the inaugural : student-led : professionally reviewed : student journal

The Problem

Insufficient outlets exist for professional review, publication and dissemination of submitted student work.

Following the re-emergence of our Student ASLA chapter in Fall 2009, we challenged ourselves to produce a journal that was unlike any other academic/design journal – one entirely organized by and for students – that seeks interdisciplinary and intercollegiate participation.

A professional jury reviewed, student produced journal, exclusively presenting student work, SHIFT:infrastructure

The selected student entries look at infrastructure from diverse perspectives and reflect a broad geographical range - from south Texas, to India and the far reaches of Siberia.

The students represent five different universities

Cover image

Series of charettes for : the call, the look, public relations, the jury, our audience/communication

We recruited 5 leading practitioners & thinkers

Hill, Hou, Johnson, Kulash, Wenk

The Call

 “Infrastructure is the enabling foundation of contemporary civilization, evolving over centuries to meet society's ever-changing needs. Disturbing trends suggest societal needs are increasingly outpacing the capacity of our existing infrastructure strategies and available technologies. This moment in history demands a reconsideration of the conventional, centralized, and technocratic practice of orthodox infrastructure that has subjugated ecological systems and neglected social interconnectedness. 

Initiatives such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 have invested hundreds of billions of dollars into U.S. infrastructure improvements but these funds are being directed largely towards "shovel-ready" improvements to antiquated infrastructure systems. Some of these improvements are indeed necessary, but they are merely short-term solutions. A SHIFT towards a new, integrated approach to infrastructure design and management is imperative. How this needed paradigm shift occurs will depend on creative decision-making and powerful collective efforts led by designers, planners, and communities at every level. This emerging framework of infrastructure must prioritize the quality and health of human experience while operating symbiotically within its ecological context. Rather than adhering to the rigid and deterministic models of the past, this new model must become a reflexive process that adapts temporally and spatially across diverse contexts and scales. 

The inaugural issue, SHIFT: Infrastructure will focus on issues that surround emerging infrastructure, and provide an opportunity to re-think our approach to confronting their many challenges. Our aim is to broaden the traditional notion of infrastructure to include areas such as culture, ecology, and economy, and incorporate differing levels of time, context, and scale; from rural to urban, from local to global, from immediate to imagined. How can the evolution of infrastructure be managed to maximize human and environmental health? How can integrated design approaches develop synergies among infrastructural systems that promote social equity, ecological resiliency, and economic prosperity?”

We used a variety of internet outlets and design colleges to advertise the call. Civil Engineering and Natural Resource programs were also targeted.

*the new call, SHIFT: process is already up on the site

We used an open-sourced journal system framework, hosted on campus servers to facilitate submissions, inquiries and the blind juried review

The Result

SHIFT: infrastructure

Significance The papers call for more personal, even spiritual connections

between the built and natural systems that support all life.

Collectively, they represent insightful student investigations into the underlying shortcomings of existing landscape infrastructural systems.

Individually, they remind us that designs rooted in lessons learned from the past and executed with forward-thought in the present might potentially deliver a more socially rich and ecologically sound future.

They present a common vision for a future in which landscape architects increasingly engage communities as cogent collaborators seeking to engender a legacy of social and ecological connectivity.

Post publication, editorial articles were written on popular blogs to initiate dialogue about the journal and articles contained in the inaugural publication

SHIFT:blog, a sister publication Daily communication

platform for all topics related to Landscape Architecture

Extends SHIFT: as a brand of the student ASLA for our department/school

Supports, promotes, and sells the student journal

We promote the journal at various community, school and academic events

Copies are currently being delivered to design libraries across the U.S.

*seen here, a monthly student run art gallery

Submissions are currently being accepted for our second issue, SHIFT:process

Sustainable funding mechanisms are being developed

Closing

integration