ACD40 Conference Report

Learn more about the Association for Community Design and #ACD40!

Thank you to everyone who attended the Association for Community Design annual conference in June. ACD40’s theme, CommUNITY, sought to ignite conversations about the different models of practice that the field of community-engaged design uses to operate successfully. We envisioned a conference that would connect people from across the country who are working in and around public interest practices.

You can read our ACD40 Conference Report here. It contains a recap of the schedule, speakers, and sessions. It also includes results to the ACD40 Post-Conference Survey, the ACD 2017 Questionnaire, the Fellowship Survey, the Gender Equity Survey, and the Community Design Survey.

A big thank you to all of our funders, partners and supporters that made this conference possible: 

Funders - Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. & Surdna Foundation

Supporters - UT Arlington, College of Architecture, Planning, and Public Affairs, Mallory Baches, Jessica Blanch, Thor Erickson, Gilad Meron, Nikia Hill, Theresa Hwang, Mark Matel, Kevin Singh, Edward Orlowski, Stephen Goldsmith, & Alex Salazar

Venues - AIA Dallas / Dallas Center for Architecture, CallisonRTKL, Dallas Public Library, HKS, & Thanksgiving Square

Promotional Partners - AIA Austin, AIA Dallas / Dallas Center for Architecture, APA North Texas Chapter, LRGV AIA, SMU Design Council, & USGBC Texas

Volunteers - Bi’Anncha Andrews, Farida Rafique, Hannah Plate, Shani Dixon, Victoria Brown, [bc] Staff & Fellows, & Neighborhood Design Center

10th Street: Construction Set To Begin

Learn more about People Organizing Place (POP)!

The 10th Street house is a small-scale rehabilitation project on an existing house in the historic 10th Street District, one of the few remaining freedmen's towns left in Dallas. The rehabilitation efforts to the existing house will be minimal and true to the original structure, honoring the history of the neighborhood, and original aesthetic of the home. Construction is set to begin at the beginning of 2017. Once complete the home will be a community design hub for the neighborhood.

Macon Starks: The First Unit

Learn more about Macon Starks!

Macon Starks is a housing development which provides rental units for seniors in the ideal neighborhood. The project consists of new single family houses, duplexes, and the renovation of an existing single family home. The first unit under construction will be complete in January 2017.

 

South Boulevard Update

Learn more about South Boulevard! 

South Boulevard, the four new town homes located in the Jeffries-Meyers neighborhood of South Dallas are currently for sale. The project has been permitted and construction will be underway early 2017. 

The Cottages at Hickory Crossing are nearing completion!

Learn more about The Cottages! 

The Cottages at Hickory Crossing, a permanent supportive housing project in South Dallas, is weeks away from completion. Once fully inhabited the complex will house and support 50 residents that have been identified as chronically homeless. Residents have begun to move into their 335 square foot homes and use The Cottages on-site services, including comprehensive case management, psychiatric care, mental health treatment and support, substance abuse treatment, life-skills training, and employment counseling.

 

Congo Street Initiative - Phase 2

Learn more about our work in Dallas! 

 

Congo Street: Phase 2 is a partnership between Jubilee Park Community Center Corporation (JPCCC) and [bc] to design homes on Congo Street. The work on Congo St. seeks to combat vacancy through the design and completion of six owner-occupied homes on currently vacant properties. The project combines an overall site strategy developed through a community-informed process with current residents and individual home designs driven by the choices of the new homeowners. The completed homes will address issues of environmental sustainability, with a target goal of LEED Silver certification for all six lots.

Currently, the new homes are being constructed. The first house of the second phase has already been completed, two more are under construction and expecting completion in 2017, and the last three are currently being designed with their prospective owners. 

Welcome Skyler Fike!

Skyler Fike is a Design Associate at buildingcommunityWORKSHOP. As a Dallas native, he brings with him a strong understanding of Dallas and Fort Worth, and a commitment to these cities for the foreseeable future. He is primarily working on making projects in Dallas.

In his other time, Skyler is a photographer, and hopes to use this medium in tandem with his practice of architecture, and service to the greater community. His greatest desire is to see homelessness and poverty come to an end, and to use these practices to tell compelling stories and empower communities.

Skyler holds a BA in Architecture from the University of Oklahoma.  In 2012, Skyler attended a small liberal arts school on the eastern shore called the Trinity Fellows Academy, where he received a year-long fellowship to study under some of the greatest minds in the arts, religion, culture, and sociology, as well as alongside a community of diverse peers. This time spent in the northeast profoundly shaped his understanding of architecture, people, and why remaining grounded in one place serves to better a community and a the city at large.