Greggor Mattson Lecture | September 29

20170609_133442(1)Lecture: “Who Needs Gay Bars? Why Planners Should Care And What You Can Do”Greggor MattsonFriday, September 22nd12(noon) — 1pmCUDC, 1309 Euclid Avenue, Suite 200Free and open to the publicRSVPs encouraged on Facebook event page: www.facebook.com/events/118361948853908/The high profile closures of gay bars over the last five years have brought to public attention what the gay press has worried about for years: the geographical focus of LGBTQ life is changing. Popular and scholarly attention have blamed our "untethered," "ambient," "post-Gay" landscape on two factors: geolocating smartphone apps such as Grindr or Tindr, and the growing social acceptance of LGBTQ people. This talk challenges these assumptions for all but the most metropolitan gay cities. Almost everything we know about LGBTQ placemaking in the U.S. comes from four major cities with iconic gay neighborhoods, global financial institutions, international tourist draws—and only 15% of the U.S. population.20170708_00330920170917_001854(1)This talk examines the gay bar as an institution in its own right, focusing on the role it plays in secondary cities such as Cleveland, Fresno, or Oklahoma City, and outpost bars that are the only gay bar within an hour's drive of another. In these small cities, often in red counties of red states, smartphone apps are of little use and social acceptance is more elusive. Data include 50 interviews with gay bar owners and managers, site visits to over 80 gay bars in 27 states, a new national dataset of gay bar listings from 1977-2017, and a longitudinal study of San Francisco's three gay bar districts. Mattson shows that bars in general have been squeezed in recent years, and that gentrification, changing leisure patterns, and corporate chain competition are more relevant to the challenges facing gay bars than narratives of technological or social progress. Mattson reports on several ways that urban planners, municipalities, Chambers of Commerce, and Convention Bureaus could support gay bars, and argue why they should start doing so. And he argues that we need to abandon planning stereotypes of LGBTQ people as the shock troops of gentrification or canaries of the knowledge economy, and start treating regional gay bars as social institutions in their own right.Greggor Mattson is Associate Professor of Sociology at Oberlin College and the Director of the Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies. With degrees in sociology from Oxford University and the University of California, Berkeley, his research lies at the intersections of the sociology of sexuality, culture, and urban studies. The author of The Cultural Politics of European Prostitution Reform: Governing Loose Women and Before It Was Hingetown, listed among the best writing from and about Northeast Ohio from 2016 by the Cleveland Scene. He is currently working on a book about changes in American gay bars over the last twenty years. He blogs at greggormattson.com and @GreggorMattson on Twitter.20170909_013315 

Publication Release: NEW LIFE FOR OLD HOMES

spread_5We’re happy to announce the publication of New Life for Old Homes: Design Guide for the Low-Cost Rehab of Vacant & Affordable Housing!New Life for Old Homes is a user-friendly guidebook of low-cost, high-impact ideas for the rehabilitation of vacant and abandoned houses that would otherwise be demolished. The project was conceived in tandem with our Design/REbuild initiative, a vacant brick home in the St Clair-Superior neighborhood that was rehabbed by students from KSU’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design (and lots of community volunteers). While Design/REbuild could only address one house at a time, New Life for Old Homes captures the larger design ideas around refreshing Cleveland’s vacant houses to make them vibrant again.Cleveland’s historic neighborhood fabric is threatened by the 1,000+ demolitions that take place every year. These houses form the basis of our traditional city neighborhoods and, while they may not have dramatic architectural or historic significance, they contribute to the familiar scale and character of Ohio’s cities. The goal of New Life for Old Homes is to repair, rather than demolish, and to rediscover the unique appeal that older houses have to offer. We hope the guide inspires Clevelanders to look again at our sturdy homes that are too good to throw away.spread_4spread_3spread_2spread_1New Life for Old Homes was generously sponsored by the Ohio History Fund, which supports innovative historic preservation projects across the state. We’re deeply grateful for the support of the OHF in creating this publication.Please feel free to browse the publication below, and if you’d like to purchase a print-on-demand copy for yourself, you can find our Amazon link here. We also have copies of the printed book available for free at CUDC. If you'd like to pick up a copy, just stop by the CUDC office between 9am - 5pm and ask for the New Life for Old Homes book.

 

Ben Herring Lecture | September 22

ben herringLecture: "Source Material: Identities in Architecture"Ben HerringFriday, September 22nd12(noon) - 1pmCUDC, 1309 Euclid Avenue, Suite 200Free and open to the publicRSVP on the Facebook event page.Join us at the CUDC this Friday, September 22nd for a talk by Ben Herring, project manager at redhouse studio architecture. His interactive presentation will explore meaning through materiality in architecture. The applications of architectures are no longer simple, nor simply for providing shelter. The uses of architecture include identities as concrete as defining the face of business (Facebook Headquarters, Gehry Partners), as personal as defining home (Incremental Housing Complex Quinta Monroy, Elemental), and as controversial as redefining our memory (Vietnam Memorial, Maya Lin). These projects are young. However, architecture is prehistoric. In turn, many well established views on the state of the art of architecture have been declared and deconstructed throughout architectural history.The aim of this presentation will be to review an abbreviated collection of these influences on architectural history. This survey of trademark architectural definitions, agendas, and identities will then be used to provide a groundwork for discourse on how we approach architecture today.SymmetryClifford Benjamin Herring is a designer specializing in new materials and architectures for public good. Ben was administered various honors at Ball State University where he received degrees in Architecture and Economics. He has previously served as a board member for PBS and NPR member stations in Southern Indiana and is currently seated as the executive board treasurer for the Refresh Collective (the organization responsible for the Fresh Camp). Ben is a project manager at redhouse studio architecture where his work includes new material developments and various non-for-profit and commercial architectures. As a workshop director for the CUDC's Making Our Own Space (MOOS) program, Ben works with youth throughout Cleveland, Ohio to influence their neighborhoods through design and construction.Let us know you're coming. RSVP on the Facebook event page and please spread the word!View the CUDC's full 2017 Fall Lecture Series. 

Jacinda Walker Lecture | September 15

Jacinda_Walker-aboutMe pic3Lecture: "Design Journeys: Strategies for Increasing Diversity in Design Disciplines"Jacinda WalkerFriday, September 15th12(noon)-1pmCUDC, 1309 Euclid Avenue, Suite 200Free and open to the publicJoin us at the CUDC this Friday at lunch for a talk by Jacinda Walker, the second event in our 2017 Fall Lecture Series. Jacinda Walker will discuss the objectives of her research work, “Design Journeys: Strategies for Increasing Diversity in Design Disciplines.” This solutions-based thesis presents fifteen strategic ideas to expose African-American and Latino youth to design-related careers. The interactive talk will reveal her research approach, illustrate the problems, share the design principles needed to close the diversity gap, and include the first groundbreaking updates on the Design Diversity Index project. Attendees will leave with a clear definition of this complex problem and a deeper appreciation of what is required from educators, parents, organizations, and designers of all disciplines to diversify our profession.designJourney-ReDraw4The Design Journey Map, created by Jacinda Walker, is a tool to guide progress towards increasing diversity in the design fields.Jacinda Walker is the founder of designExplorr, an organization that celebrates design learning by creating opportunities that expose African American and Latino youth to design. She also serves as Chair of AIGA’s Diversity & Inclusion Task Force. Walker has over 20 years of industry experience as a designer, entrepreneur, and instructor. Jacinda earned her BFA in graphic design from the University of Akron and an MFA in Design Research & Development with a minor in Nonprofit Studies from The Ohio State University. Her future goals include working with organizations to establish design education initiatives and to develop design programs for underrepresented youth.For more information about the upcoming talk, please contact the CUDC at (216) 357-3434 or cudc[at]kent.edu 

2017 CUDC Fall Lecture Series | Schedule

fall 17 lecture series_header_1080We invite you to join us for our annual Fall Lecture Series at the CUDC. This semester's theme for lectures and events is "ReMaking the City," an iterative action that links the diverse range of speakers.Most lectures are scheduled for Fridays from noon to 1pm and held in our CUDC conference room (1309 Euclid Avenue, Suite 200). All events are free and open to the public, but the Youth Maker Workshop and Habitat for Hard Places Boat Tour require reservations. Sign up for the CUDC mailing list to receive more information on how to register, when it becomes available.We also plan to livestream our lunch talks on Facebook. Please follow Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative's FB page to get updates on which events will be streamed online.Check out the Fall Lecture Series schedule below or download an 11" x 17" poster (3.2 MB PDF). Feel free to hang the poster in your office or share via social media—we hope to have lots of new attendees this year!fall 17 lecture series_1080

Post-Graduate Fellow wins Burning Man Grant

study modelWorking study model for design approval.The CUDC is happy to announce that our Post-Graduate Fellow Jonny Hanna has been awarded one of the highly prestigious Burning Man Global Arts Grants for his fellowship project “Forget Me Not.” The project is one of 20 such grants awarded to community-based art projects around the world. This year’s projects will take place in Tel Aviv, Bengaluru, Budapest, Kiev, and Cleveland to name a few!The project was born out of the Cleveland Public Library's 150th-anniversary planning process being undertaken by the CUDC. The project will culminate as an art installation and piece of permanent urban furniture in the plaza space of the Eastman Branch of the Cleveland Public Library. It will be comprised of a multi-rowed fabricated seating structure, and a framing apparatus for a 17’x14′ window which will look onto a newly programmed temporary performing arts and gallery space. The project will be complete by early August with an event to come. Please stay in touch via the blog or social media (@ksuCUDC) and we will post event details when finalized.initial imageImage above depicting initial collage submitted with letter of intent.renderingImage submitted for the second round of jurying.

Hingetown Tour | April 28 | 12-1 PM

HT_1For our last "lecture" of the Spring Series, we will be going on a tour of Hingetown to view and discuss the community projects happening in this neighborhood in Ohio City. Join us April 28, 2017, at 12 PM. The tour will begin at the corner of 29th & Detroit Ave. and will last about an hour. Our tour guides will be Marika Shioiri-Clark & Graham Veysey both residents and developers of this neighborhood. Stops on the tour will include the Striebinger block, the Print Shop buildings, few of the Creative Fusion murals, as well as, the new Spaces Gallery and the Transformer Station.HT_2CHURCH AND STATE 1Marika Shioiri-Clark and Graham Veysey spend their days in a 140-year-old firehouse in Hingetown – part of the Ohio City neighborhood. As neighborhood developers and designers, Marika and Graham converted the vacant Ohio City Firehouse into a vibrant mixed-used building with a coffee shop, florist, and collection of offices. Graham and Marika developed the block kitty-corner from the Firehouse into a vibrant retail and residential building just completed a third project called the Print Shop, and have been involved in planning numerous public events in the area. Called Hingetown, their work often focuses on connections and collaborations through the arts to promote public space and walkability across the near west side of Cleveland.t-private-lives-hingetown-peter-lawson-graham-veysey-marika-shiori-clark-vfPhoto credit: Peter LarsonHingtown TourApril 28, 201712-1 PM29th & Detroit Ave.Cleveland, OH 44113HT_3

Mabel O. Wilson | Feb 09

Mabel Wilson headshot_560_bwOn Thursday, February 9th, we welcome Mabel O. Wilson to our Spring Lecture Series. Mabel's talk, "Building Racial States", will address race and nation-state formation and its implication in current social movements.Mabel O. Wilson is a Professor of Architecture at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation where she co-directs the Global Africa Lab and appointed as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies. She has authored Begin with the Past: Building the National Museum of African American History and Culture (2016) and Negro Building: African Americans in the World of Fairs and Museums (2012). Exhibitions of her work have been featured at the Art Institute of Chicago, Istanbul Design Biennale, Wexner Center for the Arts, and the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum’s Triennial. She is a founding member of Who Builds Your Architecture?—an advocacy project to educate the architectural profession about the problems of globalization and labor.Mabel will also be speaking at the College of Architecture & Environmental Design at the Cene Lecture Hall at 5:30 PM, in Kent, OH. Her evening lecture is titled, "Notes on the Virginia Statehouse: Slavery, Race, and Jefferson's America".This event is free and open to the public. RSVP isn't required, but it is requested. Please RSVP HERE.Thursday, February 9, 2017Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative1309 Euclid Ave., Suite 200Cleveland, OH 44115