engaging them. becoming us. an architect's role
DESCRIPTION
Jason Klinker's master's thesis: "With this final project, I am presenting a socially engaging architecture, and more importantly, a socially engaging architect, starting at the base and working up." (Completed 2011 with Wes Janz as major advisor.)TRANSCRIPT
Engaging Them.
Becoming Us.
An Architect’s Role.
Jason Klinker
Master of Architecture
Final Creative Project
Major Advisor: Dr. Wes Janz
Minor Advisor: Anthony Costello, FAIA
Submitted: May 04, 2011
Money is tight, hunger pangs are creeping in, the middle of December and that horrible
decision has to be made – are the kids going to be more upset if they are hungry, cold, or
without a present this Christmas. The painful truth is impossible to avoid – life can be hard.
As the vast majority of us will go through hard times at some point or another, it is important
to remember that the one resource we have plenty of in this world is that of human energy
– when life has pushed us down, our human energy is where we need to turn to carry on.
One of the main ideas that drew me to architecture was the ability to design structures
that would affect people on a daily basis. For me, that amount of interaction translates
into an unbelievable potential to have a positive impact on the world. It also means there
is a tremendous responsibility. This is a responsibility that I take very serious. Unfortunately,
our profession has only recently started to actively engage the potential of architecture in
the areas where it is likely needed the most – the Midwestern industrial town, the blighted
city neighborhood, the village recovering from natural disaster.
I am confi dent that architecture has a special role that it can play as a spark for these
areas, for the small Rust Belt town. That role is where I have focused my energy. I see many
of the current attempts at socially engaging, humanitarian architecture to be top down
master planning, often lacking the engagement at the base. With this fi nal project, I am
presenting a socially engaging architecture, and more importantly, a socially engaging
architect, starting at the base and working up. I have utilized this fi nal creative project as an
opportunity to immerse myself into the local Muncie community. Facilitating collaborative
efforts of clients, volunteers, and board members, we have made physical changes to the
dining room at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. Serving as an engaged case study, this project is
put into a taxonomy of architects that are dedicating themselves to similar work.
Abstract
I. Abstract
II. Table of Contents
1. Introduction (pages 001 - 008)
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Thesis Overview
1.3 General Methodologies
2. Literature Review: Understanding Perspective (009 - 029)
2.1 Questioning the Perspective
2.2 Understanding Them
2.2.1 Pecha Kucha Exercise
2.3 Becoming Us
2.4 The architect’s Role
3. A Model for Engagement: The Harvest Soup Kitchen Project (030 - 079)
3.1 Introducing the Cast
3.2 Researching and Understanding
3.3 Saying Hello
3.4 Establishing Core Friendships
3.4.1 Giving Cameras to Johnny and Loretta
3.5 Establishing My Place
3.6 Discovering Boundaries: Understanding Existing Social Structures
3.6.1 Giving Cameras to Regular Diners
3.6.2 Surveys
Table of Contents
3.7 Dissolving Boundaries – Challenging Existing Social Structures
3.7.1 Callout Meeting – Establishing the Dining Room Club
3.7.2 Redesigning the Dining Room
3.8 Personalizing the Relationships – Redesigning the Dining Room
3.9 Growing and Building Together – Remodeling the Dining Room
3.10 Observing the Response
4. A Shared Perspective – Practitioners Focused on Non-Traditional Clients (080-153)
4.1 Creating a Taxonomy
4.2 Profi le – Jason Klinker
4.3 Profi le – Ryan Ellsworth
4.4 Profi le – Hector LaSala
4.5 Profi le – Mike Halstead
4.6 Profi le – Emily Pilloton
4.7 Profi le – Bryan Bell
5. Conclusions (154-160)
5.1 Soup Kitchen Future
5.2 My Future
5.3 Taxonomy Conclusions
5.4 Academic Relevance
Chapter 1
Introduction
002001
Chapter 1 is an overview of the project, general methodologies and reasoning that are
behind this thesis in both formulation and execution.
Chapter 2 talks more specifi cally about questioning current accepted perspectives
when dealing with non-profi ts and potential clients who are not typically served by the
architectural profession. It also touches briefl y on developing an understanding of the
architect’s role.
Chapter 3 discusses in detail the project that took place at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. This
project is framed as a series of steps that I used as a method of engagement.
Chapter 4 provides further research in the form of six profi les of professionals trained
in architecture that are focusing their energy on non-profi t, homeless, and the type of
clients that I am interested in serving with my degree. This section will compare my own
profi le to the other architectural professionals working on similar projects in order to better
understand how my efforts fi t in to a broader body of work, as well as, allow me to better
understand how to pursue this interest further in my career.
Chapter 5 is a series of conclusions and predictions in terms of the Harvest Soup Kitchen’s
plans as a direct result of my project, my personal goals and aspirations, and the more
immediate steps I am taking as I transition into a professional career. It also will present
some conclusive evidence as to the academic and professional relevance of this project.
1.2 Thesis Overview
My initial interest for this thesis project was to gain understanding of how I, as a person
formally trained in architecture, can utilize these new tools to make a difference and help
people out. That said, this project has focused less on developing a physical piece, and
focused more on developing a process of engaging a local non-profi t, in this case the
Harvest Soup Kitchen.
As the semester progressed and I found some success in the project done at Harvest,
I became curious how what I was doing related to other folks doing similar work. I was
curious to see, if they too have gone through this process, how they’ve handled the
tough situations that undoubtedly arise when working with people and situations that
are fi nancially and emotionally stretched thin. As I looked closer into some of the other
architecture professionals in the world engaging in this work, I found that they all had
some pretty unique ways that they were taking a traditional degree and using it in a non-
traditional manor to achieve similar goals.
As I pushed further with the research, I began to put together a small taxonomy of these
people. In the mix, I have placed myself as a way to compare the things I am doing to
the established professionals. It also provided me a platform to formally layout some of the
things I have done, while challenging me to determine where I am personally going after
graduation.
1.1 Introduction
004003
My initial research included the review of standing theories in pedagogy and educational
systems, architectural and planning theories that relate to the role the physical environment
plays in community development, and theories of environmental psychology and social
organization regarding how people place value in their individual and communal lives.
Aside from these three, a base understanding was also sought in understanding some of
the works in sociology that focuses on community transitions, times relation to personal life
perspective, and perspectives of the leaders in discussions based on city decline and the
dynamics of social movement in our modern time.
From the beginning I knew that I had an interest in researching, and better understanding
the relationships and workings of neighborhoods and communities – specifi cally
communities in the Midwest that have a strong working class demographic. Being
brought-up with Midwest, working class morals, I wanted to understand how this group
can make the necessary transition from a predominately production based economic
model to one that is focused in the services sector and information sharing. I hope to one
day understand how these communities can maintain the strong morals that hold them
together, yet still fi nd their place as the world they once knew slips away. Understanding
that there is a complex system of forces at play in these communities, and with the people
that inhabit them, is what led me to such a wide range of investigation for my initial pass
at relevant literature. I feel as though this breadth of this exercise has played an important
part in developing a basic working knowledge of the situation.
Another reason for the range of this investigation was a response to the vast difference
in beliefs as to the role of the profession in addressing social issues. With the range of this
working knowledge, it allowed me to develop my own ideas into where architecture as
a profession and architecture as a physical environment fi t into these communities. From
this base, I have developed my stance that an appropriate position for architecture, if
it seeks to be successful and relevant to the shrinking Midwest industrial city, is one that
1.3 General Methodologies develops slowly and with a very high level of interaction with the community. I believe that
it is this dedicated approach, becoming a vested member of the project and involving
the members of the community, that will be the most successful way to empower these
citizens and arm them with the tools needed to succeed in a new world.
There are many critiques to this method of engaging a community, from others as well
as from myself. This method requires a drastically increased amount of time and personal
dedication, mostly due to a relatively small understanding between the formally educated
architect and the more simplistic perspectives of many blue collar workers. This lack
of understanding goes both ways. The important role that architects can play is often
overlooked as ‘fl uff,’ while architects tend to dismiss those less educated as lacking the
ability to understand what they want. We both have much to learn from each other. It
also becomes very diffi cult to support a professional career while doing this type of work
as these communities and clients often lack the funding necessary to pay for architectural
services.
Despite this skepticism, I fi nd that this method of dedicated engagement becomes vital to
the success of these projects. As many in the ‘working class,’ are feeling neglected by their
government, and in many ways their country, they need to be given a voice that allows
them to take control of their world. The ultimate goal is not for me to have control over my
environment, but to help provide others the tools, both physically and emotionally, to take
ownership of theirs. This project has shed some light on the potential roles the architect
can play. As I continue in my career, I hope to investigate these roles further. This ‘call to a
greater cause’ is what has drawn many students to the profession of architecture. I hope
to help the profession realize its potential to answer this call.
To balance the loftiness of the literature review and the seeming disconnect between
what was being said and the lack of what was being done, I began, and continue to
volunteer in the local Muncie, Indiana community. Originally I had identifi ed the Harvest
Soup Kitchen as a site for my research project, and ultimately found it to be a place that
could utilize my architectural skill-set. My initial observations gave me reason to believe
that there was some disconnect between the three primary groups in the social structure -
the board members, the volunteers, and the diners. Also, the physical appearance of the
dining room was tired and aged. It seemed more appropriate that this room have some
006005
excitement to its décor, even if only slightly.
Making these general observations allowed me a platform to start testing the theories and
understandings that I had been reading. I decided to more openly approach the people
at the Soup Kitchen, mostly the volunteers at fi rst, with this idea of doing a project in the
dining room. Having had several other volunteer groups (the boy scouts, church groups,
etc.) work on many of these small projects, the volunteers and board members seemed
to be comfortable with the idea. There was some hesitation though; as I began to turn
down offers from outside volunteer groups, and insisted that I wanted the people that
were dining there, the patrons, to be very involved in the process. I explained to Loretta
and Roseanne, the assistant manager and board president, that I had little interest in,
‘giving’ them a nicer dining room. It was important that the men and women that were
using the facility have some possession of the space. It was important, for at least a few
of them, to be able to point to something that was in a public place, and say, “that is my
work.” This idea for empowerment seemed to make sense to Loretta and Roseanne, but
their hesitation often came from the limited reality of actually making it happen. In many
ways, it felt as though they were still looking at our diners through a single lens - a mistake
that I have found can be fatal to these types of projects. Every person coming through
our meal line, much like diners at a local restaurant, is different. If you take the time to get
to know them, you very likely will fi nd good people with valid opinions and points of view.
My methods of engagement throughout the semester have been fairly organic in nature.
This was for various reasons - the primary being the need to negotiate my relationship
with the diners. Because my efforts at the soup kitchen were primarily from the position of
‘volunteer,’ there were preconceived perceptions of me as a volunteer that separated
me from them, the patron/diner. This was made clear when I fi rst attempted to hand out
cameras to some diners that I had seen coming through the line fairly consistently. Based
on the negative response, I understood that I needed to introduce myself in a much more
formal and engaging way. This was done with the disbursement of a survey that allowed
me to take that next step - having a callout meeting.
I decided that even though we had a fairly small group, two diners (Ron and Dave) and
me, it was important that we move forward with the project. The size of the core group
helped to keep the scope of work fairly minimal. The small scale and budget allowed us
to move along fairly quickly. In retrospect, I think this worked for the best because it kept
everything at a manageable scale. It also allowed us to start doing work, and let others
see the things we were doing. I noticed that there was a very big change in perception
towards me as I began explaining the changes we were making, and diners were able to
see that I was dedicated not only to Ron and Dave, but also to improving their space. We
were not focusing just on function or security, but looking at spatial quality and also making
efforts to get to some of the issues that were outlined in the survey results; specifi cally,
issues like being more accommodating to smaller scale groups, understanding that they
desired something that was new and changed, etc.
As the dining room project moved into the construction phases, I realized that the method
of engagement I had taken was proving successful. We were getting a project done for a
minimal budget and fairly quickly. Also, the project was doing most of the things that I was
hoping it would do. We were giving a sense of worth to Dave and Ron, as they received on
going compliments from their fellow diners, the volunteers, and the board members. It also
provided a conversation starter that was leading to an increased interaction between
volunteers and diners at Harvest, including Ron and Dave. The board, at least in terms
of Roseanne, was taking an increased interest in the day to day workings and began
making more frequent appearances at the kitchen. As her attendance increased, so did
the interactions she was having with diners and the volunteers – two groups that the board
typically was not having repeated interactions and engagements. It was truly starting to
bridge the gaps that were separating these various groups in that social structure.
I understood that this success was coming as a response to a very specifi c scenario at the
Harvest Soup Kitchen at that point in time. The outcome could have been very different
if there was a different board president or if there would have been a generally different
demeanor amongst the diners. This was part of the motivation to do some further research
on other professionals that were working in non-profi t type sectors. I wanted to better
understand how the things I was observing compared to what others were fi nding. As I
moved through this research, I found that they were all confi rming that the most successful
component in empowering and making a difference was through a high level of personal
interaction across the spectrum of non-profi t inhabitants – board members, volunteers,
and clients. This was also the case when larger projects were done that provided more
physical need than emotional need. In these cases, there was more focus on the middle to
007
upper end of the social scale, but efforts were still made to include everyone as possible.
Being interested in non-profi t/volunteer based work programs, I was curious to better
understand how I could move into a career where I was able to support myself, while
also having the benefi ts of working with this sector -- being surrounded by people that
generally love what they do and seem more concerned with the promotion of better
living, not simply a bigger pay check. As I continued my research with the taxonomy, I was
fi nding that there were a variety of ways people were accomplishing these careers. From
college professors, to directors of non-profi t organizations, to more traditional architects
that were just really good at writing grants and getting through the process, there were
many avenues that I could take as I continued.
Chapter 2
Literature Review: Understanding Perspective
010009
As I am sure many have, throughout my life I have looked at architecture as a tool that I
could use to help people. By enclosing them within the right form, and by providing the
right details, I would inspire people to be everything they could ever want to be. Through
my designs, I would bring meaning to their lives. It is true that architecture is because
people are, and people are because architecture is. One cannot survive long without the
other. Architecture is important as it mediates and protects the delicate human body from
an often unforgiving natural environment. However, architecture as protector is different
than architecture as inspirer. Architecture as inspirer is in the details, but not in the way the
column connects to the beam. It is in the nuanced relationship between architecture and
person -- that is where inspiration resides.
I have struggled to understand how the details of my architectural work were that inspiring
to me, but seemed to leave others indifferent. I have grown to understand I had been
looking at the wrong relationship. I was looking at my relationship with the architecture
not their relationship with it. I was on the outside looking in, they were on the inside looking
out. It was the seeing of myself in the details that inspired me. It was having the ability to
manipulate the environment that empowered me. It was only after looking at the work
from a different perspective -- from their perspective -- that I realized that my relationship
with the environment was much different than theirs. I now see that if I want to really inspire
people with architecture, it is by giving them the power to go through the process that I go
through when designing. It is the process of critically evaluating an environment, then with
a creative, personal intervention, responding to that evaluation that is important. If I want
to inspire and empower people with architecture, I need to stand next to them. I don’t
need to explain my perspective of the world, but to challenge myself to understand theirs.
This thesis, for me, has grown primarily from two concerns. Early in the process, it was a sense
of discomfort that I found in the work I was doing, both collegiately and professionally.
Later in the semester, I began realizing that the discomfort was with me as much as it was
2.1 Questioning the Perspective the profession. In his essay ‘Poor Not Different,’ Wolfgang Sachs makes a statement about
poverty. “When the size of income is thought to indicate social perfection, as it does in our
economic model of society, one is inclined to interpret any other society which does not
follow that model as ‘low-income.’ In this way ‘poverty’ is used to defi ne whole peoples,
not according to what they are or want to be, but according to what they lack and
what they are expected to become (Sachs, 1992, p. 162).” This is a perspective that I feel
many of the people in our profession understand to be true. Until recently I would have
included myself as having this understanding. I was looking at situations of ‘poverty,’ and
not looking at people. If we hope to make legitimate, lasting progress in these areas of
society, changing this perception will be one of the key challenges, as this very personal
perspective often contrasts the ideas of popular culture.
“In many ways the challenge of changing our personal and professional perceptions starts
with our educations, “Anisur Rahman, an economist/planner, writes in an essay, ‘People’s
Self-Development.’ He continues with: “the best promise for development lay with the
initiatives of the ordinary people…As economist [planners] we were trained mainly in
this kind of defi cit and dependent ‘development’ planning. We had not learned how to
plan the mobilization of the human energy of the people, to plan to develop with what
we have, not with what we do not have (Rahman, 1992, p. 167).” This is, if anything, a
gracious description of my educational experience. I was rightfully trained in necessary
architectural practices (like spatial arrangements, materials, mechanical and structural
systems, etc.), but when it came to the social aspects of architecture, there was a huge
void: invented clients, fi ctitious sites, and buzzwords like “poverty,” “homelessness,” and
“community development,” were being used to superfi cially teach me these very complex
concepts. I was given client needs on a piece of paper, conveniently listed out. It is as
if we my instruction had missed one of the key components of architecture – people.
Many professors would express concern as a model would lack scale fi gures, but can we
really understand how to work with the multiple personalities of a church board, or how to
decipher the words of an ER doctor, by putting scale fi gures on a model?
There have recently been educational models that begin to challenge these common
perceptions in the university. The Rural Studio at Auburn University under the direction of
the late Samuel Mockbee and now directed by Andrew Freear, is one of the most well-
known of these programs (Dean & Hursley, 2005). Hector LaSala and Geoff Gjertson’s
012011
Building Institute through the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is less established, but still
very effective. As described on the Building Institute’s web site, the aims of these design/
build studio formats are addressing the gap that often exists between theory and practice.
This is achieved through hands-on service-learning, countering “theoretical detachment”
and nurturing “social critics.” They charge students to build, but even more importantly to
“act.” This stems from a belief that “the act of making meaningful architecture requires
students to take responsibility for their designs: cultural, social, political, fi scal and technical
responsibilities, to name a few. “[And,] the act of designing and making meaningful
architecture requires rigor and tolerance - from both faculty and students (University of
Louisiana at Lafayette, 2006).”
As students move through these curriculums, “they are placed into a social context that
they have rarely encountered in any meaningful way: the world of chronic poverty,
homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and the non-profi t agencies that are the
trenches of these societal battlefronts (University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2006).” With
these encounters, students are developing understandings far greater than just building
techniques and design. They are developing an empathetic perspective towards people
living in poverty. This understanding develops not from the use of over simplifying terms
such as ‘homelessness’ and ‘poverty,’ that beg for a sympathetic relationship, but from a
face to face, empathetic relationship. This empathic perspective places value in the other
and challenges students to fi rst understand the people at the scale of “a fi rst name basis,”
and then respond from this understanding. This is a process that requires students to step
out of themselves, and be refl ective of the things they do from the client’s perspective.
Although this can be a very diffi cult thing, I feel it is an essential step in creating a truly
socially responsible architect.
It will take time and convincing, though, before these programs, or at least the essence
of social engagement, begin to really get implemented into standard architectural
education. There is a general lack of consistent, quantifi able evidence to support these
programs and with most efforts still relatively young, the ability to see results might take
some time. There is also an extremely complex set of forces at play when dealing with
“growing communities,” so incubator caliber results will likely never be available.
There have been attempts to create standard guidelines for ‘humanitarian architecture.’
An example of this is the SEED program developed by Bryan Bell and Design Corps. This
program is based on a collective knowledge, gained by bringing together a board of
individuals that have done engaging, successful work with the traditionally underserved.
Bryan is at the forefront and is the face of this program, but his goals and the goals of the
SEED Network are to, “build and support a culture of civic responsibility and engagement
in the built environment and the public realm (Design Corps, 2011).” Collaboration in a
regulated, yet open forum is one of the few ways I feel an effective method of propelling
national and international movements can be achieved, and these often are based on
very small scale, grass root efforts.
The SEED program establishes its network by fi nding people involved in all the design fi elds,
including architecture, industrial design, communication design, landscape architecture,
and urban planning. The participants are asked to, “take the pledge.” This pledge indicates
that participating members actively engage and promote the fi ve seed principles in their
work. The principles are based on the mission, “to advance the right of every person to live
in a socially, economically and environmentally healthy community.” The fi ve principles
are:
1. Advocate with those who have a limited voice in public life.
2. Build structures for inclusion that engage stakeholders and allow
communities to make decisions.
3. Promote social equality through discourse that refl ects a range of values
and social identities.
4. Generate ideas that grow from place and build local capacity.
5. Design to help conserve resources and minimize waste.
For those who are doing projects and wish to get some recognition or confi rmation that
their work is meeting the goals of the program, SEED offers the SEED Evaluator, “That
provides guidelines for pursing a design process by inclusivity and participation.” The
program also provides opportunity for SEED Certifi cation and guidelines for documenting
and submitting these projects. (Design Corps, 2011)
On a broader spectrum, there have been many efforts to establish a system for measuring
social value. One of the leading models is the Social Return on Investment (SROI). These,
014013
and many systems like it, are meant to be used by non-profi t agencies as a way to provide
quantifi able data to potential funders and as a base for grant funding selections. Defi ned
by Claudia Wood and Daniel Leighton in their paper, The Gap between Policy and
Practice,
SROI is an analytic tool for measuring and accounting for a much broader concept of
value. It incorporates social, environmental and economic costs and benefi ts into decision
making, providing a fuller picture of how value is created or destroyed. SROI is able to
assign a monetary fi gure to social and environmental value which is created. For Example,
New Economics Foundation (Nef) research on the value created by a training program
for ex-offenders revealed that for every [English Pound] invested, 10.50 [English Pounds] of
social value was created (Wood & Leighton, 2010, p. 21).
SROI is still in its youth, and is in defi nite need of refi nement, but I believe that the scale of a
measurement system of this sort will prove crucial in efforts to promote future work in ‘the
third sector.’
Muncie, Indiana, with a population of just over 65,000 people, is a classic example of
a Midwestern industrial city. Like most of these once booming Rust Belt cities, Muncie
has a shrinking population, -4.0% from April 1, 2000 through July 1, 2006. This decrease is
in stark contrast to the growing populations, 5.6% and 9.1%, in Indiana and the country
respectively. Hand in hand with the shrinking population is the humbling difference in
median household income rates from 2008. Muncie hovers at just over $26,000, compared
to a $52,000 national median household income, and has nearly 1/4 of the population
living below the poverty line (US Census Bureau, 2010).
Many of my experiences professionally, and even more so educationally, have determined
the aforementioned demographic description to suffi ce as ‘understanding’ the population
and the people that are Muncie, Indiana. I believe that there are some things to be gained
from these numbers, but as designers that are focusing on the scale of community, or
many times smaller, we need to gain that scale of understanding.
A relationship based from the data above might be appropriate when developing national
policy. It is not appropriate when working to stimulate a struggling neighborhood or design
an outreach center. If we wish to be catalyst in these cities and neighborhoods, we need
to start with the people that are there. The people and the existing organizations are the
foundations from which we must build. This means we must engage the communities and
with them design and develop community goals. Even more importantly, we need to work
with them in the physical creation of design interventions. These strategic manipulations
of the environment do not necessarily require great size or cost, but must prove to the
people that the power to change their communities lies in their hands. They need to hold
the hammers and push the designs that recreate their environments. I think that this is the
only way we will be able move these communities over the “I can’t” hump to understand
that “we can”.
2.2 Understanding Them
016015
To help explain this concept a little better, I am going to quote an excerpt from Paulo
Friere’s Pedagogy of Hope. Friere is a progressive educator that has done extensive work
with the oppressed working class in many South American countries. In this excerpt, he
refl ects on a presentation arguing for a “dialogical, loving relationship between parents
and children in place of violent punishments (Freire, Pedagogy of Hope, 1994, p. 23).” The
presentation was to a group of Brazilian workers.
My actual mistake was, fi rst, in my use of my language, my syntax, without more
effort to get close to the language, and syntax of my audience; and second, in my
all but oblivion of the hard reality of the huge audience seated before me.
….
When I had concluded, a man of about forty, still rather young, but already worn
and exhausted, raised his hand…and gave a talk that I have never been able to
forget.
…
“We have just heard,” he began, “some nice words from Dr. Paulo Freire. Fine words,
in fact. Well spoken. Some of them were simple enough for people to understand
easily. Others were more complicated. But I think I understood the most important
things that all the words together say.
“Now I’d like to ask the doctor a couple of things that I fi nd my fellow workers agree
with.” He fi xed me with a mild but penetrating gaze, and asked: “Dr. Paulo, sir – do
you know where people live? Have you ever been in any of our houses, sir?” And
he began to describe their pitiful houses. He told me of the lack of facilities, of the
extremely minimal space in which all their bodies were jammed. He spoke of the lack
of resources for the most basic necessitates. He spoke of physical exhaustion and
of the impossibility of dreams for a better tomorrow. He told me of the prohibition
imposed on them from being happy-or even of having hope.
…
He paused a few seconds, ranging his eyes over the entire audience, fi xed on me
once more, and said, “Doctor, I have never been over to your hose. But I’d like to
describe it for you, sir. [He goes on to describe what he understood to be Paulo’s
house]…There was nothing to add or subtract. That was my house. Another world,
spacious and comfortable.
“Now Doctor, look at the difference. You come home tired, sir, I know that. You
may even have a headache from the work you do. Thinking, writing, reading, giving
these kind of talks that you’re giving now. That tires a person out too. But, sir, it’s one
thing to come home, even tired, and fi nd the kids all bathed, dressed up, clean, well
fed, not hungry – and another thing to come home and fi nd your kids dirty, hungry,
crying, and making noise. And people have to get up at four in the morning the next
day and start all over again – hurting, sad, hopeless. If people hit their kids, and even
‘go beyond bounds,’ as you say, it’s not because people don’t love their kids. No,
it’s because life is so hard thay don’t have much choice.”
This is class knowledge, I say now.
…
Even when one must speak to the people, one must convert the “to” to a “with”
the people. And this implies respect for the “knowledge of the living experience” of
which I always speak.
…
That night in the car, in the car on the way back home, I complained to Elza [his wife]
rather bitterly. “I thought I’d been so clear,” I said. “I don’t think they understood me.”
“Could it have been you, Paulo, who didn’t understand them?” Elza asked, and she
went on: “I think they got the main point of your talk. The worker made that clear in
what he said. They understood you, but they needed to have you understand them.
That’s the question (Freire, Pedagogy of Hope, 1994, pp. 24-27).”
Freire’s recognition and refl ection, although in a different time and context, is still very much
applicable to the work that we strive to do when working with the people in poverty. If we
really wish to have a positive impact on the lives of those people, we must fi rst understand
them and their world. As Paulo described the worker’s comments, “He spoke of physical
exhaustion and of the impossibility of dreams for a better tomorrow (Freire, Pedagogy
of Hope, 1994, p. 28).” This is a very powerful statement, and one that I don’t believe I
can truly understand. Living without a dream of a better tomorrow is something that is
very foreign to me, but for many of the people that came through the soup kitchen, I
don’t believe the idea is that strange. Therefore, it is something that I must be able to be
empathetic towards. To gain that empathy, I need to understand better the person that
018017
speaks the words. We have to know them as more than a number.
Freire’s two primary works, Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Pedagogy of Hope, shared
many stories like the one above. He wrote about fi rst hand encounters of engaging with
these groups; working to earn their trust and then fi nally opening up conversations in
regards to the oppression they found themselves. Many of the approaches I took at the
soup kitchen were based on the successes and failures Paulo shared about his work. In
his story telling, Paulo made it clear that he easily learned as much if not more from the
peasants and workers that he spoke with throughout his career, as they learned from him.
This is very much true with the work I have done at the soup kitchen. As I come to a better
understanding of that place and the people there, I fi nd that I more fully understand
myself. I have had to acknowledge that I, too, have preconceptions of people. I am
judgmental. I have a perception of the world that I think is ‘right.’ Through the semester
I have taken great strides to step back and look at myself, as Paulo did. I have pushed
myself to see myself and the things that I do through another’s eyes. From this thesis, this
understanding of and the practice of being self-refl ective, is easily a great accomplishment
for me personally (Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed , 2000) (Freire, 1994).
2.2.1 Pecha Kucha Excersice
The following excerpt is from an exercise done with the hope of developing a greater
empathetic understanding by imagining the world through another’s eyes. It was also a
way for me to begin grasping what these initial projects might look like in terms of scale,
while suggesting how people might fi nd the infl uence of and connection to their physical
worlds different than I would. The challenge was to create a 20-second story for each of
twenty images. The story would be from the perspective of a person who had a strong
connection to a specifi c physical space, and was to describe that connection, why it was
important to the person, and how that connection had come to be. The images were
from a set of shots I have taken in various places over the years. I wanted to push myself
to see a built environment from another person’s perspective, not from my perspective as
a designer.
020019
A short morning rain rinses the dust from
the produce. The clean, vibrant colors
seem to shine in contrast to the dull gray
plaster. On mornings like this I will often
take a moment and remember years ago
when my father taught me to carefully
stack the crates. “These must look good”
he would explain, “this fruit shows the city
who we are.”
I order coffee as I sit-down, this is my fi rst
time at a Downtown Business Owners
meeting. Started my shop last week and
my membership came with the lease. The
head of the group looks at me across the
table, the window decorations look good
– we are glad you our part of the group.
The rest gather in with compliments.
“Cool lock, did you have to pay extra for
the color?” “Ya, it was a couple bucks
more, but I don’t know man. I mean I think
it looks pretty cool. Plus this way people
know this is my spot. They tell us what to
wear and what to do. They don’t let us be
us ya know, I got them though, because
this right here, this is me, colorful!”
Dad kept nagging about not having
enough space in the shop. Of course he
is too busy keeping up on orders, so here
I stand with Grandpa. You have to make
sure that line is taught he hollers, thats
how we keep the damn thing straight. He
ties the knot and walks over; let me tell
you a story. I never knew my grandfather
had been a mason.
Live in handyman for the summer doesn’t
sound bad, as it turns out they needed
a gardener. This is the third time I have
planted these pots since my plane from
O’Hare landed in Philly. I don’t know
anyone here and had been worried that
I would not last the summer. They look
delightful the old lady grins. You know I
think I like it here.
022021
March 23. It is cold and rainy. My hands
shake as I pick slowly at the weathered
letters. This had been our spot – I have
countless memories to prove it - our fi rst
kiss, conversations under the stars, the
after, after-prom, it was in here where I
asked her to be my wife. It has been 3
years since she passed; I always leave a
fl ower for her.
I hate the violence. I hate the anger.
Today, you and I are going to start
an artistic campaign. We will let the
city know that we no longer want the
negative any more. From here on out, we
are going to look at the positive, and we
are going to challenge to everyone else
to do the same.
I stand back and admire my work. Some
of the paint is mine, but most of it comes
from my friends. My buddy and I set up
this spot for emerging artist. We often
will gather around, have small concerts,
compliment and critique our newest
additions. It was just an old warehouse;
we wanted to give people a voice. I
wanted to be heard.
I have read, listened to, and talked with several people this semester. They all echoed the
importance of “working WITH not FOR” a person, and in their own unique ways, explained
how they accomplished that task. At a glance the concept of with not for, seems
pretty straight forward. As my advisor, Wes Janz, pointed out in our correspondence this
semester, “it’s respecting another person, believing all people have intelligence that you
don’t, moving lightly yet substantially and critically through the world, these, and many
more, approaches are necessary.” I found that it was much more challenging than I had
anticipated.
I believe that one of the biggest misconceptions, and most diffi cult things that I have
faced this semester, was accepting the realities of the situation. I have been doing work
with people in the lower economic class, on and off, for a few years now, but it had always
been through organizations like Habitat for Humanity or Rebuilding Together. In these
situations I was always one of many volunteers that were just like me, and my interactions
with “those in poverty” were minimal. They mostly took place from the comfortable
position of being in the majority. I had always tried to convince myself that I was doing this
work with these people, so by default I had to be free of prejudice and of preconceptions
towards them.
This semester I have really pushed myself to be aware of the way I feel as I work on these
projects and interact with people, whom in my mind were very much different than me,
these “people in poverty.” My fi rst step was to accept the fact that I did possess these
prejudices. They had made themselves clear many times in my life, but I paid them no
attention. They were the fear and judgment, irrational or not, that ran through me when
I would walk down the dark alley home of “social misfi ts,” or when I would encounter a
group of young black men with saggy pants and bandanas talking loudly on the train.
These feelings re-emerged when I fi rst approached some of the diners in regards to the
cameras. This was really the fi rst time that I had moved out of my comfort zone while at
2.3 Becoming Us
024023
the soup kitchen. It was the fi rst time that I had stepped out of my socially given ‘place of
authority.’ This is when I realized that I had a lot to learn about myself before I could ever
fully work WITH the diners at Harvest.
Hector LaSala, a professor of architecture at the Building Institute at the University of
Louisiana in Lafayette describes this situation for many of his students as they worked on a
small outdoor performance space with inmates. He explains that the inmates were part of
a work release program and were selected because they had been on ‘good behavior.’
“They actually wore the striped suits when they came to the site,” he explains. “You know
the ones you see in cartoons. It was initially a shock to them, the students. It was about
11:30 when they showed up. We had gotten some pizza and drinks, you know, we fi gured
they had probably not had a good pizza in a while. Of course, when we saw them with
the striped suits, it really freaked them out. So there was some of that initial stereotype that
these are inmates. Yes, yes there was at the beginning, but it did not last for long.” Hector
continued in the interview that many of the inmates had been carpenters or had other
experience in construction before getting caught up in drugs. Describing that most of the
residents of the half-way houses and the students lacked these construction skills, “the
inmates were the ones that were teaching our students and the residents there (LaSala,
Interview, 2011).”
I believe that these feelings and fears of what is unknown are to be expected from most
people in these foreign experiences. For many, it’s a perception of a potential problem
that becomes a real and insurmountable fear in one’s mind, and in that way, far more
diffi cult to overcome. Fear tends to defi ne attitudes and reactions. As a profession that
is striving to work with the “the landless, the homeless, the schooless, the foodless, the
jobless,” to borrow terms from Friere, it is not enough to simply work on behalf of them,
because ‘they’ are only half of the situation (Freire, Pedagogy of Hope, 1994). The other
half of the situation is us. It is me. Pushing through these uncomfortable times at the soup
kitchen, Hector’s students pushing through the shock of working with the inmates - these
are the steps that teach us about ourselves.
Understanding that we are uncomfortable, as I mentioned, is half of the situation. The
other half is for those we are engaging. For me, at Harvest, it was the clients that come
through the line. Ultimately, these patrons are the ones that benefi t the most from the work
I will do as an architect regarding the soup kitchen. It is important for me to get ‘real,’ data
and information from them. For that to happen, they must trust me. I have come across
many different approaches to gaining this trust, but most of them contain a lengthy period
of adjustment and the need for the client/patron to perceive a genuine commitment.
In one example, Paulo Freire developed this trust by fi rst completing a general survey to
determine what the peasants liked to do - which was play cards on the weekends. His
small group then spent the next fi ve months playing cards with these peasants (Freire,
Pedagogy of Hope, 1994, pp. 128-131). Hector LaSala recognizes that in many cases, “a
much bigger need of them is to see that somebody cares (LaSala, Interview, 2011).” So
his group was able to develop this trust when the residents, “saw the students…working
that summer. They were just in awe. That these young kids were actually sweating and
building this thing in the middle of the summer (LaSala, Interview, 2011).” Mike Halstead,
an Indianapolis architect, explains that the relationship will often develop naturally as,
“they see that you are still doing work [when not getting paid early in a project] and
suffering alongside them (Halstead, 2011).” Loretta, a cook at Harvest and the founder
of the Sunday Supper, realized the importance of the clients being familiar with her face.
She knew she had to put in time as a regular volunteer for that to happen (Parsons, 2011).
The ideas of becoming us and working with not for are very real and very achievable,
but these will likely not happen without us understanding and overcoming the prejudice
that is inherent when referring to people with umbrella terms. “People in Poverty,” as a
term, has a place and scale at which it is appropriate and sometimes necessary. There
are certain needs that are not being met for those struggling to get by fi nancially and
often are outcast by society. However, we will likely never have a substantial and lasting,
positive effect on them until we push past the umbrella terms and begin working on a fi rst
name basis.
026025
2.4 The Architect’s Role
As an underlying theme through my work at the Harvest Soup Kitchen and my research this
semester, I have been trying to understand what my role as an architect is or can be. My
professional experience has taught me that I have very little interest in doing architecture
for clients that are large retailers, developers that create suburban strip centers, and
cookie cutter stand-alone buildings around which we place parking. As I have found,
this disinterest has little to do to the physical nature of the structures, although I don’t
care much for it either. My largest disconnect from this work is the relationship it fosters
with the client, and in the cases listed above, the lack of relationship between myself as
the designer and the ultimate user of the space. I believe that the process of designing
architecture needs to be an engaging experience for the architect, the client, and the
user. This is one of my largest motivators to working with lower income clients. I understand
that for many of them, the process of having a voice and a hand in the creation of their
physical world is very important. From my experience, this is much less the case when
working for the regional manager of construction for an international retail chain. Thus, this
thesis and creative project aims to better understand the architect’s potential and role in
engaging a client that typically cannot afford architectural services.
In an essay featured in Out of Site: A Social Criticism of Architecture, Margaret Crawford asks
the question “Can Architects Be Socially Responsible?” With a summary of architectures
current structure and past attempts to involve the profession in the role of dealing with
social dilemmas, she supports her argument that “Given the situation, the answer to the
question…is, as is presently constituted, no. Both the restricted practices and discourses of
the profession have reduced the scope of architecture to equally unpromising polarities:
compromised practice or esoteric philosophies of inaction (Crawford, 1991, p. 43).” She
describes architecture’s past attempt, carried on the shoulders of Walter Gropius and the
Bauhaus, to address low-income housing and other areas of society that were falling short.
She proceeds to summarize some of the critiques of modernism in application to social
needs. She explains that situations where radical architects would attempt community
development and social empowerment with participatory architectural design, would
fail. The community involvement would often lead to the identifi cation of the personal
taste of the masses in the terms of a past style or a particular color palette – even then,
these ‘decision makers’ often lacked the ability, fi nancially and socially, to have much
of an impact on the fi nal architectural product. As Crawford states, “radical architects
replaced modernism’s welfare state with a marketplace, in which, unfortunately, their
ideal client did not have the means to purchase architectural services (Crawford, 1991, p.
39).” This becomes an obvious problem if a profession is trying to support itself.
In her closing statements, she offers some suggestions for the profession. First she suggest
that, “the architectural profession must establish new connections with the existing
technical and economic practices of building…that are based on an analysis of existing
material conditions rather than on idealistic projections of future technical capabilities.”
She then offers some words that defend the ability of the profession to play a role in the
social arenas that are often untouched by the profession. In opposition to generic masses
the modernist sought to impose mechanical design, too. She suggests that we fi nd specifi c
groups where architectural services can be utilized, but currently are not. She makes
the claim that, “Identifying these ideal clients is an important fi rst step toward creating
a discourse adequate to the enormous tasks faced by the architectural profession if it
accepts the challenge of reshaping society and the built environment (Crawford, 1991,
p. 44).”
Additional research and my experiences lead me to agree with Crawford, both in her
assessment of the current, popular model of architecture, and her suggestions for the
profession. I feel that there are many trained architects that are stepping up to the
challenge Crawford laid out in 1991, twenty years ago, in her essay. Firms like Halstead
Architects in Indianapolis, as I profi le more thoroughly later on, are doing work with many
in the non-profi t sector. This work, although being funded primarily by grant money, is
establishing a name and signifi cance for architecture with this “ideal client.” Although
many of the projects done at the fi rm may not be featured in design magazines, they
are connecting to a client base much larger than those whom actually read design
magazines. Firms similar to Halstead Architects are out there, and I believe are growing in
number. As a broader spectrum starts to understand the value in having an architect as
part of an overall construction process, the market will likely begin to become more self-
028027
supportive. It is diffi cult to do at these early stages because our skill sets are often diffi cult
to qualify.
Regarding Crawford’s, “esoteric philosophies of inaction,” educators, following in the
footsteps of Samual Mockbee and The Rural Studio, are pushing the limits of the current
educational model. Hector LaSala at the Building Institute in Louisiana, and a growing
number of others, are calling for and implementing design/build studios early in the
educational process. They are actively engaging an “ideal client,” by providing volunteer
service, based on student participation, to outreach centers, soup kitchens, and community
markets. In an essay, “Beyond Design-Build,” LaSala describes the important role of these
relatively new programs when he describes how they, “deliberately place [students] into
a slice of present day America where physical and societal conditions are at a crisis point.
While their motivation, initiative, design and constructing skills generate the most visible
outcomes, this should not diminish the impact that these participations have had on their
capacity to refl ect on their culture, social conditions, and communal needs. This sustained
encounter has altered our students’ critical and ethical thinking in ways that are hard to
measure but are real nevertheless.” As I described in the “Becoming Us” portion of this
work, one of the core issues that must be addressed is the ability of young professionals to
enter the world with an empathetic viewpoint. Only when they have this understanding of
the world are they going to be up to the challenge of engaging these larger social issues
(University of Louisiana at Lafayette, 2006).
If we want to be serious about giving attention to these issues – we must do so both in
debate and scholarly refl ection, but also in on the ground action. Mark Taylor speaks
to this case in The Moment of Complexity: Emerging Network Culture. “All of these [60s’
social and political] efforts failed because they lacked constructive programs of social
engagement and political reform. In hindsight, it is clear that criticism alone is not suffi cient;
what is required is the articulation and formation of alternative systems and novel networks
that can function creatively (Taylor, 2003).”
In my humble opinion, I believe that the profession of architecture can benefi t greatly by
reaching out and engaging in the lower economic sector. Not only will it undoubtedly
teach us about ourselves and develop a more holistic and adaptive professional, but it
will open up the doors to a much larger market where the skills of a trained architect can
be utilized. For me personally, I have found that working at the Harvest Soup Kitchen, face
to face with both the clients and users, has been very rewarding. Consequently, this is a
sector that I plan to work for some years to come. I cannot guarantee to what extent my
career will be the physical creation of buildings, but it will use my skill set none the less. A
rule of thumb that M. Scott Ball provides in his essay, Expanding the Role of the Architect,
“if it looks like it could use the help of an architect, it probably is architecture (Ball, 2004,
p. 140).”
Chapter 3
A Model For Engagement:The Harvest Soup Kitchen Project
032031
3.1 Introducing the Cast
Roseanne is the board president for the Harvest Soup
Kitchen. She was in attendance for the call out meeting of
the Dining Room Club (described in more detail later), and
has played a critical role in the logistics of the changes at the
soup kitchen.
Loretta is the Assist. Manager and cook at Harvest Thursdays,
Fridays, and Saturdays. She also started the Sunday Supper
at the soup kitchen (meal 3rd Sunday of the month) after
her husband Gary passed away. She is retired from the Ball
Corporation where she was an inventory manager. She
earned a business degree from Ball State.
Johnny* has been coming to Harvest for several years now.
Originally a more traditional diner, he has transitioned to the
‘morning security,’ assisting Deb and Loretta as they arrive.
Johnny is a Vietnam veteran and has spent time in several
states. Johnny was born in the south then moved to California
when he was a youth. He was raised there until joining the
army.
* Johnny requested not to be photographed. This image is of Willie, another diner.
Angie + Deb have been working
at Harvest for 16 and 10 years
respectively. Deb is the Manager
and cooks Mon-Wed. Angie
volunteers Mon and Wed. Angie is
the comedian of the group, Deb
her more reserved counterpart.
Doug + Bobby have been
working at Harvest for 6 years
each. They grew up together,
worked in the same factory for
years, and now are the core for
the Thursday volunteer group.
These two are hard to separate!
Ron is a regular diner at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. He is
relatively reserved and soft-spoken. He was one of the three
primary members of the Dining Room Club (described later),
providing insight into the daily activities. Ron is a lifetime
Muncie resident. He was laid off from Borg Warner and
currently is unemployed.
Dave is also a regular diner. Outgoing and spirited, he played
a critical role in the Dining Room Club (described later)
offering his artistic hand in the painting of the mural. Dave
has worked on and off in construction as a laborer. He has
plans to either apply to art school or attend a trade school,
ultimately owning his own HVAC company. Dave attended
Ball State for one year where he studied psychology.
Jason (me) volunteers on Mondays, Thursdays, and
Saturdays at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. He currently is studying
architecture at Ball State where he will earn his master’s
degree at the end of the year. Jason started the Dining Room
Club (explained later) with the interest of better understanding
some of the diners that he was serving.
034033
3.2 Research and Understanding
Early in the process I had established that I wanted to discover how I could be an
architect, and help people at the same time. By default, it seemed like the best way to do
that was to work with homeless people. So I began doing research on different homeless
shelter projects and community centers. I had acquired what I believed to be a decent
understanding about working with the homeless, at least in terms of doing architecture. As
I began getting deeper into my research, however, I found that most people were talking
about the importance of small scale projects. Working from the ground up and being
engaged. I was still using the blanket terms and looking at ‘designing a community center
that would bring people together.’ Engaging and developing a real understanding of the
people I was going to be working with, I found was very much lacking in my understanding.
This led me to shift my focus from ‘designing a building,’ to ‘understanding people.’
I stuck with my original clients: the homeless, underemployed, and in general, society’s
‘misfi ts.’ Based on my experiences through my life, I understood that I would likely run into
issues that I generally lack a personal familiarity with: Drugs, prostitution, psychologically
unease, mentally and physically handicaps, heightened crime and violence, etc. I found
that in many ways, my lack of understanding with many of these issues, despite the fact
that they likely are all around me, began to push me to really engage and understand
them better. Based on this growing interest in these people that I felt I did not understand
and the fact that I was approaching a topic that many were saying can only be done
by getting your hands dirty, I decided that I needed to have closer contact with that
community. I was not sure if I was going to do a project or just gain some understanding by
doing it, but I needed to stop looking at this from behind a computer and books.
The following information is a selection of components from my work and experiences
while volunteering at the Harvest Soup Kitchen. The arrangement is intended to be a series
of steps taking as I moved through the process. They are primarily in chronological order,
but due to the necessary organic nature of such a project, some components appear
in this description out of place in the actual time line. (Please see the inserted graphical
timeline of my presentation boards for this project.) This was an additional attempt to put
on paper how I moved through the last few months and how my interactions and actions
infl uenced myself those around me.
soup
charlescharles
walnutwalnut
madisonmadison
harv
est
harv
est
t
charlescharles
hackleyhackley
Bal l StateBal l State MuncieMuncie
kitch
enkit
chen
Site Location Keyplan
036035
3.3 Saying Hello
So I took the next step and dove in. I established a location at the Harvest Soup Kitchen in
downtown Muncie. This was a good place where I could be un-intrusive as a volunteer, yet
still immersed into the culture. I approached the soup kitchen understanding that I needed
to do so with respect and sincerity in my efforts, I did not want to simply be there “studying
people.” I also recognized that I was essentially going into someone else’s house, and
more importantly, someone else’s life. From reading Freire’s experiences, I assumed that
I would be seen as an outsider, and would need to therefore fi rst establish trust with the
people there. In these early steps, I did my best to keep quite the fact that I was doing a
thesis project and basically trying to gain an understanding of homeless people. I worked
instead to let myself be there in the moment the same way I would have been if I was just
volunteering with no affi liation with school.
My selection of The Harvest Soup Kitchen was not based on an exceptional amount of
research about the organization specifi cally. From their very limited web presence, I was
able to gather that they offered some free meals, Monday through Saturday between
9:30am and 11:00am. I was able to gain some very general demographic information
about Muncie, Indiana, but nothing specifi c to the neighborhood that the soup kitchen is
located. My assumptions, based on a few afternoons spent driving around the area, was
that this was on the lower end of the economic scale for Muncie. These trips revealed that
the housing stock was in fair to poor condition with a fair number appearing vacant as
windows were either boarded up or broken out. I am sure some of the people living in these
structures are housing squatters, but was never able to determine anything more specifi c
in that regard. My conversations with Loretta and others revealed that we primarily serve
the ‘working poor,’ and only a few are without a place to sleep at night. My assumption
is that many more are residing on couches and in the garages and spare rooms of family
and friends.
The soup kitchen is located in the basement of the old St. Lawrence School on the corner
of East Charles Street and South Hackly Street in downtown Muncie. To the south of the
building is the Mid-city plating plant. The soup kitchen shares a parking lot with the St.
Lawrence church and a small children’s’ clothing store. There are roughly four other
churches within a four block radius, plus the Minority Health Coalition and the United
Daycare Center. The area is primarily residential, with a few scattered empty lots including
a rundown parking lot to the east of the soup kitchen, and a grassy lot just to the north of
that. To the north, there is a cluster of two houses with a shared fence. From what I have
been able to gather, there is some informal ‘taking in,’ going on there. They have recently
started to plant their large garden that is just to the east of the houses.
The existing building is three fl oors total. The basement extends about 3’ above grade with
windows providing natural daylight. Grading on the site is pretty consistent creating a fi rst
fl oor - about 4’ of stairs to enter in the front entrance. The main fl oor is home to a thrift store.
The store is open for longer hours than the food kitchen. The drop-in center has a small
offi ce in the basement next to the soup kitchen. They run the same hours, but are closed
on Saturdays. The upper fl oor of the building houses a voucher based clothing center for
school children. The drop-in center is an extension of Meridian Services, a larger provider
of mental health services and other services to the community. The drop-in center has an
on staff police offi cer and psychiatrist. They usually will show a movie in the mornings and
offers free haircuts on the third Thursday of the month.
038037
3.4 Establishing Core Friendships
This step came fairly naturally for me. It began my fi rst day at Harvest. Johnny, one of the
diners, had intercepted me at the car and warned me of the dangers of some of the
individuals at the kitchen before I had gotten in the door. I was to fi nd out later that Johnny
comes with a, likely warranted case of paranoia and cynicism. Once I was inside, I met
Loretta. She is one of two managers and cooks Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Johnny
stuck around for about an hour, telling stories and taking out the trash. He is a ‘client,’ that
has been coming around for a couple years now. He shows up every morning, Monday
through Saturday, and provides, in a sense, a secure male fi gure early in the mornings.
Deb and Loretta, the two managers, usually will show up a little earlier than the rest of the
volunteers. Johnny considers their protection to be a priority on his daily list.
My conversations and relationships with Johnny and Loretta grew fairly quickly over the
next month or so. I was receptive to Johnny’s stories, and I provided a reliable volunteer for
Loretta. I was there three days a week. These two became the core of my initial relationships
at the soup kitchen, and were able to provide insight to their respective places there.
Johnny knew the ins and outs of most of the clients as he was, involuntarily, a signifi cant
part of their world. He lives down the street from many of the other clients and frequented
many of the same social service institutes as they did. Essentially, he was their neighbor.
Loretta had the scope on most things volunteer and quite a bit about the members of the
board. Her personality was warm, accepting, and in general positive – although now and
then a “So and so drives me nuts,” would slip out.
As my schedule became more routine after the holidays, my core group expanded a
little further to include the regular volunteers from Monday – Deb and Angie. There were
always one or two other semi-regular volunteers on Mondays, but the less consistent nature
of their time resulted in less intimate relationships. The crew on Thursday’s, Loretta, Doug,
and Bobby quickly became a good fi t. Doug and Bobby were old high school and then
factory working buddies. They always had good stories to tell and were a lot of fun to work
with. Their knowledge of the soup kitchen was mostly limited to the things that happened
on Thursdays, although they would have something to say about the larger concerns,
i.e. the trustees not mopping when they came in. The trustees were a group of ‘good
behavior,’ convicts and people that are behind on payment to the city. They were used
as labor for the general upkeep of parks, cemeteries, and other city run agencies. Bill, the
man leading that group, was a member of the Harvest Soup Kitchen Board.
As I moved through the fi rst few months at the soup kitchen, I was a volunteer, and in many
ways friend, fi rst and foremost. I kept my school work and thesis ideas relatively quite as I
did not want them to see me as just another student that was doing a school project. I am
not entirely sure how they would have responded differently if I would have been more
open about my ideas from the beginning, but this method seemed effective so I think I will
be conscious of this as I move into these scenarios in the future. I have been questioning
if it is best that these relationships form fi rst or if it is ok to have a project and through that
work the relationships form. My relationships with Ron and Dave, the two gentlemen I was
most involved with in the dining room project, had developed around a project and they
seemed to become suffi cient as well, so I would say that this order probably plays a fairly
insignifi cant role, as you are sincere in your general development of the relationships. The
project, similar to volunteering, becomes the framework for those relationships to develop.
Loretta - Assist. Manager & Cook (Thurs, Fri, Sat - 6 yrs)
Angie (L) - Regular Volunteer (Mon, Wed - 10 yrs)
Deb (R) - Manager & Cook (Mon, Tues, Wed - 16 yrs)
040039
3.4.1 Giving Cameras to Johnny and Loretta
The following is an excerpt of a Saturday journal entry. It describes the process of providing
Johnny and Loretta with disposable cameras and asking them to take images of what is
important to them. Also, just to clarify, Loretta is the assistant manager and cooks Thursdays,
Fridays, and Saturdays. She is the fi rst person I had contacted at the soup kitchen. Johnny
is a regular client that comes in and helps Deb (the manager Mondays, Tuesdays, and
Wednesdays) and Loretta early in the mornings. He does not get along with many of the
other clients and so usually will stick around and talk for a little while then head out before
others arrive. This step, giving them the cameras, allowed me to establish a very good
working relationship with Loretta. It also pushed my relationship to a new level with Johnny.
The images that were developed from Johnny and Loretta’s cameras can be found on
the upcoming pages.
January 15, 2011
The idea for the cameras had come up a while back, actually really early in the semester.
My initial thought was that I could use this as a way to have people give me a somewhat
candid peak into their lives, while still maintaining some of the privacy that the unwritten
boundaries between people provide. I did not want to intrude on their lives, but I wanted
to learn about them.
No matter what the situation is, there is always a period of time that things are required
to marinate before you can start feeling comfortable around someone. For Loretta and I,
this took a few days working together. My relationship with Johnny has progressed with a
couple ‘moments’, where I was able to tell him, in a very subtle way, “I am here because I
care about you as a person.” It was giving him attention when he was telling a story, fully
engaging in the conversation. It was seeing him standing by the door in the cold waiting
for Loretta to show up and yelling over to him, “Come sit in the car while we wait – it is cold
outside!” I had never been this physically close to Johnny in the past; we were sitting in a
small car together. I was, at that point, fairly vulnerable, and so was he. The discomfort is
there, as always with uncharted territory, but it was not overwhelming.
Today I chose to push the relationship a little further - this time it was with the presentation
of the camera assignment. I have been very anxious about the approach of asking
someone to do me this favor. Asking them, even if only slightly, to lower their guard, and
let me see into their lives. I am a middle class, white man that is working on a master’s
degree in architecture. Not too often do people of my background and standing have
interest in being part of the life of someone that is on the lower ends of society. I knew
that it would be awkward to approach the situation with the six unfamiliar volunteer faces
sitting around the table, so I waited till Johnny went out into the hall to take out the trash.
I had to act fairly quickly before he departed for the day. I grabbed a camera and the
hand written questions and headed to the hall.
“Johnny, I have a favor to ask of you man. I am trying to do this thing for a school project,
and maybe more importantly, out of my own interest. Could you take this camera and
take some pictures for me?” He seemed hesitant, but accepting, so I continued. I walked
him through the directions: 2-pictures of things in your life you are proud of that you would
show a friend that is visiting, 2 of what is important to you, 2 of places you like to be, 2 of
places you don’t. The rest, well, just have fun and take pictures of anything you want.
He looked at me puzzled for a minute. “I don’t know man, I don’t have anything to take
pictures of, everything that is important to me is the people in that kitchen, Loretta, Angie,
Deb. It is the people at these other places that help me out. That’s what I have.” I had to
catch myself, I had always had a hunch this was the case, but to hear him say it almost
takes your breath away. “Johnny, that is exactly what I want from you – take pictures of
what you want, bring the camera back next week, I will get them developed, and then I
want you to tell me some stories.” He laughed. “Stories, now that I can do!”
I had talked briefl y with Loretta last Saturday about the idea to bring in the cameras. She
knew when I walked out there I was planning on doing that. When I got back in, she asked
me if I gave him a camera. I told her I had and she seemed pleased. I asked if she would
be interested in taking one of the cameras and doing it too. I explained the list of things I
would like her to look at, and with not nearly the surprise, I got a similar response. “When
do you need it back, my grandson and everyone will be over next weekend. Everything
thing that is important to me is going to be there.” She happily agreed.
042041
The following exert of a Saturday journal entry describes the process of providing Johnny
and Loretta disposable cameras and asking them to take images of what is important
to them. That Saturday we were joined by a group of six from Erie Insurance. They usually
volunteer one Saturday every 4-6 weeks. This was the fi rst time I had met them. Also, just to
clarify, Loretta is the assistant manager and cooks Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. She is
the fi rst person I had contacted at the soup kitchen. Johnny is a regular client that comes
in and helps Deb (the manager Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays) and Loretta early
in the mornings. He does not get along with many of the other clients and so usually will
stick around and talk for a little while then head out before others show up. I provide
this fairly descriptive account as an attempt to illustrate some of the personal diffi culties
I faced when trying to push these boundaries past their comfortable points. This may
or may not be the case for others that have pursued to push these relationships. Either
way, these were important steps for me as I moved through the project. In the appendix,
there are the images that came from each of the two cameras and some summarized
transcriptions of the interviews that followed. This step allowed me to establish a very good
working relationship with Loretta. It also pushed my relationship to a new level with Johnny.
Johnny’s nine images and the discussion that followed, focused primarely on stories from his past. These stories developed from introductions of the people important in his life now.
044043
Loretta’s seventeen images and the discussion that followed, focused primarely on things that were happening in her life right now - friends and family mostly. Most stories of her past were in reference to her late husband Gary who passed away a few years ago.
046045
3.5 Establishing My Place
After volunteering for about 2-months, consistently working three mornings a week, I
established my place in the hierarchy of the Harvest Soup Kitchen. I had begun to speak
more to Loretta about my interest in community development. I explained to her that part
of my motivation for volunteering was to gain an understanding of the non-profi t sector of
the Muncie community and also to understand the inner workings of a place like the soup
kitchen. She invited me to sit in on the next board meeting.
Early in the board meeting they had me briefl y introduce myself. I explained that I was
working on a Master’s of Architecture and my thesis was focused in the role architecture
can play in community development. I explained that I had been volunteering a few days
a week at the soup kitchen and was at the board meeting just to gain understanding of
the operations of a non-profi t. I then listened for the next few hours. As the meeting was
drawing close to an end, I chose to speak up.
They had been discussing a set of plans that were completed by a class in the family
consumer science program at Ball State. They were options for remodeling the kitchen.
The board seemed interested in doing the work proposed in the kitchen and were talking
about having one of the board members write the grant. They all seemed to be relatively
inexperienced with any construction processes, and seemed to be taking the drastically
under developed plans as a fi nal drawings. After reviewing briefl y the submittals, I asked
them I they had considered the possibilities of hiring locally, or even hiring clients that
might have had construction experience in the past. I suggested looking around Muncie
or creative materials that could add something fun and local to the project. I also made
remarks with regard to the board’s concern over their fi nancial situation. I had suggested
the possibility of drop boxes or collect cans to be dispersed around the city. I mentioned
that these could get their relatively unknown name into areas where they would be able
to draw greater amounts of donations. I referred to the success that the Muncie Mission
was having with their advertising campaigns around campus.
Everyone seemed very excited about these ideas and as the meeting concluded, several
board members came over to discuss them with me a little further. Not wanting to get in
over my head, I provided a little more information, but did not want to be put in charge of
these efforts when I was limited to the duration of a semester. This has shown me that there
is both a need and an interest for my skill set in this environment, and it is likely something
that I will try to pursue a little further after graduation.
My position was set with the board, including the new board president, Roseanne. My
position had also been established in the kitchen as one of the regulars. All that required
was for me to be consistent, reliable, and respectful. The third group that I was interested
in getting to know was those ladies and gentleman that came through the serving line
and ate lunch. Ultimately, my research was indicating that I needed to be engaged with
this group. Despite being looked at as another server, and only occasionally having small
conversations with some of the patrons, I had a relatively meaningless relationship with
most if not all of our diners. I was running into the limitations my role as a volunteer would
offer just by being there and doing the job. I realized I was going to have to make the
push, or this would be as far as it went. I would be serving food to some underemployed
and homeless people across a table.
048047
3.6 Discovering Boundaries - Understanding Existing Social Structures
For me, this step was the most critical in the series, and it proved to be one of the
most challenging. For this reason I believe it is the step most neglected by our current
architectural efforts. My crossing of these boundaries, as a citizen and as an architect
remains one of the cores of this thesis. If we are to truly understand and empower others,
including the lesser class, we must fi rst understand the culture and social construction that
exist in that world.
In the case of the soup kitchen, the boundaries that exist are again, class boundaries. I
refer to them as the relationship between servers and served. This is a socially established
boundary. It is nuanced, complex, and often loosely defi ned. It can be as literal as the
placement of a table that physically separates the space, or as abstract as “no, you
are only allowed one doughnut.” It is social construction of power and hierarchy. It is
constantly negotiated and can vary from individual to individual.
The challenge is crossing this boundary. It is interacting with a ‘them’ in the same way
that I interact with an ‘us.’ This has and will continue to demand that I confront some
established stereotypes that are a result of my life experiences.
The most appropriate approach to crossing this line varies based on the specifi c situation
and my personal comfort level. For me at Harvest, my fi rst attempt was by handing out a
camera and asking some of the patrons to take some pictures of things that were important
to them. This attempt was ultimately not successful, but still revealing. I will provide more
on this later.
After refl ecting on the outcome of the camera exercise, I came to the following conclusions.
First, presenting the guys with a task as a way to ‘break the ice’ was not a good idea -- at
least not a task that required such a large commitment and personal exposure into their
lives. Second, the context in which the conversation was presented was not appropriate.
The two gentlemen I approached were eating their lunch, and I interrupted them. It is like
having a door to door salesman interrupt a family dinner. The other thing that I noticed
was that by being face to face they were forced to respond, and this can add a lot of
pressure, especially to people with more reserved personalities. I had several hesitations
when I fi rst considering doing the cameras, but I went against those hesitations and ended
up putting myself and the others in a very uncomfortable position.
A positive to this was that I had pushed up to that boundary, and could now try again with
a different approach that would need to be less formal. I had considered a conversation
based approach, but in a much more casual manor. After thinking about this, I felt it
would still create the discomfort of requiring a response, and would likely take a lot of time
to produce any meaningful conversation. Instead, I chose a more standard approach of
a survey.
The survey questions were introduced by a few paragraphs about of me, what my
intentions were, and why I had these intentions. I was giving the patrons and staff members
my name and my background, but more importantly, I was establishing that I wanted the
information so that I could make our space better. I was interested in doing a project, and
most importantly, I was interested in getting to know them. I was simply putting myself out
there, and had to wait to see how they would respond. The survey method had relieved
the pressure of forcing someone to respond, and allowed the subjects to do the survey on
their terms and at a comfortable pace. As some of the clients are unable to read or write,
this extra space that I was giving them was likely pretty important. In terms of wording, I
made sure it was simple and approachable, and also a little revealing about me. I tried
to use a tone that conveyed I was willing to open up to them, and I was hoping they
would do the same. The information collected helped me to move forward with the dining
room project as I will describe below. In many ways, I was more satisfi ed when I received
generally positive response. As I overheard the diners reading and explaining the surveys
to others, I knew that there was a sincere concern for what I had handed them and the
things that would happen in the space where they ate most of their meals. Their willingness
to complete the survey was an indicator to me that they trusted me enough to take that
next step.
050049
3.6.1 Giving Cameras to Regular Diners
The following excerpt is part of a journal entry from the day I had fi rst attempted presenting
the cameras to a few of the patrons at the soup kitchen. I did this later on the Saturday
that I had given Johnny and Loretta cameras, as I described above. The discomfort here
was the same as when I approached Johnny about the camera. This time slightly worse,
as I was walking up to a group of guys that I only knew from the few times a week I would
see them come through the line. These men, as I later found out, were Clifton, Mr. Hibbs,
Bruce, and Willie.
January 15, 2011
…My next challenge was…well it was a challenge. It was going on 10:00am, and we were
past the early rush. I noticed a couple of guys that come through pretty regularly. They got
their food, went in and sat down to eat. I grabbed a couple cameras and a sponge to
wipe their table. I then started some small talk about some the coffee that was spilled and
nervously asked: “Hey guys, could I ask you for a favor” I sat down next to one of them,
camera and list in hand. “I am a student over at Ball State and I am trying to understand
some of the people in Muncie a little better. Clifton introduced himself, and nodding to
the gentleman across the table, he introduced Mr. Hibbs. From there the conversation
proceeded, uncomfortably. I explained briefl y the nature of what I was trying to do, going
through the list. Mr. Hibbs sat quietly. Clifford hesitantly played along. “What’s important to
me? Shit man, it is Mr. Hibbs here, maybe my bicycle outside there.” I tried to explain that
those were the things I was looking for without getting into a lot of detail about having an
interest in trying to be socially responsible in architecture. I told him that I believed that
most of the things in many people’s lives were the other people around them. It was not
specifi cally a physical thing or place.
Another gentleman came in the room and sat down. I could sense that the conversation
with Clifton was getting moving towards uncomfortable for all parties involved. I said, well
Clifton, Mr. Hibbs, I appreciate your time. Before I fi nished, Clifton directed me to the man
that just sat down. “Ask _____,” [this was Bruce, but they gave me a different name] he
said. He might take some pictures for ya. This new fella looked at me and asked me to
explain my ideas just as Willie walked in. A bit more outgoing, Willie started immediately
talking to Clifton. My current conversation was now being led by this other guy; he was
asking me if I was religious. My most earnest reply was that I believe in God, but I don’t
necessarily follow an organized religion. He responded with, “So you have the higher
power?” I looked at him puzzled and asked what he meant. He sort of shook his head,
“ahhh man, ask Willie over there about the higher power.” At this point, the situation had
become very uncomfortable. Their mannerisms neared mocking; I clearly was, at this
point, outnumbered, and way out of my place.
None-the-less, I pushed forward as I did not see an easy way out of this situation. I
proceeded to ask Willie about the higher power. As the mockery toned down slightly, they
explained to me that “the higher power” was a feeling. It was not material, but a feeling in
your gut. Willie said, “Well that’s what they tell us.” They then moved into a playful dialog
with regard to this other gentleman’s ‘break from that’ for a little while. Understanding that
the Muncie Mission is one of the primary institutions in town that provide for men needing
a boost, and that the Muncie Mission, based on what I found on their website, strongly
encourages a ‘get well’ process that is based strongly on faith. I fi gured that this was the
basis of both the inquiry to my religious standing, and the subsequent dialogue.
As the talk about religion dwindled down, the conversation turned back to the camera
project. This new guy was asking Willie if he wanted to take some pictures for me. He
looked interested, at least interested enough for me to explain what I was doing. He gave
m, what seemed a good 80% of his attention as I went down the list of things to take
pictures of. At that point I was happy to just hand him the camera. I asked him to bring
it back next week sometime. As uncomfortable as the whole interaction was, after some
‘cool-down’ time, I realized that I was pretty excited that I had a camera in the hands of
one of our clients. I had taken the uncomfortable step, and now it was just a matter of
seeing what comes of it.
My aim with this journal entry is to provide a little more insight into the discomfort that
comes with trying to cross some of these boundaries. I am not sure if there is a better way
to go about this. Perhaps there is one that is less challenging, but I am not sure what it is.
052051
I can say that, although I never got Willie’s camera back, my relationship with these guys
has improved. As I have moved through the dining room project, I have also moved to
becoming on more comfortable speaking terms with these guys. Bruce and I speak now,
but I still initiate those conversations. Mr. Hibbs approached me a few times regarding
the project and we occasionally have short conversations I have not seen Clifton since
that initial interaction. Willie and I are on good terms. He always acknowledges me with
a cheerful hello. He eagerly helped with the dining room project by gluing a piece of
cardboard to the wall.
The camera project had been successful in, at least, advancing my relationship with both
Loretta and Johnny, but I had failed to make any substantial progress in getting to know
the diners that I had a lesser amount of interaction with. As described previously, my next
step was to administer a survey. The survey was handed out on a relatively slow day when
60 diners came through to collect lunch. I received a total of 30 responses that day. This
was indicative of what I considered to be a good response.
The next few pages provide a copy of the survey administered as well as the summary
pages that were put together to share the results with volunteers, board members, and
was a key component for the call out meeting for what would become the Dining Room
Club.
3.6.2 Surveys
054053
Harvest Soup Kitchen Dining Room Improvement Survey
Hello Ladies and Gentleman. My name is Jason. You have probably seen me around. I am the younger gentleman that helps serve soup Monday, Thursday and Saturday mornings. I have been volunteering down here for a couple months and plan to continue through the rest of the school year. I am an architecture student at Ball State.
The Harvest Soup Kitchen board has been talking about doing some improvements to the kitchen space. If some of you are interested, I would like to try and organize some improvements to the Dining Room and Hallway as well. This improvement will be on a very limited budget – I know we are all familiar with limited budgets so we will need to be creative!
I am handing out this survey to get an idea if any of you would be willing to help out. Also, I would like to better understand your perceptions of the dining room and how you would like to see it improved. By filling out the survey, you are NOT committing to anything, nor will any of this information be distributed or tied back to you. It is completely anonymous. I simply enjoy doing projects, would like to improve our space, and would love to get to know some of you better.
SURVEY (Circle Appropriate Answers then place in box marked “SURVEYS”)
1. Your sex? MALE FEMALE
2. How old are you? ________________
3. How many times a week do you visit the soup kitchen? 1-2 3-4 5-7
4. In addition to you, how many people usually come with you? 1-2 3-4 5-7 8+
5. After getting your food, do you stay at the soup kitchen to eat? YES NO
Why or Why Not? __________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. If you stay in the building to eat, which space do you use the most and why?
THE DINING ROOM THE HALLWAY THE DROP-IN CENTER
Why? ____________________________________________________________________________________________
7. Would you like to see the Dining Room and Hallway spaces changed? YES NO
8. If yes, briefly describe changes you would like to see. ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. Would you be willing to help make these changes? YES NO
10. If yes, what times are you most likely to be available (circle all that apply)
MORNING AFTERNOONS EVENINGS
PLEASE CONTINUE TO THE BACK FOR A FEW MORE QUESTIONS!
SURVEY Continued…
11. Describe briefly what things you LIKE about the Soup Kitchen:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
12. Describe briefly what things you DO NOT LIKE about the Soup Kitchen:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
13. Any other comments or suggestions on how we can make our Harvest Soup Kitchen better:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for taking the time to fill out this survey. Hopefully this information can help us to improve our Soup Kitchen experience! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me. Again, my name is Jason, I am the young man that is in on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings.
Please return your completed survey to the box marked “SURVEYS”
Thank you! Have a good day and try to stay warm
Client Survey - Front Side Client Survey - Back Side
056055
Client Survey Results Client Survey Results
058057
3.7 Dissolving Boundaries - Challenging Existing Social Structures
Like the cameras, the surveys were another moment when it was important to be critical
in my position, and respond based on my assessment of the relationship that existed
between the diners and me. It’s very likely that it would have been unsuccessful if I’d
tried to do the project right after the camera exercise because we weren’t comfortable
enough yet with one another to work together. Since the survey responses were positive
overall, and expressed interest, I decided to move forward in the direction of doing a
project in the dining room. It is important to note that if there was generally no interest -- if
surveys were not returned or the feedback would have been generally negative, then it
would have been the correct decision to stop and not try force a project. If I would have
gotten a negative reaction, I likely would have read it as either their general lack of trust or
respect towards me, or that there were truthfully no interest in changing the space. Since
this was the essence of the response I received from the cameras, I needed to reformat
my approach before continuing. Another, larger-scaled failed attempt would have led
me to a different type of project. For the sake of the thesis, I likely would have returned to a
larger-scaled project that focused less on engaging the diners and more on engaging the
volunteers in redesigning the kitchen, or potentially a larger-scale master plan for a social
service campus in the existing structure and the empty lot to the east.
I think this is one aspect where we, as architects who are from a different class, often
struggle and need to improve. It again comes back to the idea of working with not for. It
might seem convenient that when working with a soup kitchen, many of the ultimate users
of the space are either volunteers or those who are considered social misfi ts. I fi nd that
both groups usually lack the social weight, the voice, to have an active say in larger scale
choices regarding facilities and program. This leaves the door wide open for architects to
come in and design nearly free of restrictions. Presentations to board members are often
met with little critique from an audience generally lacking experience in architecture. A
few glossy images to ‘sell the space,’ and we are free to experiment within the budget.
More glossy images in a magazine supported by the standard feel good explanation –
“increases ownership, improves the community, and improves the lives of those most in
need.” We conveniently lack the tools to quantify social gain from these projects, so we
ultimately can only critically evaluate their worth based on those glossy images and the
published words that support them.
Too often, I believe, we will push forward and do a project despite a lack of interest. We
justify the progression on the premise that we know best, assuming that these people in
poverty don’t understand what they want and need. Most likely there will not be a large
amount of resistance, but there will also be a lack of engagement with the people who
are supposed to be benefi ting the most from the change. The lack of resistance can
likely be traced to the servers/served relationship. In most aspects of their lives, the people
in the lesser classes are served not in terms of being waited on, but in terms of being
directed what to do. This controlling is the essence of oppression. We dismiss the general
‘disinterest’ as if they do not understand what is best for them. We push forward because
we ‘know best’.
My time at the soup kitchen has taught me that we, as a profession, can do better in
this regard. I want to practice architecture on the premise that I can bring a technical
knowledge to the table, and experience in the logistics of building, but ultimately my
knowledge and experience is only a component of a large body of understanding. As a
facilitator, it is my responsibility to help others articulate their ideas. It is also my responsibility
to understand that sometimes an architectural response is not the correct response.
I believe in the power of architecture and design, but I also believe it needs to be a
component in the human lives that it affects. I am trying to understand to what extent of
engagement is possible with this new client base. That said, after some time I received a
nod by way of the surveys, indicating that these clients are on board for now. With that
understanding I moved forward discussing with Roseanne and Loretta, and then setting
up a callout meeting for what would become the “Dining Room Club.”
060059
3.7.1 Call Out Meeting - Establishing the Dining Room Club
The fi rst Dining Room Club call out meeting was a success despite having a relatively small
turnout. That meeting included, as pictured below, Rosanne, Ron, Dave, and me. I had
planned the meeting with the expectation of introducing myself and speaking in front
of a crowd of 20-30 people. That was the number that expressed interest on the survey.
With the smaller group, I quickly realized that the format of this Dining Room Club, and the
projects that would likely come from it, would be small scale and very informal.
I handed out copies of the survey results and the four of us discussed the results. We
discussed the general feeling of content with the space, staff, and overall service the
soup kitchen was providing, but agreed that something small scale would be appropriate
as many had expressed that they would like to see some change. I suggested that seat
cushions had been expressed and would be a small scale addition. Also, I explained that
painting would likely be within the grasp of our small group. Dave offered up to the group
that he had previously won an award for a painting he had done in Richmond, Indiana. I
asked him if he would be interested in doing a mural. He eagerly agreed, explaining that
he had always been interested in doing something at the larger scale, but never had the
opportunity. Sensing that he was already taking ownership of this portion of the work, I
told him that he was ‘in charge of the mural” Before leaving, he was measuring the wall
and had decided that he would do a 10’ x 6’ mural near the center. He wanted to do his
impression of the biblical scene - The Feeding of the 5000.
During the meeting I had also brought up an interest in breaking the space into smaller
components to accommodate a greater number of smaller groups (5-7 people) who
were typically using the space. They agreed, and understood that the space, as it was
currently arranged, was set up for a large-scale, banquet style dinning. Although the
meeting participants knew a fair number of the other diners, they explained that making
smaller spaces would be good for people that do not get along with the others, or wish
to eat by themselves. We agreed that over the next few weeks we would put together
a design for changing the scale of the space, further defi ne the mural, and develop any
other designs solutions that seemed appropriate. Roseanne asked that we present our
ideas at the next board meeting. We agreed, and laid out the generic schedule that can
be found on following pages.
Roseanne - Board President
Dave - Regular Diner
Ron - Regular Diner
Jason - Volunteer (me)
062061
Dining Room ClubFirst Call Out Meeting
WHEN This Thursday at 10:30 a.m.
Feburary 24, 2011
WHERE Harvest Soup Kitchen
In the Dining Room - There will be a sign!
WHY Improve Your Dining Experience
I am looking for a group of people that want to help make some simple improvements to the dinning room and hallway.
Bring your ideas!
Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.Helen Keller
Thank you!Jason Klinker
Call Out Meeting Poster
Enlarged Dining Room Plan (Existing Arrangement)
Basement Floor Plan (Existing Arrangement)
064063
Existing Dining Room Existing Dining Room
066065
Call Out Meeting
Discuss plans, progress on material collection, general planning
Start working on some mock-ups, have paint or some funding located
Group to present ideas to board
Construction
Complete Construction
Observe Reactions?
Complete Project
Thursday, Feb. 24
Thursday, March 04
Thursday, March 11
Wednesday, March 16
Thursday, March 24
Thursday, March 31
Thursday, April 07
Thursday, April 14
plan
ning
build
obse
rve
Preliminary Dining Room Club Schedule
Project schedule determined at call out meeting
The next couple of weeks went well, but not quite how I had planned. When the schedule
had been created, Ron, Dave and I would come together on Thursdays after lunch, and
we would have discussions much like during the fi rst week about design decisions and how
we would proceed. We would work together to fi nd materials, some on our own and some
collectively. Also, we would work to develop some presentation materials for the board
meeting. These would include some sketches and diagrams that we would work together
on. I would supplement these with computer graphics. With materials located and some
collected, we could work together to build mock-ups of proposals etc.
In reality, the soup kitchen fl ooded twice over the next two weeks, eliminating two of the
six days. . Dave didn’t make it to the meeting on the 4th, and Ron was not there on the
11th. Realizing early during the second week that these things were not going to pan out
exactly as I had thought they would, I went ahead and developed some quick design
concepts: a platform with partial height walls to break up the space, cardboard squares
in a checker pattern to both frame the mural and tie the smaller seating arrangements
together, and a bright colored paint to make the children’s area more fun. Each Monday,
Thursday, and Saturday, I would come in with some sketches and ideas. I usually would
run into Ron and on occasion Dave. I would run my ideas by them. Ron helped me work
through some details for the platform -- the platform could have a wall, but there still must
be clear visibility for Jeff, the security guard, to see through the space. It needed to be
movable for a variety of reasons. In the nights leading up to the board meeting, I hustled
to locate and construct a full-scale, partial model of the platform (pallets and plywood).
I put together a preliminary cost estimate based on paint and the little bit of plywood I
would need to buy. And most importantly, I modeled the dining room to illustrate where
the new paint would go, the effects the cardboard squares would have, the location and
scale of the mural and platform relative to the rest of the room. It was a tool to allow them
to see what we were explaining at the meeting.
3.8 Personalizing the Relationships - Redesiging the Dining Room
068067
As the board meeting snuck ever closer, I was starting to feel a little guilty. Outside of a
few 15-minuite talks here and there, I had completely eliminated Ron and Dave from the
design. I felt like I was falling into that same old trap of designing for them. Then the 16th
came along. The board meeting was schedule for 5pm at the soup kitchen. I contacted
Loretta to see if she could run over and let me in the building so I could set up the pallet
mock-up and drop off some of the other materials. We went over around noon, an hour
after the soup kitchen closes. I had been worrying about Ron and Dave working on the
project at all, let alone showing up for the board meeting. There they sat; on the stoop of
the soup kitchen, waiting for me to show up. For the next hour, we had our second group
meeting. We assembled the pallets, talked about the model and the paint colors I had
found. Dave showed us the sketches he had been working on of the mural.
The way those two weeks played themselves out was a glimpse of what my role as the
architect, and the facilitator would be. Getting input from them as I developed designs,
having them involved in the development of the schedule and the overall plan, and
trusting Dave to develop the ideas for the mural were enough to keep them involved.
(Opposite Page) Some quick perspectives were developed to describe the idea of the cardboard squares to Ron and Dave. (Above) Thumbnail sketches as we worked through ideas for creating smaller scale spaces. (Right) Images from the board meeting. Ron sits next to a board member above, the board discusses fi nancial concerns below.
070069
3.9 Growing and Building Together - Remodeling the Dining Room
The weeks that followed the board meeting was where my relationship with Ron and Dave
grew. We spent the next few weeks working together. Joined by one of my colleagues,
Emily, we primed and painted, glued cardboard, and constructed a platform. During that
time, there was growing support for the project. Ron, Dave and I received an increasing
number of compliments from diners, volunteers, and board members. Other diners
frequently offered help as we were hanging cardboard squares during lunch. Some would
pass squares up to me on the ladder. Others asked if they could glue a piece on the wall.
Ron quietly expressed some concern when Dave eagerly accepted the mural job. “I don’t know man, some of these artist, they are crazy with the stuff they make,” he would mumble. As Dave’s mural progressed, I would frequently catch Ron discreetly admiring it as he would walk by. His comments became less doubtful and much more proud as the mural was getting wrapped up.
Willie, a regular diner was eager for a photo shoot with Roseanne. Willie helped glue up a few squares. He also still has one of my disposable cameras!
Dave recently was asking me if he could put images of the mural in a portfolio for an art school application. I am not sure if he will get in or not, but applying is a start!
072071
Cardboard Squares and Mural (Nearly Finished Above, Progression Sequence on Opposite Page)
074073
Kids Area: Chalkboard Paint and Cardboard Paint(Finished Above, Progression Sequence on Opposite Page)
076075
Pallet Platform and Base Paint(Nearly Finished Above, Progression Sequence on Opposite Page)
077
3.10 Observing the Response
Unfortunately, we have had some unforeseen events in the last couple of weeks. Insurance
is covering having the fl ood damaged fl oors cleaned. Since those workers have been in
and out of the space during the last few weeks, there has not been time to administer
any formal observations like surveys and interviews. Based on the responses that we have
gotten informally, I would assume that people have enjoyed the process and the fi nal
product that has come from the work The Dining Room Club has done.
I believe that the soup kitchen project has done much more than the physcial results
that are on the walls and fl oors. I believe it has sparked a lot of interest in doing projects
at the soup kitchen. The board has put together a committee that is working on either
doing extensive remodeling of the kitchen, or looking into buying a different facility that
is ADA accessible. Dave has been excited by the response he has been getting and is
feeling motivated to apply to art school, or if nothing else, pursue art a little more seriously.
I mention to Ron now and then that he will have to take charge of getting some plants in
the top of those pallets because I am leaving after the school year. I hope to still volunteer
on Saturdays, so I am going to see if I can get him to help me get some in there.
When there is a chance over the next few weeks, I hope to administer another survey
similar to the one that I had done originally. This follow up survey will focus on quantifying
some of the positive responses we have gotten.
Chapter 4
A Shared Perspective:Practitioners Focused on Non-Traditional Clients
082
4.1 Creating a Taxonomy
As I was wrapping up much of the work in the dining room, I found that I had developed
what seemed to be an effective way of moving through one of these projects. At least at
a small scale as an academic study, fi t within a semester. I was comfortable with many of
the social relations and the what was seeming to work and not work in terms of engaging
and motivating the diners and the people in need. I had even managed to understand
better how to engage clients that are typically carry an incredibly heavy stereotype. I was
curious though how this would apply all of this in a professional market, make money to
pay my bills and support myself, and still manage to continue doing work that I found to
be meaningful.
The following was my approach to better understanding the professional possibilities. I
identifi ed and profi led fi ve people, in various stages of their careers, which I felt were doing
work that I could do and still feel I was meeting my personal goal of helping people and
doing socially responsible architecture. Against that, I have put the work I have done at
the soup kitchen and in the past through Habitat for Humanity, ReBuilding together, and
through Freedom by Design. Freedom by Design was a project I co-captain for my third
year of architecture school. Jamie and I organized a group of about twelve undergraduate
students and led them through the design and construction of an enclosed canopy over
a wheel chair ramp and remodeled a residential bathroom to make it ADA accessible.
The goal of this juxtaposition of me and my work to the others was to better understand
where what I was doing fi t into that larger body of work that was being done.
084083
Jason KlinkerHarvest Soup Kitchen
Mission:
Using architecture as a tool, I work to actively engage
people, providing them appropriate support as they move
to shape their worlds.
Location:
Muncie, Indiana
Education:
MArch, Ball State University (2011); B.S. Architecture, Ball
State University (2008)
Professional Experience:
Architectural Intern [4 Years]
Community Volunteer Work [2 Years]
Introduction
Currently I am a Masters of Architecture candidate at Ball State, where I have pushed
my focus to include a better understanding of the social dynamics of architecture. Being
interested in both construction and volunteer work, I have volunteered with Habitat
for Humanity as a general laborer. I have also done work with ReBuilding Together in
Chicago. There I was a general laborer, assistant house captain, and a member of the
logistics committee planning for their one day building blitz. I fi nd that I enjoy working for
these organizations as it surrounds me with others that are volunteering. This translates into
people that are excited to be there, not there by force.
My forth year at Ball State, while working on my BS in Architecture, I co-captained, with
Jamie Owens, the Freedom by Design chapter. Freedom by Design is a component of the
American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) that focuses on bringing design solutions
to the handicapped and elderly. Our group located a client on the south side of Muncie,
14-year old Chase, who had been hit by a car and was consequently paralyzed from his
waist down. We worked with Chase and his mother, Penny, to defi ne a scope of work,
design a solution, and complete the project. For this case, we built an enclosed canopy
over Chase’s existing wheelchair ramp. Also, we remodeled their bathroom, installing a
roll-in shower and ADA compliant sink, toilet, and grab bars.
My professional experience has included several years of work in a small Fort Wayne
architecture offi ce. I also spent a year working with a fi rm in Chicago. With this experience,
I have realized that I enjoy most components of the architectural process. Likely my future
professional work will be at a small scale fi rm offering a more holistic experience. One of
my goals for the next 5-years is to get my professional license.
086085
Jason | Questions
1. How can an architect, with a relatively limited amount of time on a project, come to
really know the place, the people that the design is impacting?
After doing the work at the soup kitchen, I would say that in many ways it is more important
to focus on earning the trust of those you are working with than trying to gather information.
It seems like as the people there would gain trust in me, they would allow me to see more
of who they are. This is a pretty straight forward concept, but I think we overlook it and only
focus on getting information.
2. When the culture of a place sees relatively no value in Architecture (design), but basis
its survival on architecture (shelter), what is the role we play as architects? How do we
negotiate this line?
Early in the semester, I thought I had fi gured it out in a way. No one was openly upset with
the way things were and the soup kitchen was operating pretty effi ciently for the most
part. My initial response was that ‘it meets the basic needs,’ that is all these people seem
to care about. Now, after seeing their reaction to changing the dining room, I see that
there really is a place for ‘nice things’ in these scenarios too. I still am not sold on the idea
that the specifi cs are that important. I think it is more the idea that people are making
effort, they see the potential for things to get better and they are moving in that direction.
I think our role, early in these projects, is to be the person that takes that fi rst step. I think
people will naturally follow, assuming that you continue to walk with them until they feel
comfortable doing it on their own.
3. As a college graduate, a person of privilege, how do I earn the trust of someone who
lacks most, if not all, social privilege?
An example of this, when I fi rst attempted to talk to Mr. Hibbs it was when I was handing
out the cameras. My focus was getting them to provide me information. It failed. I realized
that I was in “their house,” and they were going to be the ones that set the rules and the
pace. I knew that Mr. Hibbs was going to be a good way for me to really see what it took
to earn this trust. That fi rst interaction, I was given a couple sentences from him, at best.
Since that moment, I was sure to engage him, by name, every time I saw him. Last week I
had a 5-min conversation with Mr. Hibbs about the changes in the dining room and if he
liked it. It was mostly small talk, but relative to the fi rst interaction, that level of trust is much
higher.
4. What is a method for engaging; empowering and exiting that will maintain ownership
and drive in others?
I think the main thing, again, is getting them to trust you. Once you have earned their
trust, then it becomes almost a game of confi dence building. My assumption is that most
people these days can use a little support now and then. It is good to be critical, but if you
want them to take ownership, you want to make them proud of what they do. That does
not happen when you take the paint brush away because they ‘are doing it wrong.’
5. What comes fi rst, the relationship or the project?
I think it needs to be a back and forth. The relationship, most times, should precede the
project if the goal is to build a sense of ownership. You have to establish enough trust to get
them to work with you, then a small scale, faster moving project seems to be a wonderful
way to grow those relationships. Spending 10-hours painting a room with a couple guys
becomes a great time to learn about one another.
6. How do you determine an appropriate amount of work?
This seems like something that you just have to feel out as you go. Hector had mentioned
the importance of this being a very organic process. In many ways you just do something
small and then one thing leads to the next. If you focus on getting the fi rst steps right. I think
the rest will just come naturally.
7. Implementing formalities of codes, insurance, liability, etc. in a very informal situation?
I still am not sure how to handle this situation. Hector had spoken about just sort of going
out and building stuff, never having insurance or anything. I think you just have to be
responsible, if it seems dangerous, then you need act appropriately. I believe that getting
a grasp of this is something you just develop over time. I have an understanding, but I
have a lot more to learn in terms of construction, structures, etc. before I am ready to
take on projects much larger than the soup kitchen. I think getting my license is maybe an
087
indicator for me that I am ready to start stepping out a little more.
8. As you do more of these projects, is it ok to establish a ‘routine,’ or does each start the
process open ended?
I think you can routinely make it your goal to approach the situation with an open mind,
earn the trust and get comfortable with the people and the situation, and then you can
respond appropriately. I don’t think it is a good idea to go into a situation with a solution
or project in mind.
9. How do you approach the timeline of projects? What is a good pace to move through
the process – not to push to hard, but avoiding stagnation and loss of interest?
I think that the pace I worked at the soup kitchen actually worked out really well. There
has been some confl icting things, me in school, the fl oors being stripped and waxed, etc.
that are slowing that pace a bit. I am starting to get the sense that most of us are ready to
‘cut the ribbon’ on the project. One of the mornings when it fl ooded, Johnny and I were
mopping up the water. He stared getting frustrated when we had worked for a couple
hours and had no visual improvement. He said, “I need to see that what I am doing is
changing something.” I think that is a good rule of thumb for pace. If it is something larger
that is not going to show a lot of change in the short time, then you want something small
to give that sense of accomplishment as you are working towards the larger goal.
10. How does the work at the soup kitchen relate to larger scale issues?
I think that the work that I am doing at Harvest, and really the work that everyone I have
profi led is doing, it has a direct impact on larger issues. At Harvest, there is clearly a
developing sense of worth, confi dence, ownership. We have also created a lot of bridges
between people where no relationship previously existed. I think anytime you are able to
co-mingle with various age, race, and social classes and move in a positive direction, you
are working on the larger issues.
088
Jason | Images
089
Jason | Wordle Diagram
A Wordle is generated by taking portions of text and sorting it out by word count. The
larger words are words used most frequently in the body of text. It is a helpful tool because
it provides a graphic snapshot of a theme. In this case, I have utilized it as a method of
analyzing for six designers, including myself. Each Wordle is comprised of a range of text
from the designer’s body of work. This provides a more general theme for the designer.
My wordle, based primarily on my abstract, has an emphasis on community, project,
people, and architecture. I believe this is a pretty accurate overview of my focus at this
point in my career. This abstract was done early in the process, so it will be interesting to a
compile a Wordle of my fi nal manuscript. I feel that I have sense used more names, Ron,
Dave, Loretta, Roseanne, Willie, for example. These, and more specifi c terms like Harvest
and dining room should replace generic terms like project and community.
090
Jason | Characteristics Diagram
Jason Klinker
publicity
/promotio
n
work focuse
s on
creating fu
ture
practitioners
energy focused on relationships/understanding
place
time
with
clie
nt“l
ivin
g w
ages
” fro
m
prod
uced
wor
k
openly address
larger social issues
scale of early
humanitarian
projects
focus on discourse
characteristicslarger circle = greater level
091
Ryan EllsworthAmeriCorps at Greater Muncie Habitat for Humanity
Mission:
To practice as a registered architect specializing in
affordable housing, design for aging, and community-
based projects and to use architecture as a means to
serve the unique people and places in which I live.
Location:
Muncie, Indiana
Education:
MArch, Ball State University (2010); B.S. Architecture, Ball
State University (2009)
Professional Experience:
Architectural Intern [1.5 Years]
India Based Architectural Experience [1 Year]
Teaching Assistant Cultural and Social Issues [1 Year]
092
Introduction
Ryan is a recent graduate with his Master’s degree in Architecture from Ball State. He
currently is working with Habitat for Humanity in Muncie, IN. As part of his service through
AmeriCorps, Ryan is assisting with green building initiatives, designing neighborly housing
options, and leading volunteer construction teams. Although currently looking for a more
permanent position in a fi rm, Ryan expresses an eager liking for his current position at
Habitat. He has described an interest in a position that puts him directly involved with the
action, on site learning and building relationships with people. It is not surprising that a
position where he is building houses and “kicking in doors” of abandoned houses fi ts well.
Aside from his current work with Habitat, Ryan spent a year in India as a Volunteer
Intern Architect through the Engineering Ministries International. As part of this position,
he produced architectural renderings for new schools, health clinics, orphanages, and
administrative buildings. Aside from producing documents, he had signifi cant contact
with and become part of a local people. This was facilitated through the leading of
programming meetings and client presentations, while also volunteering with several
humanitarian efforts in the community.
Ryan’s time in India further expanded his already sensitive world view. As he describes
it, “this was the perfect place for me to cultivate ideas in architecture regarding cultural
sensitivity, sense of place, regional identity, and the importance of human relationships to
the built environment.” These concepts are the basis of much of his undergraduate and
graduate work including two papers, “Changing Neighborhoods & the Importance of
Place,” and “Architecture for Critical Relationship.” This work qualifi ed him for a teaching
assistant position in a series of Cultural and Social Issues where he presented class lectures
on cultural interaction and social issues through design.
093
Ryan | Questions
1. Your work to date expresses an obvious concern and fi ght against what you term a
“global sameness.” Could you provide a few examples through your career where this fi ght
was specifi cally challenged? Were there moments when you have had to compromise on
this idea?
I’m going to drop some quotes on you here just to help spell out a defi nition of place,
global sameness, relationships, etc.
“To love a person means to see him as God intended him to be.”
- Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“Beloved Architecture! In the end, it’s materials, it’s origins, it’s own relatively short life span seems so
human and so touching that we are bound to consider it affectionately.”
- Aldo Rossi
“What makes architecture particular? The possibility of building anything anywhere is architecture’s
greatest crisis and challenge.”
- Michael Sorkin
“Region inspires and grounds the American experience. Whether we are drawn to them or fl ee from
them, the places in which we live etch themselves into our memory in powerful, enduring ways.”
- William Ferris
I’d say my experience with global sameness just refers to a stabbing feeling in the gut
when I feel like decisions are made to the built environment that have only to do with cost
and profi t margins and do not consider the people for whom they will serve. It also has to
do with the environment. Building the exact same tract house in Indiana that you would
build in Florida just because air conditioning will make up the difference does not pay any
attention to place. Sprawling suburbs and McGalliard Streets are another example. Mass
094
produced building materials that are available in every corner of the country... (not much
you can do... and it’s convenient...i dunno... i digress).
2. Many ‘humanitarian efforts’ in architecture and design focus on international causes.
In your opinion, do you perceive these efforts as being more helpful or harmful? How do
these efforts fi t into your understandings of place and cautions of a global sameness?
I believe that everyone, rich or poor, has the ability to take the resources available to
them and use them to help others. In that light, I believe it is good that architects should
desire to take their professional knowledge to help other people in different places and
cultures. Humanitarian efforts however have the power to hurt or to help. Nobody going
into a new culture for the fi rst time should presume to know what it will take to provide
“help.” Effective humanitarian aid comes through long-term commitments and careful
relationships. It takes a long time to really understand what it means to be from a particular
place with its history, culture, climate, etc. Those willing to really invest themselves in a
particular place will in time be able to be helpful.
3. At these early stages in your career, what are your goals and objectives? Are there
certain projects, fi rms, or opportunities that you are looking for and those you are avoiding?
How have you been able to distinguish between them?
At this point I am really looking to build experience in a traditional fi rm setting with the
intent to be ‘more helpful’ in the future to other people and places. I’ve never been much
of a corporate ladder climber and I prefer to work on relatively small-scale projects that
impact local people and communities.
4. How do you view yourself and the work you are doing as part of a larger humanitarian
effort? Is your role, a part of a larger whole, something you frequently consider, and if so,
how do you adjust yourself to respond to these r¬¬efl ections?
I would say that the work I am currently doing for Habitat for Humanity is very much a
part of a bigger whole. It is about mobilizing the entire community toward a greater goal
or purpose. Habitat helps to bridge income and racial barriers; it also helps to provide
awareness of Muncie’s ongoing needs. I do consider the impact of my role quite often. I
would probably have a hard time if I felt like the work I was doing did not have a bigger
purpose to it.
095
5. You speak frequently of the importance of ‘place’ and ‘rootedness’. At what scale do
you consider these themes to be relevant? Do you feel that this scale changes as we
become what many refer to as a ‘shrinking world?’
I think the ideas of place and rootedness apply to every scale. To one’s own household,
to ones neighbors and neighborhood, to city, state, and country. Basically, I think that
while we become a more and more global society and the world continues to shrink, it
makes some sense to try to maintain a sense of identity. I think every scale of place comes
with its own culture. When one culture comes in contact with another, they change. And
I think that’s a great thing. I would defi ne rootedness as ‘having a sense of one’s self in a
specifi c environment.’ It seems to me that as we embrace a more global culture, it can
be easy to lose track of some of the simple things that link a person with a particular place.
Capitalizing on the uniqueness of one’s identity within a place can be a great way to add
meaning. For architects, capitalizing on place and roots adds richness and depth to a
project and provides the client something they can truly identify with.
6. As a recent graduate, do you fi nd personal fi nances something that causes concern on
a fairly regular basis? What are some of the careers you have considered that will provide
the funding you need to support yourself, but also allow you to do work that focuses on a
client base that generally cannot afford typical design and architectural fees?
Well, working or volunteering for Habitat is a great way! Perhaps another way is to simply
understand that a traditional architecture fi rm exists because it can generate income.
Working for a fi rm, or starting a fi rm, that values ideas such as ‘public architecture’ or social
needs, can be a great way to channel resources into something you care about.
7. What methods have you put into practice to evaluate the success of your work both in
meeting personal goals and professional goals?
8. Do you feel that you have a ‘partner,’ professional or personal, that helps you to manage
what, for me, seems to be a pretty intense life path – humanitarian based practice?
Well, having a wife that shares similar values is a tremendous help and blessing. We have
very different professions, but in a way our outcomes are the same. Building relationships
with people and learning from them tie it all together. Also, a strong mutual interest in new
places and cultures means that we both have a desire to live overseas again at some
point.
096
9. Last question, if you could paint the perfect picture of yourself in 30-years, what would
it look like?
Honoring God, loving my family and friends, serving people. If I can still manage to do all
of those things well in 30 years, I’ll be doing pretty good. If being an architect is still a part
of that deal, so be it. Really you can have those values in any profession... I just happen to
like building and buildings...
I might also add that there is nothing too scientifi c about my thoughts on place and
rootedness. It starts from feelings and refl ections and it’s a way to try and make sense of
it all.
097
Ryan | Observations
Ryan, like several others I have profi led as part of this work, is an inspiration to me, in
many ways, maybe the largest of the group. Earning his Master’s in Architecture from
Ball State only a year before me, I have had the privilege of sharing a classroom with him
as we participated in a discussion based elective course led by Professor Olon Dotson.
This course explored the depths of what Dotson refers to as “The Fourth World,” – third
world conditions in a fi rst world country. We touched on topics ranging from the effects of
shrinking cities and sprawl to racial and class tensions. Ryan was passionate and insightful
in his input. The following year, I sat in on several of Ryan’s thesis reviews where he did a
wonderful project on senior housing and the importance of place making.
The work Ryan has done in India and the work he is doing now with Habitat has a heavy focus
on creating a sense of place while also addressing some of the larger issues that plaque
those in poverty – a lack of identity and a place that is their own. It follows in many of the
principles that have been outlined as key components to developing communities and
empowering the people in them. The work he has done with the organizations focuses on
participatory design that develops based on local material, sustainable building practices,
vernacular architectural language. The construction and implementation of these designs
have frequently been done by local workers. One thing that I fi nd to be lacking ever so
slightly is the application of a broader scale set of conditions that are consistent with work
similar to this in other locations. Working to build a database of successful work based on
an agreed upon quantitative and qualitative criteria, will help to build a stronger case for
doing these locally based works.
It is diffi cult for me to be critical of folks like Ryan. I fi nd that he possesses an incredible,
unfortunately rare, personality that pushes him to always search for an understanding
of all people and things around him. Being rather reserved, I cannot imagine Ryan ever
reaching the international or even national acclaim of a Bryan Bell or Emily Pilloton. This
speaks not of an inability or lack of intelligence, but to an uncompromised dedication to
098
personal beliefs of place and rootedness, and to the people around him. I consider Ryan
to be an underrated, almost ‘dark-horse,’ in the movement of humanitarian design. His
dedication to those around him is at the essence of what this humanitarian, grass roots
ideal is about. He is that one small voice that simply amplifi es all the voices around him.
099
Ryan | Images
100
Ryan| Wordle Diagram
Ryan’s Wordle is from his short autobiography. My understanding is that he compiled this
autobiography as part of his thesis project. Although, I like his terms, people, place and
relationships, better than the almost hyper generic words I use like community, they are
still fairly generic in their true sense and understanding of place. My assumption is that the
nature of Ryan’s work at Habitat would still be in ‘generic terms.’ His work in India appears
to be much more personal.
Would these ‘fi rst name relationships,’ that I have at Harvest now, and Ryan likely had
in India because of the level of need from our, the designer’s, perspective? At Harvest,
I really needed, and worked hard to establish a level of trust from the onset. Without a
name, it becomes much more diffi cult to move conversations past a simple ‘hello.’ Ryan
in India is based on his need as well. Much more urgent, Ryan, as an absolute outsider,
needed to establish those relationships quickly and with some merit. He likely needed this
more intimate level of conversation to gain basic survival information. A good question for
Ryan would be, “What are the names of your clients?” In ‘main stream’ practice, we need
good working relationships with clients, they pay for our survival. A fi rst step in working with
a ‘non-paying’ client might simply be “call them by their names.”
101
Ryan | Characteristics Diagram
characteristicslarger circle = greater level
Ryan Ellsworth
publicity
/promotio
n
work focuse
s on
creating fu
ture
practitioners
energy focused on relationships/understanding
place
time
with
clie
nt“l
ivin
g w
ages
” fro
m
prod
uced
wor
k
openly address
larger social issues
scale of early
humanitarian
projects
focus on discourse
102
103
Hector LaSalaUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette
Mission:
The Building Institute’s goal is to create a setting outside of,
yet built upon the traditional studio setting. In this way, a
student’s design approach can be expanded. In fact, the
setting of the Building Institute and the new design process
it endeavors to teach is an extension and transformation
of the traditional studio. Design cannot be relegated to
only one locale; it is fl uid, continuous and morphs to its
setting.
Location:
Lafayette, Louisiana
Education:
B. Architecture, University of Louisiana (1973); MArch, Texas
A&M University (1976)
Professional Experience:
Practicing Architect for 30+ years
Professor for 25+ years
104
Introduction
As a professor of Architecture at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Hector LaSala
is a leading voice in the Building Institute Studio Program. This program is a design-build
formatted studio experience through the universities architecture program. As listed by
the website, the program fi nds its inspiration from the following quote.
“What Michael Walzer calls ‘connected social critics’ [are those who,] unlike the armchair
philosopher, disavow a posture of theoretical detachment, preferring instead to identify with and
engage the historical experience and culture of his or her time. Occupying the contested terrain of
social life, avoiding the blind loyalty to the status quo, the social critic sees political argument as a
way of resolving pressing practical problems of human beings.”
- Jeffrey Isaac, ARENDT, CAMUS, AND THE MODERN REBELLION
The studio format aims at addressing the gap that often exists between theory and practice.
This is achieved through hands-on service-learning, countering “theoretical detachment”
and nurturing “social critics.” They charge students to build, but even more importantly to
“act.” This stems from a belief that “the act of making meaningful architecture requires our
students to take responsibility for their designs: cultural, social, political, fi scal and technical
responsibilities, to name a few. [And,] the act of designing and making meaningful
architecture requires rigor and tolerance - from both faculty and students.”
As part of the Building Institute Studio Program, Hector has led, with W. Geoff Gjerston, AIA,
a series of Acadiana Outreach Center Projects. These were an opportunity to achieve
another challenge the Building Institute has set for itself. That is aiming to open new
paths for the students through the learning process. This achievement was met with the
immersion of students “into a social context that they have rarely encountered in any
meaningful way: the world of chronic poverty, homelessness, addiction, mental illness,
and the non-profi t agencies that are the trenches of these societal battlefronts.” In the fall
of 2003, there was an opportunity to do just that. The director of the Acadiana Outreach
105
center contacted the School of Architecture in need of help designing a storage system
to aid in donations. As the site observations were taking place, there was an observation
that there was “a terrible contradiction: while the Center’s mission is ‘Giving People Back
Their God-Given Dignity,’ the physical environment and facilities were depressing, coarse,
and spiritually degrading. From this observation came the development of a master plan
for the center, and over the next 3-years, seventeen, strategic, ‘fast-tracked’ projects on
the site. The projects started at a small scale of $400 and $500 and grew into larger scale
projects upwards of $10,000. All total, $76,956 was spent on projects over the 3-year period.
Completed in 2006, the range of effects these projects have had on the 10,000 plus people
it touched are beginning to show through. They estimate the value of the work at two to
three times the cost of work.
106
Hector | Questions
1. It appears that this series of projects at The Outreach Center started from a request from
Valerie Keller. Was there a previous relationship established with The Outreach Center, or
was the project the fi rst contact with the group?
He did not know Keller, but she had just taken over the center. She was relatively young,
24-25. She had been there for like 9 months, and she realized that they needed better
method for organizing the donations of clothes they were getting in. She was friends with
someone that was a professor at the college, he recommended Hector. That is how it
all started. The fi rst time that I had seen the sight was when we did the fi rst walk through.
When he went there and walked around with her, he pointed out that the facilities were
sort of in contrast to their very mission. He had suggested that she was addressing an issue,
but they had a much larger issue that they could start to address.
“Part of the reason that we were so successful, is because we let it all happen very
organically, opposed to typically you usually fi nish the master plan and then sit and wait
for funding to come through. We saw the need to do something immediately because we
had built all this excitement, and did not want to lose that.”
2. From here, the completion of the 3-year series of projects, do you continue to do this
sort of work with other organizations? If so, what is the approach to initiate these future
projects? How do you spark these relationships when none formally exist?
We had nine students, three did the bench, three the gazebo, and three the bus stop.
Again, this is outside studio, these are just extra credit type projects. All of the work we
have done has been done in this way. That summer we found an unused warehouse on
the site. We suggested that they use this as a place to do a little store (donation shop)
where they could do that donation redistribution. So we did a façade so that it would read
as that. So by the end of the summer we had done three small projects and one medium
sized project. So at this point is when things started to get pretty exciting. We had showed
them that we were able to do some really good work for a pretty small amount of money
107
and mostly just putting labor into it. At this point, people are getting pretty excited and
things are starting to get donated.
We were getting things donated like the chain link fence all was donated by a chain link
guy. The point where generosity was being aroused and that is how we were able to do so
much, then the newspaper starts doing articles and so people you know, they just wanted
to join. They just wanted to be part of it.
Right now we are starting on a 74-Unit mixed use affordable housing project. It is a 12
million dollar project. The housing is not necessarily just for the clients but for people that
are making 60% of the median income. So basically, anyone making less than $28,000 can
qualify for this housing. It has all spurred from the work from the outreach center.
3. Could you provide more insight into the logistics of working with the ‘residents’ on
projects? How did they fi t into the schedule? What skill sets did they bring to the table, and
how did you gain knowledge of these skills? How many residents took part, and how were
they selected?
Actually the residents participated in the third project that we did. The third project was
a pocket park. There is a residential area the people there would move through this area
from their residence to the areas where they would get treatment like AA and this was
often at night. It was very dark and muddy. We found a $5,000 grant to do this park. We
did a vegetable garden and they helped us to.
The project after that was actually a small outdoor performance space. We actually had
inmates that helped us on that. Ironically, a lot of them were in jail because of drugs.
Many of them had been carpenters or had experience in construction. Then there were
the residents, some of them, of course, had never done work like this, as was the case
with most of our students. So in a way, the inmates were the ones that were teaching
our students and the residents there. We dedicated at the ceremony to the inmates, but
when we asked if they could come and we could honor there were they said no, and so
that was sort of sad.
It is sort of just a work release program. These are inmates that you know, have good
behavior, and so we had heard about the program and just contacted the prison and
108
asked if we could get some help from them. So they went ahead and selected some guys
for us to use.
The actually wore the striped suits when they came to the site. You know the ones you
see in cartoons ya know. It was initially a shock to them, the students. It was about 11:30
when they showed up. We had gotten some pizza and drinks, you know, we fi gured they
had probably not had a good pizza in a while, so we got some pizza. Of course, when we
saw them come with the striped suits, it really freaked them out. So there was some of that
initial stereotype that these are inmates. Yes, yes there was at the beginning, but it did not
last for long.
The other project that we did with residences was the mosaic. We had contacted a
professor that has done a lot of murals. One of my colleagues, his father-in-law is a building
contractor, and so he loaned us a lot of scaffolding. Well one of the things that he said
to us was that the contractors, they will have a lot of extra materials after projects and
they can’t use them and the clients never want them…so that is how we got a lot of our
materials. So using this, the university has established a good working relationship with a
lot of contractors and builders that we are able to get materials and things. So the mosaic
came from this, because we had a lot of fl ooring tiles.
4. Did you fi nd that some of the projects were more successful in creating a sense of
ownership and place for the residents? What aspects of the projects do you feel was most
successful in creating that sense of ownership?
First of all, I think that we were very receptive. We saw that there were 100 needs but
because we felt the need to deliver something, we found that they had recognized 3
immediate needs were 3-fold. So we did the bench and the bus stop because there was
nowhere for people to sit in the shade while they were waiting for the bus. Then the third
project, we had recognized that so many of these half-way houses were so crowded
with 6-10 people in each and you know of course all of these people smoke. So what
we recognized that these people needed a place to get away from one another, so
we made a gazebo. The three projects we chose were so tangible, so immediate to that
need, they immediately accepted that we were able to understand what they needed,
and then of course we went ahead and built it, ya know.
109
Then the great thing big thing was the garden. We knew that we had done something
when we started to notice the residence cleaning things, cleaning the yard. Then one
of the half-way houses, 12-men, one Saturday, actually cleaned their yard, made some
planters, even had put up the little solar lights you know. This is awesome, for the fi rst time
they are taking ownership of this house that is not even theirs. So that was, that was a
pretty big deal!
We fi nd that beyond the physical labor and the benefi t of what we build, and it is a much
bigger need of them, is to see that somebody cares. And so when they saw the students,
especially when we did the warehouse, when they saw us working that summer, they were
just in awe. That these young kids were actually sweating and building this thing in the
middle of the summer, it was pretty impressive.
5. At what scale do you lose the opportunity to use student and resident labor? How do
you handle OSHA, insurance, and other types of formal regulations when working on these
pretty informal projects?
Basically, there was a guy at your school, a professor that had asked this question because
he had been trying to put together a design build project and the university was not
letting him because of the insurance and all of these things. The amazing thing, we were
so naive, and that was one nice thing about being so organic we just didn’t know any
better, we were so under the radar that the university did not even really know what we
were doing. They really did not know what we were doing – I mean our guys were just out
there building shit. It was really so modest in the beginning that by the time the university
had become aware of it, we had built all kinds of stuff. We never had insurance, we still
don’t have insurance. Well now the university is so proud of our accomplishments but if we
would have waited around for the school to get us insurance, I don’t think it ever would
have happened. We never had a building permit, we never bought insurance, and we
never went to zoning. Remember, this part of town is totally abandoned and overlooked.
(He begins talking about the coming about of the current transitional housing project.)
At this point we had been published in Metropolis and had presented 3-4 papers at
universities and stuff. It had come to me and to a lot of my students that a lot of the
experience in the internship project, pretty much was awful. Some was ok but for the
most part it is just so insensitive. A great deal of our efforts to instill the ideal of caring and
110
do projects that matter, it is just not really what most fi rms do. So we said maybe we do
something equivalent to doctors do. Where that internship process is doing work for the
poor, basically they learn medicine by providing service for people that cannot afford
the doctors. So that is where our model had begun. Why do the universities not offer these
opportunities for architecture students and graduates to actually learn that level of training
that the internship provides, but instead of doing it with a fi rm, every university creates this
opportunity to provide those services pro-bono. So I started doing this design build, which
is good, but really is too small a scale to change the way things are.
So that is where we jumped into this next project. We had 3-4 students that had
worked with the design build projects, and they got IDP credits by working on projects
for the outreach center, but at a much larger scale like a dormitory, bathrooms, and of
course this last one, the downtown housing. He got not only pay, but also internship credit.
6. Do you think that your work that you did at the Outreach Center must be there fi rst. As in,
those relationships and that understanding has to be in place fi rst, before moving to larger
scale projects?
Yes, absolutely. I will tell you what, the design build; we do it with our freshman with our
sophomores. I think it is important at that level. That is basically how we did a lot of the
things at the outreach center. That is where you can make them aware of that whole
world that they are basically ignorant about. The horrible poverty and addiction and no
profi t, but the medical model is mostly for graduate school. You have to build when they
have that initial entrance into the world of the profession at the level of altruism, and
generosity, and caring. Then you have them hooked. Then when they get to graduate
school, it is about practicing at another level.
7. In general, how do you fi nance these projects? How far do you plan a project before
funding is secured?
Most of the fi rst small projects were just funded by the students. The park was the fi rst one
we had gotten a grant on and then the amphitheater. We had a professor that had
donated 1000 CMU’s, we had labor from the prisoners, the Outreach Center gave us
some money to buy other materials. So it was like a complete diverse funding source. The
mosaic, we basically had all the tiles. The painting of the plaza, I think the outreach center
111
gave us money to buy some house paint. The parking lot was interesting because we had
to borrow a back hoe from a contractor because to dig up the slab was just going to
take too long. When we actually cut the ribbon to the park, the contractor came to the
event and we obviously acknowledged him and thank him. He was so excited. He asked
us what our next project was and we told him we needed to do a parking lot. Well, he
says, tell you what, I will do it at cost, I won’t make any profi t. I will just pay my workers and
I will give you the concrete at the cost it comes to me. So it cost some money, but it was
half of what it would have been, and the Outreach Center paid for that. So in a nut shell,
once you have a project that sounds true and right, people will come out of nowhere to
donate and participate. Once you start conveying what the project is about, people will
want to participate.
In fact, one of Valarie’s sayings is that we talk about being more blessed to give
than to receive, so by giving someone the opportunity to give is a good thing. People
want to give. They just want to be told about the signifi cance of what you are doing. So
that is what she is so good at. She really paints the picture that you are going to be blessed
by giving to this thing.
(When in the process for the pavilion project did you secure the funds?) Well it is just so
organic. I knew the professor for a long time; I knew his family owned this concrete factory.
So we went to him, expecting that he would give us a discount. Basically the next time we
heard from him, he just said we are going to give you 1,000 blocks just let us know where
you want us to deliver them.
So for instance, when we were doing the Wall Mart, the way it works out is that we
did several designs and it seemed like the most simple way to do this thing was to do the
chain link. So we went to the place that sells the stuff and we gave her the list of everything
we needed and in the process of getting it, we talked about what it was for and he said
that he would give us a discount. So there is no one way to do it.
Like with the garden, we knew that we wanted to the garden, so we went to the
horticulture department and asked if they could give some students to work on that and
of course they did. Also, there were some NC State students that were driving by and
had heard about the project and asked if they could do something that would take just
112
one weekend. So we gave them a little bridge that goes from the sidewalk to the street.
So these guys did that. Then a couple people from Michigan did a memorial for all the
Katrina and Rita volunteers. Again, just to reiterate, when it is organic and very processed
orients, the right things just show up at the right time. We went to the boys and girls club
and they asked us to do a roof over the boys and girls club, and that court is big ya know,
like you have to be tall. So I remembered a student that I had that was doing a lot with
tensile structures. So I called him to see if he was still doing it and he said yes, but that he
could not come out there to help. So we sent a couple students to him, and he taught
them how to do it ya know. So it is just symbiotic ya know, it just takes on a life of its own.
In a sense, it is really the only way you can do projects like this. You know, funds are short,
labor is short, and so you have to trust that you are going to get the help you need when
you need it. So after we have done so much and there was all this press and excitement
about it that it made us bold ya know. I told the board of directors, I said, look, this entire
thing is just band-aids, we need to really do housing. That is where we started going to
D.C. and we got in contact with our senator and told her that she needed to come and
see what we were doing. By that time, we had completed almost all the small projects.
She said that these were exactly the types of projects that she wanted to commit herself
to. That is when we told her that our vision was to do urban affordable housing. This was
in 2007. She started giving us money to buy property. Right now we have basically all the
property bought to do the housing. So you have to be fl exible and tell a good story and
you know, just let these things happen. We had no idea that in 8-years it was going to be
anything like this.
8. You mention that a lot of these smaller projects are just Band-Aids, is doing the transitional
housing the maximum reach that architecture and design has in terms of our ability to
engage those issues?
Addiction is a huge problem, it is a complex issue. Alcohol is kinda like an allergy or
diabetes, there is proof that alcohol behaves differently in different people. Drugs are
different thing, it is much more willful and it then becomes addiction. The irony is that like
80% of our clients at the outreach center come from middle class, even upper middle
class families. These are people that have been having these problems for so long that the
families just give up on them.
113
Hector tells story about ‘beautiful 26-year old female that is married with a child
working as a nurse, so she was stealing prescription drugs from the hospital. She obviously
gets caught. So basically she went to jail, she went through a program for addiction
recovery, and she graduated like maybe a year later and was able to get her child back.
She has lost her license now and there is no way that she can earn what she was making
before. I mean this is a story we hear all the time. For instance the outreach center had its
graduation ceremony and 28 people tell their story. You know it is redeeming you know, it
is amazing.
So to talk about her, she enters the job market at low wage positions. The problem is
that the least expensive apartments are farther then where she works. So if she works
downtown as a waiter or a coffee shop, she can only affords an apartment in the suburbs,
not even the good suburbs. So then she has to have a car, and we spend more money on
the car then the food. That is the message that we gave the senator. We said listen, if this
is going to happen, it is going to have to be near transportation and around jobs. Some
people can live without a car. So that is how we got her to start funding the project we are
doing now. So our projects are aimed at that people, the artist, the cooks, the bank tellers
that work downtown. They make pretty good money but you know have to pay all this
money for a car and insurance and all of this. They have nothing left for anything else. For
our clients who graduate, one of the dangers for them is economic insecurity. When they
become insecure there is a much higher chance that they are going to relapse. So one
of the things that we wanted was to offer them a place that is 3 blocks from the main bus
station and 2 blocks from the main street downtown, and the downtown is pretty active.
The whole idea is that they can actually live downtown and just walk to work.
8. Do you believe that the work you are doing, primarily volunteer and donated support,
is achievable in a professional world as a way to support oneself? How might the process
need to change in order to accommodate a design fee?
We have, my partner Corey and I, done all of the preliminary design for free, you know
it was still part of our research. So now that we are in design development, the architect
that was assigned the project has hired him and I to be consultants, so we are being
paid by the hour. So what Corey and I are talking about is to creative a fi rm that is a ___
organization, so that we can do projects that are at a much more reasonable fee and
114
then at the same time ____.
9. My understanding is that you have practiced architecture for many years (30+) prior
to taking on these projects that are highly socially engaging. Is there a certain level
of general ‘architectural knowledge’ that is learned in the years of practice, that is not
usually a component of a formal education. Would you advise young architects to get this
general knowledge under their belts before trying to lead projects like those you led at
The Outreach Center?
Oh ya, I mean I was licensed in ’78. Teaching I have not done a lot of practice, but I have
built 2 houses and I know construction. It is very important, especially if you have students
working for you, that you know what you are doing. Our school though is very hands on
though. Students are building things all the time. So there is a kind of ethic about being
responsible and doing craft, using tools. That is part of just how we teach it is just very hands
on.
Do most of the students end up going on and getting licensed? It varies, all you
can do really, is to instill into them a sense of caring. So even if they don’t necessarily
do design build…let me give you an example. One student that helped with the master
plan in 2003 was a second year. He just got licensed so that took him 3 years after he
graduated, and he is a very caring guy. He lives in New Orleans now, but he is involved in
so much additional work that he does over there has some sort of ____ work in it. We don’t
have enough graduates yet, because it is fairly recent ya know.
California, I think is the fi rst state, I am not sure if it is law yet, but they are required to
do pro bono work. I think it is called the 1% solution. Architects have to donate 1% of their
services to pro bono.
115
Hector | Observations
My understanding of Hector LaSala is fairly limited. With a relatively limited online presence,
outside a few short articles, general information on the universities website, and a single
paper that describes in a little more detail, the work at the Acadiana Outreach Center, it
is diffi cult to provide very in-depth understandings on how the work that Hector, W. Geoff
Gjertson, and their students have done.
I am using Hector as an example of an ‘educational employee/architect.’ Operating
through the university provides Hector some fl exibility in his projects in that his personal
fi nances are covered through the university. The work he has done for the Acadiana
Outreach Center is funded through various means, mostly grant money for the larger
projects with funding for smaller projects coming from private donations or the Outreach
Centers funding.
Early in the process, a point was made that they needed to approach the work at the
Outreach Center as “accelerated fabrication. This approach was derived as a response
to the semester structure of university coursing, but also developed from the understanding
of how important it is to see tangible results. My approach at the Harvest Soup Kitchen was
formatted in a very similar fashion, and was also a response to the same situational time
frames. In both cases, this proves to be a very successful approach to engaging the client,
especially when the relationship is relatively young.
Another theme that is echoed at the Outreach Center and Soup Kitchen is the necessity to
develop a trusting relationship. As fourth-year student Beverly Istre expresses, “They gave
us so much trust, and by trusting us and letting us fail, they really allowed us to develop a
sense of ownership.” I believe that this trust develops as the personal relationship develops.
It is trusting that the students, under the guidance of LaSala and Gjerston, will do work that
improves the physical environment, if even ever so slightly. Also, I believe that this trust is in
many ways similar to one would trust a good friend. The project is important to Hector and
116
Geoff, and Hector and Geoff are important to the people at the Outreach Center, so they
will grant them freedom to do more than they might grant a ‘stranger.’
Creating a sense of ownership for the residents through active engagement is one area I
feel that many of the projects might have fallen short. With exception to residents being
active participants in the completion of the Gazebo Project, the only other project that has
been described as engaging was the larger scale Performance Space. The Performance
Space is described as a very good example of local engagement at all levels, as it included
support from local contractors, inmates from the local jail, in conjunction with residents of
the shelter and students and faculty. Many of the other projects have been described as
what I would consider a “hand out” not a “hand up,” to use a phrase from the Outreach
Center. My work at the soup kitchen has demonstrated to me very clearly the diffi culty
in engaging residents of shelters and diners in soup kitchens. These interactions can be
at various levels and range throughout the population of residents, but I feel like it is a
component that is really essential to maximize the potential of these smaller projects. I am
glad to see that this engagement was incorporated in some of the later projects.
I am interested in how LaSala, Gjerston, and The Building Institute has continued to have
a presence in the community now that the projects at the Outreach Center have come
to an end. How do they respond to a new situation where they need to ‘fi nd’ the project
instead of the project ‘fi nding’ them? The Building Institute is one of only a few collegiate
architectural programs that have placed their students in these ‘social context’ where
architects and students rarely fi nd themselves. They are in a unique position to continue
to push this program while also closely monitoring the futures of these past students. How
has this socially immersive experience infl uenced their future professional practice? As the
profession and society in general becomes increasingly engaging in social service, it would
seem logical that these design-build studios fi nd themselves a more regular component
of architectural education. If nothing more, I believe it is an effective way to develop
emotional intelligence in students and also more empathetic professionals in the future.
117
Hector | Images Hector| Wordle Diagram
Hector’s Wordle contains text that was gathered from the paper Design on the Societal
Battlefront, written by Hector and his colleague Geoff Gjertson. This paper describes the
work that Hector and Geoff have been leading at the Acadiana Outreach Center for
over 8-years. Also sampled were Hector’s responses to a phone interview I conducted.
From this graphic, it is clear that Hector is focused on teaching. Design-build is a signifi cant
part of the architecture program at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and this is shown
by the larger projects and work. Although Hector and his students are terrifi c designers, he
rarely uses the word when describing the work. He refers to it in terms of projects that have
a clear emphasis on students and people, and how they relate to knowing and justice. For
Hector, design seems to be just another tool that is used to complete the project. Design
becomes like a hammer. Also holding a little weight is his reference to place, Lafayette,
and also outreach in this case is making reference to the Outreach Center.
118
119
Hector | Characteristics Diagram
characteristicslarger circle = greater level
HectorLaSala
publicity
/promotio
n
work focuse
s on
creating fu
ture
practitioners
energy focused on relationships/understanding
place
time
with
clie
nt“l
ivin
g w
ages
” fro
m
prod
uced
wor
k
openly address
larger social issues
scale of early
humanitarian
projects
focus on discourse
121
Mike HalsteadHalstead Architects
Mission:
Halstead Architects was founded in 1993 to provide reliable,
progressive, and community conscious architecture.
Our fi rm aspires to be stewards of our client’s vision while
providing responsible, innovative and inspiring design. Our
passion is to meld quality design with our individual client’s
needs and budget. As a result, we lead a collaborative
effort, customized to meet your needs.
Location:
Indianapolis, Indiana
Education:
B. Architecture, Ball State (1987); B. Environmental Design,
Ball State (1986)
Professional Experience:
Halstead Architects [principle | 1993-present]
Woolen, Molzan, & Partners [project architect | 1987-1993]
USA Architects [designer | 1986-1987]
122
Introduction
In 1993, Mike Halstead started Halstead architects in Fountain Square, a historic
neighborhood in downtown Indianapolis. Considering themselves ‘general practice’
architects, they offer clients diverse problem solving skills. With a passion for projects in
urban environments where the clients are not accustomed to professional design, Halstead
architects have found their niche in Indiana’s typically underserved neighborhoods and
non-profi ts.
While Mike and his colleagues push to keep up on the cutting edge of evolving
technologies, their real strengths lie in their ability to communicate with this unique client
base. They have developed a business strategy that, despite delaying fees until later in
the process, gets much needed work done. The fi rm usually plays a very large role in the
grant writing process and typically will go lengths of time early on as it takes time for grant
money to be awarded and come in. As Mike describes, by continuing work with the client,
even when not getting paid, the fi rm is often able to establish good working relationships
with the because they are, ‘suffering alongside them.’
While much of the work the fi rm does is not ‘award winning’ in design, it is critically important
to the advancement and maintenance of a growing population. The ‘award’ they do
continually receive is the return and word of mouth reference of most of their clients. This
speaks immensely to the fact that their work is successful in meeting the clients goals – in
design, timeline, relationship, and budget.
As an individual, Mike continues to lead and be involved in several professional and
community organizations. These include the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and
Construction Specifi cations Institute (CSI), and also the Family Strengthening Coalition of
the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the
Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center. In many ways, Mike has been successful at maintaining
a private practice, doing socially responsible architecture.
123
Mike | Questions
1. How do you structure fees when doing work for not for profi ts? Is it the same rate as other
for profi t clients?
Our standard fee for normal projects is 8% of construction cost. We give NFP’s a discount
to 6% and our MEP/Structural/Civil engineers are ok with the “trickle down” effect. For
Schematic Design our standard fee is 15% of the overall 8% fee, but for NFP’s we will work
for $5,000 – or whatever they have available. Most NFP’s can get funding for their project
if they have a professional submission, but they don’t usually have money to pay for it. We
do this because they then see us as a partner and we are less likely to get paid fast and
less likely to get sued for mistakes.
2. Has the structure of the fi rm been adjusted to accommodate clients that can be on very
tight budgets?
Yes – the partners may go a long period of time without getting paid.
3. Does the fi rm often take a larger role in ‘fund-raising’, i.e. grant proposals, loan
accusation, etc.?
Absolutely – the line between architect and grant writer/fund-raiser is very grey. The more
we help the faster we get paid.
4. Your work seems to put an emphasis on having a strong understanding and relationship
with the client. What are your methods for developing these relationships?
I believe that every project, and every client, has a different problem and therefore the
solutions should be different. That is why our buildings and designs don’t all look alike.
Once you have some “skin in the game” at the front end by reducing or deferring fees the
relationship becomes very strong naturally. They see that you are still doing the work and
suffering alongside them.
5. Are consultation and relationship building practices done with all users or just with those
124
carrying some social weight? For example, when working on the apartment complex for
veterans, who were relationships formed with? Is the focus on the owners, the workers in
the adjacent offi ce spaces, the veterans, etc.?
I try to develop a relationship with everyone on the team. You can learn something
from everyone – the executive director, maintenance crew, homeless veterans, staff,
contractors, etc.
6. Does your design process and the level of user engagement change in response to the
social conditions of the client? For example, would the design process for a facility like the
Mary Rigg Center be the same as it is for The Harrison Grille Bar at the Columbia Club? Are
additional efforts made to create a sense of ownership and belonging to a larger range
of users?
I use the same principles on all of our projects – the social aspect of working for NFP’s has
taught me to treat all clients the same regardless of the type or size. In the end I have
found that everyone wants to be included. The best way to success is to be inclusive.
That does make it more diffi cult when you are working with clients because consensus-
building can be laborious, but when everyone on the team feels included success is
almost guaranteed.
7. In what way do you see the work the fi rm does as a component of a larger picture
dealing with such issues as homelessness, poverty, deindustrialization, loss of historical
context, etc.?
I was raised by a single mother who dropped out of high school at the age of 16 so I could
be born. There is nothing worse than people thinking you are stupid or a criminal just
because you are poor. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. I was lucky because
the social aspects of architecture that I found just happened to co-align with my personal
beliefs. I love designing projects in urban environments where the community is not used
to quality. Many of our projects would not be built if we weren’t willing to reduce our fees
and work for less at the front end and the community knows that. That is why our fi rm rarely
competes for our work – it is usually a referral or repeat client who knows how concerned
we are about the built environment and building for the community - not our egos.
8. What is your personal motivation for doing such a large amount of community based
work?
125
My Mother – and the many people over the years who helped me get where I am today.
9. At this point, later in your career, what do you consider to be your bigger goal as an
architect, professional, and active member of a number of community based organizations?
I want others in our fi rm to carry on what I started after I am gone
10. How important do you feel architecture is in dealing with such social issues as mentioned
above?
Architects are problem solvers – we should be willing to fi nd solutions regardless of what
the problem is.
11. Our country is going through a pretty signifi cant transition both in our economy and also
in the way people are looking at the world. In this context, could you provide any insight
or advice to a young architect that is interested in doing socially engaging architecture
as a profession?
Once you get to a certain age as an architect, and a person, you realize that money isn’t
everything. The old sayings “you can’t take it with you” and “you only live once” are very
true and as you age they become more obvious. I make a good living, have a beautiful
home, a lake house, a nice car, my kids are out of college (almost), and I haven’t missed
a meal in a long time. In short – “architecture has been very, very good to me”. Why not
pay it back?
126
Mike | Observations
My understanding of Mike Halstead is based on a limited interaction including the question/
answers provided, a job interview, and any research I have found online about the fi rm
and their work. Based on these exchanges, I believe that Mike is a good example of a
commercial, for-profi t architect, that has found a respectable balance between career
and fi rm success and community responsibility as a civil servant. At this point in my life, I
still question my personal values in ‘owning a lake house and nice car,’ and classify many
things as ‘over the top.’ That said, I respect that Mike has determined what ‘over the top’
means to him, and has balanced that with a committed serving of those around him.
It is apparent that Mike puts heavy emphasis on treating all people with respect and
dignity, no matter who they are or where they came from. Based in this moral standing,
Mike has made the observation that everyone wants to be included, and that putting
in the extra time and effort to be inclusive not only is the right thing to do, but almost
always results in a successful project. This notion that everyone wants to be included is an
observation that I have come back to several times over the last few years. It, in many
ways, seems to be one of the very few themes that can apply to nearly every person. It
should be noted, however, that ‘inclusion’ can mean different things to different people,
and the level at which each person must be engaged to ultimately feel important can
be diffi cult to determine. As an example of this in my experience working with The Dining
Room Club, I have found that Ron, one of the regular diners, tis a more reserved man
and requires a smaller amount of interaction, but this interaction must be very focused
and intimate. Dave, another frequent diner, on the other hand, is much more vocal and
desires to be involved in a more ongoing dialogue. Dave is very eager to share ideas and
is fairly confi dent in his abilities relative to Ron who is often hesitant to contribute. At the
soup kitchen I have been, in many ways, fortunate that the core group has remained
pretty small. It allows me the ability to more easily juggle the relationships. As the number
of participants increases, the ability to meet the needs of everyone diminishes.
127
That said, the work the fi rm does in the non-profi t sector is at much larger scale. Although
I have not had the opportunity to observe the fi rm while they work through a project, my
guess is that it requires a different level of interaction than I am dealing with at the soup
kitchen. Similar in that we work across the various levels of the hierarchy, I feel the larger
scale projects focus much more attention on the upper ends of the spectrum. My work
at the soup kitchen has been at the other extreme. I have focused attention, to the best
of my ability, to develop relationships on the lower end of the spectrum. That does not
mean to say that Mike’s work does not engage those served by the non-profi ts, nor that
my work has not engaged the board members and many of the volunteers at the soup
kitchen. It simply suggests that given a set amount of time, we allocate those minutes
differently. I believe that there is a need for both strategies. Work at the higher end of the
spectrum allows for larger projects as it gains access to the ‘decision makers,’ and often
times, those whom have access to the funding. The work I have done at the soup kitchen,
I believe, does a much better job at creating a sense of ownership, building esteem and
confi dence, for those whom the programs ultimately are there to assist. It is understood
that there is a need to be included at all levels within the institution, but those at the
bottom more commonly will fi nd it much more diffi cult to fi nd this positive support in other
aspects of their lives.
128
Mike | Images
129
Mike| Wordle Diagram
Mike’s Wordle is a compilation of words gathered from the mission statements and about
sections of his fi rm, Halstead Architects’, website, as well as a couple project descriptions
done for not-for-profi t clients. Also, it incorporates his responses to the survey questions.
Surprisingly, Mike’s Wordle has very small emphasis on architecture and design, but defi nes
the design of the work in terms of space, needs, renovated, creativity and community. His
defi nition of architecture is defi ned by his use of community, building, providing, service,
and clients.
This Wordle illustrates Mike and the fi rms understanding of ‘priorities’ when working with
clients in the not-for-profi t sector. The emphasis on service and meeting needs is very strong
part of this sector’s cultural understanding. Less important, illustrated by Mike’s omission in
many ways, are things like design and architecture in a more formal sense. This in many
ways could be the fi rm’s, likely unintentional, approach to avoiding client intimidation.
Working with clients to fi nd well thought out solutions is prioritized ahead of creating an
image or building an ego.
130
Mike| Characteristics Diagram
characteristicslarger circle = greater level
Mike Halstead
publicity
/promotio
n
work focuse
s on
creating fu
ture
practitioners
energy focused on relationships/understanding
place
time
with
clie
nt“l
ivin
g w
ages
” fro
m
prod
uced
wor
k
openly address
larger social issues
scale of early
humanitarian
projects
focus on discourse
131
Emily PillotonProject H Design
Mission:
Project H uses the power of the design process to catalyze
communities and public education from within. WE BELIEVE
THAT DESIGN CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.
Location:
Bertie, North Carolina
Education:
M.A. in Designed Objects, UC Berkeley; B.A. in Architecture,
Art Institute of Chicago
Professional Experience:
Founder and Executive Director Project H Design
Managing Editor, Inhabitat.com
Adjunct Professor Designed Objects
Editor of Design Revolution: 100 Products that Empower
People
132
Introduction
Emily Pilloton founded Project H design after becoming frustrated with the accepted status
quo of the profession. Feeling the traditional methods were lacking in a point, she focused
Project H in the direction of “initiatives for humanity, habitats, health, and happiness.” With
this in mind, Project H set out their six-tenet design process:
1. There is no design without (critical) action
2. We design WITH not FOR
3. We build, document, share and measure
4. We start locally and scale globally
5. We design systems, not stuff
6. We build
With a belief that “Design can change the world,” the focus is “re-thinking of environments,
products, experiences, and curricula for K-12 education.”
The last segment of this focus, K-12 education, refers to a 501c3 non-profi t program that
Emily set up with her partner, Matt Miller. The program, Studio H, is located the poorest
county in North Carolina, Bertie County. Studio H’s website provides a brief description of
the program:
Studio H is a public high school ‘design build’ curriculum that sparks rural community
development through real-world, built projects. By learning through a design sensibility,
applied core subjects, and industry-relevant construction skills, students develop the
creative capital, critical thinking, and citizenship necessary for their own success and for
the future of their communities.
Over the course of one calendar year, students earn high school and college credit,
and are paid a summer wage to build the community project they have spent the year
133
designing and prototyping. Studio H is a different kind of classroom. We design, build, and
transform.
This began as Emily and Matt were invited by the new head of the public school board to
implement a ‘learning landscape’ (a creative learning playground involving half buried
tires), and the design of three computer labs. Critical that their work was not meeting
one of their primary missions, to design WITH not FOR, Matt and Emily made the decision
to establish a full-fl edged design build studio that is preparing to construct a community
farmers market. In its introductory year, the year-long class was offered as an elective to
13 high school juniors (the entire junior class).
134
Emily | Questions
*These questions have been sent to Emily. She has agread to respond to them, but due to
the recent tornadoes in Bertie County, she has been busy working on those efforts.
1. Out of all of the project initiatives you have worked on thus far, which one do you feel
has the greatest impact to the social environment?
2. As you have moved through such a wide range of projects in terms of scale, scope,
promotional level, etc., what insight can you provide in terms of ways the profession could
start to focus the increased interest in socially based design efforts.
3. What has been the most diffi cult component in the projects you have done? What
methods/strategies did you use to push through these challenging times?
4. How do you feel the work at Project H addresses socioeconomic and political issues at
a larger scale?
5. You had mentioned in a lecture at the IMA in Indianapolis that you believe that these
types of work have the potential to be entrepreneur ventures, essentially self-supporting,
but that you did not know how to do it. At this point, do you feel that it is important for this
work to become independent from grant and foundation money? Have you and Matt
considered with much earnestness the potential in this entrepreneurial arena?
6. Based on responses you had given at the presentation at the IMA, it did not sound as
though there has been much work done in terms of setting up a system of quantifi able
measurement that can gauge the project’s success in relation to the older models of
classes. Do you believe that this is something Studio H is going to have to confront as the
program matures?
135
7. Are the goals of Project H to actively and explicitly seek solutions to larger socioeconomic,
political, and ideological institutions that can be credited as the ‘roots’ of many of
contemporary societies dilemmas (poverty, class and racial tensions, etc.)? If so, how
have you and Matt been critically refl ecting on the work in regards to these issues?
8. Do you feel that it is important for programs like Project H, that have become internationally
known as leaders in the “design can change the world” camp, to also lead in the critical
progression of standards of measurement and more specifi c in terms of the capabilities of
design to address some of the larger issues.
9. I agree with you and others that design has the ability to “change the world.” I am
curious, and have been trying to fi gure out for myself, can we defi ne more specifi cally
what that ability is?
10. What are your defi nitions of ‘design’ and ‘design process?’ In your experiences,
especially working with the people in Bertie, do you fi nd that these two concepts differ in
their potential? Do you believe that one or the other is more suited to dealing with the “98%
not typically served by designers?”
136
Emily | Observations
As outlined in many of the questions above, my primary critique of Studio H and similar
programs is that they lack in a critical and explicit response to larger social issues. They often
fail to identify specifi cally how they see their role in a larger context of social, economic,
and political institutions. My work at the Harvest Soup Kitchen is in many ways lacks this
same critical review. It becomes very easy, and often times necessary for these programs
to get ‘caught up’ in doing the work, and the time necessary for critical refl ection in
relation to these larger roles. It is easy to become overly critical of this lacking refl ection
without the experience of pushing through one of these programs. Even at the relatively
small scale, the work I have done at the soup kitchen has required a remarkable amount
of work just in terms of logistics.
Anytime a project really gets involved, the dramas of everyday life become unavoidable.
Often the role of being simply a citizen and a person, a role often downplayed in academic
and professional situations, becomes exaggerated when dealing with clients that are
primarily at the base of the social pyramid. When you start working extensively with human
emotion, the situation can become infi nitely complex. Emily understands and speaks to
this in her response to the Bruce Nussbaum’s blog post, “Is Humanitarian Design the New
Imperialism?” Towards the end of her comment she states, “Humanitarian design is messy,
wonderful, diffi cult, and a constant learning process for us as designers and the people
we work with and for. I hope that in reading this article, we can all remember that it is not
so black and white, and that there are groups (like Project H and Catapult, among many
others), trying to get it right, from the ground up, in places we know and are invested in.”
I believe that this statement is in many ways, the core of this debate over humanitarian
design. It is extremely diffi cult, if not impossible, to fully understand the complexities of this
work without being immersed into the very specifi c situation.
This leads, in many ways, to a debate that has been one of the primary critics of
humanitarian design efforts. What is the importance of scale, local, and cultural factors
137
in these efforts. There has been a lot of criticism, which I fi nd absolutely spot on, that we
have no business doing things in countries half across the world. Emily was called out in the
previously mentioned Nussbaum blog post for Project H’s Hippo Roller that was designed
and delivered to South Africa. Emily’s simple response to a question regarding the debate
at a lecture at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on March 24, 2011, provides example of her
criticalness in the work that she does and an appropriate stance on the issue. She states,
“The minute we fi nished it we realized it was a horrible idea and we made the decision
that we were not going to do that again.” Since that point, Emily’s work with Project H has
been exclusively done within the country by city scale efforts, including Studio H’s efforts
in Bertie County.
I appreciate greatly Project H, and Emily, and Matt, and their dedication to relentlessly
document the work they are doing. I have been able to go to the website and blog and
watch videos of student presentations, design processes, etc. These are critical in providing
insight to the inner workings of the program. Personally, I am quite envious of their position
to work with that media. I have found myself very hesitant to fi lm and document my work
at the soup kitchen in these formats as I feel they fail to respect many privacy concerns for
the people I am working with. Much of this could be credited to the different client base
– poverty stricken adults in the socially degraded context of a soup kitchen compared to
poverty stricken children in the positive context of a school and an educational program.
Also, Emily and Matt are much more ‘offi cial’ in their roles with the high school. My position
at the soup kitchen has been simply a volunteer, who happens to be an architectural
student, who happens to be interested in working with some of the diners [who? – board
members, staff and patrons?] to change the existing environment.
The last thing that I believe needs some attention is the way in which we present this,
often, very intimate work. This is another component I have found increasingly diffi cult as
I attempt to present the work at the soup kitchen as a master’s thesis to reviewers that
likely have had very little interaction with the project. In a limited time frame, a 20-min
thesis presentation or a 1-hour public lecture, does it become more important to present
the work that you are doing or a position regarding larger issues? Emily’s presentation at
the IMA I feel is a very good example of this. The audience in this case ranged greatly in
their experience and understanding of the work Studio H has been doing. I believe that
Emily presented a ‘default’ presentation and resorted to a simple descriptive format. For
138
those of us that had some familiarity with her work, it fell a little short and came across
as lacking in depth. Based on the information, videos, blog post, etc. that can be found
online, I don’t believe that Studio H is coming up as short in this department as Emily might
have presented. For me, in efforts to develop a stance that is ‘profound’ has been diffi cult.
Perhaps Emily’s presentation felt fl at for this very reason. She was not presenting theories
on “how to change the world,” she simply was describing the actions she has been taking
to change her world. A notion that I have been pondering for some time, is that what
really makes this work profound is that it is forces a designer, an architect, to become a
citizen and a person fi rst and foremost. It requires emphasis on, as Giulia Fiocca mentions,
“building relationships, rather than building.” The most profound realization is that there is
nothing really profound about it. It is remarkably simple in that it requires us to be humans
– a role we all have been playing most of our lives, but we often fail to acknowledge
as we move into professional, academic, and economic situations. For those of us with
education and skill sets in the practice of building, it is through the active engagement of
this practice that we provide context for these relationships to exist.
139
Emily | Images
140
Emily| Wordle Diagram
Emily’s Wordle is derived from several components of the Project H and Studio H websites.
These components included mission and descriptive verbiage about both projects and
also pulled some smaller selections from sporadic pages on the sites.
A quick glance is enough to get the thrust of the diagram - design. This is overly surprising
to me based on Emily’s background in fi elds that often sell themselves using the novelty of
‘design.’ It becomes an interesting dynamic though as design as a novelty is juxtaposed
with the very specifi c Bertie County. Other words public, and school, and even build in
the context I think she uses it, are very outward and look at a larger scale. She sparingly
uses students, but instead refers to Studio, as in Studio H, when referencing the project.
This is suggest that ,similar to her use of Project, as in Project H, she sees these students as
simply components in the project. This is not to suggest that she does not have a vested
interest in the students. It seems diffi cult to spend a year at the level of engagement Studio
H functions at and not develop some meaningful relationships. It does seem to emphasis
that it is a project, whos ultimate goal is less focused on Bertie County, and more focused
on gaining evidence that using the design process as a model, you can have a positive
effect on kids. I have mixed feelings towards this, I understand the need for this evidence,
but it feels empty to me!?
141
Emily | Characteristics Diagram
characteristicslarger circle = greater level
Emily Pilloton
publicity
/promotio
n
work focuse
s on
creating fu
ture
practitioners
energy focused on relationships/understanding
place
time
with
clie
nt“l
ivin
g w
ages
” fro
m
prod
uced
wor
k
openly address
larger social issues
scale of early
humanitarian
projects
focus on discourse
143
Bryan BellDesign CorpsSEED (Social, Economic, Environmental, Design)
Mission:
To provide the benefi ts of architecture to those traditionally
un-served by the profession.
Location:
Raleigh, North Carolina
Education:
MArch, Yale University (1988); B. Arts, Arts History, Princeton
University (1983), Summer Program, Harvard University
[1983]
Professional Experience:
Not for Profi t for 20+ years [1991-Present]
Practicing Architect for 9 years [1985-1995]
Architectural Educator for 4 years [1998-2002]
144
Introduction
Bryan Bell paired with Victoria Bell to found Design Corps in 1991. Design Corps, a
commissioned non-profi t as of 1996, has been observing and attempting to engage with
the local community in regard to the severe shortage of adequate housing for Mexican
and other Central American immigrant workers in the areas around Raleigh, North Carolina.
Over the last 10-years, Design Corps has established a Farmworker Housing Program. This
program helps secure funding while working hard to provide culturally appropriate housing
for the workers.
The initial strategy was to petition the farmers to help build better facilities. As part of
the program, Design Corps completes a federal grant application that usually will end
up covering 50% to 100% of the construction cost. Anything not covered by the grant is
covered by the farmer. As part of the contract, farmers agree to meet conditions for the
standard of living as laid out by Design Corps. Agreeing to meet these minimum standards,
developed through interviews, questionnaires, and workshops is their ‘payment’ for the
new buildings.
By using this very engaging method, Design Corps is able to provide design that responds
to the specifi c needs of the place, improve living conditions in general, and recently with
the addition of a fellowship program, are able to train young designers. Working hand in
hand with people who are often overlooked by society is an excellent way, if not one of
the only ways, to really develop emotional intelligence and level of empathy that can be
diffi cult to fi nd elsewhere.
In addition to Design Corps, Bryan Bell is a founding member of the SEED program. As
described on the program’s website, “SEED is a principle-based network of individuals and
organizations dedicated to building and supporting a culture of civic responsibility and
engagement in the built environment and the public realm. “ This outreach is engaging
members in all of the design fi elds including architecture, industrial design, communication
145
design, landscape architecture, and urban planning, by providing resources and
guidelines. In exchange, designers are asked to take a pledge to practice under SEED’s
Mission and fi ve principles for practice. The mission, “is to advance the right of every person
to live in a socially, economically, and environmentally healthy community.”
The principles, as provided on the website are:
SEED Principle 1: Advocate with those who have limited voice in public life.
SEED Principle 2: Build structures for inclusion that engage stakeholders and
allow communities to make decisions.
SEED Principle 3: Promote social equality through discourse that refl ects a
range of values and social identities.
SEED Principle 4: Generate ideas that grow from place and build local capacity.
SEED Principle 5: Design to help conserve resources and minimize waste.
146
Bryan | Questions
***Bryan is very invloved with several national efforts so attaining responses from him
would likely take an extensive amount of time. To compensate for the inability to have my
questions answered, I wil reference questions and responses from an interview Bryan gave
through Metropolis Magazine. Also, some questions I had for Bryan are listed.
Questions (My questions for Bryan):
1. The development of the housing for farmers appears to be based on a cycle of getting
input, responding with a design, getting input, responding with a built design, getting input,
etc… For how long does this cycle continue to loop? Is there a point where you stop and
just say, ‘ok, this now can be considered adequate housing?’
2. How do the social dynamics of immigrant workers, a hot political topic now, continue
to change in response to the strong stance of many politicians against illegal immigrants?
How has both local and national politics had an effect on the work you are doing?
3. Your work focuses on a primarily transient population. How would you say your
approach to a transient population is different from other approaches for more permanent
populations where a primary goal is developing a sense of ownership?
4. At this point, as you have gotten the Farmworker Housing Program well underway, what
is your focus now?
Questions (*Interview “More From the Notebook of Bryan Bell” was conducted by Kristi
Cameron of Metropolis Magazine. It was posted online October 16, 2008.):
I wanted to talk about the business side of things and whether or not it’s possible to do
community-oriented work as a part of the mix of traditional practice.
I can answer very simply. There are thousands and thousands of nonprofi t organizations
in the country that pay their staff living wages. The only thing it takes to be a nonprofi t is
147
to serve the good of the public. We do housing, we do economic development, we do
educational projects – we just prioritize design on all those projects. Believe me, I’m not
inventing any business model here. I just have knowledge of how nonprofi ts run, and how
they pay their employees. Our business model is very traditional.
And when you left that nonprofi t, did you take what you had learned and apply it to Design
Corps?
We got a National Endowment for the Arts Grant together, and I became a consultant. I
wanted to start working with other nonprofi ts, so I consulted with Rural Opportunities, the
local housing authority, and the other local housing groups, and realized that designers
working with local nonprofi ts is a great model. Architects need nonprofi ts’ expertise, just like
I needed Rural Opportunities’ expertise about migrants. Eventually I recognized that there
were places where projects needed to happen, but there was no nonprofi t to undertake
them. I became a 501c3 myself, so that we could play both the design and nonprofi t roles.
We’re always teamed up somehow with the local community, but sometimes we take on
the role of organizer, sometimes we’re more of the consultant.
How much of what you do is devoted to fi nding funding, versus design time?
Let me tell you simply what the grant application entails. It entails answering these
questions: “Who are you trying to help?” “How are you trying to help them?” “What data
can you show that this can help them?” “How much is it going to cost?” “When will it be
done?” “How are you going to verify that you helped these people?” The questions are
critical to what I do. If it happens to be that I put that information in an envelope, mail it
off, and get money, that’s great-then it’s a grant. But still I need to do those things. Let’s
say I had a million dolalrs, and I made up a project and I built it. In my experience, there’s
a 99 percent chance it would sit empty. There’s no way that I could make up a solution
and have it work without involving the people who would use it.
148
Bryan |Observations
There are really three primary projects that Bryan Bell’s work is encapsulated in. His fi rst
work is what I fi nd to be the most interesting and most successful in the engagement of
those in need. This work is what he has done with the Farmworker Housing Program. Here
he identifi ed a place where his skills as an architect could be utilized in the improvement of
the living conditions of migrant workers around Raleigh, North Carolina. Information found
online provides some detail into the program and the process that the program has went
through to get to its current state. Although the documentation shows that the program
is still relatively small in its built work, it is engaging the inhabitants of the housing as well
as their employers, local communities, etc. In this model, they have used a somewhat
straight forward participatory design method of gaining understanding, designing, getting
feedback from all parties, and responding. The design is done in conjunction with members
of all the parties. I believe that their dedication to participation throughout the process will
prove successful in time. As the designs and fi nancing are continually redefi ned, this will
also eventually redefi ne the housing methods for immigrant workers in the area. It will also
serve as a strong precedent for migrant housing around the country – both in method of
implementation and in design methodology.
I believe that Bryan has advanced from this work with the migrant workers into a more ‘public
eye’ with his continued work through Design Corps and now the SEED program. With these
two programs, Bell is creating a lot of energy in many design fi elds, not just architecture.
He is doing this at both an educational/student level and also at a professional level. The
latest, eleventh round, of the Structures For Inclusion conference, located in Chicago,
furthered this buzz as it brought together over 400 professionals, students, and community
members that are interested in “design for social good” – the charge of the conference.
I am excited by the energy that his work is creating in the profession and am excited
that is bringing social components back into focus for architects and designers. I fi nd that
this component has been slowly dissipating from the profession as developers, budgets,
and value engineering have been sweeping the market. SEED, while still young, is putting
149
steam back into the ‘design for social good’ engine that began back in the 1960’s.
I do, however, have some concern with the way social responsibility fi nds its way back
into the professional market. As I fl ip through some of the participating and award winning
fi rms, it worries me that ‘socially responsible’ is fi nding its place next to ‘environmentally
conscious.’ Is ‘SEED’ just another marketing ploy? Is it to follow in the “LEED” footsteps?
With this, I don’t intend to tarnish the idea that social responsibility, like environmental
consciousness, is not important. They are both very important, and I strongly believe the
principles should be components of every design. I am just skeptical of seemingly inherent
contradictions. For example, we reduce environmental impact with new machines and
new technology. New technology and new machines is the very reason that we are
ravaging the environment as it is. Socially, we argue for grass roots efforts, community
gardens, and participatory design methods. We argue for these small scale efforts at large
scale, national conferences where we award prize money to fi rms who designed, ‘the
best’ new 50,000 s.f., green, low-income housing units.
It is possible that these fi rms engaged future residents, janitors, employees, etc throughout
the entire design process. It is possible that they can walk in the facility and be on a fi rst
name basis with many of the regulars. It is also possible that they gained understanding of
‘people that live in low-income housing,’ by reading a book or checking out a website. My
experience has been that there are many things that can be learned from ‘people that
live in low-income housing,’ that you really can’t fully understand by reading a book. You
really need to look into their eyes, listen to their voice to get it. I sometimes worry that by
providing a precedent, we often eliminate some very important educational components
that can only be gained through face to face exposure.
150
Bryan |Images
151
Bryan| Wordle Diagram
Bryan’s Wordle is a collection of writing that is on the websites of his three primary works.
Design Corps, SEED, and then his personal website. Primarily it is derived from mission
statements and descriptions of the programs.
Very similar to Emily, Bryan is very much focused on design. Also like Emily, Bryan refers
to his work, SEED and Design Corps, and those people that are involved, as a project
and rarely seems to separate the people as having an independent identity. I believe
the defi ance between Emily and Bryan is in their past. Emily has, from the get go been
shooting to ‘change the world with design,’ and that has been her target market. Bryan
has spent much of his career doing smaller scale, community based architecture. His
natural abilities, combined with this learned understanding is why he is one of the people
at the forefront of this movement. After working with Steven Holl’s offi ce, he stepped back
from design, got into the not-for-profi t market, then realized where his skills could be used.
It is important, as I believe he does in many of his ventures, he does not walk to the table
wanting to apply design to every problem. He fi rst understands the situation, then uses the
tool of design to derive an appropriate solution.
152
Mike| Characteristics Diagram
characteristicslarger circle = greater level
Bryan Bell
publicity
/promotio
n
work focuse
s on
creating fu
ture
practitioners
energy focused on relationships/understanding
place
time
with
clie
nt“l
ivin
g w
ages
” fro
m
prod
uced
wor
k
openly address
larger social issues
scale of early
humanitarian
projects
focus on discourse
Chapter 5
Conclusions
155
The Harvest Soup Kitchen is continuing to make minor changes to the facility based on the
plans and ideas that we began to propose while I was there. This includes painting of the
kitchen and having the fl oors professionally cleaned (fl ood damage). In addition to these
smaller projects, the board has set up a committee to handle future growth. They are
currently having discussions about doing substantial work to the kitchen, including some
much needed equipment. The other option they are considering is moving from their
current location to a place that can accommodate growth and also be ADA accessible.
The energy levels are high and people there are starting to understand that they have the
power to create their worlds.
5.1 Soup Kitchen Future
156
Moving Forward is where my focus is aimed. Although my path will take several jogs along
the way, this thesis has given me hope that I can make a living doing this humanitarian
based architecture. Ultimately, that could mean setting up a non-profi t, it could mean
being a professor, there is a chance it put me in a larger organization like Habitat for
Humanity.
I currently have accepted a position with Mike Halstead to be their one man satellite offi ce
in Marion, Indiana. I am looking forward to this opportunity to learn many of the logistics
and details of working for non-profi ts. I will have the chance to more fully engage in the
process for a larger scale project. With that will come grant writing, historic preservation
reviews and documentation and a better understanding of how the engagement process
is undertaken with many, many more people involved. This will also serve as a home base
to begin taking my exams, anticipating earning my professional license.
I will be living in Muncie through the end of the summer. My goal is to continue volunteering
at the soup kitchen on Saturday mornings. Hopefully, I can continue to help them get their
goals lined up and then leave them at the end of the summer with a fi rm direction in hand.
5.2 My Future
157
5.3 Taxonomy Conclusions
This chart is an attempt to understand how the selected architects have moved through
and are moving through their careers. It is typical that one will progress to a larger scale
of focus as they become more ‘known’ in the profession for the work they do. This does
not necissarily indicate the physical size of projects but the reach of the work that they do.
1
Family
Community
City
State
Country
The World
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Time Focused on Socially Specifi c Work (Years)
Scal
e of
Foc
us
Mike Halstead
Index
Emily Pilloton
Bryan Bell
Hector LaSala
Ryan Ellsworth
Jason Klinker
158
designerpublic
ity/p
romotion
work focuse
s on
creating fu
ture
practitioners
energy focused on relationships/understanding
place
time
with
clie
nt“l
ivin
g w
ages
” fro
m
prod
uced
wor
k
openly address
larger social issues
scale of early
humanitarian
projects
focus on discourse
This chart gives some insight into the where the more broad range of designers that are
focused on humanitarian design might place importance. The darker the circle is at
the outer rings indicate that most designers I studied were in that range. So most of the
designers have a high level of interaction with client, but very few put in a high commitment
in openly addressing larger social issues. Most of these designers have started with small
projects that are very intense in their level of engagement. As they move to larger scale
projects,they maintain the understandings they gained at the small scale and apply it to
larger scale scenarios.
159
The intent of this project is to increase the body of knowledge in regards to the role of
architecture in the rebuilding of communities. Much of the current methodologies have
acknowledged the importance of community involvement, but focus mostly on design
charrettes at a community scale. These often will create a temporary excitement in the
community, but many critiques of the process question the ultimate outcome as the ‘design
team’ is there only for a brief period and then disengage the project before any physical
changes are made. My project will investigate the potential when the ‘designer’ engages
the community through the whole process. In my model, the designer becomes part of
the community and then, as a member of the community, can approach the design
with the community, not for the community. I see this as a vital difference in the long term
success of the project and empowerment of the individual community members.
5.4 Academic and Professional Relevence
173
Ball, M. S. (2004). Expanding the Role of the Architect. Good Deeds, Good Design:
Community Service Through Architecture. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Cameron, K. (2008, October 16). More From the Notebook of Bryan Bell. Retrieved April
2011, from MetropolisMag.com: http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20081016/more-
from-the-notebook-of-bryan-bell
Crawford, M. (1991). Can Architects Be Socially Responsibile? Out of Site: A Social Criticism
of Architecture. (D. Ghirardo, Ed.) Seattle: Bay Press.
Dean , A. O., & Hursley, T. (2005). Proceed and Be Bold: Rural Studio After Samuel Mockebee.
New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Design Corps. (2009). Retrieved April 2011, from Bryan Bell Architecture: http://www.
bryanbell.org/
Design Corps. (2011). Retrieved 05 2011, from SEED: Social Economic Environmental Design:
http://seednetwork.org/
Design Corps. (2011, April). Retrieved April 2011, from Design Corps: http://www.
designcorps.org/
Ellsworth, R. (2011, April). (J. Klinker, Interviewer)
Ellsworth, R. W. (2011). Retrieved April 2011, from Ryan Ellsworth: Architecture & Design:
http://rwedesign.com/
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of Hope. New York: Continuum.
Freire, P. (2000). Pedagogy of the Oppressed . New York: Continuum.
Halstead Architects. (2011). Retrieved April 2011, from HALSTEAD architects: http://www.
halstead-architects.com/
Halstead, M. (2011, April). (J. Klinker, Interviewer)
LaSala , H., & Gjertson, G. (n.d.). Design on the Societal Battlefront.
LaSala, H. (2006, August 9). The Building Institute: A Civic-Engagement Instrument.
Retrieved April 2011, from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/
college/collegespecial2/coll-adp-building.html?_r=1&ex=1160884800&en=0114d2709a06
13f3&ei=5070
Bibliography
174
LaSala, H. (2011, April). (J. Klinker, Interviewer)
Mandell, J. (2006, April 17). Up to Speed. Retrieved April 2011, from MetropolisMag.com:
http://www.metropolismag.com/story/20060417/up-to-speed
Nussbaum, B. (2010, July 07). Is Humanitarian Design the New Imperialism? Retrieved April
2011, from FastCoDesign: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1661859/is-humanitarian-design-
the-new-imperialism#disqus_thread
Parsons, L. (2011, January ). (J. Klinker, Interviewer)
Project H Design. (2010 ). Retrieved April 2011, from Project H Design: http://projecthdesign.
org/
Rahman, A. (1992). People’s Self-Development. Real Life Economics: Understanding
Wealth Creation. London: Routledge.
Rawsthron, A. (2010, August 22). Putting New Tool in Students’ Hands. Retrieved April 2011,
from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/arts/23iht-design23.html
Sachs, W. (1992). Poor Not Different. Real Life Economics: Understanding Wealth Creation.
(P. Ekins , & M. Max-Neef, Eds.) London: Routledge.
Spatial Agency. (n.d.). Design Corps: Organization - Raleigh, USA. Retrieved April 2011,
from Spatial Agency: http://www.spatialagency.net/database/design.corps
Taylor, M. (2003). The Moment of Complexity: Emerging Network Culture. Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press.
University of Louisiana at Lafayette. (2006, October 24). The Building Institute . Retrieved
May 05, 2011, from University of Louisiana at Lafayette: http://buildinginstitute.louisiana.
edu/
US Census Bureau. (2010, November 04). State and County QuickFacts. Retrieved 05 2011,
from U.S. Census Bureau: http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/18000.html
Walker, A. (2009, June 2). Interview: Emily Pilloton of Project H. Retrieved April 2011, from
dwell:At Home in the Modern World: http://www.dwell.com/articles/interview-emily-
pilloton-of-project-h.html
Wood, C., & Leighton, D. (2010). Measuring Social Value: The Gap Between Policy and
Practice. London: Demos. Retrieved 2011, from Demos: www.demos.co.uk