Register for the Healthy Environments, Healing Spaces Conference

University of Virginia:

“What do we know about how the environments in which we live affect our health? What are examples of projects, plans, policies and programs promoting health through design? What questions do we still have? On March 17th and 18th, landscape architects, architects, planners, and medical professionals will come together to talk about how designing healthcare facilities, community food systems, environments that promote aging in place, active urban form, and nature in cities can promote human health. Each speaker will present the latest in the field and forecast the future directions of the discipline. Respondents will follow up the presentation with critical questions and further insights.”

Registration is free.  Please register here. AICP credits available.

~University of Virginia, A-School

U.Va. Architecture Design Initiative Takes Multi-Disciplined Approach to Arctic Development

University of Virginia:

“Of the places on earth least likely to be developed, the Arctic would have to be at or near the top of the list. But that’s not the case, according to a design initiative under way at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, which includes an exhibition on display through Feb. 15. U.Va.’s Arctic Design Initiative says development of this northernmost frontier has already begun and expansion is the next step.

Matthew Jull, an associate professor of architecture, and Leena Cho, a lecturer of landscape architecture, began their Arctic research six years ago while in Rotterdam and brought the infant project to U.Va in the fall of 2012. They have since invited students to design for the unexamined impacts of the Arctic, creating a network of designers interested in exploring a new frontier. Through design studios, independent studies and seminars led by Jull and Cho, the initiative includes students at different levels in their academic careers.

The initiative’s focus is unique in that it is not just design-based, but also considers the impact of environmental, political, economic and cultural trajectories that remain disconnected by most designers. For Jull, who began his career as a research scientist before shifting to design, the connectivity between these various fields is inevitable.”

~Writes Ashley Patterson of UVA Today

Click here to learn more

A Strategy to Protect Virginians from Toxic Chemicals

University of Richmond:

“The University of Richmond School of Law announces the release of the first comprehensive report on releases and exposures to toxic chemicals in Virginia, 'A Strategy to Protect Virginians From Toxic Chemicals.'  Prepared by Professor Noah Sachs and law student Ryan Murphy, the report concludes that the Commonwealth should place controlling toxics at the forefront of its regulatory agenda to prevent accidents such as the coal ash spill near Danville this week and the chemical spill along the Elk River in Charleston, West Virginia last month.   The report addresses issues that have not received much attention in Virginia, including:

• Chemical storage along waterways
• The lack of a comprehensive state program for remediating contaminated sites
• Coal ash disposal and regulation
• Increasing DEQ's enforcement authority
• Toxics in consumer products”

 ~Writes Noah M. Sachs: Professor, University of Richmond School of Law

Click here to learn more

Slideshow: Route 29 UVa School of Architecture Vortex

University of Virginia

“During the first week of classes, students from the University of Virginia's School of Architecture participated in the third annual Vortex. The final projects presented a variety of designs for a future Route 29, including alternative modes of traffic, dense urbanization, and drone transportation of goods.”

~Writes Effie Nicholaou of Charlottesville Tomorrow

Click here to view the slideshow

Exhibit - Drone Art: Low Altitude Landscapes

University of Virginia

“Why does the sight of birds flying attract the eye? Is it the graceful movement, the surprising reminder of that third dimension, altitude? And how does the countryside appear as they're soaring over buildings and trees? This exhibit displays large photographs taken from a bird-sized remote control helicopter, showing wide panoramas from a few hundred feet up. John Vigour started taking these pictures a year ago because his model-aircraft Christmas present contained a built-in camera. The project took on a life of its own and evolved into a delightful revelation of the Virginia landscape.”

~UVA A-School

Click here to learn more

Cooper Center official 2013 population estimates for Virginia

Weldon Cooper Center

“Virginia Population Growth Slows - Population growth in Virginia slowed last year as fewer people moved to the state, but the commonwealth still outpaced the nation, according to the most recent official state population estimates from the University of Virginia’s Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

Virginia’s population grew between 2012 and 2013 by less than 1 percent, or 74,531 people, to increase the state total population to nearly 8.3 million. While growth last year was the slowest in Virginia since before the recession, the commonwealth still grew faster than the nation, which grew by 0.7 percent. Compared to other states, Virginia posted the 14th-highest growth rate and the seventh-largest numerical population gain.

Within Virginia, the large population gains were more than ever concentrated in urban localities particularly in Northern Virginia. While Fredericksburg is the fastest-growing locality since 2010, increasing by more than 15 percent, most urban localities in Virginia also experienced above-average growth, representing a change from the previous decade. Between 2000 and 2010, urban localities grew much more slowly than suburban localities in Virginia; in contrast, during the past four years, many urban areas are among Virginia’s fastest-growing localities, with Arlington, Fredericksburg, Harrisonburg, Radford and Richmond among the cities growing at a rate faster than the state since 2010.

Most localities that lost population or experienced natural decrease were located outside of the so-called “urban crescent,” which stretches from Hampton Roads to Richmond and up the Interstate 95 corridor to Northern Virginia. In Southwest Virginia, all seven coal-producing counties declined in population between 2012 and 2013.

The Cooper Center’s population estimates, prepared annually, are the official figures for the commonwealth of Virginia. The estimates are based on changes since 2010 in housing stock, school enrollment, births, deaths and drivers’ license issuances. They are used by state and local government agencies in revenue sharing, funding allocations, planning and budgeting.”

~Weldon Cooper Center

Click here for the full report

Arctic Design Initiative Exhibition

University of Virginia

“The Arctic Design Initiative, formed in 2012 at the UVA School of Architecture, is an interdisciplinary design research platform that explores architectural, urban and ecological futures of the rapidly changing arctic. It is the first of its kind in the U.S. and one of only a handful of programs worldwide to link design with natural and social science studies of the region.

The exhibition, which kick-starts and shares this effort with the School and the University, is a snapshot of collective research produced in the past year via fieldwork, conferences, and courses offered at the UVA School of Architecture, involving a wide array of arctic experts, colleagues and institutions, at home and abroad, as well as our undergraduate- and graduate-level architecture and landscape architecture students.

The eclectic narratives of the presented work show that the arctic is a dynamic, transnational, connected and contested region. Reinforced by the fast rate of climate change and globalization, it is rushing into a new, unprecedented era where its environmental, political, economic and cultural trajectories are unknown and must be tested. At this critical moment, the exhibition examines a range of issues, challenges and opportunities that are currently shaping and will continue to influence the region, as well as their long-term impact on its unique landscapes.” 

~ Co-Directors, Arctic Design Initiative:

Matthew Jull, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Architecture

Leena Cho, Lecturer in Landscape Architecture

Click here to learn more