Each year, Design Corps, in association with a local nonprofit organization or school, hosts its Structures for Inclusion (SFI) conference. Each SFI uniquely exposes attendees to both pathways to pursue alternative community-based work as well as evidence of the impact or influence of such work. From its inception in 2000, the dual mission of SFI has consistently been 1) to showcase design efforts that reach out to and serve a diverse clientele, and 2) to provide information on alternative career paths available to students and young designers.
Structures for Inclusion 7 will take place April 13-15, 2007, at the University of North Carolina Charlotte. Addressing the theme “High Impact: Positive Change Through Design/Build,” SFI7 will focus on the growing interest in design/build as both an academic and a professional methodology.
Design/build has offered an excellent venue for creating positive change through architecture as it encompasses both the idea and the execution, providing a tool for designers to take real and immediate action. What is being shown through realized examples is that design/build is relevant to many social, political, and environmental issues. The attention on this impact has led the profession to reassess its role, educators to re-evaluate their teaching models, and the public to reconsider the ways designers can contribute to the issues individuals face daily.
With a focus on current case studies, SFI7 will provide students, educators, and other design professionals with informative examples of the best academic and practice-based projects. Case studies are selected to demonstrate exemplary and visionary techniques for executing design/build projects, providing a forum for learning, discussion and evolution of design/build. Presentations will include examples ranging from Katrina and tsunami disaster relief to political constructions and digital fabrication.
SFI7 is being co-organized by the University of North Carolina Charlotte College of Architecture and Design Corps, and will be held after CriticalMASS, an annual symposium hosted by the College of Architecture’s Master of Architecture Student Society (MASS) in the spring. Each year, CriticalMASS gathers professionals, faculty, and graduate students from various universities to participate in a focused discussion and critique of the architectural design and research generated within the southeastern region. This year’s invited critics and the keynote speakers are SHoP Architects.
SFI7 Contacts
Bryan Bell, bryan@designcorps.org, 919.637.2804
John Nelson, janelson@email.uncc.edu, 704.687.4034
Linda Samuels, lcsamuel@email.uncc.edu