Cost

Free

Location

Turner Construction

Program Overview

The recent Architecture Matters article in Soapbox, What Makes a Great Place, endeavored to explain the qualities that make one place better than another. To continue the discussion, four architects representing a range of work will have an interactive conversation to dive deeper into topics touched on in the article including the role of story and people in placemaking. Questions from the audience will also be addressed throughout the program.

If you’re concerned about how new projects in our communities can be great not just for today, but for the generations of residents and visitors who will be living, working, and playing here in the future, this program is for you. Residents and business owners can advocate for better design in their communities, but only if they understand what makes a great place. Join us to learn more.

Panelists

Phil Beck, AIA, LEED AP, The Banks Project Executive 

A joint Hamilton County and City of Cincinnati position. Phil has been responsible for implementing Board and Council policy on The Banks, and reports directly to the County Administrator, the City Manager and the Joint Banks Steering Committee. A $2.7 billion public/ private transit-oriented urban redevelopment project, The Banks is the largest economic development project in Hamilton County and Greater Cincinnati. Prior to his current public sector position, Phil worked for 25 years in the private sector extensively as a program manager and construction manager consultant on large, complex public infrastructure projects.

John Blake, AIA, NCARB, Professor of Engagement and Director, Miami University Center for Community Engagement in Over-the-Rhine

As an architect and educator, John has two decades of experience in educational design-build, community design, and adaptive reuse of existing structures. John is the coordinator for the Center’s award-winning Residency Program, an interdisciplinary, immersive semester that affords university students a framework for engaged learning in a urban setting. In addition to generating dozens of architecture projects in the Cincinnati area including affordable housing units, urban storefronts, and assembly spaces, John initiated the community-arts engagement series at the Center called Storefronts with facilitating artist Mary Clare Reitz and a diverse squad of neighborhood collaborators. Through performance, installation, projection, podcast, and other media, the Storefronts team has framed local discussion about equitable development.

Kurt Platte, AIA, Platte Architecture + Design

Kurt Platte has a Bachelor’s of Environmental Design from Miami University of Ohio, and a Bachelor’s of Architecture from North Carolina State University. He started his architectural firm in 2002 and concurrently operated Blackrock Construction, a boutique general construction company. His firm’s work covers a wide range of project types and sizes including single and multi-family housing, retail, restaurants, bars, distilleries, breweries, office, worship, and mixed-use design. A large concentration of the work is located in the OTR district, contributing to the current renaissance of Cincinnati.

Moderator:

Angela Mazzi, FAIA, FACHA, EDAC, Principal, GBBN Architects

Angela Mazzi’s research on socio-cultural contexts provides perspective on how culture reflects in architecture and user experience. This has led her to focus on experience as a factor in healing in behavioral health design. Angela is Past President of the American College of Healthcare Architects and President-elect of AIA Cincinnati. She is also the founder of Architecting, a community consisting of a podcast, online learning, and weekly clubhouse room “Architects as Healers: Buildings as Medicine.” Her research linking wellness to design has been published in many healthcare journals and presented at national and international conferences. She is a peer reviewer for Health Environment Research and Design (HERD) Journal and Academy of Architecture for Health Journal and 2022 recipient of the HCD10 Top Healthcare Architect Award.

Presented By

AIA Cincinnati

AIA Cincinnati advocates for the architectural profession and is a resource for its members in service to society. Founded in 1870, AIA Cincinnati was the fourth chartered chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). AIA is the professional organization of Registered Architects who create, improve, and sustain the communities where we live, work, and play.

Soapbox Cincinnati and Issue Media Group

Soapbox Cincinnati’s mission is to connect people to place. Issue Media Group publications leverage the power of solutions-based journalism and narrative storytelling in partnership with community-based leadership coalitions to increase attachment to place – a foundational element to inclusive economic growth – while delivering community response to local media contraction.

Hosted By

Turner Construction