How can we achieve excellence in design collaborations? Cultivating social trust, organizing logistical aspects, supporting information flow are essential to any community effort. The need for ownership makes artistic collaborations different from others. The pitfalls of ego competition can be avoided by appropriate team size, task organization and fallback options. To negotiate design priorities, team members must use critical thinking. This presentation illustrates techniques for team-building with examples from my University of Oregon design studios focused on intentional communities. While the examples come from architectural design, the lessons are applicable to many types of collaboration that involve shared information about complex problems.

2. Introduction Rekindling community Designers lead problem-solvers Studio Context & Description

8. Ecological Agenda Melting globe from Chattahbox.com

11. Where are Cohousing Communities? 2008 survey by Betsy Morris, Ph.D., Coho/U.S.

12. Chronology

14. Case Studies focus on an aspect of community

15. Case Study : danish cohousing organization

16. Setting the stage Connecting to a larger community Using local resources

17. Learn from local communties: Maitreya Ecovillage, Eugene, OR

18. Creative building experiments: Maitreya Ecovillage, Eugene, OR

20. Experiencing building experiments: Lost Valley, Dexter, OR

22. Connecting to a Larger Community : Corvallis Coho Ecovillage Joy Rackley’s Corvallis Cohousing Spring 2005

23. Oregon – Terminal Studio Community Design

24. Connecting to a Larger Community : can later visit real project

25. Orchestrating Group Process Fostering Trust Team size Multiple interaction models Complimenting, compensating for others Leadership

28. Team size

29. Multiple interaction models -William Caudill, Architecture by Team

35. Communication Technology Digital advantage for group workflow Interactive Assessment

39. Wiki Example

40. Digital graphics present a united front By Ady Leverette, Peter Siu-kau Lo & Sienna Hill

41. Site Plan & Diagrams By Ady Leverette, Peter Siu-kau Lo & Sienna Hill

43. Scope increased for intermediate students By Dan Roll, Brent Stuntzner, Kaelee Pearson, Erik Bischoff and Erin Pearce

46. Connecting to a larger community : Exhibit Poster design by Tuan Vu

47. Iterations Develop a Common Aesthetic By Adam Franch, Trang Nguyen, & Tommy White

48. Digital Presentation By Adam Franch, Trang Nguyen, & Tommy White

49. Challenging each other By Adam Franch, Trang Nguyen, & Tommy White

50. Digital-Physical mix By Adam Franch, Trang Nguyen, & Tommy White

51. Connecting to a larger community : Projects for Real People Brendan Soens presenting

52. Interactive Assessment Set performance standards Interactive Feedback

54. Each Phase has summary and reflections By Kayla Nelson

58. Conclusions & Next Steps

59. Positive Aspects of Group Studios 8 of 13 course evaluations said collaboration was a valuable challenge (16 in Fall ’07 class)

60. Challenges of Group Studios & Coping Tactics 6 of 13 students said production expectations were too high but 4 balanced that with comments like “ I worked hard but I feel I accomplished a lot!”