ( for more information see pg. 5). Baltimore’s vibrant and artistically savvy commu-nities are particularly receptive to the art-based, innovative design thinking offered by MICA’s Department of Envi-ronmental Design (ENV).

The academic year, 2009–2010, was a watershed in ENV’s practice of socially engaged projects. During this year, ENV collaborated with community groups and institutions, taking on big issues and small ones alike. The Archi-tecture and Product Design students have successfully helped people around Baltimore and the department gained national recognition for its socially con-scious design.

What follows are brief introductions to many of these projects, which form an exciting body of design explorations and realizations that are forward looking, op-timistic and—literally—constructive.

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1. Project Parameters

2. Design Charette

3. Field mock up

1.

3.2.

Student team: JT Holly & Amira RasayonFaculty team: Kuo Pao Lian, ENV

Partners: Greg Pitts Design Director, David Edwards; Charley Mckenzie Owner, Smartbox

The earth and the people who reside upon it are in a state of ecological ten-sion. In the midst of socioeconomic shifts and creeping climate change, people around the world are often also subject to the devastating effects of the overwhelming power of great ecological forces—and none more than the people of Haiti.

In the spring of 2010, the Environmen-tal Design Department at MICA was ap-proached by Greg Pitts, design director from David Edwards, an international furniture design and fabrication compa-ny, and Charley Mckenzie from Smart-box of Maryland. Together, they pro-posed to donate 2,000 storage containers to be retrofitted and sent to Haiti to as-sist in the disaster relief efforts, providing adaptable temporary shelters during the reconstruction process. Since the boxes, 8’×5’×7’ in size and made entirely out of wood, would need to be re-designed to become a habitable and functional space, Greg and Charley looked to engage MICA’s ENV department with the project.

The project began as a design charrette that included students from across MICA’s departments developing ideas and con-cepts for the box. JT Holly, a senior

Graphic Design major, and Amira Ras-ayon, a recent graduate from the Envi-ronmental Design Department, took the lead on the project. They continued the design process of retrofitting ideation and marketing to communicate about the project, and they began to locate potential collaborators and sponsors to help our cause.

Our biggest challenge in this effort will be to convince the public that these tem-porary shelters are needed. As of now, the majority of all resources and funding are going towards reconstruction efforts in Haiti, particularly permanent hous-ing solutions. Our case is that as long as people live in areas with extreme climate that will affect the sustainability of our infrastructure, our communities, and our homes, then there will always be a need for these types of housing components. The possibility of reconstruction in Haiti is eminent, but the time that it will take to fully recover will not come without a long term process, and even now people still need a roof over their heads.

You can learn more about the project online at Metropolis Magazine and lis-ten to a recent interview with the design team on WYPR’s The Signal.

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In a collaborative effort between the CDP and ENV, MICA students designed and fabricated an exciting new exhibit for the Maryland Energy Administra-tion (MEA). The exhibit, EmPower Mary-land: You Owe it to Yourself (nicknamed the MEA BOX) is a travelling exhibit that demonstrates 15 ways to save 15% on en-ergy consumption by the year 2015. The exhibit promotes energy conservation by inviting users into the space, where they encounter life-sized icons of every-day objects, such as appliances. Users are then encouraged to interact with the icons through a series of flip-cards that allow users to uncover information on cost savings and predict their personal savings by implementing the energy- and cost-saving strategies in their own lives. In order to tailor this message to the individual, each person is next asked to calculate their personal savings on an I-OWE-ME form. The MEA BOX experi-ence concludes at the Calculation Station. There users calculate their personal sav-ings and consider what they would do with the extra money—such as take a trip to Europe or buy an Iguana. These choices are then posted for all to see.

The project was completed over the course of two semesters. From concep-tion to completion, the project team ap-plied a hands-on approach to design, cre-ating both virtual and physical mock-ups to test ideas and design concepts. Team members researched and explored the use of many different materials, systems, and hardware to implement the design, including field trips to local “exhibit de-sign” showrooms, conference calls with product representatives, and bidding negotiations with suppliers. Once the design, materials and systems had been selected and approved by the client, the design team quickly turned into the im-plementation team. Students took on in-dividual duties and were able to see them through to completion. At the end of the semester, the team changed hats one more time—this time to a hard hat—as they had to fabricate and physically con-struct the exhibit for the first time.

Through this exploratory, collaborative and hands-on process, the design team delivered an exhibit to the Maryland Energy Administration that exceeded all expectation. You can visit this exhibit in person as it makes its way around local college campuses.

Student team: Lily Ericsson, Cory Frost, Stephen Plantes, Leah Horowitz, Cody Boehmig, Chris McCampbell, Robin Brunelle, Nick Brooks, Benjamin BoursFaculty team: Daniel Umscheid & David Lopez, ENV; Mike Weikert & Ryan Clifford, CDP

partner: Maryland Energy Administration

MICA’s Center for Design Practice (CDP).

The CDP is a multi-disciplinary studio dedicated to preparing the next genera-tion of design leaders by bringing students together with outside organizations committed to education, collaboration, and pursuing ideas with solutions not yet defined. Through multi-disciplinary, project-based learning, the CDP engages in socially conscious projects using design to translate ideas into tangible outcomes with the goal of changing behaviors and making a positive impact on society. More than 70 MICA students and faculty have participated in funded projects over the past three years from a variety of disciplines including: Graphic Design, Envi-ronmental Design, Video, MAT, Interaction Design & Art, Illustration, Animation, Sculpture, Curatorial Studies, Art History

2.

1. 3.

1. Installation at

Brown Center, MICA

2. Construction

3. Detail

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For this project, Kuo Pao Lian, faculty at ENV and Ryan Clifford, faculty at the Graphic Design Department, assem-bled a diverse team of students includ-ing graphic design majors, ENV majors, and curatorial studies majors to develop concepts for this project.

The team focused on historical analysis of the War of 1812 and the Star Spangled Banner for the first third of the studio which then lead to ideation of concepts and the eventual systemic approach to the project.

You can learn more about the project at 1812.centerfordesignpractice.com.

In 2014, Baltimore will celebrate the 200th year anniversary of the War of 1812 and the Star Spangled Banner with a commemorative celebration and a series of events throughout Baltimore City and the surrounding areas. In the spring of 2010, the Downtown Partnership, a non-profit corporation that strives to create a more vibrant community for businesses, property owners, residents, employees, and visitors, engaged the CDP at MICA to develop concepts and strategies towards a systemic series of events, programs, and marketing strategies for the down-town area during the 200th year anni-versary. The CDP, lead by Mike Weikert, developed a team of students and faculty members to take on that challenge of this comprehensive project.

1–2. Proposal for

Howard Street Light

Rail line

1. 2.

Student team: Ben Howard, Andrea Dombrowski, Cory Frost, Mimi Cheng, Andy Mangold, Paul Capetola, Cris CimatuFaculty team: Mike Weikert & Ryan Clifford, CDP; Kuo Pao Lian, ENV

Partners: David Carrodine & Kristi Halford, Downtown Partnership-Baltimore

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2. 3.

1.

Since 2005 The Environmental Design Department has partnered with the Baltimore Maritime Museum as part of an ongoing program to enable MICA to contribute to the historical community by documenting and developing meth-odologies of what is referred to as ‘inter-pretive programming’.

In 2009 the Baltimore Maritime Studio used the USS TORSK as a case study. The TORSK is a former U.S. Navy Fleet Class submarine launched during World War II and serving into the 1960’s. The prob-lem presented to the class was how to interpret, for the general public, the history of a vessel that underwent con-tinuous modification while in service and currently does not represent its original appearance.

The TORSK is situated in the Baltimore Inner Harbor along with other Balti-more Maritime ships. Located along side the Baltimore Aquarium building she is difficult to see from afar. In addi-tion, the pier area is open day and night and has no signage, etc. to explain what the vessel was and is.

1. Site Model

2–3. Design, research

and proposal

compilation

Student team: Kurt Walters, Antoine Heath, Simona UzaiteFaculty team: John Wilson, ENV

Partner: Baltimore Maritime Museum

Students met with the director and staff of the Baltimore Maritime Museum and toured the vessel to develop a design strategy. Case studies were made in pres-ervation technology, site documentation, interpretive programming and feasibility studies, toward a completed project.

The final project that students provided the Mueum included:

» Correction of historically iunaccurate renovations.

» Design proposals for a system of information kiosks incorporating a graphical timeline history of the vessel.

» Exterior signage

» Below deck signage for self guided tour.

» A site model showing the museum and submarine

» A historically accurate scale model of the TORSK.

» Photomontage of proposals

» Compilation of documented research, designs and presentation in both hard copy and digital format, for use in developing grants and funding.

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Experimenting with materials was cen-tral to the creation of all the objects on view in this exhibition. The objects shown here are three-dimensional sketches that explore the behavior and characteristics of materials that have long been part of the human repertoire and are ready for rediscovery. Rather than focus on end results, these proto-types focus on process and possibility.

Northern Technique/Southern Materials: SpoolSeat Nøsting, the art of ball winding with a nøstepinde, has been used for ages to create a neat and structural center-pull ball of yarn. Scandinavia is credited with inventing this simple technique.

Jute, cultivated in Bangladesh, India, China, and Thailand, is an ancient ma-terial. Popularly known as the Golden Fiber, jute is one of the cheapest and strongest vegetable fibers produced from the skin of its plant’s stem. It is the second most important vegetable fiber after cotton, in terms of usage, global consumption, production, and avail-ability. It is 100% biodegradable and it has great tensile strength.

MICA presents MICA (Material Inspired Concepts & Artifacts), an exploration of good old materials and how they can be used in the future. Materials that have been around for a long time have been able to evolve and prove themselves to be safe, sustainable, and pleasant to use and work with. Humans have slowly perfected craft techniques for using traditional materials in smart, minimal, and safe ways. It is time for a new gen-eration of designers to dig into the rich history of ancient materials and re-dis-cover jute, bamboo, wool, cotton, terra-cotta, banana leaves, cork and even earth itself. Let’s carefully craft our future.

—Inna Alesina ENV faculty Sketching with MaterialsIs a designed object ever complete, fin-ished, and resolved? It can at some point become a final product, manufactured, marketed, sold, used, and disposed of. For designers, however, it is often more interesting to see the evolution of ob-jects outside their finished state. How did a thing become what it is? What happens after it used? What else could it become?

1. Spool seat by Karine

Sarkissan

1.

— MICA’s ENV was awarded the ICFF 2010 best design school award

Student Team: Christi Chung, Wendy Du, Colin Dunn, Mier Luo, John McGlew, Deniz Olcay, Leslie Ortiz, Barbara Ozieblo, Nolla Yuan, Yupari Adelbert, Zoe Axelrod, Moulee Basumallik, Sunny Chong, Leslie Giron, Paula Hong, Hye Ji Jun, Lisa Kaliczak, Ra-chel Kang, Katrina Keane, Lucas McCarron, Lorraine Nicoletta, Amanda Poerschke, Patri-cia Pogodzinski, Karine Sarkissian, Stephanie Sevich, Tessa Tripodi; graphic design/hand-made letters: Lorraine NicolettaFaculty team: Inna Alesina, ENV; Ellen Lupton, Graphic Design, MICA’s Center for Design Thinking

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Studying the mechanism of a wool winder, we built a huge winding tool to wind a ball of jute yarn. A similar tech-nique can produce a variety of struc-tural objects. It could be made strong enough to become a rocking stool on its own or to create a seat for a kinetic swing. A pendulum mechanism could generate power for a small light or a fan.

—Karine Sarkissian

Dig, Sift, Make … Earthen PlayDo you love earth? All humans should. But let us rephrase the question: “do you love playing with dirt?” I am afraid most will say no—unless you are a child or gardener. We dislike dirt, and prefer our kids to play with bright colored Play Doh or “moon sand” or any new toy media that looks clean and washable.

Dig, Sift, Make ... Earthen Play kit is designed to introduce dirt to kids. The kit consists of bamboo digging tools, a storage box with a sifting screen bot-tom, and bamboo molds. This project hopes to inspire kids and adults to play

2. Dig, Sift Make …

Earthen Play by Leslie

Giron and Heiji Jun

3. Felting: Making

Non-Wowen Objects

by sitting by Sunny

Chong

4. The Cooler Cooler by

Zoe Axelrod

with real dirt—soil from your garden, dirt from the park, rocks and sand from anywhere. Dirt is abundant, free, washable, and full of cool natural dis-coveries like rocks, shells, bugs, roots, and more. Have fun playing with dirt!

—Leslie Giron and Heiji Jun

Felting: Making Non-Woven Objects by SittingThe felting process requires pressure, water, and friction to transform wool fibers into a compact, nonwoven textile. According to the legend of Saint Clem-ent and Saint Christopher, both men packed their sandals with wool to pre-vent blisters. At the end of their journey, the movement and sweat had turned the wool into felt socks. We packed wool with water and soap in large zipped bags and attached it to a car seat. After sev-eral days of driving while sitting on this bag, the wool got felted. This process can create any flat object. We chose to show a bag as an example. This project is about journey-made objects: the two saints travelled by foot, we travel while sitting on our butts. The result can be very similar.

—Sunny Chong

The Cooler CoolerThe Cooler Cooler is made from steam-bent natural cork sheets. Strips of nat-ural cork are soaked in hot water and steamed, making the material more flexible. Cork harvesting is a sustainable and environmentally friendly process. Unlike any other tree, the cork oak can regenerate its bark, continuing to grow healthily after a harvest. The process also helps fight global warming: each time a cork oak is harvested it absorbs 3–5 times more CO2 to aid in its regen-eration process. Natural cork is elastic, hypoallergenic, insulating, and buoyant. The pieces of this cooler can be used in-dividually, or taken out of the canvas carrying case to float in water. The cool-er can also be used as a small tabletop at picnics. Pieces of bamboo can be filled with ice to cool food and drinks.

—Zoe Axelrod

2.

4.3.

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interest and the goal of the course was to lead students to develop creative and informed strategies for revitalizing life in those neighborhoods.

Offered jointly by the Departments of Environmental Design and Art History, the course integrated scholarly study, creative studio work, and community participation into class activity. The course hosted 23 guests during the se-mester. Scholars presented their research, the class learnt first-hand about arts ini-tiatives in Baltimore from community organizations and neighborhood figures, and artists active in the neighborhood discussed their work with the students.

Class visits examined environmentally challenging areas, historically prominent landmarks that mark the urban land-scape, the undocumented, mundane but critical elements of the neighborhoods, and allowed a first-hand look at commu-nity developers at work.

Precise GIS maps formed the base of proj-ects that captured revealing characteris-tics of the urban fabric, while other map-ping projects depended on innovative frameworks invented by the students. A related series of lectures and guest visits

on innovative urban cartography was or-ganized that informed and inspired the student work.

In a game project, the students expressed with elegance and wit the mechanisms of change in the urban environment, as well as the networks of organizations and people through which change comes about. This work was shown in the the exhibition “Fabritory,” a joint effort of MICA & Morgan University that was a part of Baltimore Green Week. The event took place on North Avenue where people of the neighborhood were able to learn to play the games. Work from the class was also featured in 2010 Artscape.

For their final projects, students worked on individual ideas with neighborhood people and places in order to bring about creative, revitalizing changes. Some of these projects were proposals while most were actually implemented. A compre-hensive book about this class that will serve as a record and as well as a resource of research references and neighborhood contacts is being prepared, and will as-sist in future efforts to bring innovative change to Central Baltimore.

In the course Art, Artists and the City, a seminar and a multidisciplinary art stu-dio were combined to form a research workshop. The workshop investigated the theory and practice of art based ur-ban development including the role that artists have and can play in it. The course received a grant from the Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative, Central Baltimore Partnership, and Central Bal-timore Higher Education Collaborative to focus on the neighborhoods around MICA. Central Baltimore and the Station North Arts District were of particular

1. Speculation, a board

game, by Carey Chaia

2. Labyrinth, works

in overgrown public

gardens in Barclay &

Greenmount West, by

Amy Leggin

3. CBP Map Tool, an

interactive study tool

to view maps prepared

by the class, by Lynley

Bernstein

4. Night Lights, events

at vacant lots in

Greenmount West

including digital star

projection, by Rachel

London

3. 4.

1. 2.

Student team: John Aquila, Lynley Bern-stein, Carey Chaia, Ginny Duncan, Nicky Lee, Tammy Lee, Amy Leggin, Rachel London and Nicole LondreeFaculty team: Dan D’Oca, Department of Art History; Timmy Aziz, ENV; James Singewald, Teaching AssistantPartner: Central Baltimore Partnership

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1.

2. 3. 4. 5.

constructed, and installed a system for supporting the doors and the artwork for the auction to take place. No fas-teners were used in the doors so that they could be returned to the donating organization as they were received. A series of brackets were used in two con-figurations—a pinwheel and a zig-zag shape—allowing the doors to support their own gravitational weight without the need for screwing into the floor of the event host’s space. The budget for the installation was $550.

MICA’s Design-Build studio will serve in the same capacity for the Second Annual re-stART with ART auction in November of 2010.

In the Fall of 2009, MICA’s Design-Build studio participated in the First Annual re-stART with ART Auction in support of the Baltimore Station organization. The class designed and constructed the installation to support the auctioning of the artwork—as well as serving as the curators for the event.

The Baltimore Station focuses on assist-ing men, predominately veterans, who are homeless, largely due to substance abuse, by providing rigorous self-help programs in a live-in residential set-ting. The Baltimore Station helps these recovering addicts transition from homelessness and substance abuse to self-sufficiency in society. The Auc-tion served as a fundraiser for future programming for the organization in support of these efforts.

Our task was to set up over 100 re-claimed doors, donated by Second Chance Arch- itectural Salvage, as a temporary back-drop for the artwork. Students designed,

Student team: Lily Ericsson, Cory Frost and Stephen PlantesFaculty team: Daniel Umscheid & David Lopez, ENV

Partners: Baltimore Station; Kathleen Lechleiter, Architect; Second Chance Architectural Salvage

1. View of the Art

Auction installation

2. Zig-zag connection

detail

3. Pinwheel connection

detail

4. Mounting connec-

tion detail

5. Lighting detail

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4.

2. 3.

Table skirtThis felt table skirt is adjustable to fit ta-ble of any size and shape. Children like to use dining table to create a playhouse. This table skirt has safety messages inte-grated in fun and colorful designs.

Plush pills and shapesThis is a box full of recognizable plush shapes that easily can be sorted by a young kid into safe and dangerous ob-jects. Apples, milk, cheese and carrots are presented alongside bleach, pills and spray chemicals. Poisoning is one of the leading causes of death of young chil-dren, these toys provide an interactive and fun method for teaching them what is safe and what is not.

Smoke alarm with visual messageThis concept of the smoke alarm by Tay-lor Means gives a visual message when battery needs to be replaced.

Other objects include Safety Rail by Stephanie Sevich. This rail has a touch switch that turns light on and illumi-nates stairs for safety.

This Object Design course was created in a collaboration with MICA’s Center for Design Practice for CARES Mobile Safe-ty Center, Center for Injury Research and Policy, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The students enrolled in this class worked specifically on a safety toy or educational object.

One of the objects developed in this course was Playing It Safe by Benjamin Howard. Playing It Safe is a game that aims to teach children (ages 8–12) about 15 dangerous household scenarios and how to prevent them. As players move along the board they encounter these dangerous scenarios. To prevent them, they must sort through a set of safe sce-nario cards and find the corresponding safe scenario. The person with the most cards at the end wins the game.

1. Detail of the

Table Skirt playhouse

designed to teach

children about safety

at home, by Sunny

Chong

2. Interactive danger

objects inside the

Playhouse, by Sunny

Chong

3. Plush pills and talk-

ing shapes, by Sarah

Machicado

4. Students testing

safety game concept

at Port Discovery

Children museum of

Baltimore

1.

Student team: Benjamin Howard, Allycia Jones, Su Jin Kook, Kyle England, Anna Makowska, Taylor Means, Stephanie Sevich, Simona Uzaite Faculty team: Inna Alesina, ENV; Mike Weikert, CDP

Partner: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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government and numerous community-based organizations continue their work to assist those in need.

Artists have provided a point of reference, focus, and empathy to help us comprehend the issues associated with those suffering from economic marginalization in all of its complexities and contradictions. A popular example of this was the photog-raphy of Progressive Era urban reformer Jacob Riis, whose work became emblem-atic for the “other half.” Students from the Maryland Institute College of Art have been guided by such work, and their art is displayed at this exhibit in this tradition.

Forward by Craig Keller

— The installation included art works cre-ated by students from the Language, Literature, and Culture Department and a built installation by Ben Howard and Kuo Pao Lian from the Environ-mental Design Department. The instal-lation depicts a hypothetical space of the “home,” with no walls but that still implies a spatial dwelling through a se-ries of furniture pieces made solely out of card stock.

During fall 2008, the nation’s financial markets were in a perilous status, tee-tering on the edge of economic collapse. Thousands of Americans lost their jobs and homes due to the precipitous down-turn and decline of faith in the national economic system. With members of the me-dia conjuring up images of the Great De-pression, political leaders sought to address this matter through direct government ac-tion in cooperation with the business and financial communities.

Yet the poverty and homelessness recently experienced by Americans was not new but a consistent feature of their cultural, economic, political, and social lives. In fact, many Baltimoreans have been

“scraping by” since the colonial era. More recently, Baltimore officials enumerated 3,419 individuals experiencing homeless-ness during their “point-in-time” survey in January 2009, and the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that 19.6% of the cities’ residents live below the poverty line with the statistic reaching 26.2% when focus-ing on families. Though great strides have been made in the city over the years, the

2.

3.1.

Student team: Ben Howard, Kerri DoughertyFaculty team: Craig Keller, LLC; Kuo Pao Lian, ENV

1. City Hall Rotunda

Installation, aerial

view

2. Comment Mailbox

cardboard mailbox

created to insert feed-

back and dialogue

3. Untitled by Kerri

Dougherty

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The urban studio is a research-intensive, project-based studio that integrates ex-periential, historical, and dynamic GIS mapping to pinpoint key sites for social design interventions in Baltimore and other cities in the United States. Work-ing with this range of statistical and spa-tial information, we are able to propose designs that have the greatest reach with the most economic means.

Each semester, with participation from a range of experts including members of the Baltimore City Planning De-partment and Johns Hopkins Univer-sity Map Library, as well as members of SITETACTICS, students explore the bar-riers and potential gateways as they de-velop design solutions to the most criti-cal local problems within communities whether it is racial isolation, flooding of

poor districts, or physical decay. We use state of the art dynamic mapping tech-niques to study a range of socio-spatial relationships and couple this data analy-sis with walk-throughs and conversations with locals, allowing us to pinpoint the site of the most effective interventions. With demographic information about what populations are most at risk, we can also determine what types of inter-ventions will be most affective.

In fall 2009, we looked at the impact a moderate sea-level rise would have on the most vulnerable communities in five industrial cities on the fall-line—it’s that line along the mountainous Piedmont Plateau where 19th century industry sited their mills along the natural wa-terfalls to power machinery, localizing energy, industry, and ultimately indus-trial cities. These cities have particular vulnerabilities regarding racial segrega-tion, vacancy, and aging infrastructure.

The work shown here are some of the studies done by students of this class for the ‘River Cities at Risk’ project. Lau-rie Feinberg and members of Baltimore

1. Baltimore, Maryland

2. Wilmington, North

Carolina

1. 2.

Student team: Andrea Dombrowski, Alexander Fox, Deunte Ford, Dominique Hellgeth, Jackson Howell, Sui Park, Amira Rasayon, Kallie Sternbergh, Lily Worledge, Whitney WrightFaculty team: Katie O’Meara, ENV

Partners: Laurie Feinberg & members of Baltimore City Planning Department Baltimore City Planning Department, Johns Hopkins University Map Library

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3. Charleston, South

Carolina

3.

City Planning Department participated in the project’s development and in turn, the students presented their conclu-sions of the studio at the City Planning offices, in downtown Baltimore.

This year, fall 2010, we are looking at the historical and contemporary affects of the railroad in Maryland and Balti-more City. What does “the other side of the tracks” really mean? Is it age, race, and income biased?

When tracks are elevated do they divide social groups differently than when they are trenched? Are there conditions where tracks actually preserve the integrity and well-being of a neighborhood? Can we determine what track-community conditions are best, and if so, are there interventions we can make to amelio-rate the social divisions created by rail continuities? Understanding these kinds

of differences not only helps us release a stagnating community that’s been penned in with rail cinctures, it can also help us guide new rail projects with ap-propriate conditions that we’ve been able to test, like the frequency and location of intersections, crossovers, and under-passes, so that we can ensure that our new rail infrastructure supports rather than divide the communities it serves.

Students in the Urban studio gain a lasting sense of how to engage the city and its dynamic actors. Questions of so-cial justice, environmental stewardship, and spatial equity become a part of their daily work in design, research, and art-making.

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Special thanks to Gunalan Nadarajan, Vice Provost, Office of Research, MICA, and to Lorri Angelloz, Manager of Institutional Communications, MICA.

ENV defines Environmental Design as design for the built environment. Our curriculum of Architecture and Prod-uct Design encompasses the design of the context of our daily lives: the neighborhood, the street, the building, the inside space, the chair and the toy.

For more information:Department of Environmental Design Maryland Institute College of Art 1300 W. Mount Royal Avenue, Fox Building, 4th floor Baltimore, MD 21217 410.225.2240

http://env.mica.edu

designed by the office of Kristian Bjørnardwww.officeofkb.com