Lo-Fab
August 24 — October 21, 2015
IDEA Space
Can architecture create meaningful change? Can design promote social justice? Can a building save lives?
This fall, IDEA explores the ways in which design – including architectural, landscape, and product design – can create social change. The featured exhibition, entitled Lo-Fab (Locally Fabricated), examines the socially engaged approach that the architecture firm MASS Design Group has taken in the creation of medical facilities, with the goal of improving medical care through design. A series of lectures and events will complement the exhibition. The project is part of a broader yearlong exploration of design and social change sponsored by the Colorado College Art Department Design Research Fund.
Focusing on their designs for the GHESKIO Cholera Treatment center in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the exhibition explores the capacity of buildings and the building process to promote equity and inclusion, extend dignity, and save lives.
MASS Design Group is an international architectural design company dedicated to the idea that a building is more than a neutral container, but rather functions as an embodiment of the ideals and aspirations of those who inhabit it. With projects ranging from schools built in the Congolese jungle, hospitals in Rwanda, cholera treatment centers in Haiti, or medical master planning for hospitals in the United States, MASS Design is committed to a community-driven model of architectural practice, and believes that good design choices in the built environment promote equity and dignity, and help people live healthier, more prosperous lives.
MASS Design brings its philosophy and approach to the United States, beginning with two projects at Colorado College: the concept design for the renovation of Tutt Library; and the development of a new student residence, located on the east campus.
Lo-Fab and associated events are made possible by The Art Department Design Research Fund and The Cultural Attractions Fund.
FEATURED
Lecture | Lo-Fab by Alan Ricks
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 at 7 PM
Cornerstone Arts Center
Presented by the Colorado College Art Department Design Research Fund
Alan Ricks is the chief operating officer and co-founder of MASS Design Group. Alan’s work with MASS spans design, research, and policy. Ricks was named a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum for the 2014-2019 term, which ‘recognizes extraordinary leaders of the world under the age of 40’. He also has an appointment as an ‘Expert In Residence’ at the Harvard Innovation Lab. Chief TED curator Chris Anderson described the TED talk Alan gave in September 2013 as “a different language about what architecture can aspire to be.” Since designing and building the Butaro District Hospital for Partners In Health, MASS has expanded to twelve countries, focusing on design innovation and health, housing, and education infrastructure development. Alan is a graduate of Colorado College and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.
“Lo-Fab (Locally Fabricated) speaks to MASS’s approach to the design and building process. On every project, we highlight and scale local innovation and ideas, hire local labor, and use local materials. In Haiti, MASS designed and built Port au Prince’s the first permanent cholera center with the Haitian healthcare organization GHESKIO. Cholera and similar diseases are leading causes of sickness and death globally. By building off of the methods of this project to implementing locally borne, systemic approaches to infrastructure development we can confront this global crisis. This kind of architecture is making human lives better, and this is how we evaluate design integrity and the success of our projects. From this ethos, we draw a core set of principles:
1. Architecture can improve lives.
2. Architecture must have a transcendent idea to effect systemic change.
3. The building process must be curated to produce dignity.
EVENTS:
Opening + Lecture | Reception + IDEA Cabaret: Locating Deisgn
Tuesday, September 1, 2015 from 4:30 – 6:30 PM
IDEA Space, 825 North Cascade Ave. C. S. CO. 80903
IDEA Cabaret is an ongoing series of public talks featuring conversations between artists, visiting scholars, and Colorado College faculty and students from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise.
Locating Design invites us to consider how design decisions are made: Who determines aesthetic and functional standards? How are users’ needs and values considered? The event will feature discussions with students, faculty, and area professionals who have worked on socially engaged local design projects. Featured participants include: representatives from MASS Design; CC faculty members Christine Smith Siddoway (Geology) and Carl Reed (Art Studio); and CC students from the design collaborative SIP. The event will conclude with a performance by Gabriel Globus-Hoenich and Alex Shaw that connects music, architecture, and social advocacy.
Lecture | Designing CC: Specialty Gardens with Kyle Larsen
Wednesday, September 9, 2016 from 12:15 – 1 PM
Hulbert Center for Southwest Studies/Dern House
Colorado College Groundskeeper and Assistant Horticulturalist Kyle Larsen will discuss the plant choice and design of the climate-appropriate teaching gardens at Southwest Studies and Tutt Science
Designing CC: A series of free, public discussions that highlight aspects of design on the Colorado College campus.
Led by CC faculty, students, and staff, Designing CC talks share information and invite conversation about benchmark landscape and architectural design projects on campus. Bring your lunch, your questions, and your ideas! Open to the public.
Lecture | Designing CC: Packard Courtyard with Carl Reed
Wednesday, September 2, 2015 from 12:15 -1 PM
Packard Hall, Entrance
Professor Emeritus of Art Carl Reed talks about the design and implementation of the sculptural and botanical landscape that complements Packard’s Modernist architecture.
Designing CC: A series of free, public discussions that highlight aspects of design on the Colorado College campus.
Led by CC faculty, students, and staff, Designing CC talks share information and invite conversation about benchmark landscape and architectural design projects on campus. Bring your lunch, your questions, and your ideas! Open to the public.
Lecture | Designing CC: Student Collaborations
Wednesday, September 23, 2015 from 12:15 – 1 PM
Synergy House
The discussion will begin with a tour of the Pollinator Garden at Synergy House with Laurel Sebastian. The conversation continues with a presentation of The Block, a plan for creative development at the campus/community interface at the south end of campus presented by Jacy Stewart.
Designing CC: A series of free, public discussions that highlight aspects of design on the Colorado College campus.
Led by CC faculty, students, and staff, Designing CC talks share information and invite conversation about benchmark landscape and architectural design projects on campus. Bring your lunch, your questions, and your ideas! Open to the public.
Lecture | Designing CC: Cossitt Rotunda Restoration with Dan Crossey
Wednesday, September 30, 2015 from 12:15 – 1 PM
Cossitt Hall
Master carpenter Dan Crossey will discuss the process for restoring a signature element of one of CC’s most elegant historic buildings.
Designing CC: A series of free, public discussions that highlight aspects of design on the Colorado College campus.
Led by CC faculty, students, and staff, Designing CC talks share information and invite conversation about benchmark landscape and architectural design projects on campus. Bring your lunch, your questions, and your ideas! Open to the public.
Lecture | IDEA Cabaret: Dignifying Design with John Cary and Heather Fleming
Monday, September 21, 2015 at 4:30 PM
IDEA Space
Inspired by MASS Design’s statement that “Good design choices in the built environment promote equity and dignity, and help people live healthier, more prosperous lives,” this IDEA Cabaret examines the ways in which design supports social justice and health care initiatives. Featured participants include John Cary and Heather Fleming.
John Cary is work a writer, speaker, and curator who engages with areas of public health, reproductive rights, philanthropy, and social justice. Trained as an architect, Cary earned a BA from the University of Minnesota, and his Master of Architecture from UC Berkeley. He is a strategist for TED Prize and co-leader of TEDCity2.0, a project focused on the future of cities. Cary serves as an advisor to Aspen Global Health & Development, is a global advisory board member of Possible Health in rural Nepal, and is a member of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB)‘s Design Council. His first book, The Power of Pro Bono: 40 Stories about Design for the Public Good by Architects and Their Clients (2010) represents the culmination of his nearly seven-year tenure as Executive Director of San Francisco nonprofit Public Architecture. His writing has appeared in an array of publications as diverse as The New York Times, CNN.com, The Christian Science Monitor, and Fast Company.
As the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Catapult Design in Denver, Heather Fleming works to combine design with humanitarian initiatives all over the world. Previous to this position, Fleming worked as a product design consultant for D2M Inc., and from there went on to form a volunteer group partnered with Engineers Without Borders (EWB). Formerly an Adjunct Lecturer at Stanford University, Fleming is currently a Senior Lecturer at California College of the Arts. She holds a B.S. in Product Design from Stanford University. She has been named a Pop!Tech Social Innovation Fellow and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader as a result of her developmental initiatives all over the world. Fleming also serves on the ASME’s Engineering for Global Development committee and sits as a member on the Board of Directors for the Navajo Chamber of Commerce. Her writing has been featured in various publications including PRI’s The World, ABC News, WIRED.com and Newsweek. She is also a contributing writer for NextBillion.net.
Lunch + Lecture | Designing a Cure: Tuberculosis Treatment in the Pikes Peak Region by Matt Mayberry
Tuesday, October 6, 2015 from 11:45 – 1:30 PM
Slocum Commons
Reservations required.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Colorado Springs served as a destination for patients suffering from tuberculosis. This presentation will examine how health care became Colorado Springs’ first major industry, the social history of the disease, and its impact on our community’s built environment.
Presenter Matt Mayberry has served as the director of the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum since 2002. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in history. He has published scholarly and popular articles on a variety of topics, ranging from tuberculosis treatment in the Pikes Peak region to how museums can effectively use eBay to further their missions. In addition to his duties at the CSPM, Matt is involved with numerous boards and commissions and volunteers for the American Alliance of Museums to help similar institutions around the country to evaluate their performance relative to established standards of excellence.
