As many are aware Lexington, KY and much of the surrounding region is running full bore in the planning, design and construction of projects for the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. It is estimated that the Games will bring hundreds of thousands of people to Lexington, with millions more viewing on TV across the world. In the face of this deadline, Lexington has launched numerous planning efforts to improve the quality of life, physical environments and overall aesthetic of the urban and rural landscape to provide an enjoyable experience for all, while also getting some long awaited projects to fruition.
The public voice in full swing
by Louis Johnson on September 1st, 2009“I’ll take ‘Public Involvement’ for a thousand, please, Alex…”
by Dennis Madsen on August 5th, 2009When an employee first starts at Urban Collage, one of his or her earliest crucibles is participation in a public meeting. Our firm has done literally hundreds of workshops, in a wide array of formats, for communities large and small, and for audiences both accommodating and, shall we say, ‘opinionated’. Learning how to moderate without directing, and how to inform without biasing, are key skills for a Collager. But another challenge is how, after scores of meetings, UC can keep the public meeting format fresh and interesting. How can we avoid the process becoming formulaic, while maintaining its usefulness and dynamism?In Prattville, Alabama, we tried out a new tack… Read more of “I’ll take ‘Public Involvement’ for a thousand, please, Alex…”
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Cooperation: A Tool for Design
by Louis Johnson on March 2nd, 2010Urban Collage believes that a multitude of perspectives, professional or otherwise and built from personal experience, is what it takes to create successful plans and designs. This was never more obvious than in a recent studio in Shanghai, China that included 15 Georgia Tech students (one Collager) and 14 students from Shanghai’s Tongji University. It would seem at first glance that design backgrounds, both professional and educational, could vary widely between the Chinese students and Americans, let alone that one group’s first language is Mandarin, a far cry from understandable to 14 of the 15 American students.
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