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OWA EVENT: Somatic Design: How the Body Makes Marks: Toward a Somatic Shift in Architecture - Bridget Basham

Tell us a little bit about your background.
I attended Oakland Charter high school for three years, and then I transferred to Oakland high because I wanted to experience what it was like to go to a public high school. Oakland high gave me many opportunities that I would not have gotten if I stayed at my previous school. I am glad that I transferred, because I had the opportunity to take a class called Civil Engineering Architecture. This class gave me a taste of what it was like to be an architect. I got to use software apps such as Revit to create a house from scratch using the tools provided. I've learned a lot from this class, and I hope to continue my education by taking as many course as I can to figure out which career path in the fields of design is suitable for me.

How did you come to design? And why did you decide to study this field?
I chose to study design, because this field allows me to explore the creative side of me. This field opens doors to countless opportunities for students like me that are passionate about design and want to explore what it have to offer. I knew I wanted to study this field, because I know that I am a creative individual and I want to be able to design and construct things that would one day improve the living space that we inhibit.

Galen Cranz, who is retiring from her long-standing position, Professor of Architecture at the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley, accompanied by Chelsea Rushton presented a Somatic Design workshop to a group of12 attendees on a Summer's Tuesday evening, in the mainly abandoned Wurster hall, College of Environmental Design. This workshop falls within a body of work and research for Galen.

Galen and Chelsea led the group in two drawing exercises that simply instructed that a building be drawn on one piece of paper and that a plaza be drawn on the other. This exercise was repeated, but importantly, punctuated by working in pairs. Couples took turns to gently touch the liver of one-another, from the back. Suddenly and quite deliberately, a loud noise was created, and participants felt and sensed the liver retreating.

In the drawing exercise that followed, the group observed that their drawing was more confident and sinuous; the page more full and often the perspective shifted, or became more focused on subject. I.e. there was a noticeable difference from the first attempts.

Galen Cranz is Professor Emerita of Architecture at the University of California at Berkeley. She received her doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago and is certified teacher of the Alexander Technique. She teaches social and cultural approaches to architecture and urban design. Emphasizing ethnography as a research method, she brings users' as well as creators' perspectives to our understanding of built environments. Currently, she is publishing a new text on the use of ethnography for designers, Ethnography and Space. Her teaching includes the point of view of different American cultures, as part of Berkeley’s American Cultures requirement. In 2011 she received the Career Award, the highest award of the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA).

Chelsea Rushton holds a BFA with distinction in Creative Writing from the University of Victoria and an MFA in Visual Art from the University of Calgary, and she is certified at the 500 hour level as a yoga instructor. She is the developer and instructor of Art of the Soul: Creative Process as Spiritual Practice, a special topics lecture, seminar, and studio course that profiles 20th century modern and contemporary artists who engage in art-making as a method of spiritual inquiry and practice. Her creative endeavors have been supported by the British Columbia Arts Council, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the University of Calgary’s Centre for Research in the Fine Arts, and Calgary Arts Development.

Housing as Intervention: Architecture towards Social Equity
Symposium and Book Launch

September 24, 2018
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
California College of the Arts
1111 8th Street
San Francisco

In the face of persistent social inequities worldwide, how can architects make a meaningful contribution? Housing’s primary position in our lives, economies and the built environment makes it a natural site of intervention in the complex fight against systemic injustices.

Bringing together housing experts from New York, Kigali, and the Bay Area, this program examines how housing projects, and the design processes behind them, can be interventions towards greater social equity. The event also marks the launch of the volume of Architectural Design (AD) of the same title, edited by Karen Kubey.

Speakers:
Fatou Dieye, Regional Project Coordinator, Skat Consulting
Karen Kubey, Guest-Editor, Housing as Intervention: Architecture towards Social Equity, Architectural Design (AD)/Wiley; Visiting Associate Professor, Pratt Institute
Michael Pyatok, Principal, PYATOK architecture + urban design
Antje Steinmuller, Associate Professor, California College of the Arts; Associate Director, Urban Works Agency

Respondent:
Charise Fong, Chief Operating Officer, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation

Free and open to the public.

More information at here!

#EQxDV : Voices, Values, Vision

AIA San Francisco Equity by Design (EQxD) Committee is proud to present our 5th Symposium, #EQxDV - Voices, Values, Vision, on Saturday, November 3, 2018 from 8:30 – 5:00 pm at the San Francisco Art Institute.

Registration for #EQxDV open August 22 thru October 31
Click here to find out more and register!

The framework for the #EQxDV Symposium program is defined by two anchors: presentation of the early findings of the 2018 Equity in Architecture Survey and active engagement in the form of panel discussions, break-out sessions, and networking opportunities. We are looking for Thought Leaders who are content experts, passionate advocates, and those willing to shape portions of the day’s program. As with years prior, you will, together with our leadership group, be deeply involved in the design of the day’s experience.