Public Engagement & Placemaking

Faculty: Ronit Eisenbach, William Hanna, Michele Lamprakos, Luis Quiros, Isaac S. Williams

FACULTY RESEARCH:

Built Environment and the Experience of Place

Architecture Professor Ronit Eisenbach employs design to generate discourse about the built environment. Through a practice that includes teaching, curating, exhibition design and the construction of temporary site-specific environments, she explores how the perception of subjective, invisible and ephemeral objects affects understanding and experience of place. An interest in thinking through making and refining perception has led her to develop a series of situation-based, design-build studios that frame elements of architecture such as light, color, space and shadow in conversation with human movement. At the University of Maryland she chairs the Kibel Gallery, and in 2009 Eisenbach published a book titled Installations by Architects: Experiments in Building and Design(Princeton Architectural Press), co-authored with Dr. Sarah Bonnemaison. For further information on Eisenbach's installations, maps and other work, visit the following web link: roniteisenbach.com

Engaging Working Class Immigrant Neighborhoods in Suburban Maryland
Planning Professor William Hanna is a strong believer in the learning power of active involvement in planning, combining university education, scholarly research, and community activism. Much of his work focuses on the majority- immigrant neighborhood of Langley Park, MD located immediately West of College Park. Hanna serves as the director of Action Langley Park, a nonprofit organization of residents, businesspeople, workers, social service personnel, and other members of the community. The group co- sponsors health and other community events, publishes the biweekly Barrio de Langley Park newsletter, and advocates for positive public sector action pertaining to immigrant welfare. Hanna is currently completing a book-length report on the marginalization of working class immigrant neighborhoods. Follow the links below for further information and to view the most recent editions of the newsletter:

• Barrio de Langley Park: http://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/13419
• Annual Organization of Langley Park Day

RECENT STUDENT WORK:

Collaborative Sea Level Change Research Studio
Architecture 403 is an undergraduate studio taught by Professor Luis Quiros that explores the relationship between the man-made and the natural, including introductory issues of field, environment, theory, tectonics and assemblage. The course is founded on the premise that the activity of designing constitutes a crucial mode of inquiry into how humans dwell on - and with, Earth. See original design images from participating students below:

• Alisa Aviga (2012
• Katarina Svenson (2012)
• Gene Sun (2012)
• Duncan Graham (2012)

Engaging Community Through Public Art and Design
Using public art and design, the University of Maryland art and architecture students have engaged in a dialogue with the Long Branch community about their neighborhood. Under guidance of Architecture Professor Ronit Eisenbach and Department of Art Professor John Ruppert, ten temporary site-specific sculptures will be on display at the Long Branch Library and along Flower Avenue from May 6-20, 2013.