Experience an Urban Intervention in WPB, Florida

April 2014- RGD Consulting Engineers invites you to experience an urban intervention on Saturday April 12 in West Palm Beach.  Organized by The School of Urban and Regional Planning at Florida Atlantic University, "C'est La Via: Rethinking the Alleyways," is an urban design demonstration meant to envision and transform the alleys on Clematis Street in West Palm Beach into usable, livable space.

The brainchild of a master's level course a the School of Urban & Regional Planning, "the project is a form of tactical urban intervention that aims to transform the larger urban context by identifying existing social networks and strengthening them through open communication, engagement in activities and physical connections. 

The lead organizer of the event and instructor at the School of Urban & Regional Planning, Sherryl Muriente, explains that "this type of urbanism serves as a tool for temporarily rebuilding an ignored public space in order to show the potential it has to to permanently become an active and successful place"

During the event's hours of 10 am - 8 pm, visitors will enjoy live music, food, drinks, arts, games and pop up shops.

Contribute to the Movement

This event is being crowdfunded through indiegogo. Join RGD in helping The School of Urban & Regional Planning at FAU meet its goal of $1,000 before Saturday.  Contributors will be recognized as the event in a number of artistic ways. 

Extra funding will be applied to he schools foundation and reserved for another alleyway project next semester.  Make an impact on the City of West Palm,Visit Indiegogo to Contribute to the C'est La Via project. 

Contact Information

Event Coordinator: Sherryl Muriente,  FAU School of Urban and Regional Planning 

Phone: 561-297-4279

Email: sherryl.muriente@fau.edu

The National Design Services Act (NDSA) Could Lesson the Burden of Student Debt for Architecture Graduates

Architecture is one of the disciplines with the highest student loan balances in the country, with the average architecture student graduating with $40,000 in student loan debt.

This staggering debt is why AIA and AIAS have developed legislation that would ease the burden by providing loan assistance to architect students and recent graduates.

The bill titled, "The National Design Services Act" (NDSA), would authorize the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to create a program allowing architecture students to work with Community Design Centers in exchange for assistance with their student loans. This would not only encourage architecture graduates to remain in the profession, but would also allow communities to receive a range of architectural services that they may not have received otherwise.

The bipartisan legislation, H.R. 4205, was introduced last week by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-CO)  and co-sponsored by a number of Congressman including Rep. Greg Meeks (D-NY), Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL).

NDSA is expected to be a main topic of discussion during the 2014 AIA Grassroots and Legislative and Leadership Conference.

Sign the petition, or show support for NDSA by contacting your congressman and visiting AIA's National Design Services Act Advocacy Tool Kit