Social Spaces

In doing some online research I have stumbled across this organization called Social Spaces. They are doing some really interesting work with community engagement. Some of their projects include a community pantry and something called "Hand Made". Check out their website:

www.socialspaces.org

I've contacted them to see if I can get some more information on where they are located and how they got started. I'll update this post when I get a response.

A Little Clarification

I realized after posting the first couple of things that I alluded to my research interest without actually stating it. I am interested in the redevelopment of leftover space in the urban context. It seems to me that traditional solutions tend to be too stagnant or concrete (no pun intended) and, therefore, lack the ability to remain relevant in the long term. I am interested in how a flexible approach to designing these spaces can better engage the community that they are placed in and remain active, successful spaces for the long term. Specifically, I am exploring the potential for utilizing Social Capital and Temporary Urbanism as two organizing concepts in my research of this problem. I am curious as to whether using the dual concepts of Social Capital and Temporary Urbanism in the context of leftover urban space can revolutionize the approach Landscape Architects and designers in general approach urban design.

An example of a Temporary Urbanism initiative:

http://planning.dc.gov/DC/Planning/Across+the+City/Other+Citywide+Initiatives/Temporary+Urbanism+Initiative

Van Alen Institute Design Competition

The Van Alen Institute is sponsoring a design competition called, "Parks for People." I am looking into this competition as a way to guide my studio work during the spring semester. I would be participating in regards to the Civil War fort sites surrounding Washington D.C. I'm not sure I can make this competition work for my research interest. The only way I would find it helpful is if it could be approached from the perspective of community involvement and establishing a flexible and ever-changing design solution... check out the link, look at the Washington D.C. site and let me know what you think.

http://www.vanalen.org/parksforthepeople/

New Form/New Function

This blog was one that I originally established as an undergraduate to document my experiences in triathlon. While triathlon is still a very important part of my life, it is time to move on to a more academic stage. This blog will now be used as a documentation medium for my discoveries as a MLA student at Virginia Tech. Not that many people probably read this thing in the past, but I hope it will be worth while for others with similar interests and want to clear up any confusions that may result from the fact that older posts will not correspond to any from this point on. I hope that as I post discoveries and thoughts, any and all who review them will take the opportunity to add their input, that is what will really make this worth while... With that, here goes nothing!

USAT Nationals Race Report/Travel Madness Continued

After all the craziness of friday the race on saturday seemed like the easy part. The weather was beautiful even though by the time I got onto the run course it had gotten really hot. Going into the race I had some specific goals in mind, all of which would lead to an overall time of under 2 hours and 15 minutes because then I would be eligible to race as an amateur elite next year. My swim was a little slower than I wanted, 27 minutes instead of sub 25, but I more than made up for it on the bike. I had set a conservative goal of sub 1 hour and 10 minutes for the bike leg and I killed it, finishing in right at 1 hour and 5 minutes (22.5 mph average) on a really tough course that also had 6 turnarounds which really kills your speed. Out on the run course I realized that I was under the pace I needed to finish in 2:15 so I was able to relax and just go for it. Again, the run course was tough and hot, but I still finished the 10km in just over 37 minutes which is right at my PR. I finished the race in 2 hours and 13 minutes, beating my goal by a solid 2 minutes and officially making me an amateur elite!! My ranking overall and in my age group weren't that great and I didn't even come close to qualifying for the world championships in Beijing next year but the time is what I really wanted.

Now you would think that having finished the race the rest of the weekend would be pretty uneventful... and you'd be very very wrong. Sunday became the longest and most frustrating travel experience of my entire life! After arriving at the airport and checking in for my 11:15am flight I was informed at the gate that due to labor strikes at the airport in Detroit, which is where my plane was coming from, my flight had been cancelled. On top of that there was only one seat left to get me to Indy that day and it left out of Atlanta at 8:30pm. That's bad enough, if I was already in Atlanta... too bad I was in Birmingham!!!!! There were no flights to get me to Atlanta either, so what did I have to do? Rent a car and drive to Atlanta just to get on a plane and fly to Indy! ohhh man did that suck, not to mention the car ended up being a 2 door which made getting my bike case into it a little more than tricky. The only good part was I had some 7 hours until the flight left and it only took 2 hours to drive to Atlanta. Once in Atlanta I found out that the flight had been delayed until 10pm which would mean I would get to Indy by about 11:30pm! In reality the plane didn't leave until 11pm, I landed in Indy a little after midnight and I didn't get home and into bed until after 2am!!! so i was traveling from 8:30am until after 2am.... that makes sunday the longest day ever!!! It was atrocious to say the very least but my bike actually made it too for a change and Delta will certainly be hearing from me in the near future. If nothing else it is a great story to tell and luckily I have plenty of time to catch up on the sleep I missed thanks to my new status of being solidly in the offseason, ahhhhh!!! In all reality things are good. I'll post some pictures from the race when I get them...

USAT Age Group Nationals Pre-Race Madness!!

wow, today has been one hell of a day. Starting at 5 am this morning I have been moving pretty much nonstop until right about now and its just about 9 pm. Not exactly the ideal way to spend the day before my biggest race of the year but what are you gonna do? I didn't really have a choice thanks to f***ing Delta Airlines. I flew from Indy to Atlanta, where I met my mom, then we both flew to Birmingham. My bike, on the other hand, had no trouble getting from Indy to Atlanta but somehow Delta managed to lose it in Atlanta for a few hours. So much for that "handling" that I paid a $200 fee for!!!! I saw it come off the plane, in fact it was the first thing off the plane... how did it not make the connection?! And how did no one know where it was until about 4 this afternoon when I had landed in Birmingham at 11:30am? It has easily been one of the more frustrating moments of my entire life... Packet pick-up was no big deal, but I had to drive the hour back to Birmingham from Tuscaloosa to pick up my bike this afternoon and make it back by 7pm in order to get my bike checked into the Transition area on time... I made it, but just barely. I think I checked my bike in at 6:57 and I was just about the last person out of the 1300 that will be racing tomorrow. I guess that this means that all that is left is the easy part... racing tomorrow, I'll let you know how it goes. It can't be that bad because just a couple hours ago I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to race at all...

Breakfast Optimist Club Muncie Tri Race Report

Great race this morning! Everything felt like it came together.... finally! I have felt like I was right on the edge of a breakthrough for soooo long, it's about time I finally did it. Race morning was super chilly, with temperatures in the mid 50s and a pretty stiff 15-18mph wind. Getting in the water actually felt great because it was so much warmer than the air. This was my first race in the elite wave so it was really nice to get out onto the swim course ahead of the hordes of people. Unfortunately, the swim is 2 laps of a 750 meter course so the second time around it was a little bit harder to find clear water. It slowed me down a little bit but I still managed a sub 18 minute swim after posting a 8 minute first lap. The bike was windy and COLD! Being that wet and riding into a headwind when the air temperature is only the 50s... man! But even so I put together a pretty solid split averaging a little over 22mph. I came off the bike in 5th place and then things really fell into place. Thanks to a 37 minute 10k i managed to run myself into 3rd place and my first appearance on a podium with an overall time of 2:08 (a solid PR). And to do it in my first go at racing with the elites was pretty sweet, and i got some money to boot! My only complaint about the whole day is this jerkoff that was drafting on just about the whole bike leg... number 371, i saw you! He came off the bike about a minute ahead of me but I ran him down in no time so at least he didn't beat me... that would have really pissed me off, but i still feel bad for the guy that drug him around the course for 40km and the guy didn't even get a time penalty at all! let alone get disqualified which is what he deserved. Where was the USAT official?!! (Rumor has it he was sitting in his car trying to stay warm... way to go) Anyway, feel really great about the whole race and now am super psyched for the last race of the year at Nationals in 3 weeks... this should be a good one!