ukdesign
On Oct. 12, the University of Kentucky College of Design hosted a discussion panel titled “Design Adds Value,” which addressed how the design of public spaces can benefit a community on an economic, physical and social scale. The discussion featured three prominent architects who are working on a regional, national and global scale.
Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects in Chicago, Roberto de Leon of Louisville’s de Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop, and Neil Denari of NMDA Architects in Los Angeles presented projects to students, architects and invited guests at the Central Library in downtown Lexington. Michael Speaks, dean of the college, moderated the discussion.
Each of the three architects presented projects that addressed the specific needs of a community, which were met through their collaborative-design thinking process. Gang spoke of the importance of engaging all stakeholders throughout the design process, addressing assets and the needs of users through open dialogue.
“A good approach to design is to assess what’s there [before the project begins],” said Gang.
Gang cited her latest project, the Arcus Center for Social Justice and Leadership at Kalamazoo College, as an example of designing for the community. The center is sited to engage its three immediate contexts — the college campus, a residential neighborhood, and an old-growth grove of trees. By utilizing Michigan’s abundant, sustainably harvested white cedar and a traditional wood-masonry construction technique, Gang created an open meeting center to serve both the college and the community.
De Leon discussed how ubiquitous buildings don’t have to be as utilitarian in their design as in their function. Citing the Riverview Park Visitor Service Center building in Louisville, de Leon noted how the issues of cost, safety, maintenance and setting factor into a building’s design. By employing “passive strategies” and taking advantage of existing elements, the Service Center Building fulfills the park’s need for a functional building in an area prone to flooding and vandalism.
“How can a building’s necessity be more than that?” de Leon asked.
Denari of NMDA Architects presented his most recent successful commission, the Keelung Harbor Building in Taiwan. Denari won an architectural competition last month to design the port building, and it is set to begin construction next year. The service building will accommodate the 10,000 cruise passengers that pass through the port every day.
“This building will literally serve as a gateway and an icon for the country,” said Denari.
Similar to de Leon’s project, the building will accommodate the harbor authority, as well as a police station, post office, weather station and various port offices. The main floor will serve as the public space, with restaurants, shops and boarding corridors for passengers.
After the presentations, the speakers took questions from the audience in the over-capacity library theater. When asked if their personal experiences and narratives ever play a part in their designs, all three architects agreed that the community’s needs and the building’s purpose factor into a design before anything else.
“The world is so uneven,” said Gang. “Cities are emerging … there is a great need for architects to come up with design geared toward living.”
The discussion panel was part of the regional Mayors’ Institute on City Design, a two-day conference hosted by the College of Design and the National Endowment for the Arts. Eight mayors from cities across the eastern United States were invited to discuss design problems facing their cities with prominent architects, designers and planners.