 News
NewSchool of Architecture and Design Graduates Create Sustainable Designs for a North Park Main Street
8/11/2011
Saturday Reception Will Kick Off Show Highlighting North Park Main Street’s Efforts to Integrate Sustainability Concepts Into Business Districts San Diego—Aug. 11, 2011— Graduates of the NewSchool of Architecture and Design (NSAD) in San Diego, working with a group of North Park architect mentors, have created sustainable designs for a “green” North Park business district. Their work will be featured at the Sustainable North Park Main Street show, starting with a special reception Saturday, Aug. 13, at the Art Produce Gallery, 3139 University Ave. The show, which lasts through Aug. 20, is intended to encourage community discussion about sustainability approaches for the North Park business district. Sustainable North Park Main Street, an initiative of the North Park Main Street group, is a comprehensive community project involving building owners, business operators and the community members such as NSAD graduate Steve Russell and Alison Whitelaw from Platt/Whitelaw in San Diego. Platt/Whitelaw recruited six NSAD students who graduated in 2010 to assist in the project’s development: Yolanda Campbell, Alex Esquibel, Alex Rojas, Jillian Walker, Ryan Walker and Soeren Wegener. The graduates, along with their architect mentors, provided “hundreds of hours of pro bono effort” from August 2010 to May 2011 to produce the proposals, according to Russell. As a result of these contributions, a grant was obtained from the California Office of Historic Preservation to help pay some of the former students to develop a more formal report. “The Saturday evening show is a public unveiling and an effort to get feedback,” said Russell. “This is a groundbreaking program … and for these former students to be associated with bringing this up out of the ground brings strong credibility to their work as urban planners and architects.” The North Park Main Street group is affiliated with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which promotes revitalization of historic commercial districts. The sustainability project would build on that concept by identifying community-based sustainable approaches to development and operations. For example, a sustainable Main Street would include building retrofits, businesses that are committed to reducing waste, or using energy conservation practices, said Russell. Art Produce Gallery is hosting the Sustainable North Park Main Street show Aug. 13–20, and the designs produced by the former NSAD students will be on display through then. The Aug. 13 opening reception, which is free and open to the public, is being held at the gallery 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. It will be hosted by Olive Branch Green Building Supplies in conjunction with Ray@Nite.
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