An Architect in Music City!
It has been 2 months now since I started an exciting professional and cultural experience as a Design Fellow at the Nashville Civic Design Center, thanks to the ‘Masters and Internship Program’ (MIP) of AADF. Founded in 2000, The Nashville Civic Design Center (NCDC) is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to elevate the quality of urban built environment, and to support and promote community participation in the creation of a better and more beautiful city for all.
Since the beginning I have been assigned the task of drafting and designing a new publication, Reclaiming Public Space, 2.0. These publication will be a sequel to the first one, dated March 2013. NCDC aims that this publication will serve as a tool to citizens and local leaders to guide them in a new wave of civic investment that Nashville is experiencing. It consists in a series of urban design and regeneration proposals, focused in various areas that need these interventions, giving the stakeholders a valuable option when dealing with these issues. It is important for us at NCDC that all stakeholders are listened and their requests and needs are taken into account.
During these 2 months I have also had the chance to take an active role in the organization of various activities by NCDC such as Urban Design Forums, or PechaKucha Nights. The Urban Design Forum is a monthly event organized to present and discuss the role design plays in the city and around the world, founded in 1995. It promotes cross-disciplinary understanding of urban design among professionals, raises awareness of the benefits of urban design, provides a stage for discussion of design-based approaches that are relevant to the development and management of Nashville’s neighborhoods and the city as a whole. The January UDF theme was ‘Pathways as Public Space’, and focused in revitalizing the historic Pathways of Nashville. I enjoyed the experience which was a mix of urban tour and urban development. At the February UDF professionals and urban actors discussed about the Jefferson Street Park proposal by NCDC, a new pocket park that could serve as a catalyst to the development of the whole Jefferson Street area.
It was particularly interesting to me the PechaKucha event organized at the NCDC events hall on February 28th. PechaKucha 20×20 is a simple presentation format where you show 20 images, each for 20 seconds. The images advance automatically and you talk along to the images. PechaKucha Nights are informal and fun gatherings where creative people get together and share their ideas, works, thoughts, holiday snaps — just about anything, really — in the PechaKucha 20×20 format. Every PechaKucha Night city is hosted by a local organiser, who has an annual Handshake Agreement with PechaKucha HQ to run their event series and NCDC is the local partner for Nashville. This PechaKucha theme was Home, and ten different professionals presented their ideas, concepts, experiences and their personal perception of home.
During this time I have had the chance to work with really inspiring individuals, dedicated to the issues of urban and landscape design, with a strong sense of social cohesion and public participation. I have felt welcomed the moment I stepped inside the office and still feel like I am in a rollercoaster that keeps going on and on, showing all the time new and unexpected things to me. And I absolutely do enjoy this ride.
