May 28, 2004
Contact: Ray Ladd
(805) 756-7432; rladd@calpoly.edu
'Visions for Downtown Paso Robles' To Be Featured
At Paso Robles Farmers’ Market June 5
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Cal Poly third-year architecture students will
present “Visions for Downtown Paso Robles: Part Two,” an exhibit
of
drawings and models, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 5, at the Paso
Robles Farmers’ Market at the Park on 11th and 12th streets.
The students have identified buildings and sites in the downtown area
that they believe would be good candidates for mixed-use development,
with lofts and apartments on upper floors for both living and working.
The exhibit incorporates ideas presented at the two earlier Community
Vision Workshops.
Students designed a hotel-conference center, a new city hall, an
artists’ “live-work” housing project, two new spas,
and two new parking
garages. They also explored the possibility of using water and the
existing Sulfur Springs for geothermal power.
The projects were developed as part of the Cal Poly Downtown Studio,
located at San Luis Obispo's Pacific Coast Center. The studio combines
academic instruction with actual community projects in an approach
called community-based service learning.
“One goal of the studio is to provide creative prototypes for addressing
the housing problem and maintaining the downtown ‘soul’ of
small towns,”
said Architecture Professor Alice Mueller. The studio’s off-campus,
downtown location is intended to spark community participation. The
studio also aims to funnel information and creative ideas on housing to
government officials, practicing professionals and community members.
“We challenge students to apply imagination, innovation, sustainable
principles and cutting-edge technology in their housing designs,”
said
Mueller. “The project also seeks to document not only the best examples
of housing design, but ways to adapt old uses to new, to re-use and
preserve old buildings, and to mix different uses in one location.”
The Downtown Studio has received two grants from the Cal Poly Community
Development Initiative, a joint project of the Orfalea College of
Business and the College of Architecture and Environmental Design. Bank
of America provided the funds for the two grants.
Student finalists in the 2002 Stephen O. Anderson Scholarship
Competition also will present their ideas for a San Simeon Earthquake
Memorial.
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(NOTE TO EDITORS: Members of the media are invited to preview the
exhibit at the Cal Poly Downtown Studio from 2-4 p.m. Monday through
Wednesday, May 31-June 2. Call 544-1570 for more information.)