Public-Private Partnerships

Entrepreneurial Livable Community Award

For the community’s entrepreneurial spirit in its transformation to become a model for sustainable development and prosperity today.

Partners’ recent forum with the Hirshhorn Museum, “Building Livable Communities: Creating a Common Agenda,” served as a positive platform to re-announce a new and exciting agenda for architecture, design, and social experimentation: The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s Bubble Expansion and book store renovation. Attended by Congressional representatives, federal agencies, think tanks, cultural institutions, and community development leaders alike, Director of the Hirshhorn Museum Richard Koshalek discussed the museum’s upcoming plans.

The "Bubble,” as it is called for the short-term, is a joint venture of Koshalek and Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, a renowned New York-based design firm, to re-invent the Museum as an intentional classroom and illustrate intersections of public and private space. Additionally, the museum book store will undergo a transition from a common commercial entity to becoming integrated as a part of museum exhibition space, through a renovation and move to the basement of the building.

Perhaps this new agenda comes from the idea that we need to adapt spaces to peoples’ readily changing needs. Perhaps this comes from Richard Koshalek’s desire to make the Hirshhorn a world class modern art museum with a daring new exposition. Perhaps this comes from the need to blur public and private space by incorporating The "Bubble” as an almost space-less entity into a negative, or void, of the concrete mass building; and the book store as an experiment in museum exhibit space. Or perhaps this agenda just comes from a need to make the stolid flimsy, the serious fun, and the patron part of the exhibit. 

On August 18th, 2010, Partners President Robert McNulty and Partners Trustee and former Florida Secretary of State and Orlando Mayor Glenda Hood hosted a workshop for over 150 attendees of the annual Florida League of Cities conference in Hollywood, Florida. Entitled “Culture Builds Community,” the 3-hour session explored how in these hard times for local governments and public finance, communities can mobilize a team of new players to support cultural and heritage resources as key infrastructure for their citizens, quality of life, and their ability to attract new investment.

Workshop participants learned how to:

New York City is famously known for its fast-paced, move-it-or-lose-it way of life.   This attitude stems from the large number of young professionals crowding the streets; however life in some parts of the city is slowing down, if only just slightly.  New York Academy of Medicine is looking to create 2 age-friendly neighborhoods in New York City.   These pilot projects are the result of town hall meetings and focus groups involving thousands of older adults in the area.  The Academy listened to concerns people had with walking around their neighborhoods and crossing the street.  

Ideas for the neighborhoods’ development and amenities have not been finalized, but one would have businesses voluntarily place stickers in their windows signifying their “age-friendliness” while providing extra benches, adequate lighting and menus with large type.   The Academy and area businesses recognize these changes are important to attract a demographic with strong economic power.

Other street improvements would include increasing crosswalk timing signals to allow elderly more time to cross, more benches on the street and better gutter drainage at intersections.

The full article from the New York Times can be accessed here.

Abandoned properties are encountered with rising frequency in these difficult economic times. Most people simply see them as an eyesore or a threat to security. However, there are some organizations, such as Boston Street Lab and Chashama, which have found this situation to be an opportunity to get a little creative.