City Builders Share Ideas for Equitable Transportation

image: City Builders Design program participants present ideas for transportation solutions.

Imagine a city where ALL residents have access to shared bike systems, safe streets, improved intersections, multiple modes of transportation, and parklets for outdoor activities. This semester our City Builders Design program participants took a walk through the city to learn about equitable transportation and discover solutions for Richmond. 

Take a walk with us as we venture through our semester of discovery and design!

• Stop 1: History and Policy

  We connected with Kelli Rowan and Brandon King from the Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility (OETM) to learn about why transportation matters. We talked about the history and inequitable policies in transportation. They even brought in a RVA Bike Share bike to talk about a new pilot project in the city’s Southside.

• Stop 2: The Design Process

  We discovered the steps of the design process to create signs. We learned how to communicate a message with limited colors, shapes, and graphics to express things universally, just like a STOP sign!

image: Meeting with the Office of Equitable Transit and Mobility (OETM) to learn about why transportation matters and learn about RVA Bike Share.

• Stop 3: Reading an Intersection

  We observed the intersection of N 2nd St. and E Broad St. Participants and design mentors created a list from what they observed and discussed the similarities and implications of the different elements in an intersection. We discussed the need for traffic lights, trees and plants, transportation options, crosswalks, and sidewalks.

• Stop 4: Exploring Design Professions

  We visited the Hanbury Community Design Laboratory to tour their office space and learn from architects and engineers in the profession. One of our design mentors, Heather Madden, discussed her job as a Transportation Engineer. She also presented an aerial image of the Richmond Arts District along Broad Street and taught us how to read a map in plan view. 

• Stop 5: Engaging the Community

  We stopped by a GRTC bus stop to speak with community members about their experiences. We learned the importance of listening to bus riders and understanding the different perspectives they have. 

image: City Builders visited Hanbury Community Design Laboratory, a local architecture firm, and learned about design professions.

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image: City Builders designing solutions in preparation for their final presentation.

• Stop 6: Discovering Creative Solutions

  We stopped by the Brook and Marshall mural and parklet project, a recent Golden Hammer Award winner. We talked about the purpose of a parklet, measured the size of it, and learned about the different amenities they may include, like seating and tables.

• Stop 7: Designing a Solution 

  In the last few weeks of the semester, we created teams to design safety solutions for the high traffic area at N 2nd. St. and E Broad Street. City Builders participants collaborated with design mentors to create fun ideas for the intersection.
  
  In the last class, we celebrated our City Builders’ achievements! We held a party where they shared their ideas to board members, parents, design mentors, and community partners.
  
  The first team had a showstopper consisting of bright colored turtles in the crosswalk to caution drivers to slooowww down. They also proposed painting the utility/sewer lids, replacing a few abandoned buildings to create a parking deck, adding greenery to bus stops, and removing trees that were too close to the corners to avoid accidents.
  
  The second team presented the removal of a parking space to create a parklet for Storefront staff, mob students, tourists, and community members. The parklet was designed for meeting space, greenspace, hanging out, and relaxing.
  
  Congrats on an amazing night and semester!

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Thank you Design Mentors and Volunteers!

We share our gratitude to our design mentors and volunteers who have helped our team inspire equitable community-driven design. A huge THANKS goes to Perry, Heather, and Glenn for sharing your talents and architecture/engineering expertise as design mentors (and Jim as our honorary mentor). You made an impact on our City Builders and we appreciate you for that. 

Become a Design Mentor for City Builders

Are you a professional designer and interested in getting involved in our City Builders Design youth program? We are looking for three (3) qualified design professionals to become design mentors during our 12-week program this fall. Design mentors will receive a stipend for participation along with the reward of developing the next generation of designers. Apply by Friday, August 26 to be considered.

Design Mentor Roles and Responsibilities

• Provide mentorship to students throughout the 12-week program

• Assist the Youth Innovation Director and the Storefront team to design hands-on activities and implement them during workshops. 

• Assist students with projects, studio time, and various tasks during the weekly workshop.

• Review student projects and provide constructive feedback.

Design Mentor Requirements

• Currently working or has experience working in a design career such as architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning, graphic design, etc. 

• Commit to a minimum of 10 in-person workshop sessions (2.5 hours each) out of the 12 workshops offered. Weekly workshops will take place on Tuesday or Thursday evenings this fall. 

• Be available to meet for two hours between workshops as needed.

• Experience with teens ages 13-18 preferred but not required.

• Pass a background check.

The City Builders fall semester will take place at Storefront’s office at 205 E Broad Street. The program will kick off on September 29 and will run through mid-December.

About City Builders Design Workshop:
The City Builders Design Workshop is a semester-long program for teens ages 13-18 with a vision to engage the next generation of designers and grow urban youth leaders.

Poster Show: A Covid Empowerment Project

At Storefront, we know all too well that the built environment around us directly affects our well-being. We aim to inspire community-driven design throughout Richmond while engaging the next generation of designers. This spring semester, two of our programs worked on parallel health messaging projects that came together as a poster show, activating a public space in a new way.

We learned that the Richmond Henrico Health District was seeing extreme covid health disparities and low use of covid mitigation and prevention measures by youth and Black communities. That, covid fatigue and racism being declared a public health crisis underscored the greater question at hand. How do you encourage groups to take advantage of the resources available and be empowered to make informed decisions?

mOb studio and City Builders set out to explore that question. They used visuals to relay health messaging related to accurate covid health information and overall wellness for the community. 

City Builders Design, a semester-long program that focuses on real world issues in the built environment, met weekly after school to design a solution. The youth ages 13-18 explored their community and learned from designers in the field of architecture, fashion design, graphic design, and urban planning. By the end of the semester, they had learned a new way to communicate health messages, using the built environment and empowering them to use the resources around them to create awareness.

“Teaching with City Builders reminded me that not only should we include our children in the process of designing better things for our cities but also to become better designers we need to awaken the child in ourselves. -”

— John Malinoski

A team from mOb studio, a service learning class through our VCUarts partnership, worked directly with RHHD to create and pilot a Covid and Public Health awareness campaign. Through conversations with RHHD partners, and help from a professional mentor, they came up with a visual communication style, health messaging and potential poster sites.

Both groups were guided by a local design professional, John Malinoski who mentored the mOb team and led workshops for the City Builders youth. Both projects focused on providing exposure and education to health awareness, equity, disparities, & outcomes. We couldn't help but notice that following a design process and incorporating hands-on making naturally allowed us to pause and create space for intentional conversations about health/wellness.

The site-specific installation and additional posters were contributed by pirates, a poster based design collective that aims to create positive visual communication and temporary built environments for important issues in our present lives. 

City Builders Design students, m0bstudents, and pirates displayed their posters on a hot day in May along Meadowbridge Rd. The work from both groups came together in a poster show event that showcased and brought in partners to amplify resources. Light refreshments were provided by the Kitchen Magician, a local DJ played tunes, and Hope Pharmacy provided vaccinations at the site. The students also participated in a wheat pasting workshop led by John Malinoski to learn a technique for applying posters to the built environment, while community members were given an opportunity to screen print a health message on a reusable bag provided by Studio Two Three.

Thank you to all of those who participated in the Poster Show: A Covid Empowerment Project.