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In essence, Bean's conceptual drawings provided a marketing tool to present to colleagues and potential MOMIE contributors. Armed with these conceptual plans, Sabater was ready to make critical budgetary and policy decisions. Floor plans, site excavations, load-bearing calculations, consultations with city code officials, even "aerial" photos from atop an adjacent building — all were essential factors for achieving this urban oasis on behalf of inner-city youth.

Bean devoted a total of 100 hours to Sabater's group, translating into an estimated $20,000 in nonbillable services. "I combined old fashioned and modern design principles, providing my client with drawings where visualization would be the chief marketing tool," Bean says.

"Along with budgetary advice," he continues, "I also recommended other architects and contractors specializing in specific rehabilitation techniques, including upgrades to meet sustainable energy standards. Overall, it was a valuable and rewarding learning experience for both of us."

Trends in Community Service

Bean's foray into community service work is becoming more common among design professionals nationwide. Such work is a win/win for both design professionals and their clients. Though the designers may provide services for low or no cost, they in return gain contacts, positive public relations, and opportunities for diversifying practice. Also, working with nonprofit groups, government entities, neighborhood associations, and academic establishments on community service work can often lead to future billable contracts.

For many housing agencies and community development organizations, this growth in pro bono community service design work could not come at a better time: look no further than the ravaged Gulf Coast as citizens from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama recover from Hurricane Katrina's destructive force. Shoring up coastal infrastructure and new home construction are but a few of the urgent needs requiring the special knowledge and skills of design professionals.

Housing shortages and family displacement are among this disaster's worst aspects. With many communities in dire financial straits, volunteer services by architects and contractors can spell the difference between hope and prolonged despair.

"Think of disaster recovery as a huge urban renewal project," says Charles F. Harper, FAIA, an architect and nationally recognized spokesman for disaster recovery. "With any rebuilding process, people's emotions improve when they realize their structural environment is being saved, and in many cases, even improved. If ever there was a time for design professionals to show volunteerism on behalf of livable communities, that time is now."

Rebuilding the Inner City

The usefulness of these volunteer and low-cost design initiatives is not limited to disaster recovery. With increased traffic congestion and higher energy consumption, there is renewed focus on the logistical benefits of inner-city neighborhoods. For architects, this focus has opened up new opportunities for practice, as well as broadened public awareness of the vital role design professionals play for building attractive and safe structures.

Livable inner city neighborhoods require strategic planning and proactive efforts on the part of the government, local professionals, community leaders, and neighborhood residents. Peter Landon, FAIA, along with several members of his firm Landon Bone Baker Architects — a firm noted for designing subsidized, market-rate, and private housing — works with archi-treasures, an arts-based community building organization dedicated to "raising community involvement in the urban landscape."

Archi-treasures uses participatory design/build processes to develop public space. Artists, architects, and designers partner with community groups such as public housing residents, students, and community gardeners, to engage in collaborative projects.

Landon also is part of the Chicago Design Initiative, a group of architects who get together monthly to review projects under consideration by the City Department of Planning and Development. They offer planning criticism and design strategies to help the department provide better-informed and more comprehensive responses to the many downtown and neighborhood development opportunities.

"There are numerous building strategies and financial incentives for neighborhood preservation and redevelopment," says Landon. "Affordable housing provides a pride of ownership critical for the survival and prosperity of urban neighborhoods," he adds.

Kathleen A. Dorgan, AIA, principal of Dorgan Architecture & Planning in Storrs, Connecticut is another proponent of comprehensive community development. Dorgan has donated her time to work with historic and inner-city neighborhoods in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, implementing innovative design concepts on projects in Albany, New York's Capitol Hill neighborhoods and towns along the Hudson River Valley.

Dorgan's community service also includes HUD's Community Builders Fellow program, providing Connecticut with technical assistance and outreach programs. Dorgan was instrumental in the development of Adriaen's Landing, a 30-acre (12-hectare), billion-dollar mixed-use restoration project along Hartford's riverfront. Adriaen's Landing offers retail and entertainment outlets, the Connecticut Center for Science and Exploration, and a residential district, all with the goal of drawing people back to Hartford's once beleaguered downtown area.

"This is a full-fledged effort by community planners, civic leaders, and the business community to reenergize this historic capital city," Dorgan says. She believes collaborative partnerships and community service are essential for converting other abandoned industrial sites (brownfields) under "smart growth" programs.

"Community design focuses on the creation and stewardship of environments for people," Dorgan adds, asserting that design professionals' unique perspectives on visual planning and environmental preservation are essential in the participatory decision-making process.

Pro Bono Preservation

The issues of visual planning and environmental preservation are at the forefront in California, with its scores of major cities and diverse demographics. Sustainability, solar power, and integrative technologies for building materials are needed to generate greater life-cycle savings for mixed-use and residential developments.

David Baker, FAIA, founder and partner of San Francisco's David Baker + Partners Architects, specializes in adaptive reuse and is currently designing energy-efficient rowhouse renovations for Bay Area neighborhoods. Magnolia Row, a market-rate ownership housing project in West Oakland, provides entry-level housing and has revitalized a historic neighborhood.

Baker and his team have designed a hybrid urban loft/ residential townhouse — an atrium-like setting combined with private bedrooms. Baker's designs incorporate styles congruent with nearby structures, providing a visual continuity that promotes community pride.

Community service projects such as Magnolia Row offer opportunities for designers to explore new possibilities. "Experimental applications through community service work often lead to exemplary designs which help promote the pride and care of homeownership," says Baker.

Baker sees the design profession as an accommodating vehicle for meeting a client's objectives. "Most challenges can be overcome through collaborative efforts, providing a higher structural clarity, satisfying both quality-of-life needs and building life-cycle requirements."

With increasing numbers of design professionals taking on community service work, housing authorities and community development organizations will have greater opportunities for meeting their objectives and overcoming challenges.

Community Design Resources:

The Community Design Collaborative of AIA Philadelphia. A volunteer-based community design center that offers preliminary, pro bono design assistance to nonprofit groups.

The Association for Community Design. Member design centers provide direct technical assistance to nonprofit community development organizations.

Affordable Housing Design Advisor. A Web-based resource of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Affordable Housing: Designing an American Asset. Exhibition organized by the National Building Museum, Washington DC.

Philadelphia Neighborhood Recovery Tour. A Web-based guided tour of ten developments that invigorate urban neighborhoods struggling with economic disinvestment.

Good Neighbors: Affordable Family Housing. Case studies on design quality in affordable housing through community participation.

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Jonathan Moore is a consultant with Smith & Harroff, Inc., a public affairs /public relations firm based in Alexandria, Virginia. He is a former public policy manager for the Canadian-American Business Council and government affairs representative for The American Institute of Architects. Beth Miller is the executive director of the nonprofit Community Design Collaborative of AIA Philadelphia, a volunteer-based community design center. She has worked with Fairmount Ventures, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Resource Management Plus.

This article originally appeared in the Journal of Housing & Community Development, November/ December 2005, and is reprinted with permission of the publisher, the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials.

SUBSCRIPTION SAMPLE Magnolia Row, Oakland, California, rehabilitated row houses with private gardens and semi-public green space, designed by David Baker + Partners Architects in collaboration with the community. Image: David Baker + Partners Architects Magnolia Row concept sketch. Image: David Baker + Partners Architects In Philadelphia's Allegheny West neighborhood, the Community Design Collaborative helped explore design options for infill housing that combine two vacant units into one new home. Photo: Community Design Collaborative Allegheny West neighborhood, during construction. Photo: Community Design Collaborative Site plan, Allegheny West neighborhood. Image: Community Design Collaborative The Allegheny West Foundation asked the CDC to design prototypes for infill housing using multiple vacant lots. Photo: Community Design Collaborative Infill housing for Allegheny West. Photo: Community Design Collaborative Magnolia Row, driveway and trellis. Photo: Michelle Peckham   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.