One Among Many: STEM-work as a Basis for Citizenship Herb Childress Boston Architectural College.

One Among Many:

STEM-work as a Basis for Citizenship

Herb Childress ▪ Boston Architectural College

CitizenshipThe condition of voluntarily taking

responsibility for, and action on behalf of, a community to which you belong

• Average atmospheric temperature rise 2-4°C• Sea levels rising 12”-30”• River systems salinated further upstream• Ocean storms more severe and more expansive• Interior deserts drier and larger

Problem 1

How are we going to design for a billion climate refugees?

Problem 1

Every year, the building I work in consumes:•7,500,000,000 BTU source energy (3 rail cars of coal)•1,100,000 gallons of water•3,000 lbs of mail•100,000 square feet of cardboard•70 computers•1,500 pizzas

Problem 2

What are we going to do with all that waste?

From ONE BUILDING?Problem 2

That building is obsolete. Replacing it would provide

•60+% energy savings•$8M in construction wages

BUT it would consume

•9,000 CY concrete (maybe Massachusetts, maybe Korea)•15 miles of copper wire (mined in Chile)•1,400 tons of rebar (from China or Russia)

mining, finishing, shipping, labor, health, human rights…

Problem 3

How should we think about sustainable design

when we don’t understand the inputs?

Problem 3

Problem 1 – Climate RefugeesProblem 2 – Waste ManagementProblem 3 – Inputs to Sustainable Design

These are not merely complicated problems…

Some problems are so complex that you have to be highly intelligent and well informed just to be undecided about them.

▪ Laurence Peter

Wicked Problems

Wicked Problemshave DEFINITIONAL CHARACTERISTICS:

•Can’t be fully defined, or even described•Can be stated as symptoms of other problems•Diagnosis depends on the definition•Changes while we wait

Wicked Problemshave OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS:

•No fixed body of operations or actions•Each iteration is unique, limits knowledge carryover•Can’t be solved by subdivision into parts•No meaningful way to practice

Wicked Problemshave OUTCOME CHARACTERISTICS:

•No right answers, though some are better•No immediate or ultimate test of solutions•No stopping rule

Wicked Problemshave ETHICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

•Has to be solved by those who made it•Harm is done while we wait•Inaction is a choice among actions•We have no right to be wrong

American suburbs were built for 1950s conditions:

• Cheap fuel and cheap cars

• An army of stay-at-home mothers

• Huge government investment in infrastructure

• Huge government housing subsidies

• Development policies that devoured farm and wild lands

Those conditions no longer exist.

Problem 4

Can we intensify existing suburban forms?

How do you “infill” wide roads, acres of parking, and vast (and

expedient) single-story buildings?Problem 4

The Abandonment of Industrial America

These cities have smaller and poorer populations, which means their tax bases are shot… but the same amount of roads to pave and plow, sewers and water mains to maintain, land area to protect with police and fire service.

Problem 5

City Peak population 2010 population Change

Detroit 1,849,600 713,800 -61.2%

Saginaw 98,300 55,200 -43.8%

Flint 196,000 111,500 -43.1%

Youngstown 168,300 72,400 -57.2%

Toledo 383,800 316,200 -17.6%

Gary 178,300 80,300 -55.0%

Can we physically shrink an existing city?

Or evacuate it altogether?

Problem 5

At any given moment, about 3,500,000 Americans are homeless, temporarily or permanently.

In 2011, 7,500,000 American houses and 2,000,000 commercial buildings were vacant or abandoned.

Problem 6

Is squatting a civil right?

Problem 6

Problem 1 – Climate RefugeesProblem 2 – Waste ManagementProblem 3 – Inputs to Sustainable DesignProblem 4 – Suburban DensificationProblem 5 – Urban DepopulationProblem 6 – Homelessness and Vacancy

LeadershipThe characteristic of naming oneself as implicated and responsible for resolving a problem, even while knowing our own

incapacity and unworthiness

Where do leaders come from?Manipulative self-interest How can I frame

this problem in a way that makes it clear that I should be given power or money to solve it?

Where do leaders come from?Manipulative self-interest

Well, nobody else is doing anything, and it’s not going to fix itself… I guess I’d better get started.

Humility and reluctance

Where do leaders come from?Manipulative self-interest

You know who’d be GREAT to help us out with this…

Humility and reluctanceRecruitment & appointment

Where do leaders come from?Manipulative self-interest

Being prepared to say “yes” when opportunity arises

Humility and reluctanceRecruitment & appointment

Preparing for Serendipity?How can we prepare our students to be prepared to say “yes” to a broader

array of diverse problems?

Start with the Curriculum

Start with the Curriculum

…which won’t be easy

Boston Architectural CollegeBachelor of Design StudiesDesign StudiosDesign MediaTechnology & SystemsHistory, Theory & CriticismLiberal EducationProfessional Practice

Boston Architectural CollegeBachelor of Design StudiesDesign Studios

Design MediaTechnology & Systems

History, Theory & CriticismLiberal EducationProfessional Practice

Boston Architectural CollegeBachelor of Design StudiesDesign Studios

Design MediaTechnology & Systems

History, Theory & CriticismLiberal EducationProfessional Practice

•Deliberative•Judgment•Leaders

•Instrumental•Expertise•Employees

Engineering student: Why would anybody want to learn the things we

know enough not to do anymore?

Architecture student: I really love my architectural history courses. Do you have engineering history courses in your program?

Boston UniversityBA in Math & Computer Science

Liberal EducationMath

Computer Science

University of MassachusettsBS in Chemistry

Liberal EducationChemistry

MathPhysics

University of IllinoisBS in Civil Engineering

Liberal EducationChemistry

MathPhysics

Engineering

Capital is globalDesign education is globalDesign firms are globalDesign materials are globalDesign software is globalDesign practices are global

Problem 7

Buildings are not.Buildings have fixed locations.

Does anything local matter?

Should a building in Dubuque be different than a building in Dubai?

On what basis, and by what criteria?

Problem 7

Problem 8

With the advent of micro- and nano-technology and high-volume data storage, sensors and building management systems have negligible cost. We can measure:

• Temperatures • Fluid and air flow rates• Fluid and air pressure• Hours of mechanical system operation• Number of door cycles• RFID and swipe-card motion trackers• Keystroke monitors

Problem 8

If you could put a hundred thousand sensors into a building, what would you want to measure?

And what would you do with that information?

Problem 9

The average metropolitan dweller is photographed or filmed about 300 times a day:

• On the street• In the park• In the store• On the job• On transportation

Problem 9

What are the design goals for privacy?

To protect it?

Or to eliminate it?

Problem 1 – Climate RefugeesProblem 2 – Waste ManagementProblem 3 – Inputs to Sustainable DesignProblem 4 – Suburban DensificationProblem 5 – Urban DepopulationProblem 6 – Homelessness and VacancyProblem 7 – Global and LocalProblem 8 – Building Data CollectionProblem 9 – Environmental Privacy

Curricular Resolution Lite:the Special Topics course

Curricular Resolution Lite:the Special Topics course

Example: the Architectural Geology

of Boston

Most of what we think of as “Boston” is actually filled rivers and bay.

The High Spine

Highrises on the Neck’s BedrockGeology Urban Planning

The Back Bay

Gravel fill in the Charles RiverNeighborhood created 1860-1900

With no accessible bedrock, the Back Bay is smaller buildings constructed on wooden friction pilings.

Changes in construction and stormwater runoff engineering have reduced the water table.

All these pilings are at risk.

BAC’s Green Alley (a pilot project for Boston more broadly)

• Permeable paving allows storm water to re-enter ground water• Planted wall reduces rate of downflow

Professor Geo has the geological knowledge.

Professor Arch has the architectural history knowledge.

Professor Geo has the geological knowledge.

Professor Arch has the architectural history knowledge.

Co-teaching

Professor Geo has the geological knowledge.

Professor Arch has the architectural history knowledge.

Co-teaching…But they each only get 1.5 load credits

Professor Geo has the geological knowledge.

Professor Arch has the architectural history knowledge.

Geology 279 – Special Topics in Geology: The Architectural Geology of Boston

Arch 279 – Special Topics in Architecture: The Architectural Geology of Boston

T-Th 10:40-11:55 AM, 412 Kostof Hall

Undergraduate ResearchSeeing science as uncertainty

Undergraduate ResearchSeeing science as uncertainty

Guest SpeakersScience policy,

science entrepreneurship

CollaborationA way of organizing work that

acknowledges collective responsibility for a singular condition

Collaboration ≠ Hierarchy

Collaboration ≠ Division of Labor

Collaboration ≠ Lone Genius

Collaboration ≠ Committee

In collaborative work, every participant is responsible for

the quality of every element.

In collaborative work, every participant is responsible for

the quality of every element.

In collaborative work, every participant is responsible for

helping to define the problem.

Boston Architectural CollegeDesign StudiosDesign MediaTechnology & SystemsHistory, Theory & CriticismLiberal EducationProfessional Practice

5,000 hours of practice, in 16 competency areas (about 3 years of work)

Real paid employment, at real entry-professional rates (about $20-25 hour)

About 2/3 of our students at work

2008-10National loss of ¼ of

all design employment

…after a decade of automation that reduced entry-level opportunities

GATEWAY PROJECTS

Increased community design studios from one section to several

Relocated service projects into Practice department

Vast recruitment of community clients and design supervisors

GATEWAY PROJECTS

Students get greater responsibility earlier

Advanced students get managerial experience

Community partners get valuable design service

Design firms get projects that can be financed

Practice

President

Foundation

Financial Aid

Landscape Architecture

Design Studies

Interior Design

ArchitectureRegistrar

Institutional Advancement

AssessmentInformation Technology

Whole-College Collaboration

A faculty member in Geography and Earth Sciences, working with students to conduct economic analyses for:•Delivery systems

•County and city governments

•Tourism and economic development boards

JulioCarthage College, Kenosha WI

Provost Rivera

A campus leader fostering a culture of academic engagement with the regional community.

Carthage College, Kenosha WI

Velocity ConsultingCarthage College, Kenosha WI

Velocity Consulting

Class of 2013Finance and Economics MajorSpanish Minor

Aleksandra Romanovic, CEO

Velocity Consulting9 Finance8 Marketing6 Accounting3 Economics3 Management2 Advertising2 Computer Science1 Public Relations/Communications1 International Political Economy1 Chinese1 Mathematics1 Education1 Asian Studies

25 students – 39 majorsDouble-majoring as a form of leadership preparation

Velocity Consulting9 Finance8 Marketing6 Accounting3 Economics3 Management2 Advertising2 Computer Science1 Public Relations/Communications1 International Political Economy1 Chinese1 Mathematics1 Education1 Asian Studies

But let’s recruit geographers, engineers, physicists, ecologists…

Our Three WordsVoluntarily taking responsibility for, and action on behalf of, a community to which you belong

Citizenship

Our Three WordsNaming oneself responsible for resolving a problem, even while knowing our own incapacity and unworthiness

CitizenshipLeadership

Our Three WordsA way of organizing work that acknowledges collective responsibility for a singular condition

CitizenshipLeadershipCollaboration

The world is more wicked than our disciplines

Hunger is a mathematical problemUrban planning is a physics problemCommunity development is a chemistry problemClimate relocation is an engineering problem

None of us alone can do the work that wicked problems demand.

None of us alone can do the work that wicked problems demand.

But as one among many…

One Among Many:

STEM-work as a Basis for Citizenship

Herb Childress ▪ Boston Architectural College