This Week’s Lecture:
The presentation will describe Civic Ecology -- a stakeholder-driven, whole-systems framework for regenerative community design -- developed by Tim Smith and SERA Architects in Portland, Oregon. The framework focuses on empowering citizens of all ages, cultures, and abilities to envision, create, and manage their community’s unique “software” – the integrated energy, nutrient, water, waste, material, and food systems, as well as economic flows and cultural interactions, that animate their place. Exploring and supporting these flows allows communities to enhance their local wealth (environmental, economic, and social), resilience, and competitiveness, and helps them take control of designing and managing their future through collaboration and innovation. The framework is an ideal tool for cities, neighborhoods and institutions seeking to regenerate neighborhood social capital, local economics, physical fabric and infrastructure.
The presentation will describe Civic Ecology’s principles, community benefits and process and will include several examples illustrating applications in specific community settings including wildfire recovery in northern California and the OMSI /Center for Tribal Nations project in Portland.
About the Speaker:
Tim Smith is an architect, city planner, Principal Emeritus and founder of the Urban Design and Planning Studio at SERA Architects, a Portland, Oregon firm that offers integrated services in architecture, urban design, planning, and sustainability consulting. His recent work includes development planning for Google, Liwa-- a capital city for the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, Stanford University, the new campus for Oregon State University – Cascades in Bend, OR, the Treasure Island Redevelopment in San Francisco, CA and numerous community revitalization projects throughout the Pacific Northwest. Tim is currently VP for Project Origination for InfraCenters, LLC, a development company building integrated, zero-carbon, and equitable 21st Century community-scaled infrastructure systems. In this capacity he is leading development planning for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI)/Center for Tribal Nations District in Portland, OR and resilience planning and wildfire recovery for communities in Oregon and California. Tim developed Civic Ecology, a stakeholder-driven, whole systems public engagement framework and has helped implement the framework in numerous communities nationally and abroad. He co-authored Making EcoDistricts: Concepts and Methods for Advancing Sustainability in Neighborhoods, delivered a TEDx talk on Civic Ecology and lectures widely on the topic.
Tim has served on the Portland Planning Commission, the AIA Urban Design Committee and as advisor to EcoDistricts, the Portland Mayor, Portland Metro, and numerous cities and institutions. He currently serves on the National Sustainability Advisory Boad for KB Home, a national homebuilder at the forefront of building sustainable communities. In 2022 Tim was admitted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute of City Planners in recognition of his career achievements in community planning and urban design. Tim holds a BS and a M. Arch from the University of Michigan and an MCP/M. Arch in Urban Design from the University of Pennsylvania.
What is Friday@1?
On most Fridays at 1 p.m. during the academic term, PSU School of Architecture students and faculty gather to hear from professional designers and architects, academics, visiting artists, innovators, and students in the program. Friday@1 is a perfect way to wrap up each week of intense creativity in the studio and get inspired for the productive weekend ahead.
Free and open to the public. All are welcome.