Rethinking Infrastructure to Bridge Baltimore's Divides
Event Information
Description
From Exclusion to Inclusion:
Rethinking Infrastructure to Bridge Baltimore's Divides
A one-day symposium in Pigtown that traces the impact of policies and design practices that reinforced segregation and disparity in Baltimore — focusing on infrastructure like roads, streetscape, and transit — and envisions a better way forward for the MLK, Jr. Boulevard corridor.
The symposium is followed by an evening networking reception that serves as the exhibition opening.
This event is part of AIA Baltimore’s 2019 Architecture Month.
6.0 AIA/CES LU credits available for AIA members attending the full-day symposium.
Advance registration required.
With 3 companion exhibits:
- Undesign the Redline by Designing the WE.
- JUST Baltimore and JUST Rotterdam — Graduate architecture student work by RAvB and MSU SA+P centered on Pigtown in Baltimore and Hillesluis in Rotterdam.
- International PARK(ing) Day Designs — MSU SA+P student proposals for installations near MLK Boulevard.
Exhibits are free and open to the public from October 7-17, 2019, weekdays 9am-5pm. More info about the exhibits
TICKET OPTIONS
- Symposium - Neighborhood Resident - Full Day (morning session, lunch, afternoon session + reception) — Free
If you come to the symposium as a resident from a neighborhood, admission is free. - Symposium - Full Day (morning session, lunch, afternoon session + reception) — $35
If you are not coming to this symposium as a representative from a neighborhood, there is a modest fee to help cover the costs of holding this event. - Symposium - Afternoon Only (afternoon session only + reception) — $20
- Reception Only (choose this option if you are only attending the reception, 5:30-7pm) — Free
- Student rate (full day symposium + reception) — $10
Free tickets available for organizations based on need — contact event organizer for details.
Limited seating — register soon!
OK to bring your children if needed—please register them on the form and put "child" as their job title. Note the event is geared to adults.
The building is handicapped accessible.
SYMPOSIUM DETAILS
The symposium looks at how streetscape functions as powerful “lines” that can separate people or facilitate accessibility. Focus is on MLK Boulevard where it meets Washington Boulevard, the gateway to Pigtown (because Pigtown is the site of research and design activities by Cristina Murphy's MSU architecture students and students from Rotterdam's architecture academy), but we will also discuss the MLK corridor further north.
The symposium provides a dialogue format where community representatives can share their insights and visions with architects (professionals and students) and urban planners, researchers, and academics. Attendees also expected to include reps from Baltimore Department of Transportation, Department of Planning, University of Maryland Baltimore and elected officials.
The symposium intends to further the conversation in Baltimore about how to encourage spatial improvements that help communities thrive and attract newcomers while avoiding displacement of the current residents. The symposium aims to make people more aware of historical and more recent planning decisions that reinforced segregation and inequity — so that they can serve as lessons to avoid for the future. It aims to inspire us to redesign streetscapes thoughtfully to remediate the damage done, and teach the next generation of architects about community-centered design practices. And there will be some fresh perspectives from Rotterdam, one of Baltimore’s international sister cities.
This event builds upon a previous symposium held at MSU SA+P this past April about the history and consequences of redlining in Baltimore. The October 10 symposium pinpoints MLK Blvd as one of the many tools used to segregate communities.
SPEAKERS
Community representatives from the MLK corridor • April de Simone from Designing the WE • Antero Pietila, Author of Not in My Neighborhood: How Bigotry Shaped a Great American City • Nneka N’namdi, Flight Blight B’more • Wouter Veldhuis, Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design • Amanda Phillips de Lucas, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies • Klaus Philipsen, Archplan • Seema Iyer, Baltimore Neighborhoods Indicators Alliance-Jacob France Institute • and more. (List is subject to change)
SESSIONS
Participants can choose to attend the full day or just the afternoon session.
Morning session & lunch (8:30am-1:30pm; doors open at 8:00am) — We’ll look at how policies and practices such as redlining and road infrastructure planning created systematic disparities and inequalities in US cities and how this was manifested in Baltimore, zooming into the region where MLK Boulevard was constructed. We’ll get some perspectives from Rotterdam.
Afternoon session (1:30pm-6:00pm) — Communities from the MLK corridor will share their stories of living along the MLK Boulevard "urban freeway" and the formidable barrier it poses for the surrounding neighborhoods, and share their visions for a better future in the corridor. We’ll discuss examples of interventions that can bring improvements to the streetscape.
Note: program is being drafted and is not finalized yet.
A more detailed program will be posted when it gets closer to the date.
hashtag for this event:
#bridgethedivide
EVENING RECEPTION
6:00pm - 7:30pm, with welcome remarks at 6:30pm from event organizers and 1100 Wicomico building host.
The reception follows the daytime symposium and serves as the opening for the 3 companion exhibits. It is open to a larger audience than the symposium.
Network with the speakers and participants from the symposium and other people from across our city and the Baltimore Sister Cities network! Enjoy some Dutch treats from our sister city of Rotterdam while viewing the exhibits.
ORGANIZED BY
Cristina Murphy, Assistant Professor, Morgan State University, School of Architecture + Planning (MSU SA+P) & Co-Founder and Architect Associate, XCOOP
With assistance from Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee (BRSCC)
PARTNERS
SYMPOSIUM FINANCIAL SPONSORSHIPS - GOLD LEVEL
SYMPOSIUM FINANCIAL SPONSORSHIPS - SILVER LEVEL
More sponsors needed — become a financial sponsor to help cover the costs of this event!