Reverse Charrette Project

Thanks to Google Maps for this image. This posting will be the repository for all the writing components and schedule for the Reverse Charrette Project. It repeats (and describes further) the Course Calendar, posted below. 

STAKEOUT. Research the location for the Reverse Charrette Project and write a piece that includes factual information on the site that is acquired from a source that is not the internet. This information may come from the library, an interview with a resident or worker in the neighborhood, a walk with a friend, time spent at the location, or perhaps something entirely different. These writings will be the basis for our seminar next Wednesday, so they may be notes, poems, or an essay, but they should be in a format that can be shared with the group. As always, you are welcome to include any other materials you find pertinent (photos, video, webcam, audio samples), but the primary work will emerge and build off of your writings. DUE Wednesday, January 21.

BORDERLINE OR, WRITING AROUND THE BLOCK. Working with only found text appropriated from the one block radius (same side of the street) as the site at 2105 6th Avenue, create a written piece that gives a sense of the location, the neighborhood, and the experience of walking around with the group. DUE Monday, January 26.

REVERSE CHARETTE RESPONSE. Most of this description is co-opted from the previous charrette project, but this is done honestly, as I'd like to create a link to that process here. This piece is to be an essay responding to your experiences and the development of your REVERSE charrette project. This piece is designed to reflect on the last three weeks of the course, and describe/explain particular elements that have been significant in your work (in IS) during this time. As we've discussed in class, the curriculum has (obviously) been very layered with readings, videos, audio works, your writings, field work, seminars, and group/collective project work all sharing the same place. We've ventured out into the surrounding neighborhoods, empty lots, donut shops, stone 

You've worked in groups together, exploring the layers of your own discipline and a new, perhaps foreign, way of responding to the environment. What drives you, and how is that drive perhaps encapsulated or exhibited in the project you've made? Are there things that you learned through the process that you feel are vital to share with an audience, or things that may just need to be written to clarify them? How have you seen these disparate sources link together in your writing? In your project? Are there things that really worked in the group project? Was your voice heard? How did the project develop with you or around you? What role did you find yourself taking in the process, and is this a role you've previously had in other projects? Part of the ensemble? Composer? Author? In building a document of this nature, I would encourage you to look back at the readings we've done and the writings you've done (your notes, your descriptions, your research), looking for patterns and (MLA-style) possible citations or quotes. Did certain authors articulate thoughts on a particular aspect of this program for you?

In considering the length of this document, I'm not going to offer a *word count* as a guide, but my suggestion is that it is a length (maybe 4 pages or more, or more) that allows you some space to substantially discuss everything that went into this project for you. DUE Monday, February 2.

WEATHER JOURNAL. Everyday. Due Monday, February 2. 

Reverse Charrette Calendar Dates to Remember:

PRESENTATIONS IN-CLASS ON FRIDAY, JANUARY 30!

Snack Day Friday Returns

Here's the tentative schedule. And remember, like last semester, it's not a meal, it's a snack.

1/16: Me

1/23: Paramount Tour 2pm

1/30: Travis

2/6: Abbie, Jessica

2/13: Keenan

2/20:

2/27: 

3/6: Camryn

3/13: Spring Break

3/20: Sydney

3/27: Sasha, Angel

4/3:

4/10: Blake, Lisa

4/17: Zoe, Stella

4/24: Ross

5/1: Last class!

Proposed Land Use Action Calendar

Week 1

Mon, 1/12: Introduction, syllabus overview

Wed, 1/14: SEMINAR--Course reader re-cap: Steve Featherstone, Alain de Botton, Alfred Kazin, JB Jackson, Nicholson Baker, Susan Mitchell. Reading assignment: Andy Warhol, "Atmosphere".

REVERSE CHARRETTE: Taking our cues from Sydney and the charrette project we did last semester, we will again be working in team-based situations. However, like a really good reality tv show, there is a new twist: You will be again be working with a group in your discipline, BUT you will be using the tools and methods of ANOTHER discipline to execute your project. For instance, if we take a group of dancers, lead them to a site and ask them to do a visual art project with the material, what will the results be?

Fri, 1/16: SEMINAR-- Andy Warhol, "Atmosphere".

Reverse charrette, group work. Return portfolios from Fall semester.

Writing project DUE Wednesday, 1/21: STAKEOUT. Research the location for the Reverse Charrette Project and write a piece that includes factual information on the site that is acquired from a source that is not the internet. This information may come from the library, an interview with a resident or worker in the neighborhood, a walk with a friend, time spent at the location, or perhaps something entirely different. These writings will be the basis for our seminar next Wednesday, so they may be notes, poems, or an essay, but they should be in a format that can be shared with the group. As always, you are welcome to include any other materials you find pertinent (photos, video, webcam, audio samples), but the primary work will emerge and build off of your writings.

Week 2

Mon, 1/19: NO CLASS, MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY

Wed, 1/21: Writing project DUE with Reverse Charrette casebook on Monday, 2/2: Borderline or, Writing Around the Block. Working with only found text, appropriated from a one block radius (same side of the street) as the site at 2105 6th Avenue, create a written piece that gives a sense of the location, the neighborhood, and the experience of walking around with the group. Reverse charrette group work and writing, discussion on site. Reading assignment: Handout.

Fri, 1/23 Tour Paramount Theatre, 2 pm.

Week 3

Mon, 1/26: Reverse charrette team-based work.

Wed, 1/28: Visiting lecturer Heather Shepherd, Cornish Librarian.

Reading assignment: Rem Koolhaas/OMA Process Book. See link at right.

Fri, 1/30: Reverse Charrette Presentations in class.

Week 4

Mon, 2/2: Film: The Cruise. Reverse Charette casebook DUE.

Writing assignment: Choose two locations in the city--PROPOSED LAND USE ACTIONS--and write brief descriptions of each site, describing and explaining how and when you located them. Due Friday, February 6. Reading assignment: Nicholson Baker, The Mezzanine, ch. 1-3.

Wed, 2/4: SEMINAR on The Cruise, "Mystery on Pearl Street", The Mezzanine. What are the connections between the three pieces, and how are they different/distinct? Reading assignment: The Mezzanine, ch. 4-5.

Fri, 2/6: Seattle Central Library TBA. Library card required, see link at right.

Week 5

Mon, 2/9: SEMINAR on The Mezzanine. Writing in response to the text, in response to one of the sites you've located, linking the two together.

Wed, 2/11: SEMINAR on The Mezzanine, continued

Fri, 2/13: Film: Streetwise. In-class writing:

Week 6

Mon, 2/16: NO CLASS, PRESIDENT'S DAY

Wed, 2/18: SEMINAR on The Mezzanine, ch. 6-8, finish reading text for Monday

Writing due: Descirbe your chosen Proposed Land Use Action site in the style of Nicholson Baker's The Mezzanine.

Fri, 2/20: Tour Moore Theatre 2pm, Lead Pencil Studio at 5th & Union TBA

Week 7

Mon, 2/23: Reading assignment: Real Change

Wed, 2/25: SEMINAR on Real Change

Films: The Hidden Life of Garbage, Fresh Kill

Fri, 2/27: Pioneer Square, writing in-class

Week 8

Mon, 3/2, Individual meetings, see list

Wed, 3/4, Individual meetings, see list

Fri, 3/6, Seattle Underground Tour, 2 pm

Pick-up Course Reader for 3/16

Week 9

NO CLASS, SPRING BREAK

Week 10

Mon, 3/16: BRING COURSE READER TO CLASS.

Wed, 3/18:

Fri, 3/20: Film: Dark Days. MOHAI TBA This is a placeholder

Week 11

Mon, 3/23: Writing due

Wed, 3/25:

Fri, 3/27: Seattle Central Library TBA This is a placeholder

Week 12

Mon, 3/30: Writing due

Wed, 4/1:

Fri, 4/3: Meeting at Seattle Central Library TBA

Week 13

Mon, 4/6: Class discussion

Wed, 4/8: Class discussion on Jane Jacobs

Fri, 4/10: Films: Christo in Paris, Islands

Week 14

Mon, 4/13: sick day, no class

Wed, 4/15: Project presentation TBA

Fri, 4/17: Project presentation TBA

Week 15

Mon, 4/20: Film TBA. Portfolios DUE.

Wed, 4/22: Presentations in class

Fri, 4/24: Field work TBA

Week 16

Mon, 4/27: Focus group meeting, see list

Wed, 4/29: Focus group meeting, see list

Fri, 5/1: Cluster meeting at Cascade People's Center TBA. See list

Weather

For every day of the Spring Semester, write a description of the weather in Seattle.