BOTC New Year's Wishes

Um . . . yeah.

It has been really slow around the BOTC in the past few months. Teaching and working will do that to a blog. Yet nonetheless, I make a resolution to post much more often than the later half of 2006. I know you (all 10 of you) are thrilled.

Since we are entering 2007, I would like to propose a wish list concerning architecture + urbanism in our fair city of Cleveland and Northeast Ohio:

1. The success of the first annual Cleveland Competition.
This competition idea sprung from some young local architects who are seeking to inculcate "design" into the physical, political, and professional fabrics of the city. These young guys are trying to begin marketing Cleveland as "Design City," to a potential international pool of competition entrants. Good for them--they are making strides where the impotent AIA cannot. Look for the publication of the guidelines in January or check in at www.designrag.blogspot.com or www.clevelandcompetition.com.

2. The success of Cleveland design firms.
In order for the "Design City" to happen, local designers must be successful. In order for local architects to be successful and creative, they must have clients who believe in the value of design and the exhilaration of that speculation. Although BOTC has local allegiances, the health of the region and the city will be apparent through the productivity and growth of all our Cleveland practices.

3. The Design Wisdom of Local Politicians.
Cleveland and Cuyahoga County possess some of the most dim-bulb political leaders in the United States. Let's hope that the likes of Commissioner Jimmy Dimora and Mayor Frank Jackson, major design decision makers in the region, become educated about what constitutes successful and awful design. Fellow Democrat, the enlightened tough-guy Mayor Daley of Chicago, understands the potency of good design and urban stewardship. Maybe he should sponsor a seminar our "leaders."

4. The Continued Evolution of KSU CAED.
Kent State's College of Architecture + Environmental Design, or simply Kent Architecture + Design, is engaged in a pedagogical evolution. KSU students are slowly emerging from the object building + site trope and are beginning to engage + re-construe the many contexts + flows + networks + forces that influence the making of structures, infrastructures, and spaces. BOTC hopes that within a few years, Kent will begin to intellectually compete with in-state rivals Ohio State, Miami, and Cincinnati.

5. More design emphasis in the Plain Dealer + local media
As BOTC has stated before, Steve Litt fights an uphill battle as the only critic in town. BOTC wishes for more design criticism from Steve in the upcoming year. But BOTC also wishes for some alternative criticism from the likes of Angle, Pressure, WCPN, Applause, and the Cleveland Free Times. A "Design City" also needs a pestering set of ankle biters for provocation, besides BOTC, Design Rag, TOI, and Improvised Schema.