Clockwise from top left: Corbin Levi, Daniel Gruen and Peter Corbett were part of the Redesign DC forum Monday night at Cobalt. (Luis Gomez Photos)
From Jana Petersen
What happens when you create a forum for people to discuss urban development in our D.C. neighborhood? Well, you’d expect an eclectic group of varying backgrounds – from entrepreneurs, invested community members, professors and bicycle fanatics to farmers’ market junkies, graphic designers and avid Greater Greater Washington readers.
Parley, a creative collaborative and “loose” group of designers, artists, thinkers and activists who share an interest in making the District “more awesome,” hosted Redesign_DC with the goal of bringing people together to discuss D.C.’s challenges and how we as community-members can address these challenges. None of us is as strong as all of us, especially when it comes to creative thinking and idea-sharing …
With that in mind, mission accomplished. In the dimly lit third-floor space of Cobalt (17th and R NW), a group of about 30 people gathered Monday night at 8 pm — listeners and speakers alike — who were just as eager to share their passions and careers in this space as they were to hear what others are doing. Parley was careful to give each speaker 10 minutes only to blitz the audience with graphics, video, or a PowerPoint presentation of one design challenge or one facet of urban development.
The Takeaways
Though I did not leave with a panacea for D.C.’s development woes — nor a final verdict around the Metro redesign, sad to report – I did leave with some intriguing insights and ideas.
