{"418741":{"#nid":"418741","#data":{"type":"news","title":"College of Architecture wins Georgia Conservancy Distinguished Conservationist Award","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo commemorate a collaboration that spans nearly 20 years and has included more than 300 Georgia Tech students and professors, the Georgia Conservancy will award the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.coa.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ECollege of Architecture\u003C\/a\u003E with the 2015 Distinguished Conservationist award.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDean French will accept the award on behalf of the college at the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.georgiaconservancy.org\/ecobenefete.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EecoBenefete\u003C\/a\u003E on September 25.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESustainability is a signature aspect of the college\u0027s community planning and urban design programs. As part of the Georgia Conservancy\u0027s \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.georgiaconservancy.org\/blueprints\/\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u0022Blueprints for Successful Communities\u0022\u003C\/a\u003E program, students from the School of Architecture and School of City and Regional Planning developed successful, sustainable growth plans for communities across Georgia.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUnder the guidance of professors Richard Dagenhart, Michael Dobbins and others, graduate students take semester-long \u0022Blueprints\u0022 studio classes in order to help Georgia communities develop action plans for sustainable growth and environmental protection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Conservancy has enthusiastically supported and in some ways pioneered citizen engagement and guidance into Blueprints projects,\u0022 said Dobbins. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A key aspect of many of Georgia Tech\u2019s Blueprints studios has been the intense involvement of the citizens where the studio are focused. Indeed, local neighborhoods and Neighborhood Planning Units have initiated studios and joined with the Conservancy to provide modest funding to carry them out,\u0022 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Thus local citizen knowledge joins with students\u2019 knowledge and the involvement of the relevant agencies to guide outcomes that both respond to local needs and that are implementable\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn example of this unique relationship between Georgia Tech students and local communities is the Lindbergh-Lavista corridor studio spanning Atlanta and DeKalb neighborhoods, he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAmong the many issues facing the corridor, perhaps most vexing was an active proposal from the Georgia DOT to destroy part of a neighborhood in order to complete the I-85\/SR 400 interchange. In the face of strong neighborhood opposition, planning students pursuing dual degrees with Civil Engineering were able to devise a routing that could save the neighborhoods, reduce the cost of the project, and gain both neighborhood and GDOT endorsement.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022As an important urban ecological bonus to that project, urban design students and the neighborhoods were able to persuade GDOT to create a park along the north fork of Peachtree Creek and overall the project joined with and gave impetus to the emergence of the South Fork Conservancy,\u0022 Dobbins said, \u0022and both creek initiatives are improving conditions and providing amenities for citizens.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022These are great learning experiences for students \u2013 they test what they are learning with real people in real contexts, where they learn to listen, interact, and see their work carry forward into policy change and project implementation.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u0022Blueprints\u0022 projects these studios are associated with usually take a year to complete, ending in a report that details students\u0027 research and suggestions. Some projects, like the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.planning.gatech.edu\/news\/two-studios-win-outstanding-student-project-awards-georgia-planning-association\u0022\u003Eaward-winning\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/smartech.gatech.edu\/handle\/1853\/48711\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u0022Sea Level Rise on Georgia\u0027s Coast\u0022\u003C\/a\u003E program, reveal the need for greater study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis \u0022Blueprints\u0022 project actually laid the foundation for a series of subsequent courses contending with the imminent increase of sea levels in Savannah and along the Atlantic Coast through Chatham, Liberty and McIntosh Counties.\u0026nbsp; The foundation course, co-taught by Emeritus Professor Larry Keating, FAICP and PhD Candidate Dana Habeeb, tracked the substantial effects of increasing sea levels on the Georgia coastline and barrier islands.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022More than 30 percent of the three county area is projected to be inundated with the Island of Tybee projected to lose almost 50 percent of its development land,\u0022 Keating said. \u0022The research and policy suggestions included an emphasis on the damaging impacts of sea level rise on vulnerable populations -- people with disabilities, different minority groups, Gullah Geeche populations, low income individuals and elderly populations.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe project was recognized by the American Institute of Certified Planners and awarded the \u0022Outstanding Student Project--Contribution of Planning to Contemporary Issues\u0022 at the American Planning Association Annual Conference in\u0026nbsp;May 2014.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u0022Blueprints\u0022 program emphasizes natural resource protection by advocating the conservation of environmentally sensitive land and promoting development practices that conserve resources, are healthy for people and the environment and anticipate future challenges.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough this community-oriented program and the college\u0027s strong, collaborative nature, Georgia Tech and the Georgia Conservancy have helped tens of thousands of people.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently concluded \u0022Blueprints\u0022 studies have captivated Atlanta communities and established models for communities all over the world.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.georgiaconservancy.org\/blueprints\/missionzero.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u0022Mission Zero Corridor\u0022\u003C\/a\u003E project paired Dagenhart and School of Architecture students with \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.raycandersonfoundation.org\/mission-zero-corridor\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EThe Ray C. Anderson Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E and Anderson\u0027s carpet tile company, Interface. BeltLine designer Ryan Gravel and four other Georgia Tech alums (all with dual Master of Architecture and Master of City and Regional Planning degrees) joined the team as urban designers from Perkins + Will in Atlanta.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir goal was to create a vision of a sustainable highway based on a 16-mile segment of I-85 in West Georgia named in honor of Anderson -- who was also a Georgia Tech alum (ISYE\u002756) and a dedicated environmentalist. Based on Anderson\u0027s plan to reduce his company\u0027s environmental impact to a \u0022net zero\u0022 by 2020, the Georgia Tech studio group fashioned a \u0022net zero\u0022 plan for highways by 2040. The implications of their \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.raycandersonfoundation.org\/assets\/pdfs\/MZC_executive_summary.pdf\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eplan \u003C\/a\u003Eare global.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe \u0022\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.georgiaconservancy.org\/blueprints\/chattpark.html\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003EChattahoochee River Park\u003C\/a\u003E\u0022 project aimed to catalyze economic development and quality of life potential along 53 miles of the Chattahoochee River, just south of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area in Vinings.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;While\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/clatl.com\/atlanta\/could-the-chattahoochee-river-become-atlantas-waterfront\/Content?oid=14322731\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E presenting the \u0022Blueprint\u0022 studio class report last month \u003C\/a\u003Efor project collaborators Chattahoochee NOW and the public, Dagenhart put forth the idea that \u0022every kid who has access to a bus stop has access to the river.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe studio report emphasizes rural character preservation and stormwater management while planning for the kind of waterfront recreation and development enjoyed by other major cities in the country. Through a land development plan that includes various towers connecting the currently hidden section of the Chattahoochee, streets and bridges -- even a MARTA line -- could be extended to the envisioned river park.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s College of Architecture joins an elite and influential group of past Distinguished Conservationist Award-winners, including: The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Ray Weeks, Governor Zell Miller, Senator Sam Nunn and Ted Turner.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor nearly 20 years, students and professors from the School of Architecture and the School of City and Regional Planning have worked with the Georgia Conservancy to find sustainable solutions for communities across the state.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The College of Architecture will be honored for their substantial research and planning contribution to the Georgia Conservancy\u0027s Blueprints program."}],"uid":"27803","created_gmt":"2015-06-25 21:04:22","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:49","author":"Ann Hoevel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-06-25T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-06-25T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"419091":{"id":"419091","type":"image","title":"Mission-Zero I-85 project","body":null,"created":"1449254269","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:37:49","changed":"1475895157","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:37","alt":"Mission-Zero I-85 project","file":{"fid":"202598","name":"robertthorn03rev1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robertthorn03rev1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/robertthorn03rev1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1387347,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/robertthorn03rev1_0.jpg?itok=E2iB8FYp"}}},"media_ids":["419091"],"groups":[{"id":"1221","name":"College of Design"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"18651","name":"featured"},{"id":"479","name":"Green Buzz"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}