Author Archive

Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 | Author: interactiv

vanjones

Van Jones is an eco-visionary, award-winning human rights attorney and powerhouse speaker. He is the founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights (EBC), a strategy and action center, working for justice, peace, and opportunity in urban America.

He has served on the boards of numerous environmental and nonprofit organizations, including the National Apollo Alliance, Social Venture Network, Rainforest Action Network, Bioneers, Julia Butterfly Hill’s “Circle of Life” organization and Free Press.

Van won his first major award in 1998 when he was given the Reebok Human Rights Award. Other significant awards include the international Ashoka Fellowship, selection as a World Economic Forum “Young Global Leader,” and the Rockefeller Foundation “Next Generation Leadership” Fellowship.

In the aftermath of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, Van helped to found ColorOfChange.org, an online advocacy organization. With more than 100,000 members, Color Of Change is now the nation’s biggest e-advocacy organization tackling Black issues.
[Read more]

Monday, March 30th, 2009 | Author: interactiv

Freed: Design Winner Will Build Actual City Block

ecf

Chris Cheatham (Green Building Law Update) interviewed Eric Corey Freed last week and just posted the first in a 2-part series interview:

My friends over at Sensible City recently offered me the opportunity to interview Eric Corey Freed. It’s not everyday I get to interview someone who was just interviewed by the New York Times so I jumped at the chance. Even better, Eric is an “organic architect” and studied under a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright. I am getting married in October at Wright’s Arizona home, Taliesin West, so I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.

Eric is involved in a tremendous design competition called Urban Re:Vision, and he describes how Dallas was chosen as the site for the competition: “The mayor, Tom Leppert, was fantastic. He’s got 30 years in the building industry and he understood Urban Re:Vision right off the bat. So the City of Dallas gave us this block next door to city hall and said ‘Here, this would be perfect,’ and everything kind of came together. Now we have what we always wanted, a real city block, with real stakeholders behind it and the winning entry will really get built.”

In Part I of the interview, Eric and I discuss “organic architecture” and the Urban Re:Vision competition in some detail. Eric also provdies insight into liability concerns surrounding the competition. On Wednesday, we will discuss broader legal issues surrounding the green building indusry and a controversy that arose over Eric’s New York Times interview.

[Read the interview here]

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009 | Author: interactiv

The Competition:

Our 6th competition in a series, Re:Vision DALLAS is an opportunity to create new site-specific designs that will transform an existing city block in Dallas into a model of sustainable practices. How will it change the landscape of the city, the region, and other urban settings around the country or the world? We invite you to be part of this ground-breaking effort and help lay the foundation for sustainable urban design.

Competition Awards

The competition jury will award three cash prizes, and three honorable mentions.  The prize for each of the three finalists is $25,000. The prize for each of the honorable mentions will be $1,000… [more]

Competition Judges

judges

[Click here for more information about competition, judging criteria, etc]

Schedule and Timeline

Competition Launch: January 26, 2009

Registration Deadline: April 15, 2009

Entry Deadline: May 8, 2009 by 11:59pm pdt

Jury Session: May 2009

Winning Designs Announced: May 21, 2009

Contest Start Date: Sunday, 25 January 2009 9:00am
Contest End Date: Friday, 8th May 2009 11:59pm

[Click here for more information about competition, judging criteria, etc]

How To Enter:
Electronic registration forms will be posted on www.urbanrevision.com on January 26, 2009. Registration and submission deadlines for each competition are posted on our schedule. At the time of registration, each competitor must payment an entry fee in the amount of $50 (usd). Payments will be accepted either online with Visa, Mastercard and/or Discover cards and/or by check via mail. Once the fee is paid and the registration form filled out, each competitor will receive a confirmation email of their registration. The entrant’s email address will then be linked to an internal registration number (this will only be seen by ReVision team and jury). Only one submission per registration may be made.  Digital entries will be submitted through Urban Re:Vision’s website at www.urbanrevision.com.
Awards
The competition jury will award three cash prizes, and three honorable mentions. The prize for each of the three finalists is $25,000. The prize for each of the honorable mentions will be $1,000. The top three finalists will receive a consultation with Central Dallas CDC. These initial discussions do not guarantee that the winners will be hired. See Developers Statement for details. ALL CASH PRIZES WILL BE AWARDED. Winners may be required to furnish proof of identity, address and birth date in order to receive prizes. In order to receive prizes, winners may be required to execute a written affidavit of eligibility, a liability release, publicity release in favor of Administering Sponsor. Taxes on all prizes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winners.

Judging
The competition jurors are identified in the Jury section. Jurors will assess the submissions and determine winners. Jurors will base their judgment on their own expertise, the work submitted by the competitors, the information contained in the competition documents, and any questions and answers that arise during the judging process. Each juror will examine every qualified submission. To be considered, entries must comply with the requirements of the Project Brief and be submitted in accordance with Entry Guidelines. Entries will be judged on the following criteria: Sustainability and Reality of Intent – 25%, Affordability and Constructability – 25%, Innovation and Originality – 25%, Encourage increased use of energy, transportation, commerce, community & construction 25%. In the event of a tie, the competition advisor will cast the tie-breaking vote utilizing the same competition criteria used by the judges. The names of competitors will not be revealed to the jury until after winning entries have been determined. Administering Sponsor reserves the right to replace any of the jury members for any reason whatsoever, and shall do so if a juror is found to be involved in any material way with a submission.

[Click here for more information about competition, judging criteria, etc]

Entry Guidelines:
Entries that do not follow these requirements will be disqualified!

You must submit two separate PDF files.

  • File one is the design concept.
  • It is to be no longer than 6 pages.
  • Each page must be formatted at exactly 24 inches x 36 inches.

All entries must contain:

  • A statement of concept (max 400 words)
  • At least one three-dimensional image of your scheme
  • A site plan showing how it fits into the context
  • At least two streetscape sections through the entire site
  • Rough calculations on resource consumption/production including food produces.
  • Diagrams of pertinent systems (physical, social, technical, financial, etc.)
  • Table of total square footage by program type
  • Basic floor plans of all pertinent levels

File two (also a PDF) is the supporting material.

  • It is to be no longer than 25 pages.
  • Each page must be formatted at  exactly 8.5 inches x 11 inches.
  • This may include additional text, diagrams, pro forma, outline of operating services, etc.

Any multimedia may be submitted separately but will not necessarily be judged.
This may include animations, video, audio, or any other ideas you’d like to include.

DO NOT include your name or any identifying items on the front of the images or documents. Your entries are to remain anonymous to the judges. Please use your entry registration number as the identifying mark on all boards.  Any entries containing identifying information will be immediately disqualified.

Entry Deadline:
All entries will be uploaded through Urban Re:Vision’s website and must be received by April 30, 2009 – 11:59pm PDT

[Click here for more information about competition, judging criteria, etc]

Statement of Concept:
Each entry must include an approx. 100-400 word essay (in English) describing your entry, including the following: general ideas and concepts of the design; sustainable and energy efficient aspects of the design; design intentions, and strategies for involving the community; and reasons that the design can be used in various cities.  Be sure to discuss your particular innovation.

[Click here for more information about competition, judging criteria, etc]

Eligibility:
The competition is open to any person(s) including architects, designers, urban planners, engineers, artists, students and anyone interested in sharing their vision and ideas for a sustainable urban community. However, no officer, director, member, manager, partner, or employee of Urban Revision LLC or any of its affiliates, or any other person or entity involved in the development, production, implementation, distribution or sponsorship of this competition, or any of their immediate family members, or any others persons living in the same household of any such persons, is eligible to participate. In addition, no member of the jury, or any of their partners or business associates, or any of their immediate family members, or any others persons living in the same household as a member of the jury, may participate in the competition. Immediate Family Members include spouse, domestic partners, children (natural, foster, adopted), siblings, parents and of their respective spouses and domestic partners. minors (i.e. competitor must be 18 years of age or older as of registration date. Competitors must not communicate with the jury about the competition in any way until the winning design(s) are announced. Any competitor found in violation of this rule will be disqualified immediately. THIS COMPETITION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY THE LAW OF THE COMPETITOR’S PLACE OF RESIDENCE.

License to Use Submissions:
All physical, recorded, or online drawings, photographs, photocopies, plans, designs and any other materials submitted to the competition (“Submitted Materials”) become the property of Urban Revision LLC, and may be retained for archival purposes and possible exhibition, publication, and promotion. Each competitor hereby grants Administering Sponsor, its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries and assigns, and legal representatives, the irrevocable, perpetual worldwide license to edit, modify, reproduce, distribute, transmit, publicly and privately exhibit, display and publish, including, without limitation, as part of one or more books or other written publications, films, or art exhibits, all of the Submitted Materials, without compensation to entrant. All other rights of ownership to the Submitted Materials shall be retained by the applicant.  Wherever possible, Administering Sponsor will make reasonable efforts to properly identify the author of any submission to this competition when publishing or displaying that material, but can not be held responsible for failing to do so.

[Click here for more information about competition, judging criteria, etc]

No Violation of Third Party Rights:
By entering this competition, each competitor represents and warrants that: (i) the ideas and designs submitted neither infringes on any patent, trademark or copyright or any other third-party right nor does it violate any applicable law or regulation, (ii) the competitor has the right to grant any and all necessary rights and licenses provided herein, including without limitation, all necessary patent, trademark, copyright and other related rights to the design idea submitted, free and clear of all claims and encumbrances without violating the rights of any person or entity, including any right to privacy or publicity; (iii) the information contained in the competitor’s entry is accurate, complete and correct and represents his or her own new, novel ideas; and (iv) the information contained in his or her entry has not been publicly disclosed prior to submission and shall not be publicly disclosed by him or her until the winners are announced. Each competitor agrees to indemnify, defend and hold the Administering Sponsor and its affiliates harmless from and against any third party claim arising from a violation of these representations. In the event that Administering Sponsor at any time determines that an entry violates any of the foregoing representations, the entry will be disqualified.

Limitation of Liability:
Administering Sponsor excludes all liability for any personal injury, loss, or damage of whatever kind (including loss of data) caused directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from downloading any material from Administering Sponsor’s web site, regardless of whether the material was prepared by Administering Sponsor or a third party, and regardless of whether the material is connected to Administering Sponsor’s web site by a hypertext link. Administering Sponsor takes no responsibility for the content of third party web sites which may be linked to Administering Sponsor’s web site by a hypertext link. Administering Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify the competition if fraud, technical failures, or any other factor beyond Administering Sponsor’s reasonable control impairs the integrity of the competition as determined by Administering Sponsor in its sole discretion. In the event of such impairment, Administering Sponsor may choose potential winners from all eligible entries received as of the time of impairment. By receipt of any prize in the competition, the winner agrees to release and hold harmless Administering Sponsor, and its affiliates, directors, officers, members, partners, managers, employees and agents from any liability for damage, injury, death, loss, cancellation or other liability arising from the Winner’s participation in this competition, including without limitation, personal injury, death, and property damage, and claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy . Administering Sponsor and its affiliates, directors, officers, members, partners, managers, employees and agents assume no liability for losses incurred as a result of cancellation of the competition or for any reason whatsoever or for events occurring after the award of such prize.

Governing Law and Venue:
This competition shall be governed by California law. Each competitor agrees that courts in San Francisco, CA shall have exclusive jurisdiction and venue over any dispute or litigation arising from or relating to this competition.

[Click here for more information about competition, judging criteria, etc]

Acceptance of Rules:
By registering, each competitor affirms that he or she has read these Official Rules and fully and unconditionally accept and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Administering Sponsor and the jury. By entering, each competitor also unconditionally agrees to waive any right to claim ambiguity or error in these Official Rules. Administering Sponsor reserves the right to modify the rules and/or jury of this competition in any way or at any time.

Administering Sponsor:
The sole sponsor and administrator of this competition is Urban Revision LLC (herein referred to as “Administering Sponsor”). No other competition sponsor had any role in the development, production, implementation, distribution, or administration of this competition.

Thursday, January 01st, 2009 | Author: interactiv

… just ran an interesting story which points out several exciting community programs, leading with Re:Vision’s fully sustainable city block in Dallas:

Sustainable Community Concept Takes Hold in Texas, Georgia, Tennessee

Dallas, TX

Oakland, Calif. — The drive to create communities that balance environmental, economic and social responsibilities through planned development is growing as shown by projects in Texas, Georgia and Tennessee.

In Dallas, the Urban Re:Vision project and others convened a design charrette earlier this month as part of a campaign to create what organizers say will be the first fully sustainable, urban square block in the U.S.

The site targeted for redevelopment is a two-square-block area that Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert has called a “forgotten landscape” — an unused parking lot across the street from City Hall.

The charrette laid the groundwork for an international design competition, called Building Blocks Dallas, which launches next month. The goal: Devote one square block to green space and design the other square block as an eco-friendly, economically viable area serving the needs of the urban community around it.

[Read Entire Story at GreenerBuildings.com]

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 | Author: interactiv

Dallas Public Radio/TV KERA had this to day today on Art&Seek:

Another Downtown Revitalization Effort, But Different

December 10th, 2008 by Alan Melson
 


Re:Vision Dallas is the latest public effort to revitalize a portion of Dallas’ central business district – in this case, a square block just south of Dallas City Hall that is currently occupied by a parking lot.  Although the project has had community input, however, it’s actually a competition put on by a San Francisco-based organization.

That group, the Urban Re:Vision initiative, is putting on a series of similar competitions elsewhere that promote innovation, adaptive reuse and sustainability.  Their overarching description:

“Re:Vision is a diverse group of people focused on changing the urban landscape by re-imagining all the components that make up a city block. From energy to transportation to commerce to community, we believe that by finding innovative, healthy and sustainable ideas to help revitalize one urban block, we can create a blueprint for better cities everywhere.”

Public releases about the competition say the designs ultimately chosen for the Dallas project will ultimately be given life via the Central Dallas Community Development Corporation.

After the jump, check out a “photodocumentary” video the group put together featuring dozens of local residents.