EVENT ARCHIVE

Each Wednesday for two-hour classes, interns and students met at Farview and Creekview Parks to design together. Using drawings, models and deep discussion of the North Minneapolis challenges, the interns provided down-to-earth understanding of the neighborhood context, collaboratively creating solutions grounded in interns’ experience and their training in sustainability. The final proposals were generated and developed during these collaborative workdays.

Travel opens our eyes to unfamiliar places, patterns of living, and architecture. The university students took a 3-day class visit to New Orleans, journeying through such sites as Congo Park, the French Quarter, the Garden District, and the Algiers neighborhood. Highlights included Treme’s Petit Jazz Museum, the French Quarter Market, and brunch at Café Reconcile. In their sketchbooks, students analyzed architectural motifs, urban design, the relationship between New Orleans and North Minneapolis, and alignment with “Just Cities” values.

Between the dates of October 4th and 6th, our class volunteered with and visited local sites to become familiarized with developments relevant to North Minneapolis. They brought their sketchbooks and helping hands.

October 4th– Site visit, Volunteering and Dinner at Pillsbury’s Oak Park Garden and Center hosted by Michael Chaney

October 5th– Walking in the North Minneapolis neighborhoods

October 6th– Visit to Settled Tiny Homes Project with Gabrielle Clowdus

We invited community experts to speak at the University and at Community Design Events.

October 16, “Advancing North Minneapolis” Panel discussion at the University of Minnesota: Catherine Fleming (Project Sweetie Pie), Shanasha Wilson (Community Partnership Collaborative), Clifton Williams (Grow Us), and Dane McLain (North Community High School)

October 23, Presentation “Advancing North Minneapolis” at the University of Minnesota by Stephen Obayunawa (Northside Economic Opportunity Network, NEON)

November 4, Co-Design Event: Shawn Lewis (Minneapolis Parks Foundation) led our community walk from Farview Park to the River

December 9, Land Acknowledgement by Anita Gates, of Zintkala Luta and the Native American Community Development Institute

Sketch model-making and representation allow us to explore ideas quickly. They test the degree to which our ideas are architectural (spatial, material, buildable), especially ideas about human experience and activities. Our class fabricated work using a variety of scales, media and tools to demonstrate how a spatial condition can generate sensory feedback tuned toward achieving a design goal.

Students and interns presented final work at Rapson Hall University of Minnesota, for revere by community members and professionals who had participated in reviews throughout the semester.

The final celebration was an opportunity to celebrate the student and intern work, and present it to the broader community. Taking place at the Farview Park Community Center where we had most of our Wednesday classes and Co-Design events, it was a festive occasion that included refreshments and lunch.

Community members joined the Investing with North Minneapolis team to walk, talk, and draw with us! To get neighborhood input, we hosted public design events to which the entire North Minneapolis community was invited.

We held all three Co-Design events at Farview Park. At the first two events, Shawn Lewis of the Minneapolis Parks Foundation led the interns, students and community on a walk in the nearby neighborhood. Afterwards, the group shared a meal and gathered for a collaborative design session. This first session addressed what the neighborhood should be like, good existing conditions, what could be changed, and what could be added.

At the second Co-Design event, participants gave feedback on the designs the interns and students created in response to the first meeting.

The final celebration in December was an opportunity to present the completed work of the interns and students.

For our studio travel, we decided to spend time getting to know North Minneapolis and important projects in the Twin Cities.

October 4- Eden Garden Volunteering

October 4- Dee-Dee’s Food Volunteering

October 5- Site Visit to Upper Harbor Terminal

October 6- Visit to Rondo Neighborhood

October 6- Visit to Mosaic Settled Project

We held five community project reviews at which interns and Masters of Architecture students presented their design. proposals for feedback and input. Community members, some of whom have participated in previous years, represented different neighborhood perspectives, while local professionals and academics brought their expertise.

October 12- Urban Analysis & Design Options

October 26- Urban Project Proposals

November 15- Urban Schematic Design

December 16- Final Project Community Review

October 19- Keith Baker lecture on Rondo Project in St. Paul

November 14- Building in North Minneapolis: Matthew Ramadan & Kitty Stratton

November 28- Panel: Creating the Commons in North Minneapolis: Parks and the Just City with Paul Bauknight (Minneapolis Parks Foundation), Shawn Lewis (Minneapolis Parks Foundation) & Adam Arvidson (Minneapolis Parks & Recreation Board)

Students and interns took advantage of several opportunities to volunteer in the community.

October 4- Eden Garden Volunteering

October 4- Dee-Dee’s Food Volunteering

November 4- Eden Garden Volunteering

Students and interns presented final work at Rapson Hall, University of Minnesota for review by community members, university faculty and professionals who had participated in reviews throughout the semester.

Held at Farview Park Recreation Center, this community meeting celebrated the student and intern work, presenting it to the broader community. Refreshments created a festive atmosphere.

Bus tour of the neighborhood and mapping of important neighborhood
attributes

Jamil Ford introduced the university students to the neighborhood history with a walking tour along Plymouth Avenue

Starting at Theodore Wirth Parkway and 26 th Avene, the Class made a walking tour of the triangle bound by 26th Avenue, the Mississippi River and West Broadway, to study the relationship between the existing neighborhood and potential development along the river.

Students develop a class culture document to support positive interactions between peers and instructors.

The first review was an opportunity for students to present research they had completed about the neighborhood for feedback, and to learn the priorities of the community participants for their neighborhood’s future.

Students developed four design options for the neighborhood that community members could respond to, (Health & Wellness, Community Gathering, Ecology & Environment and Youth) hoping for find good directions to pursue. However the participants were not
able to understand the options- drawn as urban plans and axonometric representations
of the existing neighborhood and planned development of the riverside area. Participants didn’t see their ideas in the projects and requested that the students developing the existing neighborhood as much as the riverside area.

We had the opportunity to present the four alternatives to interns from the Connections to Independence program who gave different feedback from the community members. They were especially interested in youth housing and developing the area along the river.

At the university, the final individual and team proposals were reviewed by design professionals and community experts for feedback, discussion and refinement.

At an afternoon review and evening presentation students presented final projects to community members and a few youth participants for feedback, discussion and refinement.

A formal final review was held at Rapson Hall at the university for feedback from professionals and a few community members and youth who could attend in person. Due to inclement weather many community members could not attend.

The final projects were presented to community members in the Zoom meeting format. Community members were pleased that many of their ideas were represented in the project proposals.