Professor Lynne Dearborn's Spring 2003 ESLARP Studio Recognized by AIA

Envisioning the Future of the South End Neighborhood, a class developed and taught jointly by Lynne M. Dearborn, Assistant Professor of Architecture, Stacy Harwood, Assistant Professor of Urban and Regional Planning and Laura J. Lawson, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture in spring 2003, has received the 2004 American Institute of Architects Education Honor Award for excellence in course development and architectural teaching. The multidisciplinary class—with students from architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning—investigated the South End neighborhood of East St. Louis, Illinois as part of the College of Fine and Applied Art's ongoing East St. Louis Action Research Project (ESLARP). Students worked with residents and community groups to develop possible visions for future development in the area.

From the AIA press release:

This class is categorized as a studio-based urban design and planning process to support the ongoing community development efforts of the South End New Development Organization (SENDO). This project reflects the evolution of a 13-year program of outreach, providing technical assistance to the neighborhood-based organizations in East St. Louis, Ill.

For years, the city has had a dramatic need for technical assistance, and no existing city-level agency to provide requisite design, planning, or community development support for non-profits. This service-learning course with students and faculty form the School of Architecture and the Departments of Landscape Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning took on the needs of that area of the city through the curriculum. The goals of the South End course were two-fold, to facilitate a preparatory planning and urban design process in the South End neighborhood and, through this process, to teach students about community-based planning and design.

The students were charged with providing extensive and specific project deliverables for the community groups that included: a comprehensive physical conditions assessment, community design and planning guidelines, site-specific proposals to achieve neighborhood growth goals, and most importantly a feasible implementation strategy.

"This class represents excellence in community process and socially engaged urban design. The jury recognized this to be an area of inquiry that has been underway within schools since the 60's but also an area of study that has become more dominant and sophisticated in the last ten years," said Jury Chair Ron McCoy, AIA. He added, "This submission was recognized as exemplary of a multi-disciplinary community design class."