October 5, 2010

ENLIGHTENED SPACES FALL SALON

Inspired Engagement: Where Cities Meet the Water

The water’s edge isn’t just the focus of this latest salon from 7Story—it is also the location! Join us at IDEO’s beautiful waterfront headquarters as we explore innovative ways cities around the globe are engaging people at the water. Our eclectic panel will take us on a worldwide tour of the urban beaches, bluffs, parks and waterfronts they find most inspiring and share their perspectives on what makes them so successful. Discussion and debate to follow.

•        Ned Kahn, Ned Kahn Studios

•        Dan Hodapp, Port of San Francisco

•        Kate Bickert, Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy

•        Maria Mortati, Gyroscope/SF Mobile Museum

•        Lisa Zimmerman, 7Story (moderator)

5:30 reception

6-7:30 program

IDEO

Pier 28 Annex

The Embarcadero

San Francisco

Members (AIA, ASLA, Cultural Connections): $7 in advance, $10 at door

Non-members: $12 in advance, $15 at door

Tickets/details: www.enlightenedspaces.eventbrite.com. Space is limited.

PRESENTER BIOS:

Dan Hodapp is senior planner for the Port of San Francisco and has served as an urban designer, planner and landscape architect at the Port for the past seventeen years. He prepared The Waterfront Design & Access Element, an award-winning urban design plan for the San Francisco waterfront, and is currently chairperson of the Port’s Waterfront Design Advisory Committee. He is the designer and project manager for many of the public spaces along the San Francisco waterfront, coordinates the installation of public art, and is instrumental in the Port’s funding public spaces.

Maria Mortati is a museum exhibit developer working in the Bay Area. She has worked in planning, development and design for science and cultural institutions, including research and prototyping for the Outdoor Exploratorium. Maria is founder of the San Francisco Mobile Museum project, and the Museums Now blog for Gyroscope, where she is currently Project Manager for a new 16,000 sq ft museum in Colorado. She recently completed a commission with Machine Project for the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and her work has also appeared at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Kate Bickert is Associate Director of Park Projects and Stewardship for the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. She started with the Parks Conservancy in 2003 to implement the Trails Forever initiative, which aims to restore and enhance the park’s trail system and engage the community in the long-term care of the park’s trails. Prior to joining the Parks Conservancy Kate served in a variety of capacities at Rails-to-Trails Conservancy including founder and director of the California Field Office and later as deputy director of programs and vice president of field operations for the national office.

Help us plan future Enlightened Spaces events! We want your ideas for themes, speakers, locations and formats that would make the series even more exciting.

Our next event will be October 5 with a focus on spaces at the water’s edge. Jump in if you have some thoughts to share.

Share your comments here or contact me at Lisa@7story.net.

For a space to be vibrant and successful, people must find it meaningful and engaging. Below are ten techniques—certainly not an exhaustive list–for creating such a space. The more of these techniques used, the richer the experience will be.

The key is understanding your audience and tailoring the experience to them. If they find the experience relevant and meaningful, the space will bustle with life and they will return again and again.

1. Relevance: When visitors can find a personal connection, any environment can become meaningful and engaging.
2. Emotion: The most memorable experiences touch people emotionally and transform them in some way.
3. Imagination: When curiosity is evoked, visitors are encouraged to visualize, learn and/or create something new.
4. Senses: The senses are one of the most powerful tools for creating a memorable and transformative experience.
5. Storytelling: Stories humanize a topic, enabling people to empathize and engage emotionally.
6. Adaptability: An experience that changes—in the moment and over time—catalyzes imagination and inquiry.
7. Community: Experiences that encourage connection and make people feel part of a greater community are powerful draws.
8. Self-Authorship: Engagement is heightened when people can shape and change their environment.
9. Surprise: Unexpected juxtapositions and revelations push visitors to see, think and feel in new ways.
10.  Humor: Humor and laughter encourage people to see the world differently and open to the human condition.

This Enlightened Spaces event was our best yet! Our presenters were, of course, fabulous (Marta Fry of Marta Fry Landscape Associates, Gretchen Addi of IDEO, and Mary Jo Sutton of the Oakland Museum of California). But the attendees were equally amazing — over 80 folks spanning art, architecture, landscape architecture, exhibit design, parks, ports, urban planning …you name it. 

The kick-off was a visual tour of different ways meaning can be created in public spaces– from the crazy projection art of Germany’s Urban Screen to the interactive sculptures of Chicago’s Millenium Park to the intimate portraits taken by youth in Portland’s Hello Neighbor. Ten techniques were highlighted: emotion,  imagination, exploration, storytelling, self-authorship, surprise, humor, community, sensory, and adaptability.

Gretchen and Mary Jo also asked: how do you know what is relevant and meaningful to a target group? It was fascinating that, despite vast differences between IDEO and the Oakland Museum, they share certain approaches, including (1) being human/visitor-centered, (2) using an iterative process, and (3) testing many different kinds of engagement experiences.

We closed with a case study of the Presidio Coastal Trail and invited folks to brainstorm ways to offer meaning there. Gretchen suggested inviting different visitor types to create a photojournal documenting their experience. Mary Jo suggested offering a fort-building experience for kids. Other ideas included hosting a peace walk, storytelling about shipwrecks, and  inviting visitors to add photos and comments to a virtual map.

SHARE YOUR RESPONSE TO THE EVENT! QUESTIONS? COMMENTS?

Save the date for our next Enlightened Spaces: October 5. Make sure you’re signed up on 7Story’s mailing list to receive details!

Join us July 14 for our Enlightened Spaces Summer Salon… cool colleagues, hot debate and dry wine…all at the beautiful offices of Sasaki Associates. Our topic? Metaphor & Meaning: Creative Engagement in Public Spaces.

Our eclectic mix of presenters will share their thoughts and spark conversation about what it means to create relevant and meaningful public spaces: What makes a space meaningful? Who gets to decide? And why is this the new imperative for everyone designing public spaces today?

• Gretchen Addi, IDEO
• Mary Jo Sutton, Oakland Museum
• Marta Fry, Marta Fry Landscape Associates
• Lisa Zimmerman, 7Story

5:30 reception
6-7:30 program

Sasaki Associates
77 Geary Street, 4th Floor (near Grant)
San Francisco

Get your tickets now.
Members (AIA, ASLA, Cultural Connections): $7 in advance, $10 at door.
Non-members: $12 in advance, $15 at door.

Questions: lisa@7Story.net  or 415.302.8195

PRESENTERS

GRETCHEN ADDI, Location Lead, IDEO
Heading up IDEO’s San Francisco office, Gretchen has participated in such diverse projects as future work environment scenarios for Accenture; redesign of the atrium experience for SFMOMA; an exploration into the future of healthcare through the patient and family experience; international interviews and observations around automotive, cosmetic and home care products; and customer profiles for a financial services start-up. Prior to IDEO, Gretchen worked for various design and architecture firms in the US and abroad. She is a speaker at various design conferences and has organized a number of seminars and events for professional organizations as well as serving as an instructor at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.

MARTA FRY, Principal, Marta Fry Landscape Associates
Marta Fry Landscape Associates is a San Francisco-based urban design and landscape architecture Studio established in 1990 by Marta Fry. Believing that landscapes are one of the most potent and lasting forms of cultural expression, Marta leads the Studio in the exploration of the intersections and complex relationships between environmental, social and cultural systems. Trained in landscape architecture and urban design, Marta graduated from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design with a master’s degree in landscape architecture coupled with an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and Planning.

MARY JO SUTTON, Exhibition Planner, Oakland Museum of California
Mary Jo Sutton is an exhibition planner currently working on the Natural Sciences Gallery renovation for the Oakland Museum of California. She has a degree in architecture from UC Berkeley and 20 years experience designing and developing exhibitions on topics ranging from Chinese textiles, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, shipwrecks, Amazonian orchids, California native baskets, wild salmon, and outdoor learning environments for children. She was Director of Exhibitions at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Sausalito for 8 years and a designer at the California Academy of Sciences before that. She also teaches at the JFKU graduate program in Museum Studies.

LISA ZIMMERMAN, Principal, 7Story
Lisa is founding principal at 7Story, a San Francisco-based consulting firm that helps communities and organizations express their identity through vibrant and unique public spaces. Drawing on 20 years of branding and community engagement experience, she helps clients leverage their public spaces as strategic tools for economic development, civic pride and development of a cohesive identity. 7Story works with architects, planners, building owners, public agencies and community organizations. Clients include UCSF, Chabot Space and Science Center, Marin Health and Human Services, San Francisco Unified School District, Marin County Free Library, Goodwill Industries and the Bay Area Discovery Museum.

“Cultural context” and “culturally-responsive design” are terms a lot of folks are throwing around these days. Public clients are telling design firms to integrate “user culture.” Communities are demanding that public spaces reflect their “culture and identity.” But what does this mean exactly? And how should your firm, agency or organization respond? 

What is culturally-responsive design (CRD)?

CRD is when the built environment reflects and responds to the culture of those using the space. Culture in this case means the way a user group defines and expresses its identity, whether through shared values, behaviors, rituals, values, language, symbols or other methods. User groupings can be dictated by age, ethnicity, income, literacy, physical ability, affiliation or other criteria.

What does CRD look like?

There’s no set recipe for CRD. It can show up in a single piece of artwork, such as 7Story’s wellness mural at the new Health & Wellness Campus in Marin County (see video). Or it can be integrated throughout an entire architectural project, such as at Youth UpRising’s youth center (photo gallery). What is important is that the design is based on what the users consider relevant and meaningful, not simply from the perspective of program and functionality, but in terms of emotions, intellect and spirit. CRD asks: does this design speak to the users’ hearts and minds? Does it speak to their souls?

How does CRD meet client needs?

Just as today’s consumers want products and services to be relevant, meaningful and tailored to them, residents want the same from the public environment. Thus, as communities exert pressure on public agencies to design with “cultural context” in mind, public clients are beginning to demand the same from their design teams. CRD is one of the most effective tools for meeting this need.

CRD is also an extremely effective tool for building a positive and productive link between the community and a project. This kind of community support translates to fewer obstacles and delays, thus saving inordinate time and money. Furthermore, the more a community “owns” the project, the more they will use and care for it once it’s completed. This minimizes vandalism, increases public safety, creates happy neighbors and builds a positive image for the client.

Questions? Thoughts?

We’d love to heat your thoughts, ideas and questions about CRD. We would also be delighted to help you understand and leverage user culture for your projects. After all, this is what 7Story is all about!

We know you care a lot—and know a lot—about making public spaces relevant, inspiring and engaging. That’s why we want to hear from you.

Here are some possible topics for our “Enlightened Spaces” series with AIA. Which appeal to you most? Why? Got other ideas to share?

1.      Cities on the Water: Creative ways parks, ports and other “water-edge” spaces are engaging the public 

2.      Events, Installations and Temporary Art: How high profile engagement activities around the globe are activating public spaces

3.      Culturally-Responsive Design: Techniques for understanding and leveraging the culture of users to build ownership and pride

5.      A New Twist on Community Engagement: Creative and successful engagement techniques that move beyond public meetings and old-school charettes

6.   Engaging California’s Multi-Cultural Communities: How to involve multi-cultural communities in public projects in meaningful and effective ways

6.      Promoting Character and Identity: Ways to meet the growing demand by cities and towns that public spaces reflect their distinctive identity

7.      Harnessing the Power of Youth: How to leverage the energy, creativity and insight of youth

8.      Art as Tool for Engagement: How artists and communities can work together to create sophisticated and engaging art

Our Enlightened Spaces event last night was an enormous success thanks to incredible presenters and a thoughtful and diverse audience. Architect, public artist, audio designer, landscape architect–each talked about ways they make public spaces inspiring and engaging. Topics included the public place as “stage,” the question of who “owns” public art, and the role of urban designer as a facilitator of community culture. But at the end, the burning question from the audience had to do with community–who is “community” and what is the community’s appropriate role in the creation of public spaces? What is the role of the expert, whether artist or designer? If you came to the event, what did you take away? If you missed it, feel free to jump into the conversation anyway!

You’ve got to see this video. Volkswagon was exploring whether “fun” can motivate people to change behavior. In the process they discovered brilliant ways to activate public space! Who knew fun could achieve so much?

Know of other spaces that engage people in exciting ways? Share them here (snapshots welcome)!

The Enlightened Spaces program we have put together for AIA San Francisco on November 10 is going to be quite compelling. What makes outdoor public spaces inspiring and engaging? How do experts from architecture, public art, audio design and landscape design approach these environments? What is the magic they use to bring these spaces to life? Join us for a reception at 5:30 pm and the program from 6 to 8 pm. Find out more and register here.