This presentation was given by Tyler Architecture students Lourdes Monje and Veronica Ayala at the the American Institute of Architecture Students FORUM Conference in Boston, MA on December 31, 2016. Their talk centers around issues that Temple faces while growing in it’s North Philadelphia neighborhood. Here’s their description of their talk to give you a context for the presentation.

As a college campus grows, a residential community is left with less to keep. Come find out how Temple University AIAS and Philly BRIC (Building Relationships in Communities) are using design to effectively resolve university/resident conflicts in an urban setting. We recognize architecture’s role in reasserting public spaces as a necessary stage for dialogue and engagement. By using storytelling to activate participation, and gathering communities through common interests to encourage interaction, we consequently abolish the false narratives that keep us apart. The “Sharing Stories” project is the first of its kind in the North Philadelphia area. It seeks to fully engage citizens in all parts of the design-build process. The end product, then, is a space designed to create unity, social inclusiveness, and a reflection of the collaborative nature of the process; a place designed by everyone, for everyone, to create and strengthen the bonds in our neighborhood.