(Re)designing Innovation Alley: fostering civic living and learning through visual rhetoric and urban design. Issue 2 (2nd April 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gries, Laurie; Watson, Blake; Kalin, Jason P.; Pratt, Jaqui; Dighton, Desiree
• Is Part Of: Review of communication. Volume 20:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: 170
• Page End: 177
• Publication Date: 2020-04-02
• Subjects: Visual rhetoric -- urban design -- civic innovation -- community engagement -- convivial spaces; Communication -- Periodicals; 302.2
• DOI: 10.1080/15358593.2020.1737190
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1535-8593

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In this article, we draw on our experiences codesigning a Google SketchUp model of the University of Nevada, Reno's Innovation Alley to show how visual rhetoricians can help cocreate convivial spaces on college campuses for civic living and learning. The ideal beauty of convivial spaces is that they welcome diverse bodies and leverage encounters of difference to cultivate empathy, learning, and collective vision for the benefit of all citizens. Through our design of Innovation Alley, we show how visual design can foreground the values of democratic living and carve out spaces on college campuses for community engagement, social entrepreneurship, and student partnerships. Ultimately, and especially as more and more universities put the coded values of growth, development, and innovation at the forefront of campus planning, we advocate for more collective public work in visual rhetoric and urban design.