Fall 2023 Lecture Series at the CUDC

Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, Kent State University
1309 Euclid Avenue, Suite 200 | Cleveland, Ohio USA

Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) announces our Fall 2023 schedule of lectures and programs, organized around the theme, The Ways We (should) Live Now. Lectures in this series will inspire you to look at cities differently and envision a better and more equitable future. 

The series launches on a Thursday evening, September 27, 2023, with a lecture by Dawn Mayes, CUDC’s Director of Design Entrepreneurship and Inclusion, in partnership with AIA Cleveland, Recruiting & Retaining a Diverse Workforce: Exploring Barriers and Strategies. 

On October 18th, 2023 an evening lecture by Sharon Wohl, new Associate Dean at Kent State’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design. The event will begin with reception at 5:30 pm, to welcome Sharon to Northeast Ohio and introduce her to Cleveland’s design community. At 6 pm, she will give a talk titled Meanderings: Advocacy, Complexity, and Opportunities in the Urban Sphere.

At noon on Friday, October 20th, Stephanie Ryberg-Webster will give a lecture at the CUDC  based on her new book, Preserving the Vanishing City: Historic Preservation amid Urban Decline in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Ryberg-Webster is an Associate Professor in the Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs in the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education at Cleveland State University. 

Savina Romanos, an architect and urban designer at !melk in New York City, will give a lecture at noon on Friday, October 27th titled Grow a Vocation. Most interested in pushing the boundaries of architectural scale and its effect on larger contexts, Savina has led large scale master plans and urban design projects from concept to implementation, both stateside and internationally. Deeply entrenched in the quality of design and the overall character and narrative of urban environments, Savina is adept at developing new and refreshing - but always contextually rooted - urban form.

In partnership with Third Space Action Lab, the CUDC will welcome Omari Souza on October 9th for a lecture in conjunction with the release of his new book, An Anthology of Blackness: The State of Black Design. The Anthology is an adventurous collection that examines how the design field has consistently failed to attract and support Black professionals—and how to create an anti-racist, pro-Black design industry instead. This special event will be held at Third Space Action Lab, 1464 E. 105 Street in Cleveland. It will begin with a reception at 5:30 pm, followed by Professor Souza’s talk, Inclusivity Matters: Elevating Voices in the Anthology of Blackness.

The final program in the series will be a lecture and roundtable discussion with Dana Cuff at noon on November 17. Professor Cuff, founding director of cityLAB at UCLA will talk about her new book, Architectures of Spatial Justice — a field-defining work that demonstrates how architects are breaking with professional conventions to advance spatial justice and design more equitable buildings and cities. 

The complete program calendar appears below. All programs are free and open to the public. 

Recruiting & Retaining a Diverse Workforce: Exploring Barriers and Strategies 

September 27, 2023 | 5:00 - 6:30 pm

In-person event at the CUDC in partnership with AIA Cleveland

Refreshments will be served.

Meanderings: Advocacy, Complexity & Opportunities in the Urban Sphere with Sharon Wohl

October 18, 2023 | 5:30 - 7 pm
In-person event at the CUDC with Zoom Livestream
Reception at 5:30 pm; lecture at 6 pm. Refreshments will be served.
One AICP Certification Maintenance credit is available for this lecture.

Preserving the Vanishing City: Historic Preservation amid Urban Decline in Cleveland, Ohio

October 20, 2023 | noon - 1 pm
In-person event at the CUDC with Zoom Livestream
Refreshments will be served.
One AICP Certification Maintenance credit is available for this lecture.

Grow a Vocation with  Savina Romanos

October 27, 2023 | noon-1pm
In-person event at the CUDC with Zoom Livestream
Refreshments will be served.
One AICP Certification Maintenance credit is available for this lecture.

Inclusivity Matters: Elevating Voices in the Anthology of Blackness with Omari Souza
November 9th | 5:30 - 7 pm
In-person event at Third Space Action Lab, 1464 E 105th Street in Cleveland, Ohio with Zoom Livestream
Reception at 5:30 pm; lecture at 6 pm. Refreshments will be served. Book signing follows the lecture.
One AICP Certification Maintenance credit is available for this lecture.

Architectures of Spatial Justice with Dana Cuff
November 17, 2023 | noon-1pm
In-person event at the CUDC with Zoom Livestream
A light lunch will be served.
One AICP Certification Maintenance credit is available for this lecture.

Please see individual event pages for full details and the most up-to-date information. Contact the CUDC at cudc@kent.edu or 216.357.3434.

Sketches on Everlasting Plastics

The US Pavilion at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice is showcasing a project called Everlasting Plastics, curated by SPACES, a Cleveland-based arts organization. The first part of this project, titled Sketches on Everlasting Plastics, aims to explore the diverse ways plastic has become an integral part of our lives.

Instead of taking a clear stance for or against plastic, the project seeks to delve into our complex connections with this material. It aims to understand how plastic affects our lives, our cultures, and our environment, both in terms of harm and potential benefits for our collective future.

Sketches on Everlasting Plastics emphasizes collaboration between institutions, disciplines, and different forms of expression. It's not just a book or an exhibition but an interactive experience meant to spark a broader conversation about plastic and its impact on our society. Through this project, a new way of understanding plastic and its significance begins to take shape.

Edited by Isabelle Kirkham-Lewitt and Joanna Joseph of Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, the publication includes contributions by Tizziana Baldenebro, Kristen Bos, K. Jake Chakasim, Sky Cubacub, Heather Davis, Jennifer Gabrys, Stephanie Ginese, Aurelia Guo, Adam Hanieh, Ilana Harris-Babou, Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, Carolyn L. Kane, Laleh Khalili, Anjuli Fatima Raza Kolb, Naa Oyo A. Kwate, Esther Leslie, Lauren Leving, Ani Liu, Adie Mitchell, Timothy Mitchell, Gabrielle Printz, Kyla Schuller, Terry Schwarz, Pallavi Sen, Ayesha A. Siddiqi, and RA Washington.

Design Charrette: Broadview Bend & Brighton Park

Each year, graduate students from Kent State’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design and the staff of the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative partner with a community organization on a Community Design Charrette. A charrette is a short, intense community workshop that addresses a real-life urban design and community development  challenge.

Brighton Park, a new green space in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood that is part of the Cleveland Metroparks system.

The 2023 charrette took place March 10-12, in collaboration with the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, Cleveland Metroparks, and the Western Reserve Land Conservancy. The event included middle and high school students from the CUDC’s Making Our Own Space Rapid Response Team who have been working in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood for over a year.

Making Our Own Space Coordinator Ben Herring on a site visit with MOOS students on Broadview Road in Old Brooklyn.

The charrette focused on Brighton Park, a new green space established and operated by Cleveland Metroparks on the site of the former Heninger Landfill on Pearl Road. The charrette also focused on Broadview Bend, a mixed use district that turns the corner from Pearl Road to Broadview Road. During the charrette, students and community stakeholders explored the relationships between Brighton Park and Broadview Bend, reflecting on the history of the neighborhood while identifying new infrastructure investments, development opportunities, and public amenities. Broadview Bend is the boundary between Wards 12 and 13 so the charrette also explored the spaces where the two wards come together.

Small teams of MOOS students and graduate students looked at:

1. Broadview Avenue: proposals for infill development and infrastructure investments throughout the corridor.

2. Entry points into Brighton Park: strategies for integrating the park into the neighborhood and drawing people in at all the locations where the park and the neighborhood intersect.

3. Broadview and Pearl Road intersection: ideas for anchoring the neighborhood and pointing visitors and residents toward neighborhood amenities.

MOOS students measuring street widths and exploring options for pedestrian improvements.

Community input was encouraged throughout the charrette process. Design recommendations are summarized in this Community Presentation.

For more information, please contact the CUDC at cudc@kent.edu or 216.357.3434.

Pedestrian enhancements and wayfinding signage at the intersection of Broadview and Pearl Roads.

Welcome Dawn Mayes, New Director of Design Entrepreneurship and Inclusion!

Kent State’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design welcomes Dawn Mayes, the inaugural Director of Design Entrepreneurship and Inclusion at Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC).

The CUDC created the new Design Entrepreneurship and Inclusion initiative to support the development of new design firms and to expand the diversity of design practitioners in Northeast Ohio. The Cleveland Foundation has provided generous funding for this important new initiative. 

After an extensive national search, the CUDC is thrilled to launch the program under the leadership of a Kent State graduate. Dawn has a Masters of Architecture with a Certificate in Urban Design from Kent State, and a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from Florida A&M University.

Dawn has worked for local architecture firms, including Robert P. Madison International and Ubiquitous Design, in addition to running her own business, Designs by Danico. She also served as Senior Program Manager of DEI for the Cleveland Guardians’ Progressive Field Renovations, advising team leadership on meeting and exceeding their goals for diversity and inclusion in large construction projects. 

“It was a struggle as a minority to see myself succeeding in the design industry due to the lack of diversity,” said Dawn. “This new initiative is a step in the right direction to allow room for growth, expansion, and innovation within the DEI realm and design industry.”

In her new position, Dawn will provide coaching and technical assistance for designers starting their own firms, with targeted assistance toward young professionals and Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian-American designers. She’ll also work with local developers, non-profits, and government agencies to expand the diversity of designers in leadership roles on civic, institutional, and private sector design and development projects in Northeast Ohio. She will also create a viable pipeline for more diverse student enrollment through intentional partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

“Dawn is a visionary who will work to strengthen pathways into the design professions for women and people of color,” said Terry Schwarz, Director of the CUDC. “We’re excited to see how this new initiative will unfold.”

For more information, contact Dawn at dmayes@kent.edu.

New Handbook on Shrinking Cities

Just Published: HANDBOOK ON SHRINKING CITIES

Compelling and engaging, this Handbook on Shrinking Cities addresses the fundamentals of urban population loss including causes of decline and innovative solutions for revitalizing shrinking cities.

Contributors provide a wide range of perspectives on governance, greening, right-sizing, and regrowth in European and US cities. Chapters explore economic prosperity, livability, social stability, and innovation in cities dealing with persistent population decline and urban vacancy. One chapter explores temporary strategies for urban vacancy through the CUDC’s on-going Pop Up City initiative.

The Handbook is geared toward students and faculty in human geography, urban planning, and urban design. A wide range of case studies also makes this a vital read for planning practitioners and community activists.

Volunteers Needed for Community Conversation on Veterans Memorial Bridge

The CUDC is looking for volunteers to assist with community engagement for the streetcar level of the Veterans Memorial Bridge (aka Detroit-Superior Bridge) in Downtown Cleveland.

The streetcar level of the bridge is one of Cleveland great, undiscovered treasures. Streetcar service was discontinued in the 1950s. Cuyahoga County and Kent State’s Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative are working to transform the space into a bike/pedestrian connection and public space.

For more information about the bridge: www.veteransmemorialbridge.org

We're looking for volunteers to help to facilitate a community conversation about the future of the bridge on Friday, June 23 from 4:30-8:30 pm. No experience necessary, but you will need to complete a 30 minute orientation and training session with the CUDC over Zoom prior to June 23.

Volunteers will:

• Facilitate table conversations in an outdoor, picnic setting with 6-8 community members. Over the course of the evening, you will be talking with multiple groups of people as they arrive for dinner and self-guided tours of the bridge.

• Take notes capturing key points of these conversations.

• Share your notes and observations with the CUDC after the event.

Volunteers will receive a $50 gift card, a bridge t-shirt, and dinner on June 23.

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP

Questions? Please contact the CUDC cudc@kent.edu or 216.357.3426.

WE’RE HIRING - Senior Urban Designer

The CUDC is seeking a full-time Senior Urban Designer with broad multi-disciplinary design experience, an interest in urban design education, and a commitment to public involvement in the design process.

As a Senior Urban Designer, you will be involved in all aspects of the CUDC’s operations, working closely with the director in initiating new programs, advancing the mission and activities of the organization, leading design projects, and developing proposals for research grants and technical service contracts. Depending on interests and qualifications, the Senior Urban Designer may also contribute to design studios and/or seminars of Kent State’s Graduate Programs.

Eligible applicants will have an advanced degree in Urban Design, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, or Planning. Minimum requirement of 5 (five) or more years of experience in Urban Design or related fields. In addition to Excellent design, graphic, and written communication skills, public speaking experience, knowledge of advanced computer applications, and a record of successful grant writing and fundraising experience. 

For more information about the position, visit our careers page.

Town Hall Gathering

SPACES Gallery and the Case Western Reserve University Department of Art History and Art invite you to attend a community-centered event titled From Lake to Lagoon: Exploring Sustainability in Cleveland & Venice.

Saturday May 6, 2023 from 10-12 am in Room 119 of the Samson Pavilion (Health Education Campus), 9501 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland.

This event is part of the public programming complementing the U.S. Pavilion exhibition Everlasting Plastics curated by SPACES for the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale. Everlasting Plastics investigates plastics as a cultural metaphor, and as “mineable” materials through which artists and viewers can investigate pressing issues of sustainability and environmental justice. 

This town hall-style gathering will provide an opportunity to network with other leaders in sustainability, waste policy and practices, and environmental justice. There will be informational tables from community organizations and a catered continental breakfast buffet.  Attendees will also hear from Tizziana Baldenebro (Executive Director, SPACES) and Lauren Leving (Curator, MoCA) live from Venice, Italy in an exciting conversation moderated by Joyce Huang, Director for the City of Cleveland’s City Planning Commission. 

If you are not able to join in person, you can still participate virtually.  The panel discussion will be live-streamed tfrom Venice via webinar.

RSVP to join in person or virtually

Post-Graduate Fellowship at the CUDC

Are you a recent graduate with a masters degree in architecture, landscape architecture, urban design, or planning? Are you interested in community design and youth education? If so, we have great news for you! Kent State's College of Architecture and Environmental Design's Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC) is offering a one year, full-time paid fellowship.

As a post-graduate fellow, you will be supporting the Making Our Own Space (MOOS) design/build initiative for middle- and high-school students and working on community design projects as part of the CUDC team. You will also develop a fellowship project of your choice. 10% of your work time will be devoted to your fellowship project and a modest budget will be provided.

Eligible applicants will have experience in basic carpentry and fabrication, and excellent drafting/sketching and written communication skills. You must also have completed a graduate program in architecture, urban design, landscape architecture or planning in 2021, 2022 or 2023.

For the full job description and application instructions, please visit the Kent State Human Resources site. The application deadline is May 29, 2023. For more information, contact the CUDC at cudc@kent.edu or 216.357.3434.

Kent State University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer committed to attaining excellence through the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce. Women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Volunteer at Community Greenhouse Partners!

Kent State’s Flashes Give Back Week is a time to make a difference where it matters most on Kent State campuses and in our communities!

Please join on on Saturday, 22 April 2023 from 1-5pm for a volunteer day at Community Greenhouse Partners, 6527 Superior Avenue in Cleveland.

Community Greenhouse Partners is a sustainable urban farm that applies ecological design principles and engages community participation to grow wholesome food year-round that is provided at a low cost to the neighborhood, improving personal health while generating training, mentoring and employment opportunities.

Volunteers will assist with covering beds to prevent weeds, moving extra equipment, flattening areas for planting, clearing the forest garden and moving garbage to the front street and to the garbage room. Conditions are rugged. Work gloves and closed-toe shoes are essential.

Sign Up Here to Volunteer

If you sign up by Friday, March 17, you’ll receive a free Flashes Give Back Week T-shirt! 

What next?! with Out of Architecture

Join us at noon on April 7, 2023 for What next?! With Out of Architecture

This workshop is part of the spring program series at the CUDC, sponsored by Kent State’s College of Architecture and Environmental Design. The workshop will be a virtual event on Zoom with an in-person audience at the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative. 1309 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland.

The workshop will explore how to design your career. We will be discussing job hunting tools and techniques, best practices, as well as providing resume and portfolio advice. We will also be looking at pathways both in, out, and adjacent to the architectural profession. This event will provide valuable insights and guidance to help you chart your course towards success.

Out of Architecture is the career consulting firm that helps you leverage the full value of your design education, in any field. The firm was started by two Harvard-educated professionals, Erin Pellegrino and Jake Rudin, who were interested in exploring the value of their skills both in and out of the architectural profession. 

Erin Pellegrino

Jake Rudin

Erin is a Visiting Lecturer in Architecture at Cornell University with a focus in Professional Practice. Her studio, Matter., established in 2015 , has focused on small-scale interventions and a process-driven design methodology at various scales. Through her work, she seeks to uncover, build upon, and create relationships through product, furniture and architectural design. She also consults with early technology and design start-up companies for tech accelerators in the New York City area.

Jake works as a member of the Adidas Advanced Creation Technologies team - fabricating, designing, digitizing, model making, and exploring all aspects of footwear. As a designer, he has spent time working around the world for firms including Massimiliano Fuksas Architects, ZGF, and the Shenzhen Institute of Building Research. He has taught extensively in architecture and design fields at universities including Harvard, Cornell, Northeastern, and Portland State University where he currently teaches Visual Communications in the School of Architecture.

Spring Lecture Series Presents - Matthew Feinberg, Theater, Politics, and the Right to the City in Contemporary Spain

Join us Friday, February 24th from 12 -1 PM for a brown bag lecture at the CUDC featuring Matthew Feinberg.

An in-person event at the CUDC with Zoom Livestream

Poised at the intersection of theater studies and cultural geography, this talk sketches the physical and imaginary contours of one of Madrid’s most iconic neighborhoods: Lavapiés. A diverse, multicultural, and rapidly changing neighborhood, it has long been the locus of resistance movements and also of cultural flourishing. Feinberg will illustrate how the neighborhood’s conflicts over gentrification, its unique role as both a site and subject of Madrid’s theater tradition, and its history of influential squatted social centers reveal much about the key economic, social, and cultural dynamics that have shaped cities in the early twenty-first century. 

Free and open to the public. Light snacks provided.

From the Theater to the Plaza can be purchased here. Use code MQSP (good until 31 August 2023) for 30% off.

Friday, February 24, 2023
Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative
1309 Euclid Ave. Ste. 200
Cleveland, OH 44115

Spring Lecture Series Presents - Sai Sinbondit, Design for Displacement

Join us Friday, February 17th from 12 -1 PM for a brown bag lecture at the CUDC featuring Sai Sinbondit.

An in-person event at the CUDC with Zoom Livestream

The terms displacement, migration, and homelessness are clearly defined, but in reality, the boundaries and similarities of the human struggles between them are blurred. In this lecture, Sai Sinbondit will be sharing the evolution of his practice I_You Design Lab and several projects that focus on addressing the fundamental needs and the betterment of people who have been displaced. Sai’s work leverages research, collaboration, design, and mindful construction to create meaningful and equitable built environments.

I_You Design Lab is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit design and architecture collective dedicated to developing and supporting meaningful and sustainable solutions that help lift the quality of life at every scale and level for people who have been displaced.

Free and open to the public. Light snacks provided.

Friday, February 17, 2023
Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative
1309 Euclid Ave. Ste. 200
Cleveland, OH 44115

Spring Lecture Series Presents - Andrew Economos Miller, Refuse//Repose

Join us Friday, February 10th from 12 -1 PM for a lecture at the CUDC featuring Andrew Economos Miller. His lecture, "Refuse//Repose," will lay the theoretical groundwork for the upcoming exhibition of the same title at the Kent State College of Architecture and Environmental Design. The talk will sift through a pile of reference, found material, and theoretical propositions that deal with architecture's contemporary organization of labor and its relationship to various natures and larger social and economic systems. The talk will be organized around the tripartite division of "Labor, Waste, and Action," in order to deal with its broad themes. It will also work as an in-progress framework that encourages conversation with the audience.

Free and open to the public. Lunch will be served.

Friday, February 10, 2023
Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative
1309 Euclid Ave. Ste. 200
Cleveland, OH 44115

Urban Histories in Practice

Jan 27 from noon-1pm - Book Release Event - Urban Histories in Practice: Morphologies and Memory

Panel discussion with editor Steven Rugare and contributors Gary Sampson, Stephanie Ryberg-Webster, and Jeffrey Kruth. In-person event at the CUDC. Free refreshments. Books available for purchase through Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Use the code URBAN25 for a 25% discount.

The new book, Urban Histories in Practice: Morphologies and Memory brings together ideas about the material and social transformation of cities by asking, “what is the relationship between history, memory, and the contemporary city?” The urgency of this question grows in the contexts of rapid urbanization in the Global South and urban decline in the deindustrializing areas of the Global North. Within these spaces, multiple disciplines shape our capacity to know the contemporary city. The panel discussion will explore critical and creative approaches regarding how these disciplines might shape this process, ultimately making it more equitable and just.

To Those Who Nourish: Farming and Environmental Health in Northeast Ohio

CUDC Fall Lecture Series - Imani Badillo, To Those Who Nourish: Farming and Environmental Health in Northeast Ohio

21 October 2022 from noon-1pm

In person event at the CUDC, 1309 Euclid Avenue, Suite 200, Cleveland.

Free and open to the public. A light lunch will be served. This event will also be livestreamed over Zoom

Artist and workshop organizer Imani Badillo will discuss the multi-year SPACES x Cooking Sections partnership, To Those Who Nourish. This project looks closely at the deoxygenated state of Lake Erie and the impact of harmful chemical fertilizers. A major source of life and water for the Cleveland area, UK-based artist collective Cooking Sections has partnered with SPACES to create a monument in the lake to farmers who committed to engage in the longer-term Non-Phosphorus Support Network.

This group of farmers across Northeast Ohio will connect quarterly to discuss their own methods and efforts to move away from chemical fertilizers. This talk will provide some background for the project, introduce the group of farmers committed to the overall health of Lake Erie, and will explore how art can uplift the local community and pave the way for future change. 

Imani Badillo is a Puerto Rican, Black, and Alaskan Native artist, writer, and workshop organizer from Cleveland, OH. Imani’s work communicates environmental justice concerns using painting, fiber art, and bookmaking. Their sole goal as an artist is to use illustrated thoughts and memories as an invitation into getting into a right relationship with human and more-than-human others.

Special thanks to SPACES Cleveland and FRONT International 2022.

Centering Diversity: Landscape Architecture in Ohio Summit

A collective of Ohio Landscape Architecture practitioners, educators and partners are planning a summit centered around Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI). 

Centering Diversity: Landscape Architecture in Ohio will take place in-person at two locations - the CUDC in Downtown Cleveland and the Knowlton School at Ohio State - on Friday, October 7, 2022. The goal of this summit is to explore, discover, and synthesize best practices relating to JEDI in landscape architecture throughout Ohio. Proceedings, goals and outcomes formed during the summit will be published into a report that will be made available for public use.

In preparation of the summit, the organizers are collecting data from JEDI initiatives in landscape architecture across the State of Ohio. This information will be used to analyze how the profession is performing with regard to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion within our state. Information obtained from this survey will be disseminated to all registered participants in advance of the summit and published in the report. Please complete this survey by Friday, September 23rd: 

Survey link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1qi8IigPnEEdYMkpnKMFjPSqh6gAdzYQfAaAXbHGN_Q8/viewform?edit_requested=true

2.0 CEU approval is pending for both in-person participation and via recording. Further speaker and event details will be confirmed shortly. Please forward this event info and survey along to your respective firms, institutions, or any other affiliates. Direct any questions to ohiolandscapejedi@gmail.com. 

This is a free event but donations can be applied to help cover the cost for this event and further ongoing JEDI efforts throughout the state.

The two in-person locations that will host this hybrid event are:

• Knowlton School, The Ohio State University, 275 W Woodruff Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210

• Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative (CUDC), Kent State University, 1309 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115

Asynchronous Participation is available. There will not be virtual streamed sessions during the day of the summit. Instead, virtual participation will occur before and day-of through Miro, where participants can contribute insights and feedback on provided prompts. Recording of roundtable discussions will be made available following the in-person event, pending CEU approval.

Agenda

• Arrival & Networking (1:00-1:15)

• Welcome & Introduction (1:15-1:30)

• Panel/Roundtable 1: Establishing a Baseline (1:30-2:30)

• Break (2:30 - 2:45)

• Session 1: Learning Landscape (2:45-3:30)

• Break - (3:30 - 3:45)

• Session 2: Diversity in Practice (3:45-4:15)

• Panel 2: Next Steps (4:15 - 5:00)

The deadline to register for the summit is Friday, September 30th. In-person seating is limited. 

There will be an informal/optional happy hour social following the summit at both locations.

Centering Diversity: Landscape Architecture in Ohio | Facebook

Ohio Landscape JEDI (@centering_diversity) • Instagram photos and videos

Cyclical City - Stories of Urban Transformation

CUDC Fall Lecture Series - Jill Desimini, Cyclical City: Stories of Urban Transformation

28 October 2022 from noon-1pm

In person event at the CUDC, 1309 Euclid Avenue, Suite 200, Cleveland.

Free and open to the public. A light lunch will be served. This event will also be livestreamed over Zoom

Co-sponsored with the Ohio Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects (OCASLA). Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LA CES) credit pending.

As cities evolve and resources shift with time, spaces within those cities are often left fallow and abandoned. Cyclical City tells the stories behind these sites, from Philadelphia’s Liberty Lands park to Lisbon’s Green Plan, and it looks at the ways in which these narratives can be leveraged toward future engagement and use.

Jill Desimini posits a fundamental role for spatial design practice to transform abandoned urban landscapes through time. She argues for approaches that promote the specific affordances of the land itself (hydrology, vegetation, topography, geology, infrastructural capacity, occupation potential); the importance of cyclical change; and the particularities of the cultural, political, and physical context.

In her lecture, she will explore these themes in five cities—Philadelphia, Berlin, Lisbon, Amsterdam, and Saint Louis—and across centuries, from periods of great upheaval to ones of relative stability and even economic growth. She considers what landscape-driven design can bring to cities losing people and economic resources, how design practice can be more inclusive in a context of market failure, and the ways in which abandoned landscapes can become our commons.

Jill Desimini is a landscape architect and associate professor at the University of Connecticut. She is trained as an architect and landscape architect and has practiced in both fields. Her current research investigates potential futures for abandoned landscapes, with an emphasis on climate and justice.

She is author of Cyclical City: Five Stories of Urban Transformation (University of Virginia Press, 2022), From Fallow: 100 Ideas for Abandoned Urban Landscapes (ORO Editions, 2019) , and co-author of Cartographic Grounds: Projecting the Landscape (Princeton Architectural Press, 2016). Her work has also appeared in Manifest Journal, Bracket [Takes Action], JAE Online, A Public Space, LA Frontiers, New Geographies 10: Fallow, Journal of Urban History, Landscape Journal, Journal of Landscape Architecture, Scenario Journal, The Journal of Chinese Landscape Architecture, Places, as well as in book chapters on fallowness, urban wilds, land banks, and other related topics.

She holds a Master of Architecture and Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Brown University. Prior to joining UConn, she was Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a designer at Stoss Landscape Urbanism, Atkin Olshin Schade Architects, Wallace, Roberts and Todd, and KieranTimberlake.

Jill Desimini, Cyclical City: Stories of Urban Transformation is the third program in the CUDC’s Fall lecture series, organized around the theme of Cities and Material Landscapes.

Trails & Greenways Mini-Conference

The FREE Greater Cleveland Trails and Greenways Mini-Conference will be held on September 21 and 22.

Decision makers, planners, practitioners, trail advocates share ideas, discover new tools, and set the stage to transform plans and concepts into successfully completed projects. Be a part of this free 2-day conference!

Wednesday 9am–Noon virtual sessions

• ODOT: WalkBikeOhio & New Multi-modal Design Guide

• Promoting Trail Projects Through Social Media & Photo Library

Thursday 9am–Noon virtual sessions

• The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), aka Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), Funding

• The New Wayfinding Sign System - Cuyahoga Greenway Partners and Destination Cleveland

Mobile Workshops 2–3:30pm, 3:30–4:30 (workshops repeat each day)

• Euclid Creek Greenway Connector 2:30pm

• Nord Family Greenway, University Circle 2:30pm

• Bike Tour: Public Space Improvements Along the Cleveland Cultural Gardens 3:30pm

CEUs available for various professions. 

Learn more, get links and registration information at GCTrails.org.

Making Art Work

CUDC Fall Lecture Series - Mac Love, MAKING ART WORK

9 September 2022 from noon-1pm

In person event at the CUDC, 1309 Euclid Avenue, Suite 200, Cleveland.

Free and open to the public. Light lunch will be served. This event will also be livestreamed over Zoom

Please join us for the first event in the 2022 Fall Lecture Series at the CUDC.

Mac Love will be giving a talk entitled Making Art Work. He recently presented the opening lecture on Equity & Social Justice: Community & Youth Engagement at the 2022 ESRI User Conference in San Diego, focusing on his work in Akron and Cleveland.

As the Co-Founder & Chief Catalyst at Art x Love, a creative agency based in Akron (OH), Mac’s work with @PLAY and Steps to Equity have been nationally recognized as a leading example for creative community collaboration. Mac will share the principles, methods, and tools that inform and guide these projects, and demonstrate how they are systemically shifting the way people, communities, and cities invest in the arts and their environment.