KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AT OREGON APA CONFERENCE
Place It!'s James Rojas and Prairieform's John Kamp will be the keynote speakers at this year's Oregon State APA Conference, discussing how hands-on and sensory-based community engagement can radically change outcomes for the better in urban planning projects. We will also be leading a hands-on model-building workshop to demonstrate one of our engagement methods, and will be the guests at the APA Book Group's conference gathering, where they will be discussion our book, DREAM PLAY BUILD. Conference dates: October 16 - 18, 2024.
HANDS-ON MODEL-BUILDING WORKSHOPS IN COLORADO
Along with James Rojas of Place It!, we will be leading a talk on hands-on and sensory-based methods of community engagement and model-building workshop at this year's Colorado American Planning Association Conference. We will also be leading a talk and hands-on model-building workshop for city staff of the City of Greeley. All welcome to attend the American Planning Association Workshop. Conference dates: October 2 - 4, 2024.
TALK AND HANDS-ON WORKSHOP AT CALIFORNIA MAIN STREET CONFERENCE 2024
Along with James Rojas of Place It!, we will be giving a presentation on hands-on and sensory-based methods of community engagement, and then will be leading participants through a hands-on model-building workshop at this year's California Main Street Conference, September 16 - 18, 2024, in Eureka, CA. All welcome.
DREAM PLAY BUILD TRAINING IN ARIZONA
Sponsored by the Mohave County Cooperative Extension of the Univeristyy of Arizona, we will be co-leading leading a morning training on hands-on and sensory-based methods of engagement in urban planning, design, landscape, public health, and beyond. Event to be held in Kingman, AZ, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on September 10, 2024. All welcome.
DREAM PLAY BUILD TRAINING AT NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL GATHERING
Along with James Rojas of Place It!, we will be leading two trainings on hands-on and sensory-based methods of engagement that can level the playing field in the creation of new park spaces, the retrofitting of existing ones, and improving access for all to our nation's wild spaces and places big and small. Event open to National Park Service employees only.
DREAM PLAY BUILD TRAINING AT THIS YEAR'S IAP2 SKILLS SYMPOSIUM
Along with James Rojas of Place It!, we will be leading a day-long training on hands-on and sensory-based methods of engagement in urban planning, design, landscape, public health, and beyond at this year's IAP2 Skills Symposium, which will be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota. All welcome.
FROG PARK CLIMATESCAPE PHASE 1 COMPLETED AND IN FULL BLOOM
Come visit the Frog Park Climatescape and see all of the glorious plants from mediterranean climate zones of the world in full bloom. The project is located in Oakland, CA, at the Hudson Street entrance of FROG Park (between Claremont and Miles Avenues). Now we're working on Phase 2 of the project. For more info on what's coming next, click below.
BUILD YOUR DREAM FRONT-YARD PLAZA
Together with Place It!'s James Rojas, we will be leading a model-building workshop at this year's Culture Fest at the Ontario Museum of History and Art. In the workshop you will be able to design and build your dream front-yard plaza. Come one, come all.
HANDS-ON MODEL-BUILDING WORKSHOP TO KICK OFF EAST LANSING'S COMPRENSHIVE PLAN UPDATE
Together with Place It!'s James Rojas, and sponsored by the City of East Lansing and the National Charette Institute, we will be leading a hands-on model-building workshop to kick of the City of East Lansing's Comprehensive Plan Update process. Come build the East Lansing of your dreams. Event to be held on April 12, 2024. Time TBD.
DREAM PLAY BUILD BOOK TALK AND HANDS-ON WORKSHOP AT MICHIGAN STATE AND THE NATIONAL CHARETTE INSTITUTE
Together with Place It!'s James Rojas, we will be giving a book talk on Dream Play Build and leading a hands-on workshop at the National Charette Institute at Michigan State University. You will be able to use your hands and senses to design and build the neighborhood of your dreams. Event to be held on April 10. Time TBD.
HANDS-ON WORKSHOP AT THE ANNUAL CERF CONFERENCE
At this year's Community Economic Resilience Fund conference we will be co-leading a hands-on model-building workshop on how to create a more climate-resilient Central Valley and how to create a more circular and regenerative economy for the region. The workshop will be held on January 31.
HANDS-ON WORKSHOP ON THE FUTURE OF ELEPHANT HILL
On January 18, 2024, we will be co-leading a hands-on model-building workshop on the future of Elephant Hill in Los Angeles. The outcomes of the workshop will be used to not only shape the future of this valuable but fragile open space but also offer inspiration for music that will be performed on site later in the year on May 11.
SENSORY-BASED WALKING-TOUR TRAINING IN YUMA
On Thursday, November 9th, we will be leading a hands-on training on how to design and lead your own sesnory-based walking tours as tool for community engagement in creating better, healthier places. Event sponsored by the Yuma County Health Services District and AZ Health Zone.
CO-LEADING ANNUAL SAM FOX DESIGN STUDIO ON INFORMALITY AT WASH U
James Rojas of Place It! and John Kamp of Praireiform will be co-leading the Sam Fox School of Design's annual design intensive on informality at Washington University in Saint Louis. We will kick the studio off with a lecture open to all students and the public on October 26th in the evening.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS AT THE 2023 PENNSYLVANIA APA CONFERENCE
Place It!'s James Rojas and Prairieform's John Kamp will be the keynote speakers at this year's Pennsylvania State APA Conference, discussing how hands-on and sensory-based community engagement can radically change outcomes for the better in urban planning projects. The conference will be held in Scranton, PA; keynote held on Tuesday, October 17.
FROG PARK CLIMATESCAPE
Our first model-building -> design -> build project, the Frog Park Climatescape will be a celebration of the mediterranean climate zones of the world while also offering up a landscape solution to climate change and creating a beautiful new addition to Frog Park in Oakland, CA. The hands-on workshop for the landscape took place in July, design has now been complated, and we will be installing the project in late September. You can follow the project via the hashtag #frogparkclimatescape.
DREAM PLAY BUILD AT THE 2023 CALIFORNIA APA CONFERENCE
Along with James Rojas, we will be leading a workshop and talk at this year's California APA conference on hands-on and sensory-based community engagement and how it can radically change outcomes for the better in planning, design, transportation, and community development projects.
ENGAGING PEOPLE IN ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE THROUGH THEIR HANDS AND SENSES
On June 21 at the Downtown Anaheim Community Center, James Rojas of Place It! and John Kamp of Prairieform will be leading a training on how to engage everyday residents in environmental justice through their hands and senses. AICIP credits offered. Sponsored by the American Planning Association - Orange Section.
DREAM PLAY BUILD BOOK TALK AND HANDS-ON WORKSHOP AT UCLA
On June 11 at 3:30 p.m., we will be leading a book talk and hands-on model-building workshop at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. All current UCLA Luskin students and alumni are welcome to attend. For more details, click on the link below.
HANDS-ON WORKSHOP ON SEATTLE'S EASTSIDE
On May 3 at 3:00 p.m., James Rojas of Place It! and John Kamp of Prairieform will be leading a hands-on workshop hosted by Eastside for All that involves community members and government officials alike in dreaming up and building a better eastside for all. Please email Eastside for All for details.
TRACKS TO BUILD TO @ SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST
As part of South By Southwest 2023, we will be doing a tracks-to-build-to event that merges live DJing with a hands-on model-building workshop. We will be building models of our ideal Austin for all, set to bumpin' tunes by Johnnycakes (aka John Kamp) and guest local DJs. Co-led with James Rojas, sponsored by VibeLab, German Haus, and DWIH.
BOOK TALK AND HANDS-ON MODEL-BUILDING WORKSHOP AT PYATOK ARCHITECTURE + URBAN DESIGN
Together with James Rojas we will be giving a book talk on Dream Play Build and leading a hands-on model-building workshop at Pyatok Architecture + Urban Design in Oakland, California, on February 2 @ 4:30 p.m.
TALK FOR THE NY STATE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH ON HANDS-ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
On January 24, we will be giving a talk for the New York State Department of Health's annaual convening on creating healthy schools and communities. Specifically, we will be talking about methods of engaging people through their hands and senses to create better streets for walking and rolling.
TRAINING ON HANDS-ON METHODS OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AT MSR DESIGN
We will be co-leading a training for MSR Design staff on how to engage people through their hands and senses in architecture and urban design projects to reach more diverse audiences and generate more creative and meaningful outcomes. The training will be held on December 21 at the MSR studio in Minneapolis @ 4:30 p.m.
DREAM PLAY BUILD BOOK TALK AND HANDS-ON WORKSHOP AT RIOS LOS ANGELES
Along with James Rojas we will be giving a book talk and leading a hands-on model-building workshop at Rios Los Angeles on December 1, 2022 @ NOON.
PLANETIZEN NAMES DREAM PLAY BUILD ONE OF THE BEST URBAN PLANNING BOOKS OF 2022
We are obviously thrilled that Planetizen has included Dream Play Build in its run-down of the best urban planning books of 2022. If you would like to see the complete list and read what they have to say about Dream Play Build, click below.
THE CITY OF TEMPE, PLACE IT!, PRAIRIEFORM, AND THE LEGOLAND DISCOVERY CENTER
On October 27 at 6:00 p.m., John Kamp of Prairieform and James Rojas of Place It!, along with City of Tempe Staff, will be leading a hands-on model-building workshop at the Legoland Discovery Center in Tempe in which residents will be dreaming up and building their ideal Tempe. The event will kick of the City's creation of its new general plan, Tempe Tomorrow: General Plan 2050. All welcome.
WALKTOBER 2022: IMPROVING PEDESTRIAN INFRASTRUCTURE IN UNDERSERVED NEIGHBORHOODS
On October 13, at 10:30 a.m. EST, John Kamp and James Rojas, along with Anna Ziwarts and Christina Jang, will be speaking on how hands-on community engagement can create opportunities for those historically left out of urban planning processes to design and build more walkable communities. All welcome. Sponsored by Smart Growth America, the State of Maryland, and the Maryland Department of Planning.
DREAM PLAY BUILD BOOK TALK AND WORKSHOP AT CALIFORNIA APA 2022
On October 3, 2022, John Kamp and James Rojas will be giving a talk on their recent book, Dream Play Build, and leading folks though a hands-on model-building workshop at this year's California American Planning Association Conference, to be held in Anaheim, CA.
DREAM PLAY BUILD BOOK TALK AND WORKSHOP
On July 2 at 2:00 p.m., John Kamp and James Rojas will be giving a talk on their recent book, Dream Play Build, and leading folks though a hands-on model-building workshop. The event will be held at the Rockridge Public Library in Oakland, California. All welcome.
HANDS-ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TRAINING
On July 27, the Yuma County Public Health Services District will be hosting a training with James Rojas of Place It! and John Kamp of Prairieform. Kamp and Rojas will be leading participants in how to engage diverse audiences in urban planning, public health, and transportation. The training will run from 9:00 a.m.to 12:30 p.m. If you are interested in attending, please click below.
TRACKS TO BUILD TO AT EXPLORATORIUM AFTER DARK
As part of the Exploratorium's After Dark series, John Kamp and James Rojas will be creating a multimedia installation of sound, video, and an interactive model of Market Street. Called Tracks to Build to, the installation and its components are designed to get participants into a flow state in which they can then be creative and expansive in their thinking about what a future Market Street could look like. Live DJ set by Johnnycakes.
DREAM PLAY BUILD REVIEWED IN THE JOURNAL OF AMERICAN PLANNING
A measured and thoughtful review of our new book, Dream Play Build: Hands-on community engagement for enduring spaces and places, in the Journal of American Planning.
OUR NEW VIDEO FOR HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF GREATER LOS ANGELES
Our zippy latest video for Habitat for Humanity on our hands-on community engagement work with the residents of the Washington Neighborhood of Long Beach.
SPEAKING AT THE CALIFORNIA LAND RECYCLING CONFERENCE
John Kamp and James Rojas will be leading a talk at the California Land Recylcing Conference 2022 on engaging people through their hands and senses in the land and cities.
DREAM PLAY BUILD AT UC - IRVINE
John Kamp and James Rojas will be leading a presentation on their hands-on and sensory-based engagement and design work, and on their recent book, Dream Play Build, on April 21 @ 6:00 p.m. on the UC - Irvine Campus, SBSG1517. All welcome.
POP-UP MODEL AT THE GREEN BUILDING CONFERENCE IN LOS ANGELES
As part of this year's US Green Building Council Conference in Los Angeles, we will be building an interactive model called Zanja Figueroa. The model will include both the historic route of the Zanja Madre (the waterway that originally made LA possible) along with the existing streets that run through the present-day Figueroa Corridor. With small buildings and found objects provided, participants will be able to completely reimagine the space, designing their own creative ideas for how to bring both water and life back to the Corridor and bring it into the 21st century.
REIMAGINING THE POMONA FAIRPLEX
The Pomona Fairplex is in the midst of a total rethink. A site that is made up of almost 80% asphalt, the Fairplex is set to become a radically transformed space for the 21st century: public open space, habitat, housing, and, of course, the historic Fairplex itself. And this is where you come in: we will be leading a hands-on model building workshop with James Rojas on your creative ideas for a reimagined fairplex. To be held at the Miller Sheets Art Center within the Fairplex Grounds on May 19 at 11:00 a.m. Project created in collaboration with the Pomona Fairplex, Sheppard Mullin, and agency : artifact.
SPEAKING AT THE BAY AREA BOOK FESTIVAL
Prairieform's John Kamp will be speaking at the Bay Area Book Festival on how engaging people through their hands and senses can radically change outcomes in urban planning and lead to better cities for all. The panel also includes Majora Carter and Mitchell Schwarzer and will be moderated by Alexis Madrigal. In person, all welcome.
WANT LESS POLARIZATION? STOP TALKING AND START BUILDING
Our article in Planetizen on how engaging people through their hands and senses can radically quell and calm the political polarization that has become a hallmark of our times.
BUILDING THE NATURE CITY, AT THE HELMS DESIGN CENTER
In honor of Earth Day, and as part of the Helms Design Center's Seeding the City event, we will be leading a sensory-based scavenger hunt and presenting an interactive pop-up model of the District called Building the Nature City. You will be able to collect sensory impressions of the nature that exists within the district and then come back to the model and build a Helms Bakery District with even more nature in it.
TALK AND DISCUSSION ON DREAM PLAY BUILD AT THE HELMS DESIGN CENTER
John Kamp and James Rojas will be leading a presentation on their hands-on and sensory-based engagement and design work, and on their recent book, Dream Play Build, at the Helms Design Center on April 21 @ 6:30 p.m. All welcome. Panel discussion moderated by Frances Anderton.
OUR ARTICLE IN FAST COMPANY
Fast Company has featured an excerpt from our book, Dream Play Build, that explores how community engagement needs to be radically rethought so that the central media of engagement are the hands and senses, not talking.
DREAM PLAY BUILD AT SAN FRANCISCO SPUR
On April 4 at 12:30 p.m., Prairieform's John Kamp and Place It!'s James Rojas will be leading an in-person talk at SF SPUR on their recent book, Dream Play Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places. Following the short talk will be a hands-on model-building activity in which folks will build models of a post-pandemic downtown San Francisco. All welcome.
JOHN KAMP GIVING TALK ON DREAM PLAY BUILD FOR QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY BELFAST
On March 15, the Planning School at Queen's University Belfast will be hosting a talk with Prairieform's John Kamp on his new book with James Rojas, Dream Play Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places. Event will be held online, so all welcome. Click below to register.
HANDS-ON WORKSHOP AND BOOK TALK ON DREAM PLAY BUILD AT THE MACHINALOCI SPACE
On March 5, John Kamp and James Rojas will be leading an in-person hands-on model-building workshop in honor of the release of their new book out now on Island Press, Dream Play Build. Following the workshop will be a discussion of the book moderated by artist and architect Carol Mancke of the machinaloci space.
DREAM PLAY BUILD WEBINAR WITH AMERICA WALKS
On March 2, America Walks will be hosting a talk with Prairieform's John Kamp and Place It!'s James Rojas on their newly released book for Island Press, Dream Play Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places. All welcome. Click below to register.
DREAM PLAY BUILD WEBINAR FOR THE SMART GROWTH NETWORK
On February 25, the Smart Growth Network will be hosting a talk with Prairieform's John Kamp and Place It!'s James Rojas on their newly released book for Island Press, Dream Play Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places. All welcome. Click below to register.
DREAM PLAY BUILD AT ASU
On February 8, Arizona State University's Global Institute on Sustainability and Innovation will be hosting a talk with Prairieform's John Kamp and Place It!'s James Rojas on their upcoming book for Island Press, Dream Play Build: Hands-On Community Engagement for Enduring Spaces and Places. The talk will be moderated by Deirdre Pfeiffer, associate professor in the ASU School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning. All welcome. Click below to register.
63rd STREET WALKABOUT
On December 11 at 1:00 p.m., join us for a sensory-based walkabout along 63rd Street, which we will explore from end to end as it travels through Oakland, Berkeley, and Emeryville. One group will start at its eastern end and another will start at its western end. We will then walk toward the machinaloci space (1721 63rd Street), where we will converge for a site-exploration exercise and a model-building activity in which we will use found objects redesign 63rd Street.
LSE CITIES SEMINAR
As part of the LSECities Research Series, we will be co-leading a seminar with James Rojas on how we engage people through their hands and senses in landscape, urban planning, and design. The event will be virtual, so anyone anywhere can attend. November 18, 5:00 - 6:00 P.M. GMT.
PRE-ORDER DREAM PLAY BUILD!
Our book, Dream Play Build, co-written with James Rojas, will be coming out in February of 2022 through Island Press. The book explores the work we have done over the past 15 years on engaging people through their hands and senses in urban planning, landscape, transportation, and architecture.
MAXIMUM WALK AND ROLL VIDEO
Check out our newest video for the National Safe Routes Partnership on how you can engage people of all ages in creating more walkable and rollable routes to school. Called Maximum Walk and Roll, the video is a zippy and engaging ride.
PLAZA PROTOTYPING EVENT
As part of our ongoing work with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles and the Washington Neighorhood of Long Beach, we will be prototyping a potential new plaza in real time and space on July 31 at 14th and Cedar in Long Beach. Bring your creative mind and get ready to build a plaza. We'll have trees, furniture, rugs, and other assorted elements for designing the plaza of your dreams. Project generously funded by the Southern California Association of Governments GoHuman grant.
SPEAKING AT LABASH AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY
We will be speaking with James Rojas at the upcoming landscape conference LABASH at Cornell University on engaging everyday folks in landscape and urban planning through their hands and senses. The event will include both an overview of our recent work and an interactive model-building activity in which people can experience first-hand the kinds of hands-on engagement work we do.
CREATING SWOON-WORTHY LANDSCAPES WITHOUT IRRIGATION
We'll be leading a workshop on March 25 how you can create beautiful and thriving landscapes and gardens without irrigation. It will build off of research and monitoring we have done for the past 10 years on the irrigation-free landscapes we've created. The workshop will be over Zoom, so anyone can join!
HANDS-ON SAFE ROUTES
We will be co-leading a training with James Rojas of Place It! on hands-on ways of engaging youth, teachers, and everyday people in how to create streets that are safe and fun for walking and biking. We have also created a visually poppy companion guide and video to go along with the training.
A VIRTUAL WALKING TOUR
Check out the virtual walking tour we created for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles as part of their new initiative of engaging everyday residents in urban planning and the shaping of their neighborhoods. Because of shelter-in-place restructions, we couldn't do an in-person tour, so instead we had folks go out into their neighborhood, explore the spaces and places they love, and take videos of themselves telling us why they love them. These videos then became the stopping points along a virtual video tour, which we all took online, and which we then followed with a model-building exercise in which people built their ideal Washington Neighborhood.
BUILDING AND SITE DESIGN FOR IRRIGATION-FREE LANDSCAPES
We will be leading a workshop on building and site design for irrigation-free landscapes for the AIA East Bay on November 5. The workshop will explore data collected from two irrigation-free landscapes we have done and what those data mean for how we design buildings and sites.
ARE OUR FAVORITE CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF SCREENS?
To find out, check out our article on Common Edge on what we found when we asked students at Soka University of America to build their favorite childhood memories and ideal cities.
BUTTERFLY REDUX
Dubbed the #ButterflyRedux, this new landscape project serves as both an ornamental landscape and multi-pronged science and environmental psychology experiment. The US outpost for UK landscape writer Noel Kingsbury's ongoing research project on dense plantings called "Competition Time," the project doubles as an exploration into techniques for giving structure to habitat gardens so that humans perceive the spaces as intentional and not as weed beds.
BRINGING IN THE BEES
A new Prairieform video exploring tips and tricks for making your landscape a haven for both you and the bees. As always, plucky delivery, choice landscape and wildlife shots, and bee-related trivia that will wow your friends and family. Along the way, you might even learn some Swedish. Men asså!
SPEAKING AT THE 2019 GREEN CALIFORNIA SCHOOLS SUMMIT
Together with the Great Sunflower Project's Trena Noval, we will be giving a talk at this year's Green California Schools Summit on innovative ways of making topics surrounding the land, water, and pollinators relevant to an increasingly diverse 21st-century student body.
CREATING BETTER AND SHARED BIKE/PED SPACES THROUGH OUR HANDS AND SENSES
We have written an article with Place It!'s James Rojas on our community-engagement work with the City of Palo Alto on rethinking shared bike/ped spaces. The article explores how non-traditional means of engagement can both build bridges and generate creative and meaningful ideas for and paths toward more sustainable cities.
WINDMILLS ON MARKET: DOING MORE MEANINGFUL COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ON WALKABILITY AND TRANSPORTATION
Building off of our interactive workshop with Walk SF, James Rojas of Place It! and John Kamp of Prairieform have written an article for StreetsBlog SF exploring how engaging people through their hands and senses in transportation design and walkability can radically change outcomes for the better..
LEADING HANDS-ON TRANSIT-DESIGN WORKSHOP AT SPUR TRANSIT + DESIGN CONFERENCE
Along with Alta Planning's Beth Martin, we will be leading a hands-on workshop on how moving people away from merely talking about the kinds of transit systems they want to see and toward ways of rethinking transit by way of model-building with found objects can radically change outcomes in the process. Working with out hands can level the playing field, inviting diverse audiences into the process while also allowing for the kind of creative thinking we need to retrofit and build better transit systems and stations.
APA CONFERENCE WORKSHOP ON THE RETHINKING THE AMERICAN FRONT YARD
Together with Place It!'s James Rojas, and Jennifer Ly from the City of Long Beach, we will be giving a talk at this year's California APA Conference in Santa Barbara on the history of the American front yard and how it is changing because of both immigration and climate change. We will explore two key projects, Irrigation-Free Minnesota and Irrigation-Free Oakland, that have involved transforming front yards into ornamental landscapes that double as spaces for learning and data-collection on the actual water needs of plants.