PAWTUCKET – In a partnership with The Pawtucket Foundation, 12 architecture students at the Rhode Island School of Design will use Pawtucket’s downtown to explore “the integration of architecture and sustainable design.”
A studio led by professors Thomas Gardner and Matthew Miller will use the city as its muse for the Green Community International Student Design Competition.
“I think it’s extremely vital to foster a strong connection with the academic community and this is a great way to continue a meaningful dialogue about the juxtaposition of innovative urban design and historic architecture in Pawtucket’s National Register historic district,” Pawtucket Foundation Executive Director Thomas A. Mann Jr. said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “I hope that the student work will present a unique window of opportunity for us to assess how well Pawtucket’s land-use and design ordinance allows and encourages sustainable design.”
The initiative will be one of the first major undertakings since Mann took over last fall. In early February, the foundation released “A Blueprint ^ Bridge to Prosperity” mission statement, outlining its goals, which included investment in infrastructure.
“A sustainable infrastructure that is sensitive to our natural resources can help us improve air quality, conserve land and natural resources and reduce our consumption of gas and electricity,” the report said.
In a statement, RISD Architecture Department head Lynnette Widder said Pawtucket’s historic resources and rich heritage “offers a unique opportunity to share its long history of artisan craft and innovation.”
The Pawtucket Foundation – a partner in the Northern Rhode Island Tri-Communities Coalition – is a policy group established by local business and nonprofit leaders to encourage economic development and reinvestment in Pawtucket and Central Falls and advocate for downtown, river and gateway improvements. For additional information, including background information about Executive Director Thomas A. Mann Jr., visit www.PawtucketFoundation.org.
Rhode Island School of Design, incorporated in 1877 to cultivate the arts of design, offers undergraduate and graduate certificate and degree programs. Additional information is available at www.risd.edu and www.risdmuseum.org.
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