Providence, RI

Providence, one of America’s oldest cities and the birthplace of the American industrial revolution, pursues Rhode Island’s story of innovation through its schools, its communities, its businesses and its public services. It is a city that uses its creative resources to transition from past to present and understands the need for a more sustainable future.

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Providence is a mid-sized city that is conveniently located between New York and Boston and is known for its outstanding young student population. The renowned RISD and Brown University play a major role in the community and are sources of valuable ideas for the region and the world. Since 2008, A Better World by Design is an example of how local and international designers come together in Providence to think about a better future through design: how can we reshape our community and sustain our environment?

Providence is an inspired city because it is constantly searching for newness and ideas, whether it is food or new places to experience and visit. At the Steel Yard, people connect while learning about things that are hand-made, introducing welding, blacksmithing and casting amongst others activities. This former steel and iron industrial site serves as a catalyst for urban regeneration and community growth through creative approaches. Meanwhile, La Laiterie promotes “haute farmhouse cuisine” by featuring the best of local and seasonal produce on their menus. The honest quality of its dishes is a reason in itself to visit Providence.

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The Versailles of Industry

General Motors Technical Center, inaugurated in 1956 and designed by Eero Saarinen is America’s largest corporate building ever. Its cost at the time was $125 million, the equivalent of over $800 million today. Otherwise known as the “Versailles of Industry”, this post-war complex is “a reflection of car industry’s consumerist pitch” according to architect Robert A.M. Stern. Some of its distinctive features are the water tower (pictured above) designed to re-circulate water for the center’s air conditioning system, and the Design Dome (last picture, below) an auditorium and exhibition space of 188 ft diameter width and which is covered by an aluminum skin thinner than an egg shell. With the GM Technical Center, Eero Saarinen pushed technological and architectural boundaries. He used automotive material and assembly line construction methods and also experimented with ceramic glazed brick that were fired in a kiln specifically built on-site by GM. 26 glaze colors were developed in collaboration with the nearby Cranbrook Art Academy.

When the Technical Center opened its doors in the 1950’s, GM published a souvenir guide entitled “Where Today Meets Tomorrow”. The opening foreword by the company’s president mentions the post-war challenges lying ahead and the rapid technological progress made in the first half of the 20th century. The Technical Center is also referred to as a physical incarnation of GM’s vision “in creating the new and useful (and) in filling the needs and desires of millions of people (…) by applying the best talent, the best equipment and the best facilities available to molding Tomorrow”. Perhaps, by looking at its past, GM can finds a few answers for a more sustainable future.

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In 1986, the GM Technical Center was named the most outstanding architectural project of its era by the American Institute of Architects (AIA). In 2000, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the State Register of Historic Sites in 2002. Talks of opening a visitors center have been mentioned in the press but have not yet materialized.

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The Design Center (pictured above) boasts an impressive lobby staircase designed by Kevin Roche. The staircase is made of suspended terrazzo slabs that are overlapping each other over a water fountain. Various paintings (including portraits of past presidents and vice presidents) as well as sculptures are displayed inside and outside of the center’s reception area.

Green Roofs

Chicago wants to become the most environmentally friendly city in the United States and is working hard to achieve its goals. The Chicago Climate Action Plan has been developed to serve as a model for cities from around the world and demonstrates how urban communities can be bold and help protect the natural environment. Green roofs are flourishing in various parts of Chicago: they have been integrated in some private and public residences (Chicago’s City Hall has its own rooftop garden), have transformed public spaces (the Millennium Park is a green roof built on top of a garage) and have turned several skyscrapers green.

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The Chicago Center for Green Technology offers guidance to homeowners and professionals who want to benefit from cost-effective green technology. The center organizes regular workshops that emphasize on the many advantages of having a green roof: it cleans and retains rainwater, it helps reduce energy consumption, it lowers air temperatures, it improves the urban air quality, it extends the life of a roof membrane by 2 or 3 times, and last but not least, it can add beauty to our urban landscape.

Omaha, NE

Some locals in Omaha think that their city is of one of America’s best kept secrets and want to keep it that way. Others wish that more people stopped in Omaha (instead of just flying over it) because there is more to the city than Mutual of Omaha, Omaha Steaks and Warren Buffett: Omaha is also a creative incubator and the Silicon Prairie of the region.

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Omaha is a small city made of contrasted districts in the downtown area. The real surprise for us was to discover the Old Market District after a long drive from Colorado. The Old Market is authentic and delivers an old Western charm that can no longer be found in a majority of American cities.

Omaha seeks to bring its population back on the streets and revive the city center. Inspired dining venues such as M’s Pub or The Boiler Room are local favorites in the area and prove that restaurants that blend design with fine food are an integral part of a city’s appeal. A number of affordable urban living developments surrounding the market are attractive alternatives to suburban neighborhoods.

The world renowned Bemis artist-in-residence center (pictured above), set up by Ree Kaneko in the early eighties has had considerable influence on the creative character of Omaha and helps to diversify the local population (we spotted a couple of young Japanese artists struggling to order steaks at M’s Pub). The recently opened Kaneko Center is another initiative that explores new creative possibilities for Omaha (see our blog post and video), and we heard that a new design school may also be seeing the light of day in a few years time.

Boeing – Anatomy of an Aircraft

The Future of Flight Aviation Center was opened to the public in December 2005 and offers tours of the Boeing Everett Factory (pictured above) where the company’s largest commercial airliners are built. At 472 million cubic feet, the factory is the largest building in the world by volume, employs nearly 30,000 people and is opened 24 hours a day. The building was originally conceived and designed to assemble the 747 jumbo jet. Today, it also produces the 767, 777 and more recently the 787 Dreamliner which is mostly built with light composite material that makes it more fuel-efficient. During the tour, visitors are first taken through a long underground tunnel, then on to an elevator that takes them to elevated decks that offer bird’s eye views of the factory. Wings, cockpits, and fuselages can be seen as separate pieces in some areas, while in others, fully assembled aircraft bodies are waiting to be painted. The factory’s open space reveals the collaborative aspect of airplane building: very few enclosed spaces, desks and computers organized besides an assembly area, coffee meetings happening alongside drilling and welding sessions.

The Future of Flight Aviation Center is an educational NPO that shares the history and legacy of William E. Boeing, founder of the corporation, and displays the engineering, design, and technology behind Boeing’s aircraft (below).

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Vanilla Bicycles of Portland

Sacha White, Owner, Designer, Bicycle Frame builder of Vanilla and Speedvagen custom bicycles talks to Cities x Design about the intricacies, challenges and opportunities for continuously learning in building custom bicycles in Portland.

San Francisco, CA

San Francisco is a small big city that strikes a perfect balance between its beautiful surrounding geography, diverse urban life, vibrant creative scene, open-mindedness, ambitious character and entrepreneurial spirit. During our meetings there, one word was heard constantly: collaboration. Hence, SF is a place that brings together designers, engineers, artists and business people from different backgrounds and walks of life.

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(Pictured above – from top left: Tram on Broadway, Chinatown, Museum of Craft and Design, Jessie Street, Golden Gate Bridge, Alamo Square)

On Jessie Street, we met with graphic designers Martin Venezky (Appetite Engineers), Scott Thorpe (MacFadden and Thorpe) and Jon Sueda (Stripe) in their shared studio space. It was an opportunity for us to take a closer look at their publishing and editorial work and witness the kind of visual experiments that are taking place in San Francisco. Martin, Scott and Jon are from different generations but all three of them are interested in challenging the medium of graphic design and typography. To them design is first and foremost a form of expression. Business is not a priority to them. Their approach to graphic design is very hands-on, using manual printing methods such as silkscreen and a lot of hand crafted techniques that deliver a certain uniqueness in each of their pieces. Martin has a desk away from the computer where he can dedicate himself to his sculptural work (pictured below)

In contrast, although very much related to SF’s identity, the product development company Moto is dedicated to the integration of high technology in everyday life via the combination of engineering and design. Moto works with large companies to provide them with innovative solutions for their future products. Moto creates new devices that have never been experienced before and therefore most of their projects are kept confidential. One of the few pieces that were shared with us was an interactive touch-screen and an E-ink device (pictured below).

Creative Engineers at Moto Development Group

Tom Misage, Vice President, Moto Development Group, discusses with Cities x Design the key ingredients to carrying ideas from brainstorming to design through engineering to success.