Program Overview
At a time of renewal and accelerating development in the city of Newark, Agitecture aims to place urban planning tools in the hands of the city’s high school students with an innovative after-school program. Fifteen to twenty high school students will be exposed to historical and contemporary practices of urban planning through weekly, hands-on projects that deal specifically with the city of Newark and the greater New York metropolitan area. Agitecture's After-School Initiative engages students in the design process, building problem solving skills. Our goal is to enhance students' environmental awareness, intellectual development and understanding of the world in which they live.
The proposed educational project is an after-school program taught by graduates of Princeton's School of Architecture, focusing on urban planning and architecture as tools for empowering inner-city youths of Newark and encouraging participation in city improvement. This program will also provide career-enhancing computer skills including computer-aided design (CAD). The non-profit Barat foundation is a key sponsor of this project, providing space in which to run the after-school program at their facility on the first floor of the Wachovia building at 765 Broad St. in Newark.
By providing the unique opportunity for high school students to engage directly with the urban environment in which they live, we aim to encourage a proactive attitude toward the city of Newark, aligned with the transformation of the city as it catches up with the economic success of the state of New Jersey. The Agitecture program will enhance students' career- and college-readiness, as well as encourage an individual motivation to engage their surroundings constructively and effect change for a better Newark.
Long-term Impact on Students and Community
In the fields of architecture and urban planning, students from low-income and minority backgrounds are severely under-represented. We seek to inspire and foster a community where these fields of professional practice become a viable opportunity for the youth of Newark. The program focuses on Newark's inner-city high school students who are traditionally alienated from teh decision-making process of urban planners. Students will be selected from Newark area high schools through the non-profit Barat Foundation and its NewARC program. These high school students will be equipped with specialized computer skills, exposed to key cultural and infrastructural institutions of the city through field trips (e.g. New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark Airport/Seaport) and provided a forum in which to propose changes to city officials and increase their collective pride in Newark. Urban planners and architects will not only inspire the students, but will become inspired themselves, gaining insights from the students tht they would otherwise not have been exposed to.
Support Network and Recognition for Students
Because the program is focused on urban planning, we will be addressing major employers and businesses within the city to provide the students with perspectives on the roles these businesses and cultural institutions play in the city and to encourage the students to explore potential career options with these employers. Key stakeholders in the Newark community whom we expect to involve inclue the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Prudential Foundation in Newark, Princeton University, and Rutgers University.
Agitecture will remain in contact with the students who finish the program, establishing an alumni database. Through our academic network with Princeton and other educational institutions, we will provide counseling in higher education opportunities related to architecture and urban planning. Each class will successfully complete a full-scale urban project based on a collective design that works to address a specific issue in Newark, identified in the students' work throughout the semester. We plan to use this event as a major opportunity to invite local and national media, e.g. the Newark Star-Ledger and New York Times, to recognize the students' work. In order to garner further support from the Princeton community, we will reach alumni through the Princeton Alumni Weekly publication.
Objectives
- Give students a safe, positive place to go after school as well as a unique opportunity to engage in fun, enriching activities
- Encourage students to develop an abstracted awareness of the city in which they live by means of critical analysis, historical investigation, and creative problem solving
- Equip students with digital and manual tools, and administer guidance in applying those tools to issues of urban design
- Provide students with an opportunity to effect positive change in the city of Newark, using tools and knowledge gained during the course to undertake a full-scale project at an urban site
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Class Schedule & Curriculum
Class will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00-6:00pm at the Newark Arts Resources Center at 765 Broad St. in Newark's central ward.
Weekly units, supported by hands-on projects, field trips to local sites, and lectures by eminent speakers, provide a multi-faceted introduction to the principles of urban design and Newark's unique history.
Sample Unit Titles
City of Defense or City of Commerce?
Ins and Outs of Newark : Transportation Routes, Communication Networks, Infrastructure
Textures, Shapes, and Patterns of the City
Crime, Terror, Surveillance
Representing Landscape: Material Effects
Sample Project : The Left-over City
Students are asked to explore and photograph empty spaces around Newark and merge these photographs with satellite images on a comprehensive map. Students then use this map to create a "city within the city," a new city that uses the left over spaces of Newark—the vacant lots, empty streets, alleyways—to establish a self-contained network of collective activity.
Each student develops an idea for the reclamation and use of the lot of his or her choice. The students will collaborate with the instructors and one another to integrate their individual designs into a functional urban landscape.
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Instructors
Students involved in Agitecture's unique approach to urban education have the opportunity to draw on the talents of recent graduates of Princeton's School of Architecture.
Jacob Dorler has received multiple prizes for his thesis exploring revitalization in Trenton. He has devoted extensive time to working with disadvantaged youth in New Jersey.
Samuel Palmer is an accomplished artist working in a wide range of media, and has tutored youth at Princeton's Clay Street Learning Center. He is currently working as an independent contractor and design consultant.
Neil Wiita is New Jersey's preeminent stereoscopic artist, with professional experience in graphic design, architecture, and urbanism. He served as director, director of installation, and graphic designer of the Numina Gallery, a student-run professional art gallery in New Jersey.
Claire Meyer is a seasoned graphic artist and photographer, and has experience in childhood development and learning techniques.
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Budget Overview
To view our current budget report, click here.
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