Fab Lab DC

Location: Washington, DC

Website: fablabdc.org

Give ordinary people the right tools, and they will design and build the most extraordinary things.

That’s the idea behind Fab Labs, which originated at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms by Professor Neil Gershenfeld, who teaches How To Make (Almost) Anything.

Fab Labs provide access to prototype tools for personal fabrication, like a personal computer that can output functional objects instead of images on a screen.

The labs have spread from inner-city Boston to Africa and Norway, with projects tackling applications in areas including healthcare, agriculture, housing, and communications.

FAB LAB DC serves and fosters the creative community by providing access to digital fabrication technology, rapid prototyping, and the global Fab Lab network.

In the spirit of MIT’s Fab Lab community outreach project, FAB LAB DC brings a high-tech,fabrication laboratory/community workshop to the heart of the Nation’s Capital advancing creativity, innovation, and collaborative projects.

Fab Labs enable people to use technology to create, experiment and produce, shifting the paradigm away from people merely “consuming” technology toward using technology to create solutions.

With a focus on life-long learning and emphasis on investigative teamwork, FAB LAB DC provides a range of educational opportunities for people of all ages, including access to the international Fab Lab network and Fab Academy, which extend opportunities for information sharing, research, and broader social impact. FAB LAB DC is for local community members, life-long learners, inventors, entrepreneurs, creatives, and professionals.

With its location within walking distance and in view of the U.S. Capitol Building, FAB LAB DC will also serve as a model for the nation’s leaders in policy, government, and industry, to experience, first hand, Fab Lab’s grass-roots approach in developing technical education and literacy, promoting innovation, launching inventions, and incubating new businesses.

Coalition for Non-Profit Housing and Economic Development

Location: Washington, DC

Website: www.cnhed.org

CNHED leads nonprofit community development organizations in ensuring that residents with low and moderate incomes have housing and economic opportunities in neighborhoods throughout the District.

CNHED is a dynamic, member-driven 501(c)3 umbrella organization that supports the nonprofit housing and economic development industry in Washington, DC.

Since its inception in 2000, the organization has grown from 55 organizations to over 130 today, due in part to its success in carrying out a highly successful program of advocacy, training, research, communication, and information sharing in support of its members. CNHED’s membership represents a broad spectrum of entities including nonprofit and for-profit affordable housing developers, housing counseling and service agencies, community development corporations, small businesses, lenders, intermediaries, associations and government agencies.  This diversity enables CNHED to continue building strong neighborhoods together.

CNHED is proud to be a leader in the District of Columbia as:

- One of the District’s Most Effective Advocacy Organizations,

- A Premier Trainer of Community Development Staff in DC,

- A Respected Expert on Affordable Housing Issues,

- A Unifying Voice and Representative of Community Development Sector, and

- A Problem Solver and Reliable Source of Information.

[CNHED] provides an informed and respected voice for the community development industry as an advocate for affordable housing and neighborhood-based economic development.

DowntownDC

Location: Washington, DC

Website: www.downtowndc.org

The DowntownDC BID is a non-profit organization that works to improve Downtown DC’s public environment, economy and social equity. Our goal is to create a vibrant, inviting and smart place where people from all walks of life are able to explore, create and share remarkable urban experiences that inspire and revitalize.

Property owners fund this special district through tax assessments that enable the DowntownDC BID to improve the public realm and to promote and help retain businesses. Established under District of Columbia legislation in 1997, the DowntownDC BID was renewed for additional five-year terms in 2002 and 2007 through votes of property owners and tenants and actions of the Mayor and City Council.

More than 800 commercial properties comprise the DowntownDC BID area within the boundaries of the National Mall on the south, Massachusetts Avenue (including the Walter E. Washington Convention Center) on the north, Louisiana Avenue on the east and the White House and 16th Street on the west. The DowntownDC BID area encompasses the Gallery Place, Chinatown, Federal Triangle, Franklin Square, McPherson Square, Midtown and Penn Quarter neighborhoods.

The DowntownDC BID provides services in the areas of safety, hospitality, maintenance, physical improvements, homeless services, transportation, marketing, special events, planning, economic development and environmental sustainability. In addition, the DowntownDC BID provides management services to affiliated non-profit organizations: the National Cherry Blossom Festival®, the District of Columbia Surface Transit, Inc. (DCST), the Public Space Planning and Management Corporation and the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District.

A Board of Directors, consisting of 42 business and civic leaders, governs the DowntownDC BID with an annual budget of $10 million, the majority of which is spent on maintenance, beautification, safety and hospitality.

The organization relies upon partnerships with the District of Columbia government, the federal government—especially the General Services Administration (through their Good Neighbor Program, which actively supports urban development through community partnerships); the National Park Service; and the National Capital Planning Commission, as well as the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority—and a variety of other public agencies and private sector organizations in order to accomplish its work.

BeyondDC

Location: Washington, DC region

Website: www.urbanresearch.org

BeyondDC is devoted to urbanism, transportation, and development in the Washington, DC region. It is the sole property of J. Daniel Malouff, and does not represent the views of his employer in any way.

Malouff is a professional transportation planner for the Arlington County Department of Transportation. He has a degree in Urban Planning from the University of Colorado, and lives a car-free lifestyle in Northwest Washington.

In addition to BeyondDC, Malouff’s writing is frequently featured at Greater Greater Washington.

The Washington Post Local Opinion Blog. His work has appeared in print publications such as the The Washington Post, Next American City, Washington Post Express, and the Colorado Daily.

Mount Vernon Triangle CID

Location: Washington,D.C.

Website: www.mountvernontriangle.org

The Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District is a private, nonprofit organization established to enhance the overall quality of life for residents, visitors, employees, and property owners in Washington DC’s newest 24-hour neighborhood by providing a clean and safe environment, marketing, and fostering planning and economic development.

The vision for the MVTCID is to develop Mount Vernon Triangle as a new neighborhood on the east end of Downtown DC with new residences, Class-A offices, and fine places to shop, dine, and enjoy this vibrant mixed-us community that is active day and night.

The ingredients for making Mount Vernon Triangle the next great neighborhood are:

- People: a diverse and energetic group, eager to be part of this emerging community.

- Space: a lively mix of residential, retail, and office uses.

- Design: outstanding architecture, historic places, public art, open space, and plazas.

- Retail: restaurants, shops, services, theatres, museums, convention center, and an arena nearby.

Transportation: Metro, Downtown Circulator, Amtrak, MARC Train, and easy access to 395.

- Partnerships: an innovative public- collaboration.

A Community Improvement District is a designated geographic area in which the property owners have agreed to pay a supplementary real property tax in order to raise funds for designated programs or projects, such as to augment street cleaning services provided by the City.

Under District law, the Mount Vernon Triangle Community Improvement District (MVTCID) is legally defined as a BID. The concept of a Community Improvement District is based on that of a Business Improvement District, but includes commercial and residential properties.

BIDs have proven to be successful in hundred of cities throughout the United States and eight BIDs have now been established in the District of Columbia: Downtown BID, Golden Triangle BID, Georgetown Partnership, Capitol Hill BID, Adams Morgan Partnership, Mount Vernon Triangle CID, NoMa BID, and now the Capitol Riverfront BID.

Nature Sacred

Location: Washington, DC area

Website: www.naturesacred.org

In an increasingly urbanized world, we are bound to find a better connection with ourselves in nature than with our WiFi networks. That is the idea that drives Tom Stoner, founder of the TKF Foundation, who along with his wife and colleagues have funded dozens of restorative green spaces throughout the Washington-Baltimore area via their Nature Sacred program.

The foundation recently announced $4.5 million in new grants for six projects, where “scientists from a number of different disciplines – neuroscience, immunology, genomics, and others – will work to study the effects of specially designed spaces on people living in an urban environment or who are otherwise under stress. Grant winners will study the impacts of a range of projects: from a landscaped refuge at a Maryland hospital to a verdant retreat in Brooklyn's Naval Cemetery, and a healing environ for tornado-devastated Joplin, Missouri.

Stoner's take on the word “sacred” is not meant to be religious. He suggests "it is a sense that these spaces are important, intimate. It’s about our individual, personal relationship with nature.

Stoner thinks that quantitative proof of the health benefits of well-designed green space could go a long way toward encouraging better funding of the kind of places that we need to maintain our physical and mental health in a rapidly urbanizing world.

Cities, in a counterintuitive way, are more sustainable settlements that provide housing for thousands or millions of people, as high-density centers offer energy efficient smaller homes, transit systems, and concentrations of services. Yet life in cities can be stressful, and residents can feel removed from nature, the wellspring of all that sustains us.

Research of the past few decades provides evidence of how nearby nature is essential for human habitat. Nature offers restorative settings and experiences, including sacred encounters.

A luminous sunset or a glimpse of the tracery of tree branches are just a few of the nature encounters that can instill a sense of calm, contemplation, or inspiration.

On a trip to England in 1995, Tom and Kitty Stoner visited an urban park tucked in the midst of a busy London neighborhood. This serene and protected park was used by many as a place of refuge during World War II. Wooden benches lined the walking path. On the back of many of the benches were the reflections of those who experienced a sense of community and solace in this special place during the worst days of WWII.

It was Tom and Kitty’s belief that if an urban greenspace could provide such a place of sanctuary at such a difficult time in history, perhaps places conceived and created by urban communities in our time could also provide opportunities for reflection and rejuvenation. From this idea – and with this desire – the TKF Foundation was formed. The speed, violence and alienation that characterize our current period in human history create an important need for open spaces, sacred places. It is the Foundation’s hope that the spaces it has helped to support bring some peace and well being to people’s lives.

In 2010, the TKF Foundation began the final decade of its philanthropy with a National Open Spaces Sacred Places Award Initiative designed to support the creation of significant new Open Spaces Sacred Places across the country. These sites will serve as demonstration and research sites for the study of the impact of nature on the human spirit.

The mission of the TKF Foundation is to provide the opportunity for a deeper human experience by inspiring and supporting the creation of public greenspaces that offer temporary sanctuary, encourage reflection, provide solace and engender peace and well being. We envision a world in which opportunities abound for all individuals to experience peace and well being through a personal connection to nature and spirit.

CityVision

Location: Washington, D.C.

Website: www.nbm.org/families-kids/teens-young-adults/cityvision.html

Now in its seventeenth year, CityVision is an award-winning outreach program that uses design as a framework to teach District of Columbia public school students how to become active participants in shaping their communities. Through extensive fieldwork and careful mentoring at the National Building Museum, students identify needs and propose solutions designed to help local neighborhoods.

In CityVision, participants:

- Develop problem solving and critical thinking skills,

- Learn technical skills, including sketching and architectural drawing, photography, scale, and model building,

- Practice negotiation and collaboration while working as a team,

- Sharpen public speaking and communication skills, and

- Explore careers in architecture, engineering, construction and design.

CityVision takes place during the fall and spring of the academic year, and is made possible by a close collaboration between the National Building Museum and D.C. Public Schools and Public Charter Schools.

Each year, junior high and middle schools integrate CityVision as part of their curriculum and offer participating students with academic credit. For the spring 2010 semester, the Museum partnered with John Burroughs Education Campus and Stuart-Hobson Middle School.

Up to 12 students are selected from each school to attend the CityVision program during the fall or spring semester. Participants meet for a full school day, once per week for 12 weeks, to work with Museum staff, educators, and design professionals, on fun, challenging, hands-on activities.

Early CityVision sessions are devoted to teaching participants about the basic elements of the design process. Next, participants work in teams to explore selected neighborhoods where they observe and collect information about the community’s most urgent needs.

Each team then develops a creative solution that addresses those needs, creating architectural drawings and models of their design. The program culminates in a final public presentation, in which team members defend their work to a panel of professionals.

If you are a design professional or student in the fields of architecture, urban planning, or education who would be interested in helping inner-city youth learn about design and the built environment, consider volunteering at the Museum. Volunteers must be able to commit to a minimum of two Thursdays per month, but are strongly encouraged to attend each session. Volunteers must be 18 years of age or older.

Students or recent graduates who are interested in a greater commitment to CityVision are invited to apply for an intern position in the Outreach Department. Interns act as volunteer instructors and assist with the administration of the program. Learn more about internships at the Museum.

If your school is interested in becoming a partner, please contact the Outreach Programs Coordinator. Your school must be a part of the D.C. Public Schools system or D.C. Charter Schools System, and must also recruit a staff member to accompany the students to the program each week.

Spring 2010:

CityVision participants explored three sites along both sides of the Anacostia River on the Southeast Waterfront. Students from John Burroughs Education Campus and Stuart-Hobson Middle School worked with professionals from the National Capital Planning Commission, and other local organizations, to design plans for this emerging area.

Highlights from the three plans include: an underwater library in the Anacostia River near the Florida Rock site, an arts and recreation center surrounded by gardens on Poplar Point, and a large entertainment complex, boardwalk and ferris wheel on the Navy Yards site. All of the plans included wetlands to help improve the Anacostia River.

Fall 2009:

During the fall 2009 CityVision, the Museum partnered with the National Capital Planning Commission to work with local youth on designing a new White House Visitor Center. Students from Browne Education Campus and Columbia Heights Education Campus were challenged to explore three sites around the White House, interview tourists and government officials, and think creatively about design. For their final public presentation, students developed proposals for improving the quality of the experience for people who visit, live, or work in or near the White House.

Fall 2008 and Spring 2009:

Partnering for the 2008-2009 CityVision program, the National Building Museum and the District of Columbia Office of Planning challenged CityVision students to examine and deck over a section of Interstate 395 between E Street & Massachussetts Avenue. The Interstate 395 project reconnected the neighborhoods of Penn Quarter and Union Station. Students were asked to identify what type of development meets the needs of both communities and then presented their final projects to the public. This experience enriched their education and gave them the foundation to express their ideas and opinions about their city and its development.

2006 - 2007

The National Building Museum and the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) partnered for the CityVision programs which focused on the design of museum and monument designs for sites identified by the National Capital Planning Commission’s Memorials and Museums Master Plan.

Spring 2006:

LeDroit Park CityVision participants explored the neighborhood’s physical surroundings and examined the area’s historic relationship with Howard University. Students also documented the distinct architectural features of LeDroit Park through photographs and free-hand sketching. As participants met with residents and identified the existing land use in the neighborhood, they noted a lack of support services for the community.

The team’s design proposes to rehabilitate a vacant building into a community center. The proposed 3-story u-shaped building contains spaces for recreation, a library and computer room, child care center, grocery store, and a health clinic.

Students thought deeply about the relationships of these varying services, grouping similar functions such as the health clinic and child care center next to each other. Students also addressed the building’s exterior by creating an elevated pedestrian bridge between the two building wings, and proposing new plantings in the interior courtyard.

Fall 2005:

All eyes are on the Navy Yard neighborhood, these days. An area rich in history, it is currently the site of dramatic development and construction. Students on the Navy Yard team observed that, while promising economic growth for the community, the transformation has forced many residents to move, leaving behind scores of vacant homes and lots.

The team’s design for "Canal Yards," a mixed-use project, responds to the need for more convenient and quality housing for the residents that remain, and those that hope to eventually return. The building includes seven stories of mixed-income apartments, and restaurants, shops and other businesses at the street level.

CityVision is generously supported by The William Randolph Hearst Foundation; the D.C. Commission on the Arts & Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; and MARPAT Foundation, Inc.. Additional support for teen outreach programs is provided by Bloomberg, Clark Charitable Foundation, McGraw-Hill, Prince Charitable Trusts, The Tower Companies, and an anonymous donor. Geppetto Catering, Inc. is the official Meal Provider for Teen Outreach Programs at the National Building Museum.