1. Design Approach

In school, students spend significant amounts of time reworking and refining the “parti” of the project. Conceptualization is king. Budgets, when set, are astronomically high; the hope is usually that you will expand the implied boundaries of a project rather than respect practical constraints. You will, after all, be presenting your work to other designers rather than to potential clients. There are also always so many assignments that there is never enough time to thoroughly study the structural and mechanical systems or the building codes of a project, even if you want to.

In contrast, the professional world consistently exposes you to these systems and codes and frequently reminds you of the limited time, money, and other resources of a project. Now, every design action has a real and multi-faceted impact. While this framework is freeing in many ways, it also causes many of us to specialize is a specific part of the design process. One of the things I miss from the academic side if architecture is being able to envision a design from start to finish. In contrast, one of the things I do not miss is the lack of connection to real clients and communities.

2. Team Culture

In school, most projects are done individually or in small groups. Working alone, you are left without a valuable sounding board. But working in groups often results in conflicting ideas and personalities that catalyze miscommunication, disorganization, disproportionate division of the work, and other unfortunate effects. While students definitely do inspire and support each other in school, the competitive environment and lack of sleep can wear down even the best of intentions.

Working at a firm requires a high level of professionalism at all times, and everyone more consistently contributes to the project at hand. The fact that we are all part of a business means that, again, the constraints have been better clarified than they were in school. There is a sense that everyone is on the same side and happy to help each other out, which helps in creating even higher quality work. 

3. Deadline Management

Students frequently pull all-nighters in school, with coffee and loud music as the tools of choice for making it through the night. After a day (or more) without any sleep, students then present projects before heading home and sleeping away half of a day. It is a pendulum with two very intense extremes.

In the professional world, there are a few late nights, but many of my colleagues have yet to pull an all-nighter at any point in their professional career. When realistic deadlines are set, everyone works hard to meet that deadline. And when the occasionally unrealistic deadline is set, those who are capable of participating are rewarded. Balance is now much more highly prized than it ever was in school.

4. Vacation

In school, after working tirelessly and sometimes sleeplessly, students leave for multiple weeks of vacation in both the winter and summer. While some students stay actively engaged in design during that time, either by taking on a passion project or doing a short internship, others truly “check out” and get some much needed rest and relaxation. Either way, everyone returns en masse at a predetermined time.

In the professional world, firms offer holidays off for employees but also provide individually-managed vacation benefits. There are never the multi-week escapes offered in school, but you do have the opportunity to personalize your vacation based on your own interests and needs.

Despite all of these differences, there are a couple of things that the two spheres share. In the professional world, changes are still sometimes made until the last minute. Part of that is due to the fact that we still get caught up in a concept for days, only to ultimately discover that it does not work. When we finally receive feedback from the stakeholders (clients, professors, or others), who sometimes show us why a concept does not quite work, that feedback still determines how much sleep we will get for the next couple of weeks. I also still mistakenly hear the word “parti” when someone says “party.” It seems that some of me will always feel like I am back at school. In the community of lifelong learners that I have found at Perkins+Will, maybe that conclusion is not too far off.

I was interviewed on a local television program called Greater MSP Business, a show featuring local businesses and their leaders from the Minneapolis Saint Paul region. The focus on the weekend’s program—which aired Sunday morning on the local ABC affiliate—was about the big changes occurring in the workplace. In addition to me, the guests included Cali Ressler Co-founder of Culture Rx and co-author of the ROWE program made famous by Best Buy, and Kyle Coolbroth, Co-founder of CoCo, a very successful local co-working site.

Aside from my butterflies at the prospect of appearing on TV and being interviewed by seasoned news anchor Cyndy Brucato, I was excited and enthused by how relevant and mainstream this topic has become in recent years, particularly in recent months after Yahoo and Best Buy announced retractions of their work from home policies. Even Ms. Brucato was enthused about the topic and thought it was one of their best shows.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As workplace designers, my colleagues and I have been researching, theorizing and talking about concepts and strategies promoting a more collaborative open and progressive workplace for years. Many workplaces are simply not designed to respond to how people are really working today.

We also have long promoted the value that space has on supporting our clients’ strategic business objectives; it can become a tool in accomplishing their business goals rather than an overhead cost on their balance sheet. The conversation around workplace is now resonating with many of our clients—and the public. Portable technology has rapidly untethered us from our desks; we really are working here, there and everywhere. This is a very exciting time to work in this business as we help companies make meaningful changes to their workplace that enhance their organizations.

Even though I’ve done my research about workplace over the years, my time under the bright studio lights was informed by some new observations:

Managing work – Be Your Own Boss for Maximum Results

Cali from Culture Rx was first to be interviewed and she spoke about the importance of employers setting clear expectations for results and for employees to be accountable for their results.

Empowering employees to be accountable for their own results isn’t much different than how college students manage their lives and responsibilities during their studies. Why wouldn’t they be successful continuing to work this way in their professional life? The culture of checking in and being told how, when and where an employee should do something is a step backward in personal accountability and growth. II had never thought about it like this before, shouldn’t the workplace reflect this natural way of working for recent graduates?

Capturing innovation – The Magic of Inspiration Manifested Through Co-working

Before the show’s taping, Kyle from CoCo was telling Cali and me about the many local corporations that visit CoCo to learn more about co-workings spaces. These companies are trying to capture some of that magic of collaboration and innovative workspace for their own offices; Kyle also shared that many corporate executives come to CoCo on a somewhat regular basis for what he calls a “workcation.” By spending a day at CoCo, the executives are able to get away from the daily grind and connect with a new community, perhaps even finding some nugget of inspiration or new perspective they can take back to the office and to their work.

A Workplace for all Generations – Recognizing a Common Ground

All three of us spoke about Generation Y and its influence in the workplace. While each of us recognized the effect Gen Y is exerting via emphasis on enhanced technology and an expected freedom to choose, we all recognized that, at the end of the day, all generations are enjoying and responding to new ways of working, improved work-life balance and energizing workplaces.

We agreed that our jobs as workplace designers and consultants are more rewarding and invigorating than they’ve ever been, and more essential than ever.

It’s been with excitement and relief that I’ve watched the growing concern about BRFs. You’ve probably noticed as well: a recent investigative report by the Chicago Tribune exposes how the chemical industry has played the public, using many of the same tactics as Big Tobacco employed during their heyday. BFRs are getting a lot of press, especially here in California where Governor Jerry Brown is in support of revamping TB117, and legislation is on the floor to remove flame retardants in some building insulation (Assembly Bill 127). In both cases, regulations are being rewritten to allow the design team to decide the best method of fire safety.

The most common flame retardant compounds, Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) are similar in molecular structure to Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs), Polychlorinated Diphenyls (PCBs), Dioxins, and Furans – all of which are known human toxicants, regardless of the variation or latest proprietary molecule design. These chemicals are widely used in the U.S. and can be found in electronics, building insulation, polyurethane foam (the norm for upholstery cushions), and wire and cable.

As I learned of the health implications and realized my role in specifying these chemicals into projects I was trying to make healthier, I searched for ways to avoid using them. I first found hope in a technicality: the California standards TB117 and TB133 have similar requirements, but TB133 is voluntary. It seemed a no-brainer to me – why would any client willingly spend the extra money and effort it takes to meet TB133 if they didn’t have to? But even after convincing my clients it was unnecessary; I couldn’t always convince their insurance lawyers or the local fire marshal. At least it made me feel less guilty, since I had made every effort to increase awareness by placing the facts on the table:

• Flame retardants are known toxicants (or lack adequate data to prove otherwise).
• The actual benefit of flame retardants towards fire safety has yet to be proven.
• The reference test used by the fire code, ASTM E 84 (Steiner Tunnel Test), has been shown to be inadequate in predicting the flame spread for foam plastics.

In order to meet the codes, a foam plastic cushion (like the one inside the couch I’m specifying for my client or the chair you’re sitting in now) may contain 5% (by weight!) of fire retardant chemicals just to pass the Steiner Tunnel Test. That equates to one to two pounds of unbound long-chain molecules (read: persistent and able to move up the food chain). These molecules migrate out of the foam onto the floor, and are now ubiquitous in common household dust. We’re contaminated when we inadvertently eat these chemicals clinging to our hands. Who among us hasn’t eaten lunch at their keyboard, or after stroking our pets (dust clinging to their fur) without first washing their hands? Everyone has seen how toddlers’ hands are everywhere including their mouths, which is probably why (in addition to the bio-accumulative effect) American children, are among those with the highest body burden of these toxics (Californians in general have the worldwide highest levels, because of TB117).

Our only recourse now is to wash hands frequently (office workers who washed more than three times per day had BFR chemical blood levels significantly lower than their colleagues who washed less often). Until these chemicals are phased out of use and enough time has passed (decades) so they are no longer in our dust, here are some other actions concerned citizens can take:

• Get informed and begin educating your peers.
• Request alternatives in your building design
• Sign the code-change resolution, proposed by Safer Insulation Solutions (a project of Green Science Policy Institute, directed by Arlene Blum, PhD and chemistry scholar at the University of California, Berkeley)

Perkins+Will is a proponent of the resolution, but we urge public participation – individual signatures will add weight to the effort to pass AB 127 in California as well as support the efforts to update the International Residential Building Code.

Suzanne’s new book EcoSoul: Save the Planet and Yourself by ReThinking your Everyday Habits is available for purchase here.

Parc la Villette folly, image courtesy of Flickr user nenamaz

Parc la Villette folly, Image courtesy of Flickr user nenamaz

The commonly held notion is that follies have no reason for being other than whimsy and extravagance. However, when you look at them in a different light, follies can in fact enhance people’s experience of a building.  A folly can be the nonessential essential thing that turns a good building into a great one.

A folly is not confined only to architecture—all art forms can and do have their follies.  For instance, some of cinema’s most memorable moments are follies.  Take director Sergio Leone’s 1968 classic, Once Upon a Time in the West.

Setting the scene in ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’

After the success of his low-budget “dollars trilogy” spaghetti westerns, director Sergio Leone convinced Paramount Studios to bankroll the film. Nearly three hours long, leisurely paced, and so elliptically plotted that an audience couldn’t be sure what was happening until the end, the movie was a box office flop. It also just happened to be a masterpiece.

Leone’s folly in Once Upon a Time in the West is its first ten minutes. The film opens at a ramshackle train station in the middle of nowhere. Three unnamed gunmen arrive to wait for the train. And for ten minutes, we watch the gunmen kill time while they wait. One of them calmly stands as water drips into the brim of his hat. Another uses his gun to play with a fly. The third cracks his knuckles. No music plays during the scene; all we hear are incidental sounds, the incessant squeaking of a windmill, and a few inconsequential lines of dialogue. Ten minutes into the movie, the train arrives and the movie’s plot begins.

“My weapons might look simple to you, Mr. Morton, but they can still shoot holes big enough for our little problems.” A still from the movie.

When Paramount released the film in the United States, entire scenes were deleted, making its challenging plot even more incoherent. Yet somehow, those first ten minutes—Leone’s folly—survived.

If those ten minutes of film had never been shot, or if they had been cut from the movie, it would still be a great movie, and no one would have felt that something was missing. But having seen them, no one who loves the movie can imagine it without them. The reason is that, even though nothing happens during the scene, it is a delight to watch. We see filmmakers having fun with their medium, and we in turn also have fun. And that’s what a folly should give us: a sense of fun.

Many great buildings have elements that, if they were absent, would not be missed. But having been built, those elements become not only essential parts of the buildings, but often the most beloved parts.

Perkins+Will’s iconic 1940 Crow Island Elementary School, with clocktower (center)

Follies have been part of Perkins+Will’s work since its early days. During a 1986 interview, Larry Perkins told a story about the design of the Crow Island Elementary School, the firm’s first high-profile project, on which Perkins, Wheeler & Will (as it was called at the time) teamed with Eliel Saarinen. At one point, Larry showed Saarinen the design for the clock, symmetrically located on the school’s prominent brick chimney. Saarinen, “with his eyes crinkling a little bit and a trace of a smile,” started sketching. “The clock slipped off to one side. It was done with pure whimsy and I said, ‘That’s delightful. But how do I sell this to the board?’ He said, ‘Oh, Mr. Perkins, I am not one hundred percent functionalist.’” Larry added that the clock’s off-center design, as well as other whimsical details, was done “for no reason at all, but it’s fun.” What better way to describe a folly than “but it’s fun”?

Let’s continue to devote ourselves to designing buildings and spaces that satisfy programs, respond to sites, and meet budgets. But let’s also not forget to have fun, and to allow at least some of our follies to live on.

• Perkins+Will is carbon neutral, which includes actively reducing our carbon emissions through green operations;
• We currently have 212 LEED certified projects, and many more projects are currently registered and pending certification;
• Our master specification for all Perkins+Will projects incorporates LEED’s low emitting material requirements for VOCs, which means every project achieves those thresholds, whether the team is pursuing LEED certification or not.

Beyond the efforts of the firm, we are also a community of individuals that cares deeply for the environment. Kathy Wardle, a director of research based in Vancouver, notes that “Earth Day is an opportunity for each of us to reflect and commit to a few small changes in your office, on your projects, or even at home.” She recommends the following small but significant steps for making a more positive impact:

• When you’re not using them, turn off of your desk lamps, computer, and other electronics;
• Have a proactive dialogue with your clients, colleagues, friends, and family about choosing products that are healthier for the planet and its people – whether it’s reusable Tupperware or commercial floor coverings;
• Buy local and seasonal foods;
• Take alternative and shared forms of transportation.

For some more ideas on how to “make every day Earth Day” (as our San Francisco office puts it), take a look at how we honored the planet this past week:

1. WE GOT IN TOUCH WITH NATURE

Last week’s activities “reconnected us to the basic elements of nature,” says Angela Shouppe, an executive assistant and communications guru in the Washington DC office. “We got our hands in the soil, planting an herb garden for our café that brings a bit of nature inside our space.”

Our employees in Washington DC also toured their office building’s green roof, learning about the impact it has on the building’s performance and also on the local ecosystem.

Farther north in Boston, senior project architect Deborah Rivers was attending the opening of the newSpaulding Rehabilitation Hospital when she noticed a Cormorant nest in a bed of flowers. Despite all the excitement surrounding the opening, Deborah took a moment to appreciate the juxtaposition of these two refuges of such dramatically different scales.

Patric LeBeau and Mark Paskanik, a project architect and senior project architect from our Research Triangle Park office, also spent some time connecting with nature this week. As part of a local elementary school’s celebration of Earth Day, the two assisted with the building of a butterfly house. Each 2nd grade student received a caterpillar that day, which will hopefully lead to a house filled with beautiful Painted Lady butterflies within the next few weeks.

Along those lines, Russell Philstrom, an architect in our Minneapolis office, says that Earth Day is a chance for “reacquainting myself with Mother Nature. This day reminds me to take pause, be still, and appreciate that the Earth is filled with beauty and wonderment everywhere.”

2. WE ADVOCATED FOR THE PLANET

Back in Boston, a team created a slideshow that outlined several ways to minimize negative environmental impact on our climate, and then uploaded it to the 24 general-use elevators of their 33-floor office building. As the 19th tallest building in Boston, the building provided quite an audience!

Recognizing that we can all always learn more about our environmental impact, the Charlotte office focused their advocacy internally on Perkins+Will employees by hosting a lunch presentation about the 2030 Challenge. Learn more about this transformative challenge, and how we’re helping others approach it, at 2030e2.perkinswill.com

3. WE COMMITTED TO CHANGING OUR ROUTINES

Shannon Gedey, a designer and IPD coordinator in our Chicago office, rallied her colleagues to participate in the  2013 Earth Day Rideshare, a competition between corporate teams across the city to see who could log the most shared commutes. At the time of writing, Perkins+Will employees had officially diverted over 67 pounds of greenhouse gasses through car- and van-sharing.

For one of her recent projects in Dallas, interior designer Mary Dickinson was faced with the challenge of “breaking the stigma that sustainability and luxury cannot be delivered in tandem.” Her big takeaway? “Most of the time, it was just about making well-informed decisions.” Learn more about the process, and get Mary’s tips on making your own home greener, onDHome.

Our Chicago office also collected e-waste as part of an Earth Day recycling event. Organized by Annette Tortorige, a marketing coordinator, the event also included a raffle for anyone who brought in in e-waste; appropriately, one of the prizes was a discount at a local electronics store. While we’re on the topic, be sure to check out this other e-waste initiative by our Houston office.

Back on the east coast, Rachel Casanova, a senior strategic planning consultant in our New York office, noted that “Earth Day is a good excuse to think about what my family and I can do that might seem a little inconvenient, but can become a new, healthy, and responsible thing to do to make an impact.”

As our week-long celebration of the Earth came to a close, Jon Penndorf, a project manager in our Washington DC office, offered some final thoughts: “It’s important to remember that everything we do has an impact on the earth. Earth Day is a way to remind ourselves of that. While we as architects and interior designers regularly shape the built environment, we as passengers on this planet also make choices every day that impact its health.”

Learn more about Perkins+Will’s commitment to the earth, and the related approaches we take in our work, at perkinswill.com

The conference couldn’t be more prescient. Healthcare buildings use a tremendous amount of resources; the average hospital uses the amount of energy required to power 3,500 homes and the water resources that could keep the faucets running in 350 houses.  At Perkins+Will, we are actively trying to change this: In honor of CleanMed 2013, we present a small sampling  - from small to large, rural to urban, interior to facade – of the many LEED-certified healthcare buildings and interiors we’ve completed.  As the conference transpires this week, we hope these projects contribute to the discussion about creating a more sustainable future for both the healthcare sector and the planet.  

The figures speak for themselves: These ten LEED-certified healthcare projects are designed to reduce their annual carbon emission footprint by 13,000 tons and water consumption by 14 million gallons when compared to comparable code compliant healthcare buildings in the United States. Over the first 10 years of operation, these modeled savings equal the carbon sequestered annually by 133 Central Parks (or taking 2,850 cars off the road each year) and water from  215 Olympic-sized swimming pools. The next step we have initiated is working with building owners to measure the actual performance of these projects to truly understand their operational environmental impacts.

While some may think achieving LEED certification is cost prohibitive, we recently collaborated on a soon-to-be-released research study LEED-certified Hospitals: Perspectives on Capital Cost Premiums and Operational Benefits (see us speak here). The study includes 15 recently completed LEED-certified hospitals and revealed an average capital cost premium of .7% for those over 100,000sf and 1.2% overall.

DISCOVERY HEALTH CENTER
 

Harris, New York
LEED NC Certified 
Ambulatory Care Center

This project designed out of our New York office created 28,000sf space, the first LEED certified ambulatory care center in the world. Learn more+

 ARLINGTON FREE CLINIC

Arlington, Virginia
LEED CI Gold
Ambulatory Care Center 

Designed by our Washington, D.C. office, this facility provides medical care at no charge to low-income, uninsured persons through the use of volunteers and other health providers.  Opened in 2009, it provides 8,500sf space. Learn more+

ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL & REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER, THE CENTURY PROJECT

Grand Junction, Colorado 
LEED NC Silver
Acute Care Hospital

Designed by our Minneapolis Office, this 122-bed facility opened in 2010. Learn more+

RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER ORTHOPEDIC AMBULATORY BUILDING

Chicago, Illinois
LEED CS Gold
Ambulatory Care Center 

This facility – designed out of our Chicago location – has provided 207,000sf of LEED CS space to Chicagoans since 2009. Learn more+

WILLSON HOSPICE HOUSE

Albany, Georgia
LEED NC Silver
Long Term Care 

This 31,000sf facility designed by our Atlanta office provides a sustainable sanctuary for those requiring its services. Learn more+

Dallas, Texas
LEED CSGold
Ambulatory Care 

Designed out of our Dallas office, this 2011 project created 467,000sf of space for cancer treatment and research. Learn more+

Chicago, Illinois

HOSPITAL UNIVERSITARIO SAN VICENTE DE PAUL
 

Rio Negro, Colombia
LEED NC Silver
Acute Care Hospital

Designed out of our Miami office, this 260-bed facility has the distinction of being the 1st LEED-certified hospital in all of South America. Learn more+

EINSTEIN MEDICAL CENTER MONTGOMERY

East Norriton, Pennsylvania
LEED NC Silver
Acute Care Hospital 

Designed out of New York, this 146-bed acute care hospital opened in 2012. Learn more+

SPAULDING REHABILITATION HOSPITAL
 

Boston, Massachusetts 
LEED NC Gold
Acute Care / Rehabilitation Hospital 

A collaboration between our Boston and Chicago offices, the new Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital is a groundbreaking acute care and rehabilitation facility that redefines the meaning of inclusive design.  

Click here to learn more about the opening this week. 

BONUS: We learned our other St. Mary’s Project – a Hospital and Renovation project is tracking LEED Gold, so please enjoy!

ST. MARY’S HOSPITAL EXPANSION and RENOVATION

Sechelt, British Colombia 
LEED NC Gold Tracking
Community Hospital

Designed by our Vancouver Office, this facility opened this year. Learn more+

Innovation. 

Resilience. 

We encounter these buzzwords everywhere these days.  Design publications and Twitter feeds go on and on about the “most creative people of the year” and innovations in design.  Countless times during the most recent presidential campaign candidates and commentators brought up the importance of creative sector jobs and American innovation, only to somehow conclude that this means the need for more math and science teachers.  Don’t get me wrong, math and science are indispensable, but all too often these subjects center on narrowed and test-focused curricula.  That focus allows teachers to forget that creativity is needed. 

Art and design classrooms are places where students have access to project-based learning that fosters critical thinking and open-ended problem solving. Art and design education has been proven time and time again to improve scores in math, science, and reading.  Unfortunately, an alarming number of public school art and design programs across the country have been cut and the time art educators get to spend with students continues to dwindle.  I think it is important that people in the Architecture & Design community are aware of this, and when possible, do something about it. 

Our industry thrives on new ideas, collaboration, and efficient problem-solving.  The most successful designers are those that use these skills, but also possess a deep appreciation for visual aesthetics.  Many of our best and brightest received fantastic art and design training in college and grad school.  But the groundwork for this training can and should start before college.  It’s exciting to imagine what types of projects could be realized when designers, architects, and engineers are given a solid foundation of visual creative skills from the time they begin learning their 123s and ABCs, right?

 An organization was started by John Maeda at the Rhode Island School of Design called STEM to STEAM.  Its aim is to include art among the core subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math.  They have been pushing for federal backing for art as well as the other core subjects, claiming that it will advance our country’s innovation and economic growth.  This claim has been backed by scholars like Daniel Pink and Richard Florida (two education researchers who are worth looking into), who have found creative sector industries to be more resilient in the face of the recent recession.  STEM to STEAM has some great information on their website about how to reach out to your legislators and stress the importance of art and design education if you want to check it out.

Art and design education is also beginning to cause a stir in Congress.  Aaron Schock, Illinois Congressman and Co-Chair of the STEAM Caucus said, “Studies have shown that students who participate in the arts are more likely to engage in creative thinking as they get older.  In our increasingly global economy, it is imperative that we give our students the tools to succeed worldwide.”  

What would happen if more members of this industry actively promoted movements like this.  For a short time STEM to STEAM was featured on Maharam’s homepage—why not increase its visibility in some of our professional publications?  Perkins+Will does through programs like ACE Mentoring, becoming voluntary mentors and adding to the experiences of students.  Programs like this are wonderful supplements to core learning, but are not substitutes for actual art and design classes. 

The real power in keeping art and design in schools may rest with parents who insist on it being part of their children’s curriculum.  If you are a parent, push your local school administrations to include solid art education.  It worked in Chicago—parents overwhelmingly asked for art, music, theatre, and dance programs in their schools and a system-wide program has been implemented to bring these programs to all kids who attend schools in the city.  Awesome, right?  As design professionals, we also have a responsibility to make some noise and tout the benefits of art and design education on lucrative, fulfilling, life-long careers.  

Consider the qualities of a third place. Is it something that we can design? Can a place be constructed to create a Cheers-like arrival of regulars? We may not aspire to be barstool-warmer Norm Peterson, who always got a warm reception from the the crowd when he walked in, but a sense of recognition and belonging is a powerful motivator for citizens to engage one another. Other times, we appreciate the ability to lay back and observe, perhaps be the greeter instead of the greet-ee. This begs the question: Can we design spaces that allow both interaction and anonymity? If so, what are the elements of space that encourage diversity, to include families, the young and older, extroverts and introverts?

As the world continues to urbanize, the importance of design and the idea of “place” will become more and more important to the livability of cities. Real estate development has already become less defined by building and more about the interstitial spaces the buildings create. In the future, value will be defined not by cost and capacity but by civic character and sustainable amenities.

Here are three ingredients that have produced some of the best civic spaces in the country.

1. Create a physical space that encourages social activity.

A place where we see and make friends, recognize and greet neighbors, and interact comfortably with strangers is a sociable place–resulting from a hundred decisions about form, choreography, and community interest. Vital third places contain the physical elements–seating, landscape, a connection to surrounding retail and other public activities–that make people feel welcome and comfortable. Spaces that are visible and easy to get to, stay in, or move through are ideal third-place territory, especially when located near public transit and other civic destinations.

Cleanliness and safety are also necessary components, as are comfortable areas to stroll and sit. These conditions attract a balance of men and women, young and old–diversity that is critical to a secure and attractive image for “place” in any community. Ultimately, the success of great spaces is their inherent ability, through constant management, to accommodate a wide variety of day and night activities.

2. Mix Public and Private

Does a third place have to be in an accessible, privately controlled space, or must it be in an area open to the public? The answer, of course, is yes–it must be clean and secure, well managed, and open to all of good will. Great civic space can be publicly or privately owned, but the best places are often a combination of both.

For example, Paley Park in New York City, often cited as one of the best urban spaces in the country, is a privately owned public space. This charming urban refuge defines the quaint idea of a pocket park. All the senses are engaged, via tree-filtered sunlight and the mist of a falling water fountain; a café provides light meals and snacks; and lightweight furniture invites friends to gather, while also allowing moments of solitude.

Paley Park. Image courtesy of Christine Graziano via Flickr.

Like many successful civic places, this place is paradoxical. People love Paley Park because they can be alone in a busy city. While it’s perceived as a place of respite and quiet, it is, in fact, heavily populated and full of noise (albeit, the soothing sound of a waterfall).

Another example is the 3rd Street Promenade, in Santa Monica, California, which has been carefully curated over the years to achieve the right mix of tenants, entertainment, civic uses, and amenities by a public-private management company. The Promenade’s long-term success is the result of careful shaping by the agency that, according to its statement of operational objectives, oversees the creation of “a strong feeling of place.” The attention to detail has paid off: the area attracts tens of thousands of local office workers, tourists, families, and teens each week–all encouraged by the environment to dine, interact, and people watch. But the most important evolution of the promenade began many years ago with the ability to modulate the flow of pedestrian and car traffic.

Until the 1960s, 3rd Street was a normal commercial road with auto traffic. When it was converted into a shopping mall, it became a pedestrian-only zone. Eventually, after a period of commercial success, the mall floundered and eventually became blighted. In the 1980s, the street was redesigned and reconstructed to its current form and opened to automobile traffic as well as an enhanced pedestrian promenade. As its popularity returned, especially on weekend nights, the promenade closed to cars but reopened to traffic on the following morning. Today, the bollards that block autos are always in place but, if needed, could be reopened to establish the optimal balance of car and pedestrian access.

The pedestrian-car balance is one of the most important keys to creating a livable urban place. The Promenade demonstrates that flexibility is an important third-place characteristic, and one of the most challenging to achieve.

3rd Street Promenade. Photo courtesy of A Better Stay.

Rockefeller Plaza is another private place that has invited public use, making it one of the central gathering places in New York. Interesting stores and markets, outdoor seating and dining, and of course, the central skating rink, all encourage the gathering of diverse groups of tourists and locals that is typical of great third places.

The evolution of the plaza from private corporate space to national icon began with a change of attitude. Benches–a more gracious choice than the spiked fencing originally considered–were added to screen and protect the landscape. The public came, stayed, and appreciated the gardens, the shops, the people watching, and the interaction. Dozens of other attractive additions, including art, seasonal displays, and lighting, have increased the sense of place that seems to belong not just to New York but the entire country.

Rockefeller Center. Photo courtesy of Asterix611 via Flickr.

These best-in-class civic spaces are more than just convenient amenities. They attract a varied and even global constituency as the “living rooms” of our cities. They add value to property and livability on local and regional scales. In the near future, it will be unimaginable to consider, from an economic, civic, or community viewpoint, a significant urban development that does not aspire to be a third place.

3. Mix Uses

Our most challenging but rewarding projects result from all the live, work, and play environments coming together in urban mixed-use developments. If the leaded elements are skillfully blended, the results can be golden. What we gain is the opportunity to be involved in the civic realm–to be active as citizens of our communities. What we lose is the daily commute, stress, and pollution. Alchemy doesn’t get any better than that!

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The architect and former congressman Richard N. Swett, FAIA, wrote that “it is the unique responsibility of the architect to use space and design as a unifying force, to physically realize the insistent perception of community wherever it struggles to exist on its own.” Without the physical encouragement to engage socially, our built environment will, as it does in many places in America, lack the vitality of a free democratic society. These third places, which encourage diverse populations to come together and interact, may be the key to civility and the sustainability of our cities.

A version of this article appeared in FastCompany‘s CoDesign blog – to view it in its original format, click here.

River-adjacent projects such as the PiggyBack Yard and the adaptive reuse of the historic Lincoln Heights Jail have helped Perkins+Will Los Angeles experience these issues first hand and given us the opportunity to illustrate how holistic sustainable thinking – both environmentally and socially – can enrich a site and a region. The massive PiggyBack Yard vision viewed Hurricane Katrina and other global storm events as a wake-up call to modernize city infrastructure to make it work with natural systems, not against them, while also creating a multivalent urban oasis in the process. On a smaller scale, the Lincoln Heights Jail is envisioned to be a transformative force in the neighborhood and region. It seeks to connect and incubate at multiple levels, with a focus on regenerating resources and sustaining economic and social viability.

Take water, for example. The Lincoln Heights Jail adaptive reuse concept couples program proposals with physical proposals in order to allow for the utilization of on-site water for the majority of its water use needs.  Two on-site loops are put forth: a food loop and a stormwater loop. The food loop showcases leading-edge urban agriculture strategies by combining aquaculture and hydroponic vegetative crop production into a highly sustainable aquaponic system. The stormwater loop begins with collecting water on the jail roof and surrounding site, then funneling it into a storage cistern. Separately, grey water from the domestic lavatories and showers – and potentially also black water from toilet fixtures – is treated in a biofiltration tank before joining the stormwater in the cistern for reuse in toilet fixtures as well as for irrigation of non-edible planting areas.

While these techniques help the Lincoln Heights Jail maximize its on-site water use, Southern California’s low rainfall rates makes this approach to water management an even more high-impact solution. In the long-term, site boundaries for the water system do not end at the property line. The Lincoln Heights Jail envisions itself fitting into a larger watershed framework that incorporates water run-off from surrounding streets, the city water supply, and the Los Angeles River.  For example, in a significant flooding event, a portion of the site is designed as a detention basin to absorb some of the peak river flow. Detained water is then stored to recharge the aquifer, with the possibility of reuse for site and public way irrigation.

While issues of water management are paramount to the design of any environmentally sensitive project, river adjacent projects should be especially proactive in taking advantage of the opportunity to also enable access to the waterfront, provide valuable open space, and support the re-stitching of a neighborhood’s social fabric. As both environmentally and socially regenerative solutions to disturbed ecosystems and blighted built environments, the overall “riverly” visions of projects such as the PiggyBack Yard and the Lincoln Heights Jail is to enable multifaceted natural and cultural growth.

In the end, the revitalization of the river can be argued from many viewpoints, from issues of water conservation to issues of flood control, from issues of social justice to issues of economic development. Why it should happen is obvious. What should happen becomes clearer with every project proposal. In the near future, the key to success will be defining how to effectively engage a multitude of voices in search of a shared solution with a multiplicity of purpose.  We encourage you to share your thoughts below.

Today, a common knee-jerk reaction to something seemingly useless is to put it out of site and out of mind, but this was not always the case.  Prior to the development of contemporary human civilization, there was no such thing as “trash.”  Waste was simply (and quite beautifully) the incubator for new life.  In modern society, much of our waste cannot promote new life, and sometimes takes hundreds of years to decompose.  Fortunately, there is still some waste that can contribute to our ecosystems, as long as we reintroduce it appropriately.  

Two years ago, I decided to try my hand at composting.  Our household of three in an urban environment wasn’t the most welcome place for an unrestricted compost heap, so I purchased a manufactured compost bin and strategically located it as far from the house as possible.  An unscientific experiment began: I wanted to see how much “trash” I could divert from our normal weekly haul.  Over the course of the spring and summer of 2011, we composted vegetarian kitchen scraps, small amounts of paper, raked leaves, grass clippings, and the occasional piece of cardboard.  By mid-summer, we were down to a single bag of trash per week (in lieu of our usual two), and our earthy mix was decomposing nicely.  The following spring, we re-started the process after emptying the previous summer’s contents into our home vegetable planting bed.  Not only was no additional fertilizer needed in 2012, we had more home-grown tomatoes and eggplant than we knew what to do with.  Our experiment had definitely succeeded.

Separately in 2012, the DC office of Perkins+Will was exploring ways to reduce our waste stream.  On top of our aggressive in-house recycling program, we found out that our building participated in a local farm share, which included donating compost to the farmers in exchange for fruits, vegetables, and flowers.  In June, our staff began collecting coffee grounds, filters, and tea bags – the only materials accepted for this particular program, as it simplifies the overall process and reduces the risk of invalidating the entire donation.  In the winter months, when our building’s farm share is dormant, we brought our compost to a local community garden, which started to smell an awful lot like dark roast coffee.  Naturally curious about the overall impact of our effort, we weighed our waste weekly.  Since architects tend to drink quite a lot of coffee, we averaged about 56 pounds per month in 2012. As the pattern continues and we drink more coffee, we anticipate diverting about 700 pounds of waste from the landfill this calendar year through composting alone. Plus, the “trash” that results from creating a wonderful brew in our office is now assisting the growth of fruits and vegetables in the community and beyond.

Can composting work on an even larger scale?  Washington DC is hoping to find out soon.  With the official announcement of the Sustainable DC plan earlier this year, the city has taken on the ambitious goal of sending zero solid waste to landfills by the year 2032.  This is no small task for a city that currently generates 800,000 tons of waste annually.  One of the strategies for encouraging waste stream reduction will be to provide every household with a three-track waste collection process, which follows in the footsteps of San Francisco’s similar policy.  This new third bin is for organic waste, and it will be placed next to the solid waste and mixed recyclables bins we already have.  DC also is reviewing the option of having small businesses share their waste bins, which would reduce the cost to the businesses and consolidate collections (which has the added long-term bonus of decreasing emissions). I’m looking forward to seeing if our city can keep up with the impressive pace of the San Franciscans, who are currently keeping 600 tons of food scraps, grass clippings, and coffee filters out of the waste stream every day via composting. 

Cities have the ability to use the composted matter in a variety of ways.  In planting beds and parks, compost can replace harsh chemical fertilizers, both saving us the cost of these products and keeping storm water that much more free of chemicals.  Local gardens can also receive the compost in order to grow food for their schools, residents, and other community members.

Imagine the potential (energy, cost savings, and more) in that next pot of coffee or banana peel…