Media Contacst:
Peter Batchelor, 919/515-8356
Jessica Beil Hindman, 919/656-8789
Chad Austin, News Services, 919/515-3470

Dec. 3, 2003

Design Student Takes Team Approach to Solve Town’s Dilemma

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Participating on an urban design assistance team made Jessica Beil Hindman feel like a kid again, but the experience involved a lot more than just child’s play.

Hindman, a graduate student in architecture at North Carolina State University, was far and away the youngest member of the team of about a dozen seasoned design professionals who spent a week working on a downtown revitalization project in the riverfront town of Kennewick, Wash., this fall. Hindman’s involvement on the project marked the first time a student has been a full-time member of an urban design assistance team.

Urban design assistance teams consist of experts from different disciplines such as architecture, landscape architecture and city planning who are assembled to study and solve a specific design or planning problem in a given community. Since the American Institute of Architects began its urban design assistance program approximately 37 years ago, some 140 teams have been organized to assist various communities across the country.

“These teams consist of professionals, they’re not students,” says Peter Batchelor, professor of architecture and urban design at NC State. “These professionals often have as much as 200 years of combined experience. This is the first time that I know of that a student has ever been appointed as a full team member.”

Batchelor says Hindman’s leadership abilities and skill as a designer made her an ideal team member. Her undergraduate background in civil engineering also complemented her current graduate work in architecture. And although she was the youngest member of the team, Hindman used her age and experience as an asset.

“Here at the College of Design I’m one of the older students, and I can draw on a lot of different experiences,” Hindman says. “But with the team, I was by far the least experienced person there, and my experiences paled in comparison to the other team members. I felt a little bit of pressure, but everyone on the team made it easy for me to contribute. To some of the team members I’m sure it was a relief, because I was that kid who was willing to do whatever was needed to get the job done.”

The team spent a week in Kennewick, Wash., studying and making recommendations for a downtown riverfront revitalization project. The team’s goal was to devise a plan that would allow for development of land along the banks of the Columbia River that has long been buffered from the town by a series of levees designed to control flooding. The team recommended lowering and in some cases breaching the levees to reclaim the waterfront property and reconnect it to the town.

Part of Hindman’s role in the project involved assessing the community’s transportation system and roadways and how that network fit into the overall revitalization efforts. She also assisted in designing and completing several of the maps, drawings and diagrams that team members used to present their recommendations to the citizens during a town meeting.

“Everyone had a different focus area, and then we came back to compile and discuss the ideas,” Hindman says. “The team was composed of such a diverse group of professionals that I tried to work with each person on some level so I could gain experience with each person in their area of expertise.”

Hindman will graduate in December with a master’s degree in architecture. She is considering a career in residential architecture, and would welcome the opportunity to participate on an urban design assistance team again in the future.

“Absolutely, without a doubt,” Hindman says. “In a heartbeat I would do it again.”

- austin -