One of the finest qualities the architecture and design community has is its affinity for pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. It’s a natural part of the identity of design, in any form. People with new ideas can and do actually bring them to fruition, and the architecture and design fields have a way of nurturing those ideas through the depth and intricacies of the relationships said fields are built on.
It’s in this spirit that we call attention to a few groups doing just that – pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in design and the built environment. They’re doing so by finding a clever target space in which to work – in urban resilience, diversity through music + architecture, and startup mentality.
100 Resilient Cities
Created and financially supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, 100 Resilient Cities helps cities around the world “become more resilient to the physical, social, and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st century.”
100 Resilient Cities is part of a global urban resilience movement, founded on helping make cities stronger and improving their quality of life. It began in 2013 with 32 cities, and announces newly selected cities each year. The 100RC website provides a fascinating snapshot of the issues each of its cities is grappling with – check it out here.
“100RC supports the adoption and incorporation of a view of resilience that includes not just the shocks – earthquakes, fires, floods, etc. – but also the stresses that weaken the fabric of a city on a day to day or cyclical basis.
“Examples of these stresses include high unemployment; an overtaxed or inefficient public transportation system; endemic violence; or chronic food and water shortages. By addressing both the shocks and the stresses, a city becomes more able to respond to adverse events, and is overall better able to deliver basic functions in both good times and bad, to all populations.”
Cities in the 100 Resilient Cities network have access to helpful resources in four key pathways:
- Financial and logistical guidance for establishing an innovative new position in city government, a Chief Resilience Officer, who will lead the city’s resilience efforts
- Expert support for development of a robust Resilience Strategy
- Access to solutions, service providers, and partners from the private, public and NGO sectorswho can help them develop and implement their Resilience Strategies
- Membership of a global network of member citieswho can learn from and help each other.
Hip Hop Architecture
If you haven’t at least heard of The Hip Hop Architecture Camp™, now you know. It’s a one-week intensive experience “designed to introduce under represented youth to architecture, urban planning, creative place making and economic development through the lens of hip hop culture.” The camp’s mission is to increase the number of minorities in architecture and urban planning, and it’s garnered much attention in its short existence.
Hip Hop Architecture got its legs from Michael Ford, an architectural designer from Detroit who wrote his graduate thesis at University of Detroit Mercy on “Hip Hop Inspired Architecture and Design.” Ford is currently an instructor in the architecture program at Madison College, and he’s also the co-founder of The Urban Arts Collective, through which he conducts the Hip Hop Architecture Camp.
The camp’s framework is simple and effective, centered around “4C’s” – creativity, at collaboration, communication and critical thinking. Students pair with architects, urban planners, designers, community activists and hip hop artists to create their own vision for their community, using physical and digital models accompanied by a Hip Hop Architecture track and music video summarizing their design. To get a sense of what that means, check out the songs here.
The Hip Hop Architecture Camp is open to middle school and high school students, but space is limited. Its 2018 roster of cities includes:
Tempe, Arizona
Sarasota, Florida
Evansville, Indiana
Prince George’s County, Maryland
Boston, Massachusetts
Detroit, Michigan
St. Louis, Missouri
The Bronx, New York
Toledo, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio,
Portland, Oregon
Lake City, South Carolina
Madison, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Bionic
By installing a startup ecosystem, Bionic is giving large companies everything they can’t quite do anymore, back to them.
“We are radical outsiders enabling the world’s largest companies to grow at the speed of startups…We believe enterprises can grow like startups again – that’s where they began. Venture capitalism and entrepreneurship are the new forms of growth management.”
It’s a cool concept, and one that’s working. The company breaks down its services as such:
>Install. “We pair companies with our entrepreneurs-in-residence, who introduce the methods, tools, and technologies of lean entrepreneurship.”
>Scale. “We install a governance structure for senior leadership called a Growth Board, which enables executives to manage a portfolio of early stage startups like a venture capitalist would.”
>Transform. “The Growth Board moves executives from operator mode to creator mode, which is critical for lean to scale inside an enterprise. Together this integrated operating system creates a permanent, always-on capability for growth.”
To learn more, check out Bionic co-founder David Kidder’s book “The Startup Playbook” as well as Steelcase’s Q&A with Kidder.