Annual Gatherings

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1st Annual Gathering

Like many of you, Pomegranate Center understands that the built environment shapes our communities, and that social vitality thrives where there is good design. Our mission, in fact, is to help create places where vitality and design merge, through community-built gathering places. In every project we work to unfold the design potential, to facilitate meaningful public participation, and to use sustainable materials. While we discover unique possibilities within each place and community, we must also navigate through a maze of challenges and opportunities…

Pomegranate Center’s 1st Annual Gathering was an opportunity to…

  • Participate in an interdisciplinary forum with like-minded peers and colleagues;
  • Participate in interactive small-group exchanges and see presentations about success stories;
  • Explore the relationship between design and social vitality, seeking to identify what we do know (and how to replicate it), what we don’t know, and what lies ahead…

To set the tone for our dialogue, we had a series of presentations led by:

  • Sharon Parks - Whidbey Institute
  • Milenko Matanovic - Pomegranate Center’s Executive Director
  • Ron Sher - Third Place Books, Elliot Bay Books, Crossroads Shopping Center
  • Mark Hinshaw - LMN Architects, Associate Director of Urban Design, The Seattle Times
  • Kathi Lightstone - Storyteller
  • James Hubbell - Artist/Designer
  • Tom Phillips - Program Manager, High Point Neighborhood/Seattle Housing Authority
  • Art Sullivan - Program Manager, ARCH
  • Paul Olson - Architect, Jones & Jones
  • Jim Diers - Interim Director of the Delridge Neighborhood Development Association and past Director of the Department of Neighborhoods for the City of Seattle
  • Susan Schwartzenberg - Artist

In order to preserve the dialogue, graphic recorder Tim Corey beautifully captured the day:

Sharon Parks: Necessity of the Commons

Milenko Matanovic: Pomegranate Center - Lessons Learned

Ron Sher and Mark Hinshaw: Gathering Places & Community Spaces

Kathi Lightstone and James Hubbell: Pushing Art Into Life

Tom Phillips, Art Sullivan, and Paul Olson: The Role of Planning and Public Participation in Achieving Social Vitality: Part I

Jim Diers and Susan Schwartzenberg: The Role of Planning and Public Participation in Achieving Social Vitality: Part II

2nd Annual Gathering

Built environments shape how people interact. Social vitality thrives where there is good design. Pomegranate Center’s mission is to create gathering places where vitality and design merge: we include people in the entire process, utilize sustainable materials, and develop designs that rise from the site’s unique conditions. We have learned a lot, yet we still have a lot to learn. Through working with city governments, agencies, design professionals, environmentalists, educators, and community members, we have discovered that they, too, are involved in a similar learning process. The 2nd Annual Gathering’s goal was to foster our collective learning. Building on collective knowledge, this day-long workshop focused on the exploration the community-built gathering places through the review of two case studies, and, in the afternoon, participatory small group work to apply our collective experience to the creation of real projects.

Presenters included:

  • Jenny Leis, Co-Director of the City Repair Project in Portland, OR
  • Steve Badanes, Professor of Design/Built Program at UW
  • Joyce Moty, Bradner Gardens Coordinator and community activist
  • Milenko Matanovic, Pomegranate Center’s founder and director

In order to preserve the dialogue, graphic recorder Tim Corey beautifully captured the day:

Milenko Matanovic: Pomegranate Center’s 7-fold Gathering Place Model

Joyce Moty and Steve Badanes: Bradner Gardens

Jenny Leis: The City Repair Project

Introduction to Possible Projects

Lessons Applied: Final Reports on Projects

This event was sponsored by Safeco, Seattle Public Utilities, City of Issaquah, City of Seattle Department of Planning and Development, King County Housing Authority, and Port Blakely Communities, and endorsed by OPAL Community Land Trust and Whidbey Institute – Leadership for the New Commons. Thank you!!