Just two weeks after our return from Medellin, the Governor of Antioquia, Colombia, and former Mayor of Medellin, Sergio Fajardo will be in town, speaking at Kane Hall 120 on April 24, at 7:00 pm. Thanks to the UW Jackson School and the UW CBE! Can’t wait to meet this transformational governor/mayor/leader.
Tomorrow is our annual open house for prospective students in all departments of the College of Built Environments, including the Runstad Center. Here is a rundown of the college-wide activities planned. Please feel free to stop by our office or email msre@uw.edu for specifics. We hope to see you soon!
Lunch (11:45 – 1:00 pm, Gould Court)
Join a mix of prospective students from all majors for a casual lunch, hosted by the Dean’s office.
Open House (3:30 – 4:30 pm, Gould and Architecture Halls)
Take a tour of our buildings and see the spaces where we work and study.
Lecture (4:30 pm, Architecture Hall 147)
Architects from Miller|Hull will present their plans for the new Pike Place Waterfront project. This is a great opportunity for all majors and degree candidates to learn more about a major site for built environments work in the city. The Miller Hull Partnership was selected by the Pike Place Market Preservation and Public Development Authority (PDA) to design a new mixed-use project adjacent to the historic Pike Place Market. The project location will be a critical connection point to the new Seattle waterfront plan currently being developed by landscape architecture firm James Corner Field Operations. Join in on a presentation of this major site of built environments work and improvement in Seattle. (Miller|Hull principal and co-founder David Miller is also the Chair of the department of Architecture here in the College of Built Environments.)
Happy Hour (4:30 pm, Architecture Hall 147)
Join current students for a traditional Friday afternoon Happy Hour! Ask your questions and meet your future fellow students in a convivial atmosphere at day’s end.
Just three days after our return from Bogota and Medellin – ‘Bogota Cambio’ premieres at the NWFilm Forum – several of us showed up and saw this inspiring account of the two incredible Mayors, who in just three three-year terms between them, completely changed the social, physical and economic culture of the city.
Experienced the beautiful Spanish colonial city of Cartagena through the arts scene…amazing biennial that brought all corners of the city alive!
We met yesterday with the inspiring Jorge Perez, Planning Director of Medellin, former Dean of the school of Architecture, who spoke passionately about the value of community leaders, planning and transforming people’s realities through bringing different worlds together through mobility, public investments, and relationships.
Moravia: 35 year-old land fill in the middle of the city of Medellin: populated and settled around methane gas holes; then, planned and remediated slowly through different plant types and an intense community outreach effort.
The excellent Carlos Andres touring us through the informal/now formal settlements showing us new public escalators and bike/pathways through this vertical district, he has worked on these projects for over four years, through extensive community involvement.
Two sides of the same street – Penalosa’s expansive green park, packed with soccer fields on one side, informal settlements and car repair shops on the other…riding the incredibly fast Transmilenio bus/rapid transit out to Portal de Tunal yesterday in the far southern reaches of Bogota.
It’s been an amazing start to the trip in the impressively put together city of Bogota… incredibly high quality construction, especially brick residential projects, lush green avenues that we all experienced on the Sunday ride called the ciclovia, and attention to details everywhere in the public realm from stormwater to public toilets to public parks recreated out of former exclusive polo fields!
Incredible energy down in the city of Citizen Culture… our 2014 Runstad Affiliate Fellows leave tomorrow for Bogotá, awaiting thunderstorms and protests. Stay tuned for their updates from the road. Buen viaje, amigos!
