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CityVision

Outreach Program

 

Overview 

Now in its sixteenth year, CityVision is an award-winning program that uses design as a framework to teach District of Columbia public school students how to become active participants in shaping their communities. Through extensive fieldwork and careful mentoring at the National Building Museum, students identify needs and propose solutions designed to help local neighborhoods.  

Program Goals

In CityVision, participants:

• Develop problem solving and critical thinking skills
• Learn technical skills, including sketching and architectural drawing, photography, scale, and model building
• Practice negotiation and collaboration while working as a team
• Sharpen public speaking and communication skills
• Explore careers in architecture, engineering, construction and design

How does the program work?

CityVision takes place during the fall and spring of the academic year, and is made possible by a close collaboration between the National Building Museum and D.C. public schools. Each year, junior high and middle schools integrate CityVision as part of their curriculum and offer participating students with academic credit. For the spring 2007 semester, the Museum partnered with Marshall Education Center and Stuart-Hobson Middle School.

Up to 12 students are selected from each school to attend the CityVision program during the fall or spring semester. Participants meet for a full school day, once per week for 12 weeks, to work with Museum staff, educators, and design professionals, on fun, challenging, hands-on activities.

Early CityVision sessions are devoted to teaching participants about the basic elements of the design process. Next, participants work in teams to explore selected neighborhoods where they observe and collect information about the community’s most urgent needs. Each team then develops a creative solution that addresses those needs, creating architectural drawings and models of their design. The program culminates in a final public presentation, in which team members defend their work to a panel of professionals.

How can I get involved in CityVision?

Volunteer
If you are a design professional or student in the fields of architecture, urban planning, or education who would be interested in helping inner-city youth learn about design and the built environment, please click here to learn more about volunteering at the Museum. Volunteers must be able to commit to a minimum of two Thursdays per month, but are strongly encouraged to attend each session. Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older. 

Intern
Students or recent graduates who are interested in a greater commitment to CityVision are invited to apply for an intern position in the Outreach Department. Interns act as volunteer instructors and assist with the administration of the program. Click here to learn more about internships at the Museum.

Become a school partner
If your school is interested in becoming a partner, please contact the Outreach Programs Coordinator. Your school must be a part of the D.C. Public Schools system or D.C. Charter Schools System, and must also recruit a staff member to accompany the students to the program each week.

Contact

For more information, please contact the Associate Outreach Programs Coordinator at 202.272.2448 or email CityVision@nbm.org.

Sample Projects

Fall 2007 and Spring 2008

The National Building Museum and the National Capitol Planning Commission are pleased to continue their partnership for the 2007-2008 CityVision programs. The two organizations are excited about this wonderful opportunity for DC youth to learn about and participate in the research, planning, and design of the North Capitol Street Corridor. Students from Browne Junior High School, Paul Public Charter School, and Marshall Education Center will support the North Capitol Street Urban Design Study team to help define zones and districts within the neighborhoods that could benefit from development. The students will also be asked to consider what type of development would best fit the community in question. This experience will enrich their education and give them the foundation to express their ideas and opinions about their city and its development.

Fall 2006 and Spring 2007
The National Building Museum (NBM) and the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) partnered for the 2006-2007 CityVision programs which focused on the design of museum and monument designs for sites identified by the National Capital Planning Commission’s Memorials and Museums Master Plan.

Spring 2006

LeDroit Park: CityVision participants explored the neighborhood’s physical surroundings and examined the area’s historic relationship with Howard University. Students also documented the distinct architectural features of LeDroit Park through photographs and free-hand sketching. As participants met with residents and identified the existing land use in the neighborhood, they noted a lack of support services for the community. The team’s design proposes to rehabilitate a vacant building into a community center. The proposed 3-story u-shaped building contains spaces for recreation, a library and computer room, child care center, grocery store, and a health clinic. Students thought deeply about the relationships of these varying services, grouping similar functions such as the health clinic and child care center next to each other. Students also addressed the building’s exterior by creating an elevated pedestrian bridge between the two building wings, and proposing new plantings in the interior courtyard.

Fall 2005 

Navy Yard Team: All eyes are on the Navy Yard neighborhood, these days. An area rich in history, it is currently the site of dramatic development and construction. Students on the Navy Yard team observed that, while promising economic growth for the community, the transformation has forced many residents to move, leaving behind scores of vacant homes and lots. The team’s design for "Canal Yards," a mixed-use project, responds to the need for more convenient and quality housing for the residents that remain, and those that hope to eventually return. The building includes seven stories of mixed-income apartments, and restaurants, shops and other businesses at the street level.

 

 

Sponsors

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; the Freddie Mac Foundation; the MARPAT Foundation; Mead Family Foundation; Bloomberg; 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 Clark Charitable Foundation; the DC Children and Youth Investment Trust Corporation; and The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation; and Joseph F. Horning, Jr., among others.