For Immediate Release: January 7, 2009
Media Contact: Marketing and Communication Department
CityVision Program Engages Students with Real-life Development Project
Using design as a framework to teach DCPS students how to become active participants in shaping their communities
WHAT
During the fall 2008 CityVision semester, twenty-five students from Browne Education Center and Howard Road Academy designed plans for a section of Interstate 395 between E Street and Massachusetts Avenue that developers Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP plan to deck over. Rod Garrett, a project coordinator on the I-395 development provided guidance to the students during the semester by volunteering as a guest juror for the students' final projects.
The National Building Museum challenged the students, with the guidance of local architects, urban planners, and the D.C. Office of Planning to build on this space and reconnect two parts of town that the interstate divided—Penn Quarter and Union Station. On January 9, the students will explain how their designs connect the neighborhoods and meet the needs of people who live and work there. Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells will provide opening remarks. Harriet Tregoning, director, D.C. Office of Planning, will also provide remarks that evening.
Through design basics and extensive fieldwork, CityVision instills in students that they can mold the world around them and enact positive change in their lives and the lives of others through good design. As students explore neighborhoods, brainstorm solutions, and accomplish projects together, they learn the importance of teamwork, problem solving, and advocacy skills. Regarding the experience of his students, Aaron Large, the Howard Road Academy school representative shared, "CityVision has given the students self-confidence. With the self-confidence developed in CityVision, our students feel like they can achieve anything."
CityVision is supported by the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; Bloomberg; Mead Family Foundation; William Randolph Hearst Foundation, and The American Architectural Foundation. Additional support for outreach programs is provided by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; The Capital Group Companies; the District of Columbia Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development; The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, and Joseph F. Horning, Jr., among others.
WHERE
National Building Museum
401 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
(Judiciary Square Metro, Red Line)
WHEN
Friday, January 9, 2009
6:00 – 8:00 pm: CityVision Final Presentation
CONTACT
Marketing and Communications Department, 202.272.2448, ext. 3458
Images available upon request.
The National Building Museum is America’s leading cultural institution dedicated to advancing the quality of the built environment by educating people about its impact on their lives. Through its exhibitions, educational programs, online content, and publications, the Museum has become a vital forum for the exchange of ideas and information about the world we build for ourselves. Public inquiries: 202.272.2448 or visit www.nbm.org. Connect with us on Twitter: @BuildingMuseum and Facebook.
