Volume 4, Issue 2

February 2007

Infusion of New Ideas: 2007 WSU Design Charrette   by Luke J. Tolley Historic-Hillyard.com Staff

On January 11th, Hillyard welcomed over 80 WSU students to look, listen and start drawing. These Architectural, Interior Design and Landscape Design students did just that. They took part in a Design Charrette, a 72 hour research, interview and design blitz in which those students broke up into teams and produced drawing of their visions of the potential of Hillyard. While these drawing represent the skills of the students as much as they do real visions, they will open your mind to some interesting possibilities for our Neighborhood.

Twenty-Two drawings or, themes, were presented from the teams, each with many different ideas, and many with similar veins of thought. While these are visually stunning, they represent more than just good ideas. A picture is worth a thousand words; each of these works of art have depth, ideas and opportunities for each of us to acquire, assimilate, develop and implement.

Now, the drawings will be on display, starting February 5th, at the old Hillyard Variety store, now Vickie’s Treasures at 5009 N Market St. Not only will you be given the chance to marvel at the ideas, but the students would love your feedback and you will be given the chance to do just that. Each theme will be set up with a venue for written feedback in order to help direct the semester long project Professor Bob Scarfo has assigned his students. “I see this partnership, between Hillyard and the Design Institute, going on for years and years,” Said Scarfo, “so I need all the inside help I can get.”

After being displayed in Hillyard, the Charrette presentations will be displayed at City Hall, on the third floor from 2/12 to 2/20.  Starting February 21st, Hillyard will be featured in the Chase Gallery outside the City Council briefing chambers, including the Charrette info, as well as Centers and Corridors information collected by the City's Neighborhood Business Centers program.  Please take the opportunity to view these works either in Hillyard or at City Hall.

As a part of Professor Scarfo's "partnership" with Hillyard, he has implemented a semester long design project to further take a look at Hillyard and produce more similar designs.  Students from the class have broken up in to 4 teams, residential Hillyard, Downtown historic Hillyard, Industrial east Hillyard, and Market Corridor north of Francis.  The teams are working with citizens and business leaders in each neighborhood to further create a vision for the individual parts of Hillyard.  (You can help by filling out this survey and sending it to the students.)  The Greater Hillyard Business Association (GHBA) in conjunctions with various neighborhood groups and civic leaders will be working with Professor Scarfo on this and future projects.

Normally this is where I would write a conclusion, but I cannot, because this process has only just begun.  The future is wide open.  If you want to be a part of it, get involved.  You can discuss this matter on the Community Forum, attend at GHBA meeting (2nd & 4th Wednesdays of each month, St. Peter's Gathering Place, Haven & Wellesley) or any number of other Hillyard Neighborhood meetings that you might find on the Events Calendar.  The future is not only what you make of it, but how you sell it, and this is an opportunity to help make Hillyard's future, and produce some amazing visuals for selling it.

© Historic-Hillyard.com

February 2007