College of Fine Art

This paper provides an ordered account of the process of planning and designing a neighbourhood for center-city revitalization in Baltimore. It intends to make explicit
design judgements in a complex architectural and planning project involving the conflicting goals of a City government, a developer, residents and the designer. The use of existing environmental design research, of informal research done by the designer, and of two researchers assigned to different tasks is described as one of the bases for these design judgements. The paper explains the varied roles and agendas of the participants and discusses the designer's use of alternatives to mediate both among these parties and between the aesthetics of the old and the new. Finally, the paper offers directions on the outcome of the designer's decisions, and on those aspects of neighbourhood life that are beyond his power to influence.

This paper recounts the author's reading of an unfamiliar city's streetscape to articulate the social meaning of its urban images. This reading is based on the assumption
that places are social texts as much as physical environments. It indeed amounts to an interpretation of the various dimensions of the city's public identity. In the case of
Boulder, Colorado, the street layout, the buildings' relation to the street, the treatment of facades, the location of entrances, the uses of front and back yards, and the
character of the landscape, lead to the identification of seven distinct urban images and social values. Here, these are called "Towns": Commercial Old, Residential Old, University, Nature, New, Strip, and Hidden. The author offers a mapping of Boulder and based on the physical clues of each "Town image" and suggests that most of the findings
of the paper can be found in other small American cities.

The new community of Bois-Franc is located in the City of St. Laurent, 15 minutes from downtown Montreal on a site owned by Bombardier and containing an airport and manufacturing facilities. When designing Bois-Franc, the main objective shared by all interested parties - the client (Bombardier) the City of St. Laurent, and the urban designer - was to give the community its own signature of identity. The author (designer) outlines the design concepts, form precedents, and method used to devise the overall plan. The concluding section highlights the achievements realized from the approach which was to create a strong public-private sector using natural elements as the over riding motif - quite a task considering the initiative was private profit driven.

This document gives a detailed account of why and how a teacher organized an architectural design studio for students' to learn complex housing content. It explains the reasons for the studio's organization and provides the detailed assignments.