PLURALISM

A JOURNAL OFIDEAS / DESIGN / ACTIONBY STUDENTS AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

ISSUE Nº 0 RECLAIMING ARCHITECTURE Published by The American Institute of Architecture Students at Syracuse University

Sunday

OCT. 24

10:00 AM - 11:00 AMBreakfast and refreshments

THE FRONT (DOWNTOWN)

11:00 AM – 2:00 PMArchitecture of AgencyDesign/Build Program

CASE SUPPLY WAREHOUSE

2:00 PM – 2:30 PMConference Wrap-up,Recognitions and Farewell

THE FRONT (DOWNTOWN)

9:00 AM - 11:00 AMRegistration (Late Arrivals)

SLOCUM HALL ATRIUM

1O:00 AM – 1:00 PMSYMPOSIUM Part 1: Presentations

GIFFORD AUDITORIUM, HBC

2:00 PM – 4:00 PMSYMPOSIUM Part 2: Roundtable

GIFFORD AUDITORIUM, HBC

4:00 PM – 6:00 PMWorkshops: Towards Agency

SLOCUM HALL

6:30 PM – 8:00 PMDinner: BBQ + Entertainment

LIFE SCIENCES BLDG. ATRIUM

10:00 PM - 1:00 AMPluralist’s Leauge Ball

CITY COMMONS ATRIUM (DOWNTOWN)201 E. WASHINGTON ST.

Saturday

OCT. 23

Friday

OCT. 22

10:00 AMRegistration Begins (until Noon)

SLOCUM HALL ATRIUM

11:30 PM – 4:00 PMTOURS of CoE, Near Westside

DEPART FROM SLOCUM HALL

4:00 PM – 5:00 PMRegroup (refreshments available)

SHEMIN AUDITORIUM

5:00 PM – 6:30 PMKEYNOTE: Joshua Prince-Ramus

SHEMIN AUDITORIUM

6:30 PM – 7:30 PMREX Exhibition Opening Reception

SLOCUM HALL GALLERY

7:30 PM +Dinner on your own

ON CAMPUS / DOWNTOWN

Thursday

OCT. 21

4:00 PMEarly Registration

SLOCUM HALL ATRIUM

5:00 PM – 6:30 PMPre-Symposium with Faculty atSyracuse Architecture

SLOCUM HALL AUDITORIUM

7:00 PMCity of Syracuse “Third Thursdays”Art Initative

VARIOUS GALLERIES (DOWNTOWN)

SPECIAL ISSUE FOR

RECLAIMING ARCHITECTURE

October 21-24, Syracuse University

WHY RECLAIM ARCHITECTURE?

STEPHEN KLIMEK

Reclaiming Architecture is conferencerooted in the idea that Architecture canbe more. It started several years ago asmy peers and I looked around our schooland our profession and said “This is it?” We wanted our work to truly make a dif-ference in the world around us, and wefelt shortchanged. Instead of accepting the status quo we took action and calledit Reclaiming Architecture. Before we in-herit the profession in the coming years,we must be critical of what this professionis, what it does, and what it stands for. After asking these same questions manyof the students and mentors involved inthe conference, Freedom by Design, andThe Front realized that a new directionof practice is needed.This is the rst step in the process of rec-lamation and students should not feartaking positions and expressing theiropinions. Taking action is the next leap,and will prove to be one of the most dif-cult and rewarding learning curves formost students of architecture and design.Too often are we cocooned in studio de-signing for the abstract and irrational.Reclaiming Architecture is a call to getout of the studio and apply design think-ing and creativity to real problems in your world.I like to call this new realm of practiceand education “Architecture+”. Freedomby Design and an innovative student revi-talization effort called The Front are theprimary avenues we have established forstudents in Syracuse to realize projectsand simultaneously do good in our com-munity. Identifying opportunities likethese for students to engage is a primarygoal of the conference, and is a methodin which the conference ideas will live onpast its events.Reclaiming Architecture is a statementthat the future of our work will not bedened by marginalization from today’sexternal forces. Expanding the role of Architecture and the denition of de-sign issues can change the populationswe serve and the issues in which archi-tects should be experts. Doing so opensa multitude of new avenues for designwork and research, and opportunities forarchitects to get out of the design bubbleand learn the skills of tangent professionsincluding politics, economics, urbanplanning, philosophy, and more.It is my hope that the ideas and issuesdiscussed during the conference cometo the forefront of academic and profes-sional debate.

Steve Klimek

is a 5th year undergraduate at theSyracuse University School of Architecture. Heis a former President of the AIAS:SYR, and isChair of the 2010 Northeast Quad Conference,“Reclaiming Architecture”

WELCOME TOPLURALISM

THIS PAGEPAGE 3PAGE 4PAGE 5PAGE 6PAGE 7PAGE 8Introduction

Student leaders discuss the genesis and objectives of Pluralism, and its role for the future.

A Record of Action

With a vibrant, engaged membersip, the AIAS isalready at work to “re-claim our cityness”

The Scene

Get familiar with theSyracuse campus, with amap and venue listings for all events.

The Braintrust

Learn more about thearchitects and facultyinvolved in Reclaiming Architecture.

Going Out

Recommendations onwhere to dine, what to do,and how to have fun dur-ing your stay in Syracuse.

The Social Network

Events and venues for thesocial side of the confer-ence: your chance to meet fellow architects!

LESSONS LEARNED

A thesis student reects onactivist architecture proj-ects in London, and howthey apply to Syracuse.

NOTES ON PLURALISM

NILUS KLINGEL

For a long while, a student publication hasbeen in the works here in the AIAS. Witha conference iminent, and a revitalizationof creativity energy through the activities of The Front, it became clear that now was thetime to make it happen. So I echo the excite-ment of many in the AIAS in welcoming youto the rst edition of

Pluralism.

We are publishing in conjunction with theReclaiming Architeture conference, to re-iterate that the job of speculating, and tak-ing action, both of which will be chonicalledin these pages, are being undertaken in thisevent. We look forward to synthesizing theresults of this conference in future editions.For this initial edition, however, the team hasa very cautious set of expectations; we see itas a test run, trying out the publication-mak-ing process, while proving that a student-runpublication can physically happen. We ex-pect a richer journalistic and editorial projectin future editions; perhaps this is why we’vedubbed this test-run “Issue 0.”Over the last ve years, I have never seen suchan intensity of student activity. I continue tobe amazed by the volume and quality of realevents, built work, and sophisticated intellec-tual speculation on the part of the students,and am reassured that we have an extraordi-nary group here; one especially deserving of its own publication of ideas, design, and ac-tion - a role I hope to see

Pluralism

grow into.

Nilus Klingel

is also a 5th year undergraduate at Syracuse Architecture. He is a former President of the AIAS:SYR, and is the Executive Director of The Front. He serves as editor for this initial issue of Pluralism.

SYRACUSE ARC

AIAS: A RECORD OFACTION

FREEDOM

DESIGNTHE FRONT

NOT JUST A RAMP

HILARY BARLOW

AIAS Syracuse’s Freedom By Designprogram challenges the typical notionof small-home modications. Withinits rst year, the FBD team success-fully utilized the skills and knowledgeof architecture students to impact thelives of people within the Syracusecommunity through architecture anddesign by re-thinking the convention-al standards of a ramp.The design not only provided theclient, Deborah, with access to herhome, but also included a deck spacewith integrated steps and a bench.This fullled Freedom’s goal to im-prove the safety, dignity and comfortof the lives of individuals who areboth physically and/or nancially dis-abled. The ramp generated a positiveimpact within Deborah’s community,creating opportunities for interaction.The entire ramp is wrapped in ply-wood panels milled by students witha rail system that wraps around theramp with a lighting system. Con-tinuing to test its possibilities, FBD ispursuing two new projects this yearfor two different Syracuse clientsthrough two different approaches.One project will be designed andbuilt by a collaborative design teamand the other through a design com-petition which asks students to designa ramp and outdoor living environ-ment. Syracuse FBD’s aim is to con-tinue confronting issues of accessibil-ity through innovative and impactfuldesign solutions.

Hilary Barlow

is a 3rd year undergraduate at Syracuse Architecture. She is the Captain of the Freedom by Design group.

STOREFRONT

FOR

SYRACUSE

JAMES CONLEY

The Front is a student initiated, stu-dent run organization which looks toapply the skill sets learned on cam-pus to effect the Syracuse communityin a positive way. With most of ourmembers coming from the school of architecture , the Front has focusedits attentions on the revitalization of downtown through attempting to usedesign as a means to create amenityand attraction. In our rst event werefreshed a vacant storefront’s inte-rior and hosted an art show for localartists. The opening night featured a liveband and food and drew in a crowd of over 100 people! This event was so suc-cessful that we were comissioned by thebuilding owner to create a mural whichwould stretch the length of a plywoodwall which enclosed the renovation work being performed on the building’s inte-rior.Our next project will take over one of thestorefront’s in the state tower building andis looking to place a longer term invest-ment in the space with assistance fromConnective Corridor and the University.The storefront has been vacant for over 20 years and our goal is through performing our renovation work and some creativeevent programming we can generate adraw to the space and attract a future ten-ant. The scope of this work goes beyondcommunity design and providing socialbenets. While we manage to accomplishboth of those things The Front hopes toprovided true stabilization to the area byattracting people to Syracuse’s downtownfor the long term.The Front believes in the power of de-sign, and the importance for students tofurther their educations by taking an ac-tive role in applying the skills we learn inschool to our city. Through helping ourcities, we help ourselves; acting as ben-eciaries to the areas in which we reside. We push the boundaries of traditionalpractice, and look to expand this de-nition, as we work towards reclaiming architecture!

James Conley

is a 5th year undergraduate at Syracuse Architecture. He is a former President of the Syracuse ASO, and is the Finance Director of The Front.

MORE STUDENTS TAKING ACTION:

THE PATCHWORK COLLECTIVE

HTTP://PATCHWORKCO.WORDPRESS.COM

A group of architecture students turnedinventive entrepreneurs who are creating a business around recycling used building materials and saving them from landlls.

601 TULLY COMMUNITY CENTER

HTTP://601TULLY.BLOGSPOT.COM

Socially engaged artist Marion Wilsonleads a group of students - including manyarchitecture students - in the public recla-mation of an old drug house into a com-munity center on Syracuse’s Near Westside.

CRISIS CITY THESIS COLLABORATIVE

HTTP://CRISIS-CITY.ORG

Ten thesis students, disatised with theisolation of the academic process, bandedtogether to collaborate with themselves,other disciplines, and the general public.