Ball State's College of Architecture and Planning Center has opened a center in Indianapolis that will offer undergraduate and graduate courses, as well courses continuing education for design professionals.
The center also serves as a resource for studying urban planning, and is working with Indianapolis government to plan the future of the city.
CAP formally opened the center April 30, and it has been operating for about one year out of a downtown storefront office on 26 W. Washington St.
"The Indianapolis Center is something the college has wanted to do for a long time," said Thomas Gallagher, interim director of the center.
"For many reasons it has become critical for us to have our students engage the city as a living laboratory for their design and planning work," said Jospeh Bilello, dean of the college, in a press release.
"With more than two-thirds of Americans living in metropolitan areas today, knowing how to deal with urbanism is essential to the education of every designer and planner," he added in the release.
The office CAP is using belongs to the city, and Ball State shares it with Regional Center 2020 in exchange for helping them update the vision for Indianapolis' future.
"We are trying to be good members of the community," Gallagher said. "What is needed down here, and what can we provide?"
Gallagher added that the center links the research on campus to a real downtown.
For the work with Regional Center 2020, Ball State students and faculty observed the public meetings run by the city, and then took part in workshops to turn the words of citizens into plans for development of the downtown, Gallagher said.
A representative from the Department of Metropolitan Development, Justin Ohlemiller said, "We can definitely benefit from the students' involvement because they bring such a fresh perspective to the table."
"Ball State brings a lot of new ideas to get people thinking," added Brad Beaubien, Ball State alum and Regional Center Planner. "The educational component brings design to the front. It get people questioning urban sprawl, strip malls, and whether a McDonald's has to look like a McDonald's."
In the short term, Gallagher says the center provides opportunities to professors to bring students down to Indianapolis and have connections to projects there.
"Indianapolis is a great downtown to study," he said.
But Gallagher has bigger hopes for the future of the center.
"In the future, we hope every student will spend a semester here to live, work, and learn," he said. "Good design usually comes from good experiences."
Where exactly the students will go, however, is uncertain. The arrangement to borrow the current facility will expire in June 2003.
"We're looking at ways to keep the building. One way or another, we'll be here somewhere," Gallagher said.
If Ball State found a way to own the building, they would have access to the upper stories, which are currently off-limits. Gallagher said that space could be renovated to provide more studio space, classrooms, and even apartments for graduate students.LL>9+â-û-«:+â-ó>+â-»-+G+â-»?-«+â-¦!W+â-Ñ+â-ô+++â-»A-Ñ@p-ú+â-¬+â-¦1+â-ì+â-ä+â"+â-ä-¿+â-ë? +â-ä+â-Æ'u8H+âc+â-à+â-ÅA4%+++â-¬".}P+â-üB|H+â-¦*+â-+7Ghhz+â-¿+â-¬G<"~+â-¬|-í+â-¿- ?-¼+â-èH--Ñ.v_-í+â-»p+âc+â-ôAs%OUC+â-£R?+â-ó+â-à+â-¦#,-¦+â-ï2>5-¦++â-ä%D-¦ex?KD-¦PF +â-óV+â-ì?-»+â-Æ0+â-Ä*C6z+â-ì?-á=-«V'+â-æI"+â-Ñ>cap indyDNEditorial"-¬>cap indyDNEditorialLL>+â-è-¬0?>AUDT
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