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Dream a Sound Future at Seattle Center
10.19.2010 Mithun, Thought Bursts
Dream a Sound Future took place on October 10 at Seattle Center – an event hosted by Sustainable Seattle allowing the community to share its visions for the future of Seattle.
Inspired by Sustainability Everyday – an exhibition in Milan featuring lifestyle change ideas linked with the venues for dialogue within the community – this exhibit was grass roots, divergent and captured the many ways a community communicates with each other: dance, film, songs, spoken word, break dancing, presentations, games and drawings.
Connections were the common theme at the contest. Invited artist, Vance Feldman shared his Foreverscape – detailed pen and ink sketches that pick up where the last pages leave off to create a continuous image, one that he plans to add to for the rest of his life. Cindy Solvang, the accomplished singer, accompanied by her brother on guitar, belted out the song she wrote “It’ll All Add Up.”
The Mithun team created a conceptual game based on the idea of initiating dialogue around the choices we make with the assets we share – the street and the parks, which make up 40% of the City. “What Would You Do with 25,000 Acres?” was recognized with a Foresight Award and will be implemented by Sustainable Seattle to introduce community members to open dialogue and looking at our resources in an innovative way.
Rather than defining a vision for 100 years from now, this proposal suggests the importance of a deliberate framework for dialogue. How will we utilize and adapt the resources of the City that we all share to achieve our collective goals over time? It suggests that diverse interests can be reconceived and complexities reintegrated to solve what can often seem like difficult problems. No outcome is provided, but rather all perspectives, values and outlooks are encouraged to participate in the sifting of cards. Far from discouraging the “Seattle Process,” this proposal supports expanding on the strengths that come from public discourse, fostering new and innovative points of view.
Partners collaborating with Sustainable Seattle for Dream a Sound Future included Seattle Climate Partnership, Seattle Parks and Recreation, FeetFirst, Washington Lawyers for Cascadia, Scallops and Sustainable Cascadia.
Check out Dream Award Winner, Dan Mahle’s original rap song A Better World.
Article by Debra Guenther, ASLA, LEED AP BD+C, Partner. Deb seeks to redefine how people experience the outdoors within urban settings and to integrate function and beauty of natural systems into habitable places.