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Dan Leppo,
Harrisburg's city planning director, discusses
possible project locations with the Urban Studio
Task Force. Inspired by the Auburn University College of Architecture's Rural Studio Task Force to improve the city's urban neighborhoods with architecture and give students from universities from throughout the state a hands-on learning experience. The task force named Brad Guy, Director of Operations at Penn State University's Hamer Center for Community Design Assistance, as the Urban Studio's acting chairperson. "The Hamer Center and the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture will do whatever it can to assist the Harrisburg Urban Studio," Guy said. "We see this as an excellent opportunity to have Pennsylvania's architecture students learn in a unique hands-on environment, and at the same time help to improve neighborhoods in Harrisburg, and eventually in other cities across the Commonwealth." During the meeting, task force members discussed the general logistics for the Urban Studio as well as possible project locations. Dan Leppo, Harrisburg's city planning director, made a number of location suggestions. "We have a variety of areas that can benefit from this program. Whichever neighborhoods are selected, I see a lot of creativity happening throughout the city," Leppo said. Mayor Reed's goal is to apply the Rural Studio's philosophy to an urban setting. "In 1993 a group of Auburn University students and faculty helped to improve the communities and lives of people in one of the country's poorest regions. This is a concept that can be applied anywhere," Reed said. The task force named by the Mayor consists of Bruce Lindsey, head of the Rural Studio at Auburn University; Dianne Nicholas, Associate Professor of Architecture, Temple University; Caru Bowns, PhD, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, Penn State University; Luis Rico-Gutierrez, Associate Head of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University; Brad Guy, Associate Director of the Hamer Center for Community Design Assistance at Penn State; Dennis Lott, Regional Director, Penn State Harrisburg; David Morrison, Assistant to the President, Harrisburg Area Community College; and senior mayoral cabinet members, Terri Martini, Director, Department of Building and Housing Development, and Daniel Leppo, Director of Planning for the City of Harrisburg. The architectural leaders on the task force will combine their talents and ideas to form strategies for the Harrisburg Urban Studio. The Harrisburg studio is part of Mayor Reed's Harrisburg Urban Initiative (HUI) Program. HUI President Guy Beneventano, along with HUI Director and business executive Robert Philbin, will serve as the coordinators of the task force. The next meeting is scheduled for June 11, 2004 in the Penn State Downtown Center. For more information regarding the Harrisburg Urban Initiative or Mayor Reed's Urban Studio, please contact Nathan Pigott at (717) 975.2148, npigott@hersheyphilbin.com, or visit the Hershey Philbin Associates newsroom at www.hersheyphilbin.com. |
