DAGspace: Zoning Reform Myth Busting Timothy Kerner

By Tim Kerner

Philadelphia’s Zoning Reform process has officially moved from the Zoning Code Commission to City Council, and council members are now attempting to understand the myriad consequences, both intended and otherwise, that would come about should they pass the proposed code. This is not an easy task, and it is made more difficult by a variety of myths and misunderstandings surrounding our zoning code and its implementation.

I would like to offer three controversial, myth-busting opinions that stem from my experiences as a neighborhood zoning committee chair, an architect, a planner, and a home owner. These opinions are relevant to the difficult considerations now before council.

If you have questions about he hearing or process, you can contact the Zoning Code Commission at zoning.commission@phila.gov

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OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Design in Action 2011, October 9-11, promises to be two full days of provocative panels and discussions about design advocacy, action and education.

We’d love for you to help promote and attend the conference and help us FILL THE HOUSE on Monday, October 10, 5:30-7:30 to welcome Teddy Cruz our keynote, Ford Fellow and one of Fast Co’s top 50 Influential Designers.

Register for the Conference
·
Attend the Teddy Talk, Oct 10
· Visit Leverage, The Exhibition during Design Philadelphia
· Purchase Leverage, The Book in celebration of the Collabroative’s 20th Anniversary!

Two new exhibits at The Gershman Y Galleries will highlight the urban experience in distinct and thought-provoking ways. The exhibits will run from September 15 to November 20, 2011.

Beautiful Imbalance: Screening of Manufactured Landscapes and Talk Back Tuesday, October 18, 7pm, $6
Jennifer Baichwal’s provocative documentary Manufactured Landscapes (2006) features Edward Burtynsky’s striking “still life” photographs of China’s industrial landscapes — factories, mines, dams, and more — to illustrate humanity’s destructive impact on land and environment. Screening followed by presentation and talk back by Barry Vacker, Associate Professor of media, utopian and cultural theory at Temple University

Symposium: Imaging and Imagining Our Cities Sunday, October 23, 3pm
Abandoned America, Ordos (China), Arcosanti (Arizona), and Masdar City (U.A.E.) — four regions, four models, four pasts, and four futures, yet all saying something about the “now” — the present moment in our cities. In conjunction with the Open Lens Gallery exhibition Before and After Utopia: Images of Abandonment, Absence and Aspiration, this symposium will examine how we have imaged and imagined our cities a decade into the millennium and what our observations, documentation, and participation in the evolution of cities means for the future of the urban metropolis. Panelists include Elijah Anderson, author of the Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life and other notable books on urban life, as well as Photo Review founder and editor Stephen Perloff and photographer Michael Meysarosh. Free.

Best,

Design Advocacy Group

Joanne Aitken, FAIA
Chair

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