Associate Director, David Jurca, Wins AIA Activism Award

David_Jurca_4The AIA Cleveland Activism Award recognizes local emerging leaders who are influencing a sustainable future of the profession by making architecture/interior design accessible and relevant to the public while both educating and learning from the broader community.David Jurca has dedicated his professional career to enhancing the built environment through meaningful engagement with the local community. As Associate Director of Kent State University’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, David guides the office’s professional practice, research projects, and graduate teaching with a commitment to equity.David is a relentless advocate for his students. He aims beyond expectations to create recognition opportunities for aspiring leaders in Kent State’s Cleveland programs. Students led by David received Honorable Mentions in the International ULI Hines Competition, Second Place in Miami’s DawnTown Mobility Competition, the Excellence in Student Planning Award from the American Planning Association, as well as Merit and Honor Awards from AIA Cleveland.In 2013, David launched COLDSCAPES.org to spur creative design in winter cities. He also co-founded Design Diversity, an initiative to promote people of color in architecture and design professions in Northeast Ohio. Design Diversity has organized local networking events, national speaking engagements, and the soon-to-be released Design Diversity Index, an online tool to track diversity data for design schools and professional affiliations in Ohio. In support of Design Diversity’s mission, David leads Making Our Own Space (MOOS), a youth design program that trains students to envision and build their own public space improvements. MOOS was awarded the 2017 Place Planning Award from the Environmental Design Research Association.Beyond his professional commitments, David contributes to the Greater Cleveland community through dedicated volunteer service. He served on the Franklin-West Clinton Landmarks Advisory Committee, Friends of the Romanian Culture Garden Committee, Bike Cleveland advocacy campaigns, and the Gateway District Public Realm Advisory Committee. David has been a member of the City of Cleveland’s Near West Design Review Committee for over four years, currently serving as Committee Chair. This year, David was also appointed to the Board of Directors for Canalway Partners.Congratulations David!IMG_7294

2017 Midwest Urban Design Charrette: North End Narratives

groupEach year, Kent State University partners with graduate students at Lawrence Tech University and Ball State University for our Midwest Urban Design Charrette, a weekend-long design workshop where we collectively tackle an urban design project. Last year the CUDC hosted our visiting universities here in Northeast Ohio, working on the Akron Innerbelt redevelopment site. This year, we were all excited to caravan up to Lawrence Tech’s beautiful facility in Midtown Detroit.Over the weekend of October 20th through the 22nd, CUDC staff and students, plus a few Cleveland State University planning students, teamed up with our counterparts at Lawrence Tech and Ball State, working collaboratively between design disciplines. Three teams generated distinct ideas for the future of the Oakland Avenue Commercial Corridor in Detroit’s North End neighborhood.IMG_3409The North End is known for its Motown past, its rich and collaborative arts culture, and its recent forays into large-scale urban agriculture. As development pressure increases in the Midtown neighborhood to the south, the North End could face new market demand and resulting development opportunities; however, many community members have specific concerns and ideas about what shape those opportunities should take. The students’ task across the weekend was not merely to generate realistic design ideas, but to do so while navigating a complex social fabric already existing in the neighborhood.team1_axoGroup 1 design idea. Over an intense 48 hours, the students visited the site, including unique neighborhood assets like a schvitz (a historic public bathhouse) and an urban farm. After a team dinner, we all rolled up our sleeves and got to work. Saturday afternoon each team presented their initial ideas to the community, who had useful and specific feedback; the teams were able to take their input into their final design proposals. The final presentations, on Sunday afternoon, found a receptive community heartened by the incremental and pragmatic ideas for how to move their existing commercial corridor into a new and inclusive future.team2_2Group 2 design idea.The final design ideas will be shepherded by our Lawrence Tech University partners, and assembled into a report with ideas for implementation. We look forward to revisiting the North End again the next time we’re fortunate enough to visit our neighbors to the north (maybe to check out the Schvitz now that it’s open again!). Thanks to Lawrence Tech for hosting another successful Midwest Urban Design Charrette!group3_beforegroup3_afterGroup 3 design idea. 

Cleveland Public Library: Community Vision Plan Wrap-Up!

DSC_1165 CPL-service_areas_groups_webWe’re happy to announce the final publication of our CPL150 Community Vision Plan!CPL all four booksFor the past three years, CUDC staff have been working with the Cleveland Public Library (CPL) on their Community Vision Plan. One of CPL’s strategic priorities is to prepare the library system for its 150th anniversary, in 2019. CPL150, the name of the engagement process, involved 13 of the system’s 27 branch communities to ask what they need from their local library branch.CPL faces a challenge familiar to many institutions serving communities in Cleveland: How can we best meet the needs of our patrons in a changing context of new technologies, aging facilities, and declining population? How can each branch custom-tailor its library experience to meet the specific needs of its community?For each group of branches, the team engaged community members in a series of public meetings, surveys, open houses, advisory committee meetings, and targeted focus groups, for a three-year total of over 1,500 points of engagement. The team then produced a report for each group, summarizing the engagement feedback and the final recommendations. These recommendations included physical improvements, like interior reconfiguring or exterior seating areas, but also ideas for improving services, as well as larger neighborhood connections which can better integrate each branch into its surroundings. We summarized this overall branch experience into four distinct, nested levels: library building; library grounds; neighborhood; and library services.Experience-DiagramThe final reports, from all three years, are on our CPL150.org site, available for perusal or download:Group 1 (2015): Fleet, South, Sterling, and Woodland branches (Purchase report on Amazon)Group 2 (2016): Brooklyn, Mt Pleasant, and South Brooklyn branches (Purchase report on Amazon)Group 3 (2017): Eastman, Hough, Union, Walz, and West Park branches (Purchase report on Amazon)sbklyn_engawa-1_edits for summaryentrance plazaIn addition, we’ve assembled a Summary Report which outlines some of the major themes we heard across most or all branches studied (Purchase Summary Report on Amazon). The design team found that far from becoming obsolete, our neighborhood libraries are more important than ever for the many ways they continue to serve their local population. Our library branches are information centers, community work spaces, workforce assistance centers, after-school gathering spots, and more.Please visit cpl150.org for more information on our three-year collaboration with the Cleveland Public Library!landscape front after

Your Local Library: Seeking Input!

DSC_1138On Thursday, January 26th, CUDC staff kicked off the first round of public Open Houses for the third group of library branches in our CPL150 project. The CUDC has been working with the Cleveland Public Library since fall of 2014 on community engagement around its neighborhood branches.The CPL system is comprised of 27 branches, and each has very different community needs; CPL recognizes that each branch should respond to those needs locally, rather than just system-wide. What improvements are needed? How should each branch respond to its local opportunities and characteristics? And how can each branch respond to changing technological needs to become a 21st-century resource for its community?DSC_1151The first Group 3 open house, at West Park Branch, broke participants into a series of workstations throughout the library itself. Balloons marked each station, asking questions around the branch’s building; grounds; neighborhood; and services. We gathered input on existing conditions, ideas for integrating new technology & educational tools, neighborhood assets, partnerships, and services. We also had participants fill out our online survey (which is open to any CPL user, no matter their local branch – please fill out if you’re interested!).DSC_1146DSC_1155Since then, we’ve also held open houses at Eastman Branch and Hough Branch, and still have two more: Union Branch (Feb 23rd, 4:30-7:00 PM) and Walz Branch (March 7th, 4:00-7:00 PM).After this round of open houses, we’ll input our feedback and start generating initial design alternatives for each branch, which we’ll present to the communities in a second round of public sessions, in May of this year, in preparation for final recommendations & report, which will be released in June 2017.Please check out the project website for updates. We hope to see you at your local branch!