Bickerdike Redevelopment Hosts Chicago's First Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellow

Citing their track record and integrated approach to creating high quality developments and making deep investments in community empowerment, the Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship selected Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation as its first host organization in Chicago.

Bickerdike is an ideal place for an Enterprise Rose Fellow, according to Katie Swenson, senior director of the Fellowship. “We look for organizations with a commitment to excellence in design and sustainable building principles, as well as meaningful community engagement in design and planning,” Swenson said. “Bickerdike is a fantastic fit.”

Daniel Splaingard, Chicago's first Enterprise Rose Fellow, with Joy Aruguete, executive director of Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation.

Daniel Splaingard, the Fellow placed at Bickerdike, will spend the next three years helping create community-driven solutions that meet the three core principles of the Fellowship criteria: participatory planning, holistic design and green building.

Splaingard, trained as an architect at Auburn University and its famed Rural Studio in Alabama, hopes to connect sustainable architecture with community projects, bridging the worlds of design, development and construction, always with an eye on community needs.

“We live in a global design world,” said Splaingard. “It’s important to stay focused on being a community member – on being an active citizen.”

This story first appeared in the Winter 2010 edition of Working Capital, the newsletter of the LISC/Chicago. To see this issue and back issues, please click here.