EnVISIONing Annapolis
Encyclopedia
EnVISIONing Annapolis was a privately funded lecture series and visioning charrette
for Annapolis, Maryland
, that aimed to generate dialogue on responsible, long-term development of the city. Activities for enVISIONing Annapolis ran from 2007 through 2008. The organization backing the process, the EnVISIONing Annapolis Foundation, was formed solely for this purpose. Important contributors and co-sponsors include the University of Maryland
, Annapolis Charter 300, and St. Johns College. The primary organizers of the project included MS&R Architects (Garth Rockcastle and Troy Urman), Miriam Gusevich, and Glenn Smith.
, urban design
, public transportation, immigration
, and historic preservation
. Organized by the EnVISIONing Annapolis Foundation, MS&R and Miriam Gusevich, these lectures were intended to stimulate civic dialogue among residents and outsiders regarding the urban sprawl
and development issues facing the 21st-century American city. All lectures were held at the Maryland Hall Center for Creative Arts, with one exception held at The Boys and Girls Club of Annapolis.
Speakers included: Notable author and international consultant Charles Landry; Jason Sartori from the National Center for Smart Growth
; Architect/educator William Morrish, and; Preservation author and thinker Howard Mansfield. Each lecturer addressed topics of their specialty - all relevant to Annapolis' situation today. The purpose of these lectures was not to propose solutions, per se, but rather to instigate a local conversation on potential solutions from the ground up, supported by Annapolitans.
, Catholic University of America, Virginia Tech, and Morgan State University
- converged on the city to study, brainstorm
, and create. Each team conceived and presented compelling plans, narratives, and images of the city in the year 2060 - envisioning the future of Annapolis.
Directing and facilitating the charrette teams were Garth Rockcastle, Principal, and Troy Urman, Intern, of architectural firm Meyer, Scherer, and Rockcastle, Ltd. The firm is noted for its many institutional projects, as well as the award-winning Washburn "A" Mill or Mill City Museum and headquarters for Urban Outfitters at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. Also integral to the planning team was Miriam Gusevich.
The products of this working session were re-presented at an open public session hosted by the Institute for the Future at Anne Arundel Community College on April 19th, 2008. The projects were illustrated with renderings
, 3d models, diagram
s, and policy or building proposals and feedback received by attendant surveys and discussion. A final report is posted on the IF @ ACC website for public view http://www.aacc.edu/future/envisioining1.cfm?print
Charrette
A charrette , is often Anglicized to charette and sometimes called a design charrette. It consists of an intense period of design activity.-Charrettes in general:...
for Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, that aimed to generate dialogue on responsible, long-term development of the city. Activities for enVISIONing Annapolis ran from 2007 through 2008. The organization backing the process, the EnVISIONing Annapolis Foundation, was formed solely for this purpose. Important contributors and co-sponsors include the University of Maryland
University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
, Annapolis Charter 300, and St. Johns College. The primary organizers of the project included MS&R Architects (Garth Rockcastle and Troy Urman), Miriam Gusevich, and Glenn Smith.
Conversations for Change Lecture Series
The EnVISIONing Annapolis project began with a series of free, public lectures held in Annapolis from September 2007 through June 2008. The speakers included leading experts in the fields of urban planningUrban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
, urban design
Urban design
Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
, public transportation, immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, and historic preservation
Historic preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
. Organized by the EnVISIONing Annapolis Foundation, MS&R and Miriam Gusevich, these lectures were intended to stimulate civic dialogue among residents and outsiders regarding the urban sprawl
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
and development issues facing the 21st-century American city. All lectures were held at the Maryland Hall Center for Creative Arts, with one exception held at The Boys and Girls Club of Annapolis.
Speakers included: Notable author and international consultant Charles Landry; Jason Sartori from the National Center for Smart Growth
Smart growth
Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
; Architect/educator William Morrish, and; Preservation author and thinker Howard Mansfield. Each lecturer addressed topics of their specialty - all relevant to Annapolis' situation today. The purpose of these lectures was not to propose solutions, per se, but rather to instigate a local conversation on potential solutions from the ground up, supported by Annapolitans.
Urban Design Charrette
A major component of EnVISIONing Annapolis was the urban design charrette held in March 2008. During this period of intense collaborative work, four university teams - one each from the University of MarylandUniversity of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
, Catholic University of America, Virginia Tech, and Morgan State University
Morgan State University
Morgan State University, formerly Centenary Biblical Institute , Morgan College and Morgan State College , is a historically black college in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Morgan is Maryland's designated public urban university and the largest HBCU in the state of Maryland...
- converged on the city to study, brainstorm
Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members...
, and create. Each team conceived and presented compelling plans, narratives, and images of the city in the year 2060 - envisioning the future of Annapolis.
Directing and facilitating the charrette teams were Garth Rockcastle, Principal, and Troy Urman, Intern, of architectural firm Meyer, Scherer, and Rockcastle, Ltd. The firm is noted for its many institutional projects, as well as the award-winning Washburn "A" Mill or Mill City Museum and headquarters for Urban Outfitters at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. Also integral to the planning team was Miriam Gusevich.
The products of this working session were re-presented at an open public session hosted by the Institute for the Future at Anne Arundel Community College on April 19th, 2008. The projects were illustrated with renderings
Artistic rendering
Rendering in visual art and technical drawing means the process of creating, shading, and texturing of an image, especially a photorealistic one. It can also be used to describe the quality of execution of that process...
, 3d models, diagram
Diagram
A diagram is a two-dimensional geometric symbolic representation of information according to some visualization technique. Sometimes, the technique uses a three-dimensional visualization which is then projected onto the two-dimensional surface...
s, and policy or building proposals and feedback received by attendant surveys and discussion. A final report is posted on the IF @ ACC website for public view http://www.aacc.edu/future/envisioining1.cfm?print
Post-Charrette Workshop and Report
A group of Loeb Fellows (alumni of Harvard University's one year Loeb program) led by Miriam Gusevich and Glenn Smith came to Annapolis in June 2008. They held a workshop session to discuss and remark upon the work of the charrette and offer suggestions for next steps Annapolitans might take in moving this effort forward. Some local groups are continuing in pursuing some of the concepts proposed during this design effort, via feasibility studies and community activism. This effort was made possible with a grant from the Loeb Fellowship.External links
- www.envisioningannapolis.net was the project's homepage for the duration. Site is no longer active.
- www.annapolis.gov, the city's website
- "What is a charrette?" National Charrette Institute (NCI)
- "Strategic Visioning Process" National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)