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The Newsletter: to Mail or not to Mail - The Editor

ANNUAL MEETING CHANGE OF VENUE! - Allison Kinst

Steering Committee Candidates' Statements - Themselves

Brainstorming IDEO Style - Lucia Bogatay

PLAYFUL LANDSCAPE INTERVENTIONS AT WESTERBEKE - Jean Nilsson

Let's Partner with PARLOUR - Wendy Bertrand

Dare to Discuss Gender: Book Circle #11 - Wendy Bertrand

PROFILE: Darlene Jang, AIA, OWA, Barcelon Jang Architecture - Carolyine Orazi

The Topic for the weekend, Creativity and Play, was orchestrated by Gretchen Addi, a principal of IDEO, a global innovation and design firm. Ms Addi spent some time making us more familiar with what they do and how they do it. We learned that IDEO makes imaginative use of human interaction to stimulate and harness creativity and solve problems for government, industry, business and education. Addi Iat length the kinds of projects and the ethos of the firm. She introduced us to the design process they use: It begins with "Ideation," a form of brainstorming and collection of ideas without limitations or judgements, testing feasibility (finding the best approach), and working out the design. The company uses people, space and process in ways to facilitate the development of creative solutions. Following her talk, Addi divided us into groups at brown paper covered tables with pens and colored dots, and instructed us to record our notions of how the design process can be enhanced using play, interaction of people, inovative places and processes (not her exact terms, but close). We OWA/DP members demonstrated our own creativity as we recorded our insights into collaboration and the design process that we use as architects and designers, writing notes and drawing on the brown paper and adding colored dots to indicate agreement with a particular point.

The brown paper results are full of diagrams, drawings, and comments which truly illustrate the process we were trying to define! Among the notes and drawings on the salvaged sheets of brown paper from the various tables we found the following collection of insights:

Work Spaces: This topic generated much drawing and discussion. Workplace should be flexible and not static. Furniture on wheels allows for modifying space, people should be encouraged to move around, changing combinations of collaborators. Comments advised avoiding the formal, encouraging the informal, personalizing, and allowing pets and babies, encouraging interaction using encounters, bulletin boards, post-its, chalk boards. Emphasis was on variety: a variety of spaces and levels of privacy, a variety of chairs, “sitting balls” to encourage both comfort and healthy movement, a variety of heights of working surface, flexibility. for individuals, teams and presentations. Provide calibrated scale on wall and cutouts of people to help visualize results, provide places to tape out full sized mock-ups. Install banners with images of the users. Perhaps as inspiration, and to remind people who they are working for.

People: Much discussion of teams, their composition and function, the importance of having “good people” on the design team, and having a variety of points of view, ages, disciplines and ethnicities. Building team morale and excitement about the project and process was noted. All participants need to respect other participants and be respected. But must allow people to be “human.” Some consultants could be short term team members. There was emphasis on the value of humor, and playfulness, and both being accepted rather than being suppressed. Get to know the people with whom you are collaborating, for whom you are designing, perhaps in an informal setting. All team members need to meet client. Have lunch dates with participants, have work space which encourages a variety of interaction with a variety of people. Maintain team cohesion by cooking together, and try sketching on Fridays during lunch hour.

Process: At the Process tables, people considered what process or activity would promote the creativity of both the team and the client. There was a lot of emphasis on the use of creativity and play, and on changing the environment in which the work is done. Play includes music, fighting, doodling, changing the light levels, or varying them throughout the environment, The space becomes the metaphor for the process, being broken up and reconfigured in response to the creative impulse.

According to the notes on these tables, the goals include: remaining open to new ideas, staying loose, not becoming defensive, and being non-judgmental. Activities include gathering information, visiting sites, talking to users, locating good existing examples of the project type, and assembling good team.

It is important to understand a client’s working culture, to use lateral as well as linear thinking and to explore ideas thoroughly. Use friction as a catalyst (for discussion, for generating ideas?), use humor as a lubricant to help with communication. Use collaborative design sessions with user groups to achieve quicker consensus and client feedback. Challenge consensus, encourage chance encounters, have “walk in the park” meetings, role play, change roles, brainstorm, but above all, LISTEN. Use humor and cartoons to make the atmosphere lighter and more creative. Do space maps of emotions and activities. One must (metaphorically at least) be able to “step off the cliff.” And try to reject the stress: “it all works out in the end.”

Participants spent the afternoon in an open-ended playful exercise to generate ideas and discussion for small landscape interventions that might be built at Westerbeke – ones that guests would notice and that would inspire interaction. Working in small groups for about ninety minutes, we met to brainstorm initial ideas and select one of three appropriate locations proposed by the owner, select materials and an approach for modeling or conveying the idea, and set to work building.

Each group then presented a model or sketches and a pitch for their idea to the larger group and Wendy Westerbeke, who joined the discussion and delighted in the possibilities. Several groups modeled interventions at the Reservoir, including exploring the reservoir via cards that take you on a walk to a sequence of spots prompting additional actions; play areas such as hammocks and a swing where you get misted; a central climbing structure and platforms at different levels; and a large scale sundial and “clock walk.” Another group suggested small, sculpted creatures throughout the site that connect you to a succession of features–a Westerbeke Wild Things treasure hunt. One group proposed a giant slingshot with target made of materials already on site; a stump section as target, a forked branch as sling shot, and using the local acorns as ammunition. Others presented ideas for developing the fire pit area as a contemplative place for small groups, adding a fragrant sensory garden, a kinetic canopy, comfortable seating and a focal point honoring Wendy’s grandfather.

OWA members have enjoyed a long history of retreats at Westerbeke Ranch and the group has contributed significant landscape pieces, building the labyrinth in 2003 for our 30th anniversary and the Thyme Garden in 2013 for our 40th.

THANKS to Janet, Gretchen, everyone in the retreat committee, our fabulous evening band Homenagem Brasiliera, and Michelle Morales, who prepared us for the evening with an upbeat dance workshop Saturday morning.

PARLOUR: a space to speak – bringing together research, informed opinion and resources; generating debate and discussion; expanding the spaces for women in Australian architecture......and around the world.

Archiparlour.org has been a great source of motivation and information about changing the architectural profession, so women will be valued as equals. Check them out.

http://archiparlour.org

Now they have made a call for partnership and I think OWA & DP would be well served to become one of the Parlour Partners.
From their fantastic web site

"Join us as a Parlour Partner!
We now have a Parlour Partner program. Together with Parlour Friends, this enables us to continue delivering significant discussion, research and resources, and to help build communities and networks for those committed to a more equitable profession.

The Parlour Partners program offers three levels – Principal Partners, Corporate Partners and Institutional Partners.

Principal Partner
This is the premier partnership arrangement, which is recognised as supporting all Parlour work. It provides broad access to a highly engaged, committed audience.

Corporate Partner
Corporate partnerships are generally associated with particular projects and inititiaves. These are tailored to suit the budget and commitment of the partner, and the alignment of these interests with the needs of Parlour.

Institutional Partner
Institutional Partnerships enable us to work closely with universities, professional organisations and government bodies . This enables Institutional Partners to extend their reach and industry engagement, while assisting Parlour with research, education and communication.

Why become a Parlour Partner?
When you become a Parlour Partner you join excellent company. It is an opportunity to work with like-minded organisations in building a fairer, more equitable, and more sustainable profession.

We are delighted that the Australian Institute of Architects has joined us as Parlour’s inaugural Principal Partner.

We look forward to developing further relationships with new Principal Partners, Corporate Partners and Institutional Partners.

What next?
Read Why Parlour, download the Parlour Partners overview and contact us for details on the different levels. The Parlour Partners package of benefits and recognition will be tailored to suit your organisation and situation."

Working with with Parlour in its new phase offers Parlour Partners the opportunity to develop their profile and reach, and provides access to a significant, highly engaged audience. This is a chance for organisations to clearly demonstrate their commitment to gender equity, and to communicate this commitment to a receptive network of architects and allied professionals

A good topic for October Business meeting and beyond.