Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): Phoebe Crisman
Forces for change currently impacting the academy and the profession necessitateinnovative pedagogical models and new modes of practice. Thispaper examines a model of civically engaged practice developed in a seriesof academic design research studios. Rather than the normative method ofawaiting a commission conceptualized by the client, these interdisciplinarystudios worked with community partners to identify opportunities, design asustainable project to inspire environmental stewardship, and seek fundingfor realization. Civic engagement is an essential aspect of this approach toacademic learning and research.University faculty and students from architecture, urbanism, art and medicineinvestigated the complex relationship between human inhabitation, environmentalrestoration, and sustainability education through the design of a40-acre public wetland park. They collaborated with the City of Portsmouth,Portsmouth Public Schools, and several non-profit environmental groupsand community partners. The Paradise Creek Eco Park contains the river’slast stand of mature forest and co-exists with contaminated industrial Superfundsites and an economically challenged, racially diverse urban neighborhood.The studio designed a park plan and several small park structuresthat engage urban kids in hands-on exploration and learning, including twoclassroom pavilions, children’s playground, tree house and kayak launch.There were several research goals: create a place that increases the senseof well-being, economic vitality and opportunity for outdoor exploration forall ages; design green pavilions, children’s playground and other structuresthat educate visitors about sustainability; make a place where citizens mayrediscover the healing respite of a healthy, living river; and create strategiesfor industry and natural ecosystem to co-exist in harmony.Both individually and in teams, students considered complex social, economic,ecological and architectural issues across scales—from the ChesapeakeBay to local watershed, city, neighborhood, site, building and architecturaldetail. They studied how architecture can be used and perform. Forinstance, an outdoor classroom is a generator of energy, collector of water,assemblage of didactic surfaces and spaces, place to experience the Riverand engage the senses, event space, constructed wetland for water filtration,and habitat for migratory butterflies and birds. The relationship betweennatural and constructed systems is revealed in a design that works withsun, wind, water, earth and biology. Photovoltaic panels provide power andrainwater and wastewater is collected and filtered. Students investigatedold and new materials, technologies and constructional systems in serviceof the didactic agenda. The Park and its architecture physically manifestsan inventive educational agenda that teaches about sustainable dwelling, aswell as the inextricable links between water and land, the tidal river ecologyand wetland restoration. This design research project establishes a modelfor university and community collaboration, while fostering a commitmentto environmental ethics and sustainable practices by connecting academiclearning with the students’ desire to make a positive difference in the world.
Volume Editors
Martha Thorne & Xavier Costa
ISBN
978-0-935502-83-1
