Past Projects : 2004 - 2007 : Urban Open Space

The Design Center works on projects that interpret, preserve, and design open spaces in center city and suburban areas. The Metropolitan Green Initiative brings together this work on a number of projects dealing with parks and open space. A number of Direct Design Assistance projects involve green space.

  • Telling River Stories (2006-2007): The research collaborative, "Telling River Stories," has been funded by the IAS and will present a series of seminars and activities during the 2006-2007 academic year on themes such as memory and sense of place, urban riverfront redevelopment, interpretation and community-building, scientific and policy innovations in urban water quality management, and potential University of Minnesota involvement in Twin Cities Mississippi River initiatives. The collaborative will also develop strategies to raise ongoing programmatic funding. It is associated with the Mississippi River Initiative.
  • Online Urban Forestry Images (2005-2006): This project creates online slide shows linked to downloadable images in the Design Center Image Bank as well as providing web links to other collections of urban forestry-related images.
  • Designing Small Parks (2003-2006): This project developed prototype design elements, scenarios, and guidelines for neighborhood parks and town squares, to optimize their contribution to urban ecosystems as well as satisfy other social benefits. The main product is a book, Designing Small Parks (Wiley, October 2005).
  • Mississippi River Design Initiative (2005-): The coordinator of this initiative is housed at the Design Center that also hosts its web site. It is an interdisciplinary program under the auspices of the University of Minnesota's College of Design that seeks to strengthen the connections between the University of Minnesota and the Mississippi River. Program emphases include providing design and planning assistance to on-campus and off-campus partners, and public education that draws attention to design and the built environment of the urban Mississippi River. The initiative began with "A River Runs Through Us," symposium held at the University of Minnesota, April 2005.

 





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