Street Presence

DSA's job site sign was enthusiastically presented by a young pedestrian on Chapel Street in front of the Lincoln Society project in New Haven. The Lincoln Society - DSA's client, is a senior (secret) society located near Yale University - is part of the larger Chapel-Howe Street development project which DSA has been involved in over the past two years. Who knows, maybe she'll be our client one day?
Enrique Rosado photo

HURRIPLAN Featured at AIA National Convention in Chicago

Dean Sakamoto, FAIA, LEED AP will be presenting HURRIPLAN: Resilient Building Design for Coastal Communities course at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention in Chicago on June 25, 2014. Sakamoto's firm Dean Sakamoto Architects specializes in resilient architectural design. Resilience is a new area of concern in the environmental design field as we face challenges due to global climate change and rapid urbanization.  

Developed by Sakamoto and a team of national subject matter experts with the NDPTC in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences, “HURRIPLAN: Resilient Building Design for Coastal Communities" will introduce participants to best practices for community planning and non-residential building design in hurricane-prone regions. Utilizing a hands-on approach, the workshop will also incorporate instructor-led discussions and a design exercise using a hurricane-prone school site in New York City.

Presenting the workshop with Sakamoto will be NDPTC instructors Illya Azaroff, AIA, LEED AP; Michael Lingerfelt, FAIA; and Dennis Hwang, JD, a land-use attorney and coastal geology expert. Sakamoto and Lingerfelt are members of the AIA National Disaster Assistance Committee which is hosting the event. 

See this link for the full release:

 http://www.hawaii.edu/news/article.php?aId=6582

Urban Observation 

Children's Discovery Center surrounded by homeless camp

This is no scout camp in the foreground to the Hawai`i Children's Discovery Center in the Kaka`ako Makai district of Honolulu. It is a tent city in the public right-of-way which has plagued the area for several years now. It is ironic and heart-wrenching to see families - elders, children and working-age adults - living in this State-owned precinct where recently legislated City & County of Honolulu rules which do not allow street side dwelling should be enforced in what is touted as Honolulu's "urban village". This is an urban issue par excellance which needs to be addressed now. The Children's Discovery Center, an anchor of Kaka`ako Makai since 1998, has thus far, tolerated consequences of this situation. Action is needed now. 
Dean Sakamoto photo
See link to a recent news story on this issue:
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/20130718_State_and_City_officials_sweeping_Kakaako_homeless_sites.html?id=216051011

Smart Cities Panel at New York Center for Architecture

An impressive event at the AIA NY CFA last night on the topic of Smart Cities held in conjunction with the 2014 Integration Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council on Sustainable Urbanization at the United Nations on May 27-29. Smart Cities has to do with the utilization of open source data to enhance the functionality of city operations such as traffic, energy, crowd sourcing and disaster preparedness. AIA NY President Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, opened the event he framed within his Presidential theme "Civic Spirit: Civic Vision." Speakers pictured above (left to right) are Tom Wright, Executive Director, Regional Plan Association; Margaret O'Donoghue Castillo, AIA, LEED AP; Urs Gauchat, Dean of NJIT College of Architecture and Design; Dr. Joan Clos, Executive Director of, UN Habitat and former Mayor of Barcelona; H.E. Vladimir Drobnak, Vice President, UN Economic and Social Council. The speakers discussed the state of cities from global, regional and sectoral perspectives. A common consensus among the panel is that all cities must contribute to the effort of greenhouse gas reduction, plan strategically, design and build with the future in mind. Dean Sakamoto photo.

See this link to the Consortium for Sustainable Urbanism (CSU) http://www.consortiumforsustainableurbanization.org/2014.html