Continuing our series of member profiles, this month we're happy to feature the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association, or SPUR.  By joining AAO, you'll get to rub elbows with your peers at great organizations like SPUR.  Be sure to check out their website and great publication, The Urbanist,  and consider joining AAO today! 

San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association

Through research, education and advocacy, SPUR promotes good planning and good government in the San Francisco Bay Area.
                     
SPUR's history dates back to 1910, when a group of young city leaders came together to improve the quality of housing after the 1906 earthquake and fire. After several different iterations over the subsequent decades, the organization finally became the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association in the 1950’s—to be the citizens' voice for good planning. Over the next five decades, SPUR built support for land use, transportation and investment strategies to support center-oriented growth and urban economic vitality. Since then, SPUR has been involved with virtually every major planning decision in the city. In a city dominated by single-interest politics, SPUR plays the crucial role of uniting citizens to jointly craft solutions to our common problems.

In May 2009, the opening of the 14,500 square-foot SPUR Urban Center opened a major new chapter in the life of the organization and in civic planning in San Francisco. Located in the heart of the Yerba Buena cultural district, the Urban Center provides a common ground for citizens to come together in fruitful, forward-thinking conversation.

The Urban Center serves as SPUR's new headquarters. The four-story building houses all of SPUR's activities, including:

• research and advocacy by policy directors
• frequent policy committee and task force meetings
• meetings with civic leaders and allied organizations
• lunchtime and evening forums and panel discussions   
• an urban affairs library and resource center
• permanent and rotating exhibitions 

SPUR's expanded work in the Urban Center will focus on educational programs in good government, public policy, urban planning and design with the ultimate goal of engaging citizens in SPUR's work and in the issues that affect the entire region.

Gregory Dreicer, Vice President of Interpretation and Exhibitions at the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and Gregory Wessner, Digital Programs and Exhibitions Director at the Architectural League of New York, are AAO's resident experts on creating engaging architecture exhibitions.

At the AAO conference in November 2009, Greg and Greg hosted a popular break-out session about strategies for engaging broad audiences in learning about the design of the spaces and places that surround them through exhibitions.  The session focused on the different possibilities for encouraging learning about the big issues in architecture, infrastructure, and planning.

Be sure to check out the MP3 recording of this session at the bottom of this post.  Enjoy!

Gregory Dreicer, Vice President of Interpretation and Exhibitions, Chicago Architecture Foundation

Gregory Dreicer is a curator and historian whose explorations of built environment and building technology have received national recognition. He is the former director of Chicken&Egg Public Projects, which was a leading exhibition planning, development, and design firm specializing in social, political, and technological issues. Dreicer worked with organizations including the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, Museum of the City of New York, Smithsonian Institution, and Federal Highway Administration. In the 1990s, Dreicer was a curator at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. He has curated more than 20 exhibitions and his articles have appeared in journals including Perspecta, Culture Technique, History and Technology, and Design Book Review. Dreicer received his PhD from Cornell University’s Department of Science and Technology Studies. He holds an MS in Historic Preservation and a BA, both from Columbia University. Dreicer joined CAF in January 2007.

Gregory Wessner, Digital Programs and Exhibitions Director, Architectural League of New York

Gregory Wessner is the Digital Programs and Exhibitions Director of the Architectural League of New York.  As a curator and editor, he has organized numerous exhibitions, including New New York: Fast Forward, Studio as Muse: Herzog & de Meuron’s Design for the New Parrish Art Museum, 13:100: Thirteen New York Architects Design for Ordos, and, most recently, Toward the Sentient City (with curator Mark Shepard) and New New York 6:1000 Blocks. Publications include 125 Years: The Architectural League of New York, and Travel Reports from the Deborah J. Norden Fund.

In 2006, Wessner initiated a major digital programs initiative for the Architectural League and since that time has produced more than 150 podcasts and short videos.  Wessner is a Level 2 PhD candidate in architectural history at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, where his focus of research is architectural culture and exhibitions.  

He formerly served as Chief Administrator of White Columns and the National Academy School of Fine Arts.

This week, we're happy to bring you the wonderful presentations of Diane Filippi and Rick Bell from the AAO conference in November. Diane and Rick co-presented a session entitled "Starting an Architecture Center" on Thursday, November 5, 2009.

All non-profits from time to time reassess their organization's direction, effectiveness, and impact.  This session focused on the reassessment that the AIA New York Chapter and the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association underwent, that led to the creation of their new centers.  They lessons they learned about design, development, finance, and programming are applicable to other cities and institutions, and offer insight to those who are considering starting an architecture center in their community.

Starting an Architecture Center - D. Filippi.pdf

Starting an Architecture Center - R. Bell - Part 1.pdf

Starting an Architecture Center - R. Bell - Part 2.pdf

Speaker Bios

Diane Filippi, San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association (SPUR) Urban Center Director

Diane Filippi is the Director of the SPUR Urban Center in San Francisco. In this role, Diane is responsible for the development of the Urban Center from inception through completion and grand opening. Her responsibilities have included site selection; architectural selection and process; expansion of programs; new partnerships and collaborations; and fundraising.

Prior to joining SPUR, Diane was a founder and Managing Principal of SMWM, an architectural and urban design firm in San Francisco. She is a chairperson of several organizations and institutions, including Urban Land Institute’s San Francisco District Council, Rail-volution, Americans for Libraries Council in New York, San Francisco Friends of the Library, the Campaign to Keep Libraries Alive, State of California Friends Foundation in Sacramento. She is also on the board of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.

Rick Bell, Executive Directory, AIA New York/Center for Architecture

Rick Bell serves as Executive Director of the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects where he was instrumental in the creation of the New York New Visions design and planning coalition, which has helped to catalyze and critique the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan.  Since starting at the AIA in 2001, Rick has raised the profile and involvement of the architectural community on policy issues, including accessibility, affordable housing, sustainable design and waterfront use.  The AIA’s storefront Center for Architecture on LaGuardia Place in Greenwich Village marks the shifting of priorities to a greater engagement with the public.

Previously, Rick worked in the public sector as Chief Architect and Assistant Commissioner of Architecture & Engineering at New York City’s public works agency, the Department of Design & Construction. A registered architect in New York, New Jersey and California, Rick was elected a Fellow of the AIA in 2000 for his work in public facility design.  He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), the Forum for Urban Design and the Institute for Urban Design. Rick holds degrees from Yale and Columbia and has received numerous awards for civic activities and design excellence, including a “Newsmaker of the Year” award from Engineering News Record.  He currently serves on the Executive Committee and Board of the national American Institute of Architects.