Lawrence Technological University will co-host the 15th annual Structures for Inclusion (SFI) Conference April 11-12, 2015, in Detroit. The conference will bring together the best ideas and practices for reaching those segments of society currently underserved by architecture.
The annual conference will feature the best public interest design from around the globe, including the winners of the Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED) competition.
“Resilience of Mind, Body and Spirit” will be the theme of SFI 15, which will feature projects from Detroit and other resilient cities in search of a new kind of post-industrial world order.
The conference committee at LTU includes Amy Green Deines, associate dean of LTU’s College of Architecture and Design; Scott Shall, chair of the Department of Architecture; Professor Joongsub Kim; and Associate Professor Edward Orlowski.
The other co-host is Design Corps, and information on the event will be posted at designcorps.org/sfi-conference/.
Design Corps was founded in 1991 to create positive change in traditionally underserved communities by using design, advocacy, and education to help them shape their environment and address their social, economic, and environmental challenges. It provides design and planning services through its SEED Network.
Each year Design Corps, in association with a local nonprofit organization or school, hosts the SFI conference to focus attention on design practitioners and projects helping to overcome longstanding challenges in under-resourced communities.
The SFI conferences showcase design efforts that reach out to and serve a diverse clientele. Attendees learn about pathways to pursue alternative community-based work as well as evidence of the impact.
Lawrence Technological University, www.ltu.edu, is a private university founded in 1932 that offers more than 100 programs through the doctoral level in its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, and Management. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation’s top 100 universities for the salaries of its graduates, and highest in the Detroit metropolitan area. Lawrence Tech is also listed in the top tier of Midwestern universities by U.S. News and World Report and the Princeton Review. Students benefit from small class sizes and experienced faculty who provide a real-world, hands-on, “theory and practice” education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech’s 102-acre campus include over 60 student clubs and organizations and a growing roster of NAIA varsity sports.