Bouyant: The Collaborative began its 20th anniversary year by celebrating with the hundreds of nonprofits and designers we've brought together. Help us complete 2011 on a high note.

Your donation through the Collaborative’s 2011 Annual Appeal can have twice the impact. If you give by December 31, your gift will be doubled!

Here’s how: The William Penn Foundation made a challenge grant to encourage people and organizations to give during our 20th anniversary year. We’re close to meeting our $150,000 match goal. Help us make the match! Even a modest gift will help.

Since 1991, we’ve been bringing nonprofit leaders together with volunteer design professionals to strengthen neighborhoods through design and make Philadelphia and the region a better place to live, work, study, and enjoy.Your donation will help the Collaborative continue to make a real difference in our communities.

Thank you and best wishes for the holidays and the new year!

Warmly,

Beth Miller
Executive Director

Dickinson Square in November as construction began. Photo courtesy of Plan Philly.

Construction for Dickinson Square has begun! With hulking, dying sycamore trees and buildings, pathways, and other infrastructure last renovated in the ’70s, Dickinson Square was due for a remake. The Friends of Dickinson Square received a service grant from the Collaborative in 2007 to envision the sustainable redesign of this popular Pennsport park.

Since then, Phase 1 of the park’s improvements have been funded by the Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation and placed into the able hands of LRSLA Studio.  Ashley Hahn of Plan Philly’s Eyes on the Street shares her walk-through of the just-begun renovation project as the construction fence rose and the diseased old trees fell.

Camille Cazon spent 2011 at the Collaborative thanks to AmeriCorps Vista. Check out her parting thoughts on the Collaborative, Philly, community design, and where she’s going next–plus her animated holiday greeting from Cali.

At the Collaborative, Camille helped Robin Kohles with rStore design services, advising business owners on façade improvements and participating on the committee that reviews applications for the city’s Storefront Improvement Program grants.

She also coordinated several of our 20th anniversary events. You may have met Camille as she organized our exhibition and Park(ing) Day installation this fall. On top of all that, Camille had an important behind-the-scenes role in putting together the Design in Action 2011 conference. We quickly came to value her hands-on design chops, great ear for what’s current in community design, and ability to make things happen.

Camille arrived in Philly via Berkeley, Dallas, and New York City. Knowing that her time here was limited, she created an “East Coast Bucket List” and made road trips to Montreal, Washington, DC, and Pittsburgh. When we reluctantly bid her farewell in November, we knew her travels ISO public-interest architecture opportunities are far from over.

I touched base with Camille last week.

What would be your theme song for the past year?
Silver Lining by Rilo Kiley. I like swaying back and forth to the rhythm.

What was the best part about working at the Collaborative/living in Philly?
The best part about working at the Collaborative was working with awesome people who are doing awesome things that matter. And of course its proximity to the Reading Terminal Market and Chinatown (I miss my Thai tea runs).

The best part about living in Philly is the fact that I can now say I lived in Will Smith’s ‘hood. The worst part was when SEPTA and I would get into fights;  I always ended up holding back tears.

What was one of the first things you did when you got back to California?
Cliche and Californian, I went straight to In-N-Out and got a Double-Double with Fries and a Vanilla Shake. Yum.

I know you’ve had a taste of several parts of the country. Where’d you like to head next?
I’m targeting the Midwest this time around. I would love to work in Detroit or Cleveland. I tend to romanticize gritty cities.

Who should we be following next year in the world of community design?
Hester Street Collaborative of NYC; they just secured funding for their work in Pier 42. And Detroit Collaborative Design Center.

You gave each of us a parting note—and sketch. Now draw us a holiday note.
My drawing’s above. And here’s a holiday video:

Happy Holidays! from Camille Cazon on Vimeo.

Portals to Neighborhood History: These buildings posed big challenges to their nonprofit owners.

Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia’s latest Endangered Properties List hits home with its focus on buildings distinguished more by their association with events, activities, and people than by their architectural details.

Some of the list’s targets, like Southwest Center City’s Royal Theater, have a physical presence that matches their cultural significance. But others, like John Coltrane’s house in Strawberry Mansion or Joe Frazier’s Gym on North Broad Street, blend all-too-easily into a larger landscape dilapidated homes and storefronts. Check out Philly Buildings that Deserve Saving for Community’s Sake for the complete list.

The Community Design Collaborative worked with the owners of two of the buildings on this list– the New Frankford Y and the Chinatown Cultural and Community Center– to calculate what it would take to revive them and the organizations who owned them.

Both projects illustrated the dilemma facing venerable nonprofits in the throes of rethinking their missions and programming: they lack the funding to maintain or improve these heritage buildings, which prevents them from generating new activity and revenue.

The Collaborative worked with Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to put together a tour featuring innovative neighborhood projects for Cities Alive, an international conference for green roof and wall professionals hosted here in Philly last week.

Conference goers were treated to an off-the-beaten-path look at green spaces and buildings in the APM, Northern Liberties, Kensington, and Fishtown neighborhoods. Stops at infill housing, green spaces, and a green high school (the recipient of the US Green Building Council’s top honors today) gave them a good feel for the green and gritty fabric of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods. And since many of the stops included trips to the roof—they caught some excellent city views too.

Scenes from the City of Neighborhoods tour:

Many thanks to Julie Snell, Chair of the Local Tours Committee, and the tour presenters!

Daryn Edwards, AIA, Interface Studio Architects
The Modules at Temple Town

David Elliott, RLA, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
Liberty Lands Park and the Big Green Block

Bill Foley, GRP, Tremco, Inc.
The Ice House

Jane Rath, AIA, SMP Architects
Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School

Photos courtesy of Bill Foley.

Posted by Beth Miller, Executive Director:
Since we’ve been celebrating our 20^thanniversary, 2011 has been an action-packed year at the Collaborative. But even in this extraordinary year, the ribbon cutting for APM’s Sheridan Street Housing stands out as one of the highlights.

Like all good things, these 13 contemporary, sustainable homes took time, perseverance, and partnerships. I feel lucky to have seen this project take shape, gain momentum, and get built.

While Sheridan Street Housing remained true to the original design concept developed at its start with the Collaborative—a minor miracle in itself—it also ended up being much more. It opened up new horizons for an experienced community development corporation and a young design firm. It inspired policy change. And it influenced what private developers offer homebuyers. Read Full Story

The Collaborative’s recent design charrette, Planning for the Next Century of Service, brought over 50 people together to brainstorm about ideas for the Camden campus of The Neighborhood Center. The Collaborative hosted the charrette as part of AIA Philadelphia’s Design on the Delaware conference on November 9.