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"Whenever you get to make your mark, hypothetical or not, it's exciting," said Chelko, 20, a second-year architecture student at Penn State University in State College. Chelko is one of roughly 60 students who are the first to apply their art in the new Harrisburg Urban Studio, which opened its headquarters in March at the Harrisburg Transportation Center. Economic-development officials and educators hope the studio will bring fresh design concepts to distressed areas of the city. Caitlin DiMarzio,
left, explains her design to Harrisburg Mayor
Stephen Reed, center, and David Wise, president of
the Summit Terrace Neighborhood Association.
DiMarizio's design is for gallery space and
housing. She is one of about 60 architecture
students who are the first to apply their art in
the new Harrisburg Urban Studio. (Photo: Doreena
Balestreire) "The urban studio is designed to generate ideas," said Quigley, who is also a principal with the Office for Planning and Architecture, a Harrisburg architecture firm. "The ideas might help push developers in the responsible direction." Harrisburg Urban Studio is modeled after Auburn University's Rural Studio. Established in 1993, the rural studio gives students the chance to create, design and build economic-revitalization projects in rural Alabama. Harrisburg-area business and civic leaders decided early last year to repeat the model in an urban environment. The first project of the Urban Studio students was to design a commercial and residential building at 1212 Market St. Chelko's assignment was to design the building as if artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude were living in it. The couple captured national attention in February with a temporary artwork in New York's Central Park called "The Gates." The work included more than 7,500 saffron-colored rectangular gates that stood on 23 miles of walkways in the park. A piece of saffron-colored fabric hung from the top of each gate. Rob Beal was charged with creating apartment and gallery space for 20th-century artist Edward Hopper. Beal, a Penn State student, said he liked designing a building for space that really existed. "It was great to go out there and experience the site," said Beal, 20.
The studio benefits students because they get to design for real places instead of working with theoretical scenarios, said Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed. The studio will apply students' enthusiasm and zeal to urban-renewal projects, he said. "(The studio) takes the theory learned in the classroom and puts it into practical use," Reed said. The designs proposed by students likely will never get beyond the conceptual stage, at least at first. The studio's organizers eventually want to attract developers who are willing to work with the students to get their ideas built, said Robert Philbin, a member of the urban studio's task force. Philbin also is senior partner and chief executive officer of Hershey Philbin Associates Inc., an advertising and public relations firm near Camp Hill. "We're using the talent and imagination of these students to help these distressed areas," Philbin said. "...That brings a whole new energy to these areas of the city." Harrisburg Urban Studio wants to attract architecture students throughout Pennsylvania, Philbin said. The studio also plans to find living space in Harrisburg so students can live in the city while they work on projects, he said. Reed said work was under way to set up a preparatory school for high school students who are interested in architecture. These students then could be funneled into the urban studio. |
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Chelko knows the mixed-use development he designed earlier
this year for an empty lot in Harrisburg's Allison Hill
neighborhood might never get built. Yet proposing new life
for the space still is enthralling for the college student.
