THE CULTURAL DESIGN BLUEPRINT

Transcription

1 1 Meaningful, identifiable places are competitive because they usually do a better job of attracting residents, jobs, customers, and tourists.* The framework provided in this guide can help communities implement architecture, landscape architecture, infrastructure, public art, and building interiors that are more meaningful because they are inspired by your local culture. This visual guide provides a method to help your place achieve a competitive edge through creative culture-based design. Your planners, leaders, and citizens are invited to employ the following process to implement designs that are specific to the values and expectations that will showcase a culturally-inspired built environment.

2 2 The CULTURAL DESIGN BLUEPRINT This white paper guide was made possible with support from THE OHIO STATE CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE AT FISHER COLLEGE OF BUSINESS THE CULTURAL KYLE DESIGN EZELL BLUEPRINT

3 3 KYLE EZELL, AICP, PROFESSOR OF PRACTICE KNOWLTON SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING SECTION Primary support provided by THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE AT FISHER COLLEGE OF BUSINESS Additional support provided by THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY KNOWLTON SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE 1ST EDITION, PUBLISHED OCTOBER 12, 2016

4 4 1ST EDITION This public domain document will change over time with fresh ideas and updates. If you see any errors or omissions or have ideas for improving this guide, please contact Kyle Ezell at Corrections will be published and distributed in future editions.

5 5 RESEARCH Over decades, implementation of this Cultural Design Blueprint may provide educational case studies. If you would like to share yours, please send images and a narrative to Kyle Ezell at ezell.5@osu.edu to be featured in a future implementation publication. All culturally-relevant design implementation successes (and failures) are welcome, regardless of the process used. * The general concepts of competitive community design have been widely covered in (for instance) The Economics of Uniqueness, published by The World Bank (2011); The Soul of the Community by The Knight Foundation (2014); The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler (1993), Topophilia by Yi-Fu Tuan (1972), and many journal articles and white papers over decades.

6 6 WHAT This is a guide to help places conceive and implement a real estate development, an infrastructure project, or landscapes that uses your community s local culture elements to establish a competitive physical brand. Local culture elements usually include shared values, stories, histories, traditions, customs, attitudes, myths, beliefs, food, and human interaction with the surrounding natural environment (among other traits). FOR WHOM Municipal planners, urban design administrators, public art officials, and community designers can benefit from this material. (Secondarily, private real estate developers and individual property owners may adopt this process.) HOW You can use this information to establish design and implementation strategies to build a place where culturally-relevant real estate developments, infrastructure projects, landscapes, and interiors can increase community competitiveness. WHERE AND WHEN Where? Individual sites, corridors, neighborhoods, districts, towns, cities, regions, and even entire countries can benefit from this guide. When? You can begin now - pass this document around to decision makers, professionals who plan places, and designers who want to help make places more inspirational.

7 7 ENJOY OPEN USE OF ANY AND ALL CONTENT WITHIN THIS DOCUMENT Any public sector firm, municipality, private sector organization, or individual is encouraged to implement or remix the ideas within this publication as they see fit and help contribute to improving planning practice related to community design. [It would be wonderful if you would credit Ezell, Cultural Design Blueprint, Ohio State University City and Regional Planning, but it is not necessary.] Use this publication in any way you choose; even decide to insert this document entirety into your plan chapers or appendices.

8 8 Table of CONTENTS INTRODUCTION: BRAND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT 9 STEP ONE: CREATE A CULTURAL DESIGN BLUEPRINT 13 STEP TWO: CULTURALIZE YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE 26 STEP THREE: PUBLISH AND ADOPT 31 STEP FOUR: IMPLEMENT THE VISION 41 APPENDIX 66

9 9 Introduction BRAND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT an Athens, Ohio-relevant house Athens, Ohio completed a planning process called The Essence of Athens, adopted in As an update to its 2003 Comprehensive Plan, it enhances the Local Attitudes and Planning Themes: Land Use and Urban Design sections of that adopted plan. The vision involved in this process centered around a concept called branding by building ensuring that the collective cultural values of Athens citizens influence the design of buildings, landscapes, and infrastructure. This document uses Athens process as a case study for wider use. Unlike most other plans that are reused by many places that produce similar (often generic results), using this process will help produce place-based design results to help celebrate the place you love.

10 10 No apparent place-based inspiration Athens, Ohio-relevant house No apparent place-based inspiration Athens, Ohio-inspired crosswalk design LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT the crosswalk design here in Athens, Ohio. It is based on window grates that once kept patients inside a psychiatric ward up on the ridge - now it s a proud symbol of freedom of movement for all. These kinds of local stories should accompany things that people use every day in order to increase human attachment and local pride in the community.

11 11 Close-up of Athens, Ohio s Passion Flower Athens, Ohio colors Locally-famous window grates in Athens, Ohio Athens, Ohio-inspired crosswalk design LITERAL DESIGN INFLUENCES are easy to understand and employ. Because they are tangible (for instance, colors and shapes above), literal influences are also simpler to implement. Literal design influences can go far in enhancing symbolism and local pride; just be careful not to over-symbolize the community.

12 12 Close-up of Athens, Ohio s Passion Flower Abstract interpretation of Passion Flower ABSTRACT DESIGN INFLUENCES are often appropriate for most locally-designed buildings, parks, and public infrastructure. For instance (above) the materials in Athens, Ohio s famous Passion Flower create locally-significant wall fixtures made of recycled, painted steel plates reshaped from their otherwise curvy flower form into a flat cladding with vivid colors. This abstract version of the Passion Flower provides a striking effect by avoiding the over-literalizing of, for instance, plopping actual passion flowers on to the garage facade.

13 13 Step 1 CREATE A CULTURAL DESIGN BLUEPRINT A Cultural Design Blueprint showcases the most important elements of your community s local culture. This blueprint becomes a local design palette - a key resource for architects, landscape architects, artists and many people who directly impact the flavor and personality of the place you love.

14 14 Suggestions for establishing YOUR CULTURAL DESIGN COMMITTEE Once the decision has been made to proceed with creating a Cultural Design Blueprint, a steering committee (The Committee) must be formed. Carefully choosing committee members is vital to represent the local culture and therefore ensuring that your blueprint will be as authentic as possible. Shoot for a minimum of 10 people and a maximum of 25 people. The size of your committee should be proportional to the size of the community. Find out the makeup of your community in terms of race/ethnicity, gender, age, household income, sexual orientation, folks from every area of town, and make sure they all have a seat at the table. The demographics and representative interests on The Committee must appropriately match the place to be designed. Among others, make sure to include at least one artist who can sketch, a local historian, an effective writer, a photographer, and your municipal engineer. Be sure to inform all of them that they will be asked to contribute work specific to their skill sets during the process. Make sure that everyone has the greater community s best interest at heart. Ask the committee to commit to at least a year: approximately 1-3 months for public involvement and completing the Cultural Design Blueprint; 3 more months to localize the infrastructure design; then 6 (or so) months are needed to complete oversight of the Cultural Design Blueprint publication and take the document through formal governmental adoption; and finally, 6 (or so) more months for community education and first projects implementation.

15 15 A process framework: MAKE AN OUTREACH PLAN The Commitee must make sure to reach as many people as possible. The Athens, Ohio Committee used social media outlets to announce public meetings, surveys over ; it even invited people to use snail mail for those who don t have access to technology. COLLECT ANSWERS As answers rush in you will need devise a point person and a system to collect all of the texts, s, social media posts, and maybe even a few short written essays and voice messages. Answers must be collected and put in one format for The Committee to effectively review. ASK ONLY ONE QUESTION You simply need to ask your citizens, What is Us? or What is [your-community s name goes here]? The outcome of this process must not be concerned with what your community should be - or what you think it should be - or what it was - or what you want it to be; it is concerned with what it IS. Asking this kind of open-ended question will produce many different ideas and answers, which will help produce a more real, meaningful, design palette. DISTILL CULTURE ELEMENTS A messy (yet fun and exciting) part of this process is summarizing the community s thoughts about what it is. Consider a day or weekend retreat - give The Committee ample time to sift through and interpret the responses. This distillation process should include old fashioned discussions, sharing of ideas, and consensus building. You can expect that a very clear set of culture elements will emerge that highlights the soul of what you are as a community.

16 16 NAPKIN SKETCHES were produced by an Athens, Ohio designer (Taylor Welch) to visually illustrate quick design ideas during The Committee s process. [ THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT... ] Physical geography (hills, river, trees, desert, etc.) establishes your regional assets which are very much a part of your local identity. Climate and vegetation also contribute to the local culture in many ways. However, uncovering the personality of your community is most important here. Athens, Ohio s personality traits included its youthful creativity and openmindedness. These traits can help make Athens, Ohio designs even more local and help distinguish their Appalachian town from another, perhaps nearby. These personality traits become a material design palette for architects, landscape architects, civil engineers, artists, and anyone else who might want to contribute to the special qualities of your place. MAKE A MASTER LIST From the successfully-distilled culture elements, create a list of titles that accurately describe each element. Start each title with Our, as in Our Accepting Attitudes, or Our Youthful Outlook. WRITE A SUMMARY The Committee should spend adequate time to craft two or three (keep it short!) strong sentences to describe each element on your newly-conceived master list. For instance, Athens, Ohio s element title called Our Little Bigness is accompanied by this description:...makes our little town feel like it is much bigger even though it is intimate and interconnected. A dynamic energy can be felt here that is more passionate than ambitious. FIND THE RIGHT WORDS You will need to choose several (shoot for 9) accurately-descriptive words for each culture element on the newly-created master list. Care is needed for each of these words.

17 17 FIND THE RIGHT IMAGES The Committee must designate images that will inspire designers to complete your place s vision. Images must be carefully selected for the master list of local design elements and their descriptive words. [It is critical to make sure that images are of high enough quality so they may be shared digitally and published in a document.] COLLECT COLORS Local colors are an important part of your place s Cultural Design Blueprint. Choosing colors is a fun and relatively easy task for The Committee. Simply explore the photos and select a wide range of prominent existing colors that represent the community s values (as defined by the new master list of culture elements). Showcase these by collecting photos for publishing. PULL THE PUBLIC IN A committee working behind closed doors might represent an accurate representation of the greater community, but unless the rest of the citizens are informed and engaged, the result will be less than ideal. At critical points throughout the process, try to find as many opportunities on your timeline to make sure the public has a chance to be as excited about and involved in the process as your committee members are. KEEP ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS UPDATED Elected and appointed officials will be needed approve the results of The Committee s work and for its official adoption. Commission and board members who review real estate development proposals and public art must also be informed throughout. Do not wait until the end of the process to get on several review agendas.

18 18 - An Implemented Example - A Cultural Design Blueprint for ATHENS, OHIO As a result of our extensive public participation process, clear elements for what makes Athens unique emerged. Whether it s an implementation project by the City of Athens, a private developer, or an individual property owner designing a new patio or garden, the following framework provides an opportunity to create myriad designs and forms that express the Essence of Athens while maintaining an overall unity. This framework becomes a family of components that speak to the core themes of the Essence of Athens. You should mix and match these into your designs. You may also choose to emphasize one element more than another. We hope to see a wide variety of Athens expressions. We are Our Youthful Outlook We are Our Music We are Our Little Bigness We are Our Inventive Spirit We are Our Accepting Attitudes We are Our Hills We are Our Nature We are Our River We are Our Brick and Stone

19 19 Athens, Ohio Culture Element 1 OUR YOUTHFUL OUTLOOK...keeps us playful, whimsical, hopeful, enthusiastic, boisterous, testing boundaries, ever seeking a purpose. fresh inspired smart spiritual strenuous appealing fun loving ascending aware Athens, Ohio Culture Element 2 OUR MUSIC...honors its Appalachian origins, but is infused with the ongoing immigration of outside influences in a variety of forms. impassioned meaningful inspired rhythm uplifting regional catchy spiritual soulful Athens, Ohio Culture Element 3 OUR LITTLE BIGNESS...is the element of surprise as a result of the vast opportunities in our otherwise small town. accessible spirited robust electric zestful vital enterprising energizing adventurous [CULTURAL ELEMENT DESCRIPTORS]

20 20 Athens, Ohio Culture Element 3 OUR LITTLE BIGNESS...is the element of surprise as a result of the vast opportunities in our otherwise small town. accessible spirited robust electric zestful vital enterprising energizing surprising ACCESSIBLE. This image represents government, compactness, and overall community accessibility in Athens.\ ZESTFUL. This image captures the spirit of zestful exuberance in Athens. THINK CRITICALLY AND CAREFULLY when selecting at least one image to represent each of the culture element descriptors. These images and will be published to help designers become inspired by the community s values, and, therefore, be better able to design houses, community gardens, public art installations (only a few examples) that the locals will love, appreciate, and say, Yes, that s us!

21 21 Athens, Ohio Culture Element 4 OUR INVENTIVE SPIRIT...shows in our originality, intellectual curiosity, and in our artistic, creative ingenuity. better ingenious original advanced unafraid deviceful new risky avant garde Athens, Ohio Culture Element 5 OUR ACCEPTING ATTITUDES...make it easy to welcome diverse opinions and lifestyles, building on strengths; they also make our community accessible to all as we nurture ideas. grateful casual diplomatic good-natured gracious unprejudiced patient joyful open hearted Athens, Ohio Culture Element 6* OUR HILLS...define our landscape and our neighborhoods. They ascend and descend, overlap and layer. They are uneven, colorful, at times lush, at times gray. lush gentile wild leafy natural rustic picturesque curvy forever

22 22 Athens, Ohio Culture Element 7* OUR NATURE...is lush. It s diverse in size, color, and form. It ever attempts to reclaim and repopulate, always defying the grid. It s also seasonably variable, edible/nourishing and delicious. sunny cloudy emotional solid generous durable sustainable harmonious arresting Athens, Ohio Culture Element 8* OUR RIVER...gracefully meanders, flows, cuts with water rising and falling, ever seeking to break its bounds. graceful peaceful ravaging meandering flowing wide mighty natural muddy Athens, Ohio Culture Element 9* OUR BRICK AND STONE...are a part of who we are. They define much of our built environment that has been fashioned from the earth, warping with the movement of nature, reflecting the patina of time and culture. timeless mud hard complete absolute clay red gray matte [* These go-to physical elements are important parts of any Cultural Design Blueprint, but should be considered as secondary to culture / personality traits within this design framework. See Ian McHarg s seminal book, Design With Nature, for more depth on physically-appropriate designs.]

23 23 ATHENS, OHIO COLORS WITH COLORS, KEEP THINGS LOOSE. Provide designers who may be working from far away and many never have visited your community a comprehensive color feeling instead of a paint store-style color sample or swatch.

24 24

25 25 Stop for a minute and [ THINK ABOUT YOUR PLACE ] Your place may be more subdued and buttoned up in its personality and color expressions than Athens, Ohio. Keep in mind, this process does not create a design inspiration for your community - it simply brings out your place s personality - its real self. Places - like people - are usually more successful, appreciated, and loved when their truth shines through.

26 26 Step 2 CULTURALIZE YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE In usual situations, land developers have the primary responsibility to follow sets of rules and build the city s vision out over time. Because municipalities are continuously improving the public realm with updated infrastructure that citizens use in their daily lives, a special opportunity exists for the public sector to take the lead in and set an example for implementing your Cultural Design Blueprint. Municipalities can choose to proactively set the design expectations for the greater community as public and private funding sources emerge for infrastructure projects.

27 27 Checklist for: CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE Public infrastructure includes parks and other public spaces, streets, sidewalks, crosswalks, bus shelters, light poles, traffic boxes, signs, sidewalks and trails, visible utilities (such as water towers and manhole covers) and other amenities. The following timeline happens over a series of meetings. Schedule meetings as necessary. Convene The Committee after the Cultural Design Blueprint is complete and hold a brainstorming session to identify specific public-owned infrastructure and map their locations. Create an infrastructure category list with headings such as: Low- Hanging Fruit, Iconic Opportunities, and Long-Term Projects. (Create your own headings - any number and name - to fit your community s needs.) Go through the items on your list and ask The Committee Sketcher to begin sketching quick ideas as members of The Committee describe individual visions and the greater communty s ideas for each infrastructure opportunity. Rank possible project ideas that will be further developed. (You choose the criteria. Cost? Impacts? Visibility? If there is a computer graphics expert on The Committee, ask her/ him to provide before/after renderings for the top-ranked project ideas. Review, critique, approve, reject and modify the developed ideas. Finalize the list. Write a description of each project, then include a section on inspirations for the idea and the thought process for developing the idea, and a section with details on how to implement the idea. Then find images to depict these sections. Collect images for future publication. Keep citizens and decision makers involved throughout this process.

28 28 [SKETCH IDEAS] PUT YOUR COMMITTEE SKETCHER TO WORK. Quick sketches can help congeal ideas for culturally-inspired infrastructure. No matter what skill level, draft ideas out for The Committee members to contemplate.

29 29 Examples of Localized Infrastructure of ATHENS, OHIO Culture-based infrastructure design can be literal or abstract. Literal designs are most appropriate when they are based on simple shapes. Abstract interpretations generate curiosity. Locally beloved Athens, Ohio Block bricks Literal design interpretation for the local bricks Hills of Athens, Ohio Abstract hills public benches

30 30 Examples of Cultural Infrastructure of ATHENS, OHIO Localizing the things people use daily is as easy as designing a concrete stamper that could either be sold at hardware stores or available to be checked out like a library book from a city agency (such as engineering or zoning). Locally beloved Athens, Ohio Block Bricks Sketch for a local brick concrete stamp New concrete in Athens, Ohio Close-up of Athens Block stamped concrete

31 31 Step 3 PUBLISH AND ADOPT Creating a document that showcases your community s Cultural Design Blueprint is necessary to convey the vision to designers, developers, and artists. Depending on budget and resource capabilities, your community s document can be as elaborate as Athens 8-inch X 8-inch 160-page document, or, it can as easy as a 8.5-inch x 11-inch, easily printable/downloadable Microsoft Word document converted to a.pdf file with the pertinent information and images. No matter what form you choose for your document, your community s clear vision and ability to easily distribute the vision are the most important considerations.

32 32 - Contents You Can Use for Your Document- [ATHENS, OHIO CALLED THEIR CULTURE DESIGN BLUEPRINT, THE ESSENCE OF ATHENS. CONSIDER A SPECIAL AND RELEVANT TERM FOR YOUR COMMUNITY.] Table of Contents [YOUR PLACE S NAME] CULTURAL DESIGN BLUEPRINT [A] Keeping Us [INSERT NAME HERE] {Who This Book is For; How to Use this Material; Our Hope; The Process} [B] Branding [INSERT NAME HERE] with Our Built Environment {The Power of Our Story; Goals} [C] INSERT NAME HERE] s Cultural Design Blueprint {Include your community s list including your colors} [D] Reinforcing [ INSERT NAME HERE] in Public Projects {Include the list and descriptions/images of infrastructure projects} [E] Reinforcing [ INSERT NAME HERE] in Private Projects {homes, private yards and lawns, businesses, and others} [F] Implementation {process outline and capital improvements budgeting}

33 33 DETERMINE MOST EFFECTIVE AND CONVENIENT formats for your document. Consider sharing your decision with The Committee for their buy-in.

34 34 YOUR COVER PAGE might celebrate a major icon of the community. A celebrated icon of Athens, Ohio is its Passion Flower.

35 35 FRONT LOAD YOUR DOCUMENT with existing / representative images that highlight what should be celebrated in your local built environment.

36 36 PROMINENTLY SHOWCASE the words and representative images from the elements in your Cultural Design Blueprint. Consider offering areas for designers to sketch their own ideas.

37 37 YOUR DOCUMENT MUST MAKE IT EASY for current municipal staff such as civil engineers and architects to implement the local infrastructure ideas.

38 38 BE READY. Your Cultural Design Blueprint inspires when improvements are proposed for refreshing current infrastructure. Your published document goes to work when it is time for updates.

39 39 - Sample Resolution for Official Government Adoption - RESOLUTION SAMPLE LANGUAGE A RESOLUTION OF [INSERT YOUR COMMUNITY NAME HERE] ADOPTING [INSERT YOUR DOCUMENT TITLE HERE] TO ESTAB- LISH A LOCALLY-RELEVANT DESIGN PALETTE TO INFLUENCE REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT DESIGN, LANDSCAPE DESIGN, INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN, AND PUBLIC ART DESIGN IN THE [INSERT TOWN OR VILLAGE OR CITY] AND AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE. WHEREAS, the [INSERT TOWN OR VILLAGE OR CITY] [INSERT MUNCIPALITY NAME] expects that our distinct local culture of our citizens must be expressed in the physical design of our built environment; and WHEREAS, the [INSERT TOWN OR VILLAGE OR CITY] [INSERT MUNCIPALITY NAME] s comprehensive plan adopted in [INSERT DATE, YEAR] includes a section on community design which is considered a critical part our strategic vision; and WHEREAS, a Cultural Design Blueprint Advisory Committee was formed to establish the cultural essence of our community; and WHEREAS, a citizen participation process was initiated on [INSERT DATE, YEAR] and ended on [INSERT DATE, YEAR] and collected images and phrases that helped identify important cultural traits of our community; and WHEREAS the committee on [INSERT DATE, YEAR] created a Cultural Design Blueprint that includes local images and words that collectively represent the soul of our community; and WHEREAS, citizens and officials were involved in every step of the process; and

40 40 WHEREAS, the [INSERT NAME OF ELECTED OFFICIAL STRUCTURE (COUNCIL, BOARD, ETC.)] conducted public hearings on this design palette on [INSERT DATE, YEAR] and [INSERT DATE, YEAR]. Now, Therefore, [INSERT NAME OF ELECTED OFFICIAL STRUCTURE (COUNCIL, BOARD, ETC.)] ORDAIN WITHIN THE PLANNING AND ZONING CODE AS FOLLOWS: A. A new [SECTION, LOCATION, CLAUSE, ETC.] is hereby added to the [INSERT TOWN OR VILLAGE OR CITY] [INSERT MUNCIPALITY NAME], entitled "Cultural Design Blueprint Expectations and Guidelines," which is attached hereto as [EXHIBIT #], and is incorporated herein as if fully set forth. B. Severability. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance should be held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, such invalidity or unconstitutionality shall not affect the validity or constitutionality of any other section, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance. C. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force [TIME DICTATED BY LOCAL LAWS]. PASSED by the [INSERT NAME OF ELECTED OFFICIAL STRUCTURE (COUNCIL, BOARD, ETC.)] on [TIME DICTATED BY LOCAL LAWS]. Signatures, Date [NOTE: THIS LANGUAGE WAS WRITTEN WITH LANGUAGE BY RESEARCHING COMMUNITIES OVER SEVERAL STATES. MEANT AS A GENERALITY, IT IS FOR IDEA GENERATION AND PROBABLY SHOULD NOT BE USED VERBATIM AS IT MAY NOT DIRECTLY APPLY TO LAWS THAT GOVERN YOUR COMMUNITY. BE SURE TO CAREFULLY WORK WITH YOUR LOCAL MUNICIPAL ATTORNEY. THE RESOLUTION LANGUAGE ABOVE IS BASED ON GENERAL U.S. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROTOCOL; CHANGE THIS EXAMPLE COPY AS NEEDED IN YOUR SITUATION.

41 41 Step 4 IMPLEMENT THE VISION Implementation will be nuanced, varied, complex and more detailed than can be covered in this guide, the basic implementation process is generally straightforward. The following pages provide a visual how-to administer a Cultural Design Blueprint.

42 42 Planning and Design PRACTICE RESEARCH The following section was (specifically) made possible in part by financial support from: THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY FISHER COLLEGE OF BUSINESS REAL ESTATE AND KNOWLTON SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE Athens, Ohio s Cultural Design Blueprint was tested by students in the Knowlton School of Architecture s Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and City and Regional Planning programs. This research brought forth process recommendations, good practices, and pitfalls, which are illustrated in the following pages. Key questions: 1. What are the designers thought processes as they move their way through the expectations set forth in a Cultural Design Blueprint document? 2. What does the product look like when designers are free to design?

43 43 [PROCESS: INFORMATIONAL STAFF MEETING] A stock design for a fast food restaurant is presented to the planning staff by designers. The planner in charge of administering the Cultural Design Blueprint introduces the designers to the community by explaining the concepts in the document.

44 44 MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATORS Community planners who meet with designers and developers on the front lines must be able to talk about and understand what the Blueprint asks of designers. Implementing this plan requires a shift from prescribed rules to a more creative mindset- allowing the designers to design. STRESS COMMUNITY BUY-IN In the first meeting, inform the designers about the community process and buy-in by the elected officials. Mention that the document is widely supported by the citizens and has been officially adopted by the municipality. HIGHLIGHT IMAGES AND WORDS Showcase the cultural elements in the document while refraining from over-emphasizing any elements over others. This will give creative license to the designers. SUGGEST SKETCHING Invite the designers to test a few inspirations from the document s cultural design blueprint for better understanding of the expectations. ENCOURAGE INSPIRATION MAPPING Cultural Design Blueprints contain hierarchical design elements. Designers should be encouraged to choose several top-level elements and then choose the descriptive words which represent a second-tier of inspiration.

45 45 Invite the designers to clearly understand your PLACE S PERSONALITY Planning and design administrators must be very careful not to design for the designers; you should point out possibilities and examples and let the designers creativity flourish.

46 46 CHOOSING THEIR OWN INSPIRATIONS from a Cultural Design Blueprint, the designers can map out their strategy for creating a locally-relevant design for their real estate development or infrastructure product.

47 47 Working Through the Cultural Design Blueprint DESIGNERS NOTES Notes were provided to explain design decisions made in laboratory research as (paid with scholorships) graduate students from Ohio State s Knowlton School of Architecture were designing a fast food restaurant simulated for a real world municipal planning process. The following are key samples from the full notes. THE ARCHITECT Accepting Attitudes Joyful 1. The elevated platform allows for a joyful interaction between people. The rooftop garden space gives people an 18 vertical change in height and lets people see one another, but restricts direct communication. It allows people an interaction and a view rarely seen, giving a playful/joyful experience. 2. The flat roof plane is exploded through with various simple shapes. This is a joyful experience because the simple shapes bring in light, and make the interior brighter. 3. The simple shapes and colors make the area fun and playful, and the curved interior walls make the separation of more public and private areas look fun. Joyful music performance area outside adds a new touch to a building type that rarely reaches out to the community for events. Open Hearted 1. The cylinder of the structure represents the city of Athens Open Heartedness. It s completely transparent (glass) and allows light in from everywhere. This symbolic portion of the restaurant allows for a space where people can celebrate its space, light, and interaction to the outdoors. 2. The Open pick up window gives a covered area where Athens pedestrians can order meals and pick up their food as they do at dairy freezes throughout the region.

48 48 3. Open hearted is interpreted as a way of opening the building envelope. The building is designed for cross ventilation, with most summer winds coming from the south. This promotes operable windows, and a cross breeze, something seldom seen in a fast food place. 4. Lastly, a rotating art wall allows for the community to take some involvement/ ownership of the building. It also gives local artists a location where they might get their first commission. This could serve to be a way for a large corporation to open their doors to a smaller, more differentiated public found in Athens. Casual 1. The light interior gives an open and casual place, and the colors adopted by the city are reflected in that space. 2. Most of the building s eating space is outdoors. This shows that the interior of the fast food restaurant has become less and less interested in what s inside and more and more interested in what takes place outdoors- a very Athens, Ohio trait as the community is very tied to the physical environment. This open and casual concert venue (small), fire pit, beer garden, and patio space gives an extremely casual vibe to its users. The benching techniques are not only the most utilitarian way of organizing people eating there, but they also force a casual interaction for anyone eating there. 3. The punched/coffered ceiling lets sound and acoustics be absorbed, but they also substitute a traditional truss to allow more open space above. Typically, even a drop ceiling would be used to hide mechanicals, in this case, we re leaving all the mechanicals exposed and allowing for more airflow and more height in the interior.

49 49 Music Fresh 1. The music has been literally incorporated into the structure. Not only were indoor acoustics considered, but a small outdoor concert venue was purposed to give people a casual way to interact with local musicians. 2. The Fresh interior was first envisioned to be much larger. Offering an open plan that would have all types of public and private spaces. The curvature of the interior walls was initially intended to represent musical notes, but was later abandoned due to the fact that many of the public explicitly expressed that their built environment is a part of their cultural identity; it is not a backdrop. 3. This initially purposed, highly structured plan actually allows for the interior walls to behave however they d like, allowing them the luxury to twist and turn to the music of Athens. 4. The fresh music of Athens isn t intended to be played inside a fast food restaurant, but if it was to offer a nicely designed outdoor space, or even a rooftop, then the public might like the idea of having fun and listeneing to music at an otherwise unusual choice to do so.

50 50 Uplifting 1. Early efforts to create space that represented music/uplifting were focused on providing a space that would lift users up, literally. The first designs had a pitched roof, and second floor outdoor/patio space that could be used to view the garden. 2. Some of the early designs even thought of the pitched roof resisting uplifting wind loads. 3. The removed volumes, high ceilings, and light constructions could all combine to be a very uplifting experience. Catchy 1. The catchy center circle would be a unique space to hold a conversation. The curved concrete tables and floors mimic the cylindrical shape and provide and eye catching part of the design. The signage of the building is also being incorporated into this part of the architecture, and in designs focused on adding a drive thru, the cylinder could even be developed to be the normal turning radius of the car moving through the drive thru. Inventive Spirit Better 1. Early designs were focused on making a BETTER fast food place. In this case, better was interpreted as more environmentally friendly given that Athens celebrates its hills and river as two of the most important parts of its city. The term better (under inventive spirit) was employed because fast food places are often some of the least efficient building types. Using the most energy per square foot and having extremely high EUI.

51 51 The building form was therefore designed to retain/use the rainwater via a rainwater catchment, and incorporate passive solar techniques. Although the pitched roof in the first sketch wasn t used in the final design, both the passive solar, operable windows, and rainwater catchment were used. 2. The better inventive spirit was used again with the cylinder punching through the roof. This cylinder was used to hide the mechanicals used to heat and cool the building. 3. The inventive roof type shows the hidden mechanicals versus the traditional spread of mechanicals. 4. Better was also exemplified in the traditional truss. We didn t adopt the traditional drop truss that s seen everywhere, instead we allowed an inventive spirit to create the truss in the structure and allow for a unique texture to be viewed on the ceiling. Original 1. Early design ideas for original had a peeling up off of the ground. This allows for an outdoor, amphitheater like place to be on the roof, while the program remains inside. 2. The shapes eclipsing the roof allow for an original look to the youthful building. It would also be quite original to have sliding glass doors, operable windows, or any other of the purposed ideas for the designed restaurant. The pickup window deputizing the drive thru is also an original idea and preserves the neighborhood aesthetic.

52 52 3. An open floor plan uses original curved walls to separate space. 4. Again, the coffered ceiling gives an original touch to the building, and an inventive way of supporting the roof loads. Unafraid 1. Unafraid to have the typical structure. This is not your average fast food restaurants and that clear as anyone sees it. It s actually a relatively small store that would be a one off design made specifically for the site. 2. Shapes that have cut and modified are unafraid of breaking the roof plane, and offering circulation. 3. The roof is for customers to sit, eat, and sunbathe on the roof if they d like, unafraid. 4. Outdoor/rooftop cafe space can only be authored through a community that is unafraid of going up a floor, perhaps even viewing a concert from that space late at night. 5. The western wall is unique because it not only must provide a secondary route of egress off of the roof, but it provides a large wall for movie nights in the adjacent grass. Our Hills 1. The hills are actually a larger influence in the design than they may seem. The rooftop garden/eating area is explicitly there to elevate the view of the

53 53 user over the adjacent parking lot. The early designs of the peeled up ground were inspired by the hills of Athens and intended to represent them. The later designs were somewhat reduced to a more traditional building form, but with an 18 elevated rooftop eating area to mimic the height elevation change in the hills. 2. The store is located fairly close to a dramatic topography change, at the base of a large hill leading up to Court St., with view is only visible if you get slightly above street level. Our Nature Nature was a guiding part of the design process, in this case, nature often determined a better way of designing a structure so that it would have the least impact on the valuable nature. Natural finishes and elements like local concrete were designed in the building. In addition to rustic finishes, all the glazing on the south side looks out at the nature designed by the landscape architect.

54 54 THE LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT The typical fast food site has a very flat topography, changing this into a more varied topography would be the unafraid approach. ACCPETING ATTITUDES: Money, age, and culture are things that generally make people less accepting of others. However, food, laughter and music are great at bringing different people together. A fast food store already has the food, we just need to add in the music and laughter. CASUAL: This reiterates the concept of communal seating, allowing for different groups to gather in a casual setting, have spontaneous interactions and share in an experience. JOY: Starting to think about a stage area for music or comedy. Both of these programs can be combined with a restaurant for a new, unique experience. JOY 02: Thinking about how part of the building could be used as an outdoor movie screen. OUR MUSIC: IMPASSIONED. UPLIFTING. FRESH. When I think about music in Athens, I immediately think about the different impassioned places I ve been in while listening to music. These range from large concert venues to campfires. You cannot have music without a sense of place. The rest of the sketch represents freshness, I think they are my best ideas. These drawings analyzing the spaces of music that are found in Athens, both indoor and outdoor, covering a range of fresh scales for a fast food development. Thinking about these as a starting point, it is interesting to think about hybridizing these spaces for uplifting music experiences. What happens when you combine the structured arrangement of a theatre with the informal scale of a campfire? MORE NOTES RENDERING CALLOUTS FIREPLACE: This area uses a set of stacked concrete seat walls to create an intimate and informal space. This setting allows small groups to gather and relax; maybe someone brings a guitar along and people listen to some great impromptu music. RAIN GARDEN: This area takes the rain water from the roof and parking lot, allowing it to percolate into the soil and keeping it out of the storm sewer system. This area uses a planting of native wet prairie and cottonwoods, native prairie is a habitat type that changes seasonally, proves a microhabitat, and helps cleanse the runoff from the parking lot.

55 55

56 56 STAGE: This is the main area for music, the building opens out onto a courtyard with a medium sized wooden stage. Thornless honey locusts behind the stage create a natural backdrop. The tables and chairs can be rearranged for concert seating or removed to create a dance floor. TEMPORARY PARKING: This pull in area allows for temporary parking. We want to encourage people to stay on the site, however, a pickup window allows for a more standard fast food experience. This temporary parking area facilitates this. URBAN GROVE: A planting of thornless honeylocusts provides a lightly shaded area for relaxation while one eats their burgers. Communal tables allow for spontaneous interaction between customers. This also contains the main entry path from the parking area along the back of the site.

57 57 YOUR DESIGN CULTURE A community design culture involves a multi-scalar approach that considers the local municipality, designers, developers and citizens as partners in the design process in any geography such as a corridor, neighborhood, city, or region. It is made up of culturally-driven expectations. CULTURE SHOULD BE APPARENT The test for a good culturally-based designed development project is when as many locals as possible say, Yes! That s us. EXPECTATIONS RAISED With more development projects influenced by your culture that are implemented on landscapes, communities may expect as many items within the built environment to become culturalized whenever possible. PRIDE IS EXPECTED Designers can be expressive and creative in their work with a new pride of personal ownership; likewise, this ownership is shared by the greater community. TRUST IS REQUIRED Communities administering a creative design process must understand the interpretive experience that is shared by the designers and the place being designed.

58 58 F D E A C B A. Gathering space. If money were no object, designers concluded that this particular parcel is an important pedestrian joiner between the Uptown, Ohio University campus, and the West Athens neighborhood. This space where the parking lot would ordinarily be serves as a community gathering space. B. Grove of trees acknowledging forests in view of the site. C. The culture of Athens outdoor eating and hanging out area. D. The main building and rooftoop experience. E. Center cylinder. F. Close building setback leading up to Uptown Athens.

59 59 THIS ROOFTOP allows Athenians to enjoy views of the surrounding hills and the open-ness of the spirit of Athens, Ohio. ATHENS, OHIO- STYLE ROOFTOP EXPERIENCE Accepting Attitudes Joyful. Openhearted. Casual. Inventive Spirit Better. Original. Unafraid. Our Hills / Our Nature Rising. Durable. Arresting.

60 60 THE ARCHITECT S VISION for his expression of the spirt of Athens, Ohio creates a one-of-a-kind story. Citizens learn about and appreciate the designers inspirations and become a part of the story. ATHENS, OHIO- STYLE ROOFTOP EXPERIENCE Accepting Attitudes Joyful. Openhearted. Casual. Inventive Spirit Better. Original. Unafraid. Our Hills / Our Nature Rising. Durable. Arresting.

61 61 CULTURALIZED INTERIOR DESIGN, while not within the realm of planning administration, is vital to the experience of Athens. Interior designers should be encouraged to use the Cultural Design Blueprint. ATHENS, OHIO- STYLE ROOFTOP EXPERIENCE Accepting Attitudes Joyful. Openhearted. Casual. Inventive Spirit Better. Original. Unafraid. Our Hills / Our Nature Rising. Durable. Arresting.

62 62 A PUBLIC RECOGNITION PROGRAM FOR LOCAL DESIGN such as this example Athens Block program, can explain the story that celebrates how the designers inspirations contribute to the built environment (and the Cultural Design Blueprint). Because community inspirations are often expressed in the abstract, people will appreciate understanding the complexities of the design process. Placards such as the prototype above could be used everywhere where the Cultural Design Blueprint has been implemented. More detailed copy (perhaps written from the designers) may be provided in a larger mount.

63 63 HANGING OUT OUTSIDE is an Athens, Ohio hallmark. Designers responded to this as a result of the information contained in The Essence of Athens document and understanding the community s culture. THE ATHENS, OHIO GATHERING SPACE Our Accepting Attitudes Casual. Joy. Joy 2. Our Music Impassioned. Uplifting. Fresh.

64 64 HOMEGROWN Athens, Ohio s pride in its homegrown food brings opportunities for growing them in unexpected places. This rain garden takes the rain water from the roof and parking lot, allowing it to percolate into the soil and keeping it out of the storm sewer system. THE ATHENS, OHIO GATHERING SPACE Our Accepting Attitudes Casual. Joy. Joy 2. Our Music Impassioned. Uplifting. Fresh.

65 65 THE VIBE of the community involves gathering and listening to live must and gathering by fires. THE ATHENS, OHIO GATHERING SPACE Our Accepting Attitudes Casual. Joy. Joy 2. Our Music Impassioned. Uplifting. Fresh.

66 66 APPENDIX

67 67 Tips for elected and appointed DESIGN REVIEWERS As forward-thinking as your local design vision may be, it s important to be realistic. The following list of considerations is relevant to any Cultural Design Blueprint process implementation. Do not get bogged down over potential obstacles before you start your process; just make sure to review the following list so you will be prepared. [Note: if you are a city planner or someone who deals in regulatory environments associated with design and land development, please share your results of zoning code amendments and rewrites, examples of cultural designs for houses and commercial structures, local park designs, and any related project to so others can learn about pitfalls and best practices to Kyle Ezell at ezell.5@osu.edu. My continued research seeks to assess ways your Cultural Design Blueprint varies from others and compare results from nearby and faraway places.]

68 68 Considerations: LETTING DESIGNERS DESIGN Your process should prohibit designing at the podium; in other words, you must allow the professional designer with good intentions do his/her work. The designer should be able to prove that the vision was clearly inspired by the Cultural Design Blueprint. (Ask for detailed design notes.) ALLOWING OUTSIDE INFLUENCES Designers are always influenced by things they may have seen in other places. They will and should use their wide range of knowledge and influences to create something that is good; however, the Cultural Design Blueprint is in place to craft a more appreciated version of outside influences. MAKING GOOD EASY AND BAD HARD If you make it hard for designers to do good work, good work may not be possible. Give incentives (more blanks in a subdivision, an extra floor of a building, reduce parking requirements- whatever is appropriate to your local situation) and make good easy. The process should be easier for all involved if a good (in the spirit of your Cultural Design Blueprint) design is proposed. AVOIDING BECOMING A CLICHÉ Think about Main Street in Walt Disney World - fine for a fantasy vacation, but you wouldn t want something so overly-forced to be designed for your community. Use your Cultural Design Blueprint document to accentuate your special qualities but do not force or expect everything to be perfect. BEING FLEXIBLE Take things as they come and celebrate flexibility. BUILDING POLITICAL WILL When you adopt your Cultural Design Blueprint document, will your elected officials have the stamina to enforce the vision over time? Your leaders should have been involved in the vision process, but they will need continued support from planning and design staff and the greater

69 69 community so they can continue to support the policy and procedural changes that will be needed. One way to do this is to have a photodocumented the process to illustrate democracy in action- by the people, for the people- so that the landscape can be created with their local culture in mind. BEING AWARE OF PLANNING AND DESIGN LAW If your municipality adopts a comprehensive plan with a design section or chapter that recommends a Cultural Design Blueprint, it is more likely that your blueprint document and process can stand up in court. This is especially true when you are able to publish a Cultural Design Blueprint document that has been adopted by your officials. You will need to make sure that the new local design expectations are possible to be implemented when meeting with your municipal lawyer to find ways to make your existing codes and associated processes work. Your community s implementation process will be determined by the level of reach and influence your community expects. For example, if your community has the will and resources to implement a full-fledged design review process for all new development, public art, and open spaces that is based on a newly-implemented Cultural Design Blueprint, it should determine how to insert the new design expectations into its municipal zoning codes. The Cultural Design Blueprint can be written into Planned Unit Development text, encouraged in Incentive or Performance Zoning Codes, be included in a new or existing design review process, added to any form based code ordinances, and also added to straight land use codes. Determine best ways for implementation by consulting your municipal land use attorney. Does your state prohibit design considerations in the development process? Some do. If yours is one that does, all is not lost. Going through with the Cultural Design Blueprint process then publishing and distributing your document will encourage voluntary implementation and (at least) bring some improvements over the status quo. Check with your state about home rule municipalities and potentially prohibiting bureaucratic requirements that may need to be confronted. (Finding out about legal issues might be better as a starting point, but bureaucracy shouldn t dictate creativity!) CONSIDERING SPECIAL CODES As open-ended as is the intent of your Cultural Design Blueprint, an open code could define the entire geography (district, entire city...) as a Cultural Design Blueprint Zone or perhaps an overlay zone with

70 70 expectations to enhance the cultural landscape. This type of code could require some type of design review- whether from the staff or a full board - and a process for review and implementation. CREATING A CULTURAL DESIGN BLUEPRINT WITH A SMALL STAFF Municipalities with small staffs can commit to encouraging creativity by designers. The level of staff resources does not factor in being able to produce a Cultural Design Blueprint document for your community (keep it simple and publish cheaply if needed); however, available staff will be a consideration in administering and approving designs. HAVING FAITH IN PLANNING/DESIGN STAFF Planning and design staff must be trusted in order for a Cultural Design Blueprint to be implemented. Being able to point to a successfully implemented Cultural Design Blueprint project will help build trust. HAVING FAITH IN PLANNING/DESIGN BOARDS Elected officials must set policy for the appointed boards and allow the Cultural Design Blueprint process, review, and implementation efforts to work. ANTICIPATING NIMBYS It is hard to imagine that someone wouldn t want something more locally-appreciated in their places, but you must anticipate the not-inmy-backyard folks to appear with complaints. Explain that this process and outcome is much more defensible and desirable than development forces that impose their legal will and standard, anywhere designs. ANTICIPATING KNEE-JERK REACTIONS This can happen in any planning and design review process, but make sure to look out for thwarting reactions that could derail The Committee and community s hard work. ACKNOWLEDGING WIDESPREAD FEAR OF CHANGE It s always been like this. Change is threating. Be aware that this level of local creativity could (and will) threaten the status quo.

71 71 BRINGING THE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY IN Production developments and infrastructure are based on a very firm formula. Developers are generally risk averse. (As anyone in their situation would be.) Expect pushback. Your community could begin by working with local architects and landscape architects who already design client-initiated custom homes and grounds. Proof of product and higher demand for locally-designed buildings and landscapes could change minds. Keep in mind that stock development buildings designed with blueprint colors and minor tweaks of boilerplate proposals are usually more appreciated than doing nothing. ACKNOWLEDGING MARKET DEMAND Local design implementation (concerning real estate development) may be easily threatened in places where there is scant elected official buy-in. Weak community economies sometimes dictate that anything proposed must be built and not to rock the boat. Convey that a place that looks like every other place has a lower chance of sustaining itself. Maybe you could suggest implementing the local colors to start. COMMITTING NOT TO OVER WRITE Keep thing simple. Let your photos and a few good words inspire.

72 72 BUDGET - BASED MODIFICATIONS

73 73 VOLUNTARILY USE OF CULTURALLY-RELEVANT COLORS from the Cultural Design Blueprint is better than nothing.

74 74 VOLUNTARILY USE OF COLORS from the Cultural Design Blueprint is better than nothing (as in the previous example.)

75 75 MATERIAL SKINNING FOR ORDINARY DEVELOPMENTS (including natural materials, icons, and images can help celebrate the local culture) is better than nothing.

76 76 CREATING SPACES FOR CHANGABLE PUBLIC ART can inspire local artists to celebrate the values of the community. Artist should also be inspired by the Cultural Design Blueprint.