A front porch for Palumbo Park? The conceptual landscape master plan for Palumbo Park is our 2009 Community Design Award recipient.

Join the Community Design Collaborative on Tuesday, October 13 at 6 p.m. at the Center for Architecture to celebrate the work of the volunteers who contributed their time and expertise on projects initiated in 2008  and recognize some of our outstanding volunteers, leaders, and projects.  Stay with us for the rest of the evening as the Collaborative presents Ad Hoc Urbanism: Adventures in Temporary Reuse, a talk by Terry Schwarz of the Cleveland Urban Design Center on Pop Up City.

The Collaborative is proud to announce its 2009 award recipients:

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Who could have predicted that in the midst of a recession year, the Collaborative would be recognized at more nonprofit ground-breaking ceremonies than ever before?

Celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of our volunteers, nonprofits and civic associations who have dedicated their time to strengthening neighborhoods through design:

You understand the value of the Community Design Collaborative’s work in Philadelphia neighborhoods.  Here’s a simple way you can impact both. Make a donation before October 13th and you will help save paper and postage!

The Collaborative thanks you!

A conceptual masterplan for revitalizing Seger Park.

The Collaborative has started work on its next round of service grants awarded to Friends of Seger Park Playground, Libertae, Mariposa Food Co-op/A Little Taste of Everything and Philadelphia Rooftop Farm(PROOF)/New Society Educational Foundation.  Our nonprofit clients have a range of design needs and serve their communities in diverse ways, from providing social services to supplying nutritious food. Read Full Story

Thanks to everyone who helped out and stopped by our  “sustainable backyard” on PARK(ing) Day.  We had a great time talking with curious people, meeting PARK(ing) Day participants and fans, looking up at the clouds from the hammock, hanging out laundry, and taking our lunch break in this improvised plant-filled backyard in front of the Center for Architecture on 1218 Arch Street.

The Collaborative’s  Park(ing)Day  installation used repurposed materials (salvaged wood, Interface carpet samples,  and used  construction buckets) along with native plants, a hammock and a clothesline and sparked discussions about how to make the most of  an urban open space.  We also gave away recycling containers to Philly residents and a handed out flyers with strategies and resources for promoting sustainability in your own backyard.

A special thanks goes to volunteers Karena Thurston and Nissa Grant, who worked with Emily Stromberg to plan and design the project.  Karena also helped assemble the yard and loaned us over twenty plants from her own backyard for the day. Read Full Story

The Collaborative's "Park-a-Lounger" from Park(ing) Day 2008.

Hang out in the Collaborative’s “backyard” on PARK(ing) Day and get some ideas on how you can embrace sustainability- even in your tiny city backyard!  If you can’t wait, here’s the list of resources we’ll be sharing at PARK(ing) day on Friday, September 18 at 1216 Arch Street.

We encourage everyone to come by and check it out, along with the many other exhibitions around the city. Find all the locations here on google maps. Our installation will be an example of a sustainable backyard with native plants, recycling stations, and salvaged materials, not to mention the hammock.

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Last Friday was the culmination of a home-building project that has taken five years. Three families from West Philadelphia receive the keys to their new LEED-certified houses, built by Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia. The Wright, Wanamaker and Seawright families each dedicated 350 hours of sweat equity to building their homes.

These homes are part of a seven-unit affordable housing development designed to have low energy costs. In 2005 The firm of WRT and the Energy Coordinating Agency donated pro bono design services worth over $21,000 to perform a feasibility study for the project and develop a sustainable design that would be consistent with the fabric of the surrounding neighborhood. The Collaborative is proud to have contributed to the design of this groundbreaking project.

Take a look at a slideshow

On September 17th, the Urban Sustainability Forum will turn its focus to issues of vacant land in Philadelphia.  The forum, entitled No Vacancy: Re-imagining Vacant Land in Philadelphia, will look at vacant land as an environmental and economic issue and explore ways to rejuvenate abandoned spaces.  Panelists will address potential reuses for empty space, tensions between temporary and permanent use, and best practices.

Beth Miller, the Collaborative’s executive director, will be moderating a panel of experts  that includes Terry Gillen, Executive Director of the Philadelphia Redevelopment Authority and Dan Kildee, Treasurer of Genesee County, Michigan. Kildee was instrumental in creating the Genesee County Land Bank in Flint, Michigan, which has encouraged the reuse of abandoned properties and played an important role in the revitalization of the city.

Mark your calendars for September 17 at 6 p.m. at the Academy of Natural Sciences, 19^th and Benjamin Franklin Parkway.