Starting it off.....

I think this class is going to be a great learning experience for all of us in the class, and is a great opportunity to have at this time in our education - both for the undergraduates (ready to embark on the world at their time of graduation or prepare themselves for a continuing education) and the graduate students (eager to put some of the theories to the test and see the practicalities and implications). That being said, at the same time I think most of us have not actually participated in a design-build project before so this will for sure be a challenge on all of us but I think we are well prepared for it. I think the most important thing to remember throughout this process is that we may be the designers and the working hands on the projects, but this is for the community and they are going to be the ones using it so it needs to work for them. Many a great places have been designed only to be never used because they were awkward, not practical, and programmed wrong. So we just have to keep in mind the goal of the community and the key to that is going to being community investment and involvement. Hopefully our plans to involve the community throughout the design and construction process and also encouraging them to participate will be successful and lead to community spaces that will continue to be used in the future.