Young designers give Downtown Jacksonville an 'urban facelift'

[fsu813]

Young designers give downtown Jacksonville 'facelift'
Wednesday's ArtWalk serves as a springboard for how to dream.

Members of the Urban Facelift Project drive by derelict downtown buildings every day - and dream.

They want you to do the same.

That's why the grass-roots effort hosted its first-ever event at Wednesday's ArtWalk, a show and competition of computer-created "facelifts" of some downtown buildings. The competition, open to young designers, gave them the chance not just to imagine what could become of downtrodden buildings, but to share it with others.

Greg Beere and Jason Fisher, owners of Content Design Group, founded the Urban Facelift Project and worked with Emerging Design Professionals, a group for young architects and designers, to sponsor the contest. Participants chose of one of four pre-selected downtown buildings, and used a photo of the building to visualize ideas to refresh and renew it.

The winners were selected by professional judges with input from the public. The first 30 visitors to the show during ArtWalk filled out ballots, which played a role in the selection.

Jeremiah Russell, third-place winner and president of EDP, said young designers are excited about urban renewal.

"This is the heart of the city," he said. "We want to keep as much attention as we can on what the core of the city is."

Beere said the idea of "urban sketching" is gathering steam.

"This shows some modernism, some restoration," he said. "It shows business owners that there's a possibility."

As side projects, Beere's company began doing "facelift" renderings for commercial and residential property owners to help them envision inexpensive but high-impact facade remodeling projects - sometimes as simple as new paint shades, awning and landscaping. One of the most visible is at 53 Union St., where the property is being painted and improved on the outside.

Beere said that such sketches could help drive improvements in the urban core.

"We can talk until we're blue in the face," he said. "Why don't we show people what it could be?"

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-12-04/story/young_designers_give_downtown_jacksonville_facelift

[thelakelander]

Here are some images from the facelift competition.

http://www.contentdg.com/images-from-the-urban-facelift-competition/

[mtraininjax]

A great idea and concept. What a great way to change the city, one building at a time.