Early in the morning on Saturday, October 3rd, Edgewater Beach became the venue for a boat race meant to bring awareness to the exorbitant amount of plastic that makes its way to the world’s lakes and oceans. Led by Cathi Lehn of the Biodiversity Alliance and Dr. Marcus Eriksen of the California-based Algalita Marine Research Foundation, teams from throughout Cuyahoga County arrived with their self-made boats. The eleven small boats, constructed entirely from plastic bottles and otherwise discarded objects, were carefully carried down by the teams to the water’s edge of Lake Erie. The large crowd watched nervously as the teams pushed their crafts onto the water and the selected team members got on board. Would their boats even float?
This question was certainly on the mind of the LoveCraft’s team, comprised of members from the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, the Green City Blue Lake Institute and Environmental Health Watch. In a boat building workshop the week before, Dr. Eriksen had given the rule of thumb, “One two-liter bottle will support one kilogram.” But did he then say to use enough bottles for double the weight or was that just because of the metric system? Well, the team would find out when they hit the water.
As the brave skippers, Marc Lefkowitz and Mandy Metcalf, boarded the LoveCraft, the team was surprised by how little their recycled matress framed rig sunk in the water. The additional pontoons made from discarded wildberry sno cone syrup bottles must have done the trick! Now the LoveCrafters would have to face the 300 feet of Lake Erie out to the marker canoe, make the turn around it, and paddle back to shore against the prevailing wind. They would also have to watch out for the favored boat that day; a sleak two pontoon vessel covered in saran wrap designed by Medina high school students.
The LoveCraft held her own as the skippers paddled furiously to the shoreline, but was just edged out of third place by another Medina craft skippered by two students wearing batman and robin costumes. Maybe the extra pontoons could have been placed closer to the edge in order to make a more hydrodynamic design? Maybe they weren’t needed at all? When trying to determine the right balance of plastic needed, it might be better to favor on the side of simply using less.
For more info on what can be done to combat the plastic plague and for more photos of the regatta, visit the GreenCityBlueLake Institute blog. For behind the scenes shots of the crafting of the LoveCraft, visit our CUDC Flickr stream.
Those willing to brave the 65 degree sunny weather and almost non-existent car traffic in Cleveland were rewarded with discounts at Gypsy Beans coffee shop, free breakfast at the YMCA, new friendships and various health related benefits on National Bike to Work Day.
A contingency from the near-west side of Cleveland took a pleasant ride down Detroit Ave., starting at W. 65th St., and made their way to the Downtown YMCA.
Along the way, the group stopped at the Gateway parking garage on the corner of Huron and E. 4th St. for a glimpse of future plans for the proposed bike station to be built inside the garage.
A health-conscious bounty awaited weary two-wheel travelers at the Downtown YMCA. Yes, it was fun to stay there.
Could biking to work become such a common occurance in Cleveland that “Bike to Work Day” would sound as gratuitous as “Complain About Cleveland Sports Day”? Well, if the Cavs don’t blow it, there might be a chance.
Congratulations to our very own Terry Schwarz for being awarded the 2009 Cleveland Arts Prize! Terry is senior planner at the CUDC and an adjunct professor at Kent State University.
Terry was awarded the artist prize in design for her work surrounding the Shrinking Cities Institute at the CUDC, which addresses local population decline. The multifaceted work of the Shrinking Cities Institute includes the Cleveland Land Lab, the Pop Up City! temporary use intiative and two editions of the Urban-Infill Journal.
The awards ceremony will be held Thursday, June 25th at the Hanna Theatre in Playhouse Square. Tickets are available by calling 216 321-0012 or by email at info@clevelandartsprize.org.
Today starts Cleveland Bicycle Week! Some event highlights for the week include an art and architecture bike tour on Tuesday from 5:30pm-7pm, which will begin at Progressive Field, the Northeast Ohio Cycling Forum on Thursday from 4-7pm at the Cleveland Public Library Main Branch, and the official Bike to Work Day on Friday. The GCRTA is also offering free rides to all bicyclists on Friday, so take the opportunity to ride in to work and let a friendly bus driver take you home after enjoying the Bike Week festivities on E. 4th St. after work.
Check out clevelandbicycleweek.org for a full event calendar that extends beyond just this week, filled with all sorts of activities for cycling enthusiasts and everyone that wants to learn more about cycling in Cleveland and Northeast Ohio.
If you’re on the fence about riding to work, here’s a little inspiration courtesy of that bike-lovin’ little town, Copenhagen:
Attraction #2: Palladio Exhibit @ CUDC
We invite you to join us on Friday, May 15 for an exhibit opening at the CUDC’s main gallery at 820 Prospect Avenue, from 5-7pm.
Andrea Palladio – 500 Years
The CUDC is pleased to host a photography exhibit brought to Cleveland by the Consulate of Italy in celebration of the 500th anniversary of Palladio’s birth and the declaration of a sister-city agreement between Cleveland and Vicenza, Italy (site of much of Palladio’s work). Word on the street is the mayors of both cities will be in attendance, so come early to beat the crowd to the bruschetta.
Thank you to everyone that came out to Designerosa! All of us at the CUDC had a great time and we’re really glad to have met so many new people. We especially want to thank Heelsplitter, the amazing bluegrass band that travels to all their shows by bike, Greg Priddy, Indy and Greg Peckham for the miniature ponies (Cinnamon and Doodle), and Lois Moss from Walk + Roll Cleveland for bringing everyone together for Transportainment.
We’d also like to thank Kelly from KRA photography for taking the brilliant photographs shown below. You can see the entire Designerosa photo set and order prints at her client lounge, just type in “walkroll” as the password.
The new Pop Up City book we released at the event should be available on Amazon soon, but in the meantime, please visit our Shrinking Cities Institute website to order a copy.
The CUDC’s Pop Up City initiative, Arts Collinwood and other Cleveland arts organizations were highlighted in a recent Wall Street Journal article about artist communities developing in blighted neighborhoods. Although there’s nothing new about artists moving into low-rent areas, the recent foreclosure crisis is motivating communities to increase incentives for artists:
Drawn by available spaces and cheap rents, artists are filling in some of the neighborhoods being emptied by foreclosures. City officials and community groups seeking ways to stop the rash of vacancies are offering them incentives to move in, from low rents and mortgages to creative control over renovation projects.
Some of the local organizations mentioned in the article include:
If you haven’t been to the last two Pecha Kucha Nights, then you really should go and see what it’s all about.
Pecha Kucha Night, devised by Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham (Klein Dytham architecture), was conceived in 2003 as a place for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public.
But as we all know, give a mike to a designer (especially an architect) and you’ll be trapped for hours. The key to Pecha Kucha Night is its patented system for avoiding this fate. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each – giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.
Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor. This is a demand that seems to be global – as Pecha Kucha Night, without any pushing, has spread virally to over 100 cities across the world.
Come celebrate the fusion of various local design communities including architecture, digital, fashion, graphic, industrial, interior, and mechanical design. This happy hour mixer, a part of Fashion Week Cleveland, is a great chance to get outside of our own particular disciplines and meet other Cleveland creatives.
This question was certainly on the mind of the LoveCraft’s team, comprised of members from the Cleveland Urban Design Collaborative, the Green City Blue Lake Institute and Environmental Health Watch. In a boat building workshop the week before, Dr. Eriksen had given the rule of thumb, “One two-liter bottle will support one kilogram.” But did he then say to use enough bottles for double the weight or was that just because of the metric system? Well, the team would find out when they hit the water.
The LoveCraft held her own as the skippers paddled furiously to the shoreline, but was just edged out of third place by another Medina craft skippered by two students wearing batman and robin costumes. Maybe the extra pontoons could have been placed closer to the edge in order to make a more hydrodynamic design? Maybe they weren’t needed at all? When trying to determine the right balance of plastic needed, it might be better to favor on the side of simply using less.
Art installation at 