Sizzlin’ in Tucson

Last week our summer group loaded into the Ecosa bus to spend three jam-packed days in Tucson.

The first stop was at the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum with the intention of getting acquainted with the flora and fauna of Southern Arizona. The group camped out both nights in the Gilbert Ray Campground in the Saguaro National Park. The first night they were lucky enough to observe a desert light show by mother nature as they watched monsoons pass in the distance.

The second day was a whirlwind multi-stop tour of the Tucson area with rainwater harvesting expert, Brad Lancaster. Brad took the students to many sites that demonstrated methods for passive and active rainwater harvesting. 

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Community Spaces with Mark Lakeman

Last Friday, Ecosa was honored to host Mark Lakeman, co-founder of City Repair Project, for an inspiring lecture and workshop in our studio.

Mark Lakeman is a national leader in the development of sustainable public places. In the last decade he has directed or facilitated designs for more than three hundred new community-generated public places in Portland, Oregon alone. He is a co-founder of the City Repair Project in Portland, Oregon and served as the Co-Director of Creative Vision from 1995 to 2008. He is presently active as a project coordinator in the annual Village Building Convergence. Mark is also the founder and principal of Communitecture, Inc, a cutting edge design firm with sustainable building and planning projects at many scales.

At Ecosa, Mark began the day with a lecture on placemaking. Mark believes firmly that “streets are for birthday parties,” meaning that in our current grid-planned neighborhoods our streets actually isolate and restrict us from valuable connection making. He believes that we must work together to take back our streets as public places which will in turn increase community, safety, education, nutrition, connectivity, and many other of our societal goals. The best part of his message is that all of this can be done with hardly any money, and it is fun at the same time!

That afternoon Mark pulled out some toys and the students got to try their hand at Placemaking. He had a prototype neighborhood for Eugene, OR, with buildings set up in a very traditional grid format.

The students took the model out in the sunlight to gather solar information about the site at certain times of the year. They then used the solar analysis to determine locations for the buildings that will maximize passive solar features. Mark was able to tell the students details about the neighborhood’s residents to make sure each home is connected to the rest of the community and what unique contribution they can bring.

This was a great exercise for the students, and all of these concepts will be an integral part of their ongoing Habitat for Humanity multi-family housing project.

For more information on Placemaking, check out the City Repair’s Placemaking Guidebook for a donation of $15. (Also available in the Ecosa library for our local readers).

Ruth’s Sunshine School

Last night the students presented their final plan for a school for children with severe disabilities in Ghana.

Their site is a 4-acre plot of land about 40 miles from the capital of Ghana.

Their design proposes to power all facilities with renewable energy (primarily solar), to recycle waste using biogas sanitation digesters, to collect and use all rainwater for consumption and irrigation, and to implement an integrated permaculture plan.

Since their site is relatively near the equator, the students made sure to account for the constant heat and humidity for most of the year. All buildings incorporate passive ventilation to channel wind and cool air.

Overhangs on the buildings are used for shading and increase rainwater catchment. The site also includes a full permaculture plan that will provide fresh produce to the dining hall, and will be irrigated entirely from rainwater.



The presentation was great and all of the designs have come a long way since the beginning. No rest yet though! True to typical Ecosa style, the students only have one more day to prepare for their next final presentation, a redevelopment proposal for the Prescott Rodeo grounds. Please come by the Ecosa studio at 6pm tomorrow to watch the next presentation!

Prescott Rodeo Grounds progress

Today marks one week until the final presentations for Ecosa Spring 2011. These eight students have worked so hard for these past four months, and their design skills have come a long, long way. Next week the students will present their final concepts for the vocational school and “learning village” in Ghana, and their final plan for a mixed-use development at the Prescott Rodeo Grounds. Today, Christobal Valencia presented the groups’ progress on the Rodeo Grounds.

To the Prescott Rodeo Grounds, a space active typically only once a year, the students are trying to bring more excitement, commercial buzz, and a space for the cowboy culture of Prescott to thrive. Their plan is to incorporate a conference center and hotels, shops, biking trails, a playground, and an outdoor theater.



Tony Brown and Tom Hahn helped the students brainstorm which concepts need to be elaborated upon to carry the excitement throughout the site.

If any of our readers are in Prescott, please attend any of our events next week!

Ghana final presentation: Tuesday, May 3rd | 6pm-8pm
Prescott Rodeo final presentation: Thursday, May 5th | 6pm-8pm
Spring 2011 graduation: Friday, May 6th | 6pm-8pm