ARCH 381: DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE FUTURES / SPRING 2014

 

SYNOPSIS 

Better Block is a grassroots urbanism event that encourages local artists, residents, and businesses to collaborate in order to propose a more sustainable community. The original Better Block event was championed by urbanist advocate Jason Roberts, who turned vacant and underutilized blocks in his neighborhood of Oak Cliff, Texas into vibrant centers for cultural activity in the public right of way. He did this community collaboration to activate pop-up shops, empty storefronts, temporary bike lanes, and the integration of arts and culture into a small stretch of urban space, subsequently coined 'Better Block'. 

 

PROCESS

The goal of Better Block Lawrence was for students in the Bachelor of Arts in Architecture elective Designing Sustainable Futures to navigate the urban design process with the City of Lawrence, KS, as well as engage with local arts groups to promote public spaces for them to set up and install temporary installations that supported a more sustainable community. One proposed installation included a parklet that demonstrated public seating space for local businesses along 9th Street. Another installation proposed a lending library that provided books for residents to check out and return freely. Multiple local community arts organizations were invited to be a part of the process, and the Lawrence Arts Center, as well as the Lawrence Creates Makerspace and the Lawrence Percolator, helped to coordinate their efforts to help envision a cultural arts corridor. Additional efforts by the students saw the creation of protected bike lanes that were illuminated at night to encourage safer pedestrian walkability and bicycling in the community.  

 

IMPACT

While the process received some amount of publicity, and was attended by many area residents both from within the community and those visiting, there was also criticism expressed that the entire notion of the Better Block movement supported local art organizations that may not have been fully aligned with the interests of the community in closest proximity to 9th Street. However, the overall efforts to empower residents to take ownership of their own public streets helped to spur other area neighborhood associations to develop their own Better Blocks in Lawrence, taking place as early as the latter half of 2015.

 

FUNDING

The Lawrence Arts Center, recipient of an NEA Our Town Grant, funded the project's primary expenditures with a $500 mini-grant to cover incidentals, traffic safety infrastructure, insurance, and documentation. Students also worked to secure donations from multiple sources in the Lawrence community, mostly through in-kind donations, and leveraged crowd-funding and social media campaigns to promote their projects. 

 

PROFESSOR

Matt Kleinmann

 

STUDENTS

Natalie Ardizzoni, Logan Pippitt, Erik Wolf, Fatimah Alsaggaf, Kelli Dillion, MacKenzie Davis, Marium Zahir, Melissa Fraire