Boise’s Excellence in Design Awards for 2009

Last week the Idaho Business Review reported that Boise’s Mayor David Bieter would confer Excellent in Design Awards to “local architects, developers and builder for creativity in implementing the city’s design standards…” at a ceremony this evening.

According to the “Design Review Guidebook,” the goals include, among other things, “…proper circulation within parking spaces, provision of sidewalks to meet pedestrian needs, and to encourage architecture that responds to the needs of the users…” (p. 1).   Some of the topics covered, that seek to meet the needs of users, include:

• Curbcuts shall be designed to provide good vehicle circulation and pedestrian safety. (p. 7)
• Accessible spaces shall be provided for disabled people… (p. 9)
• Valet parking facilities… (p. 10)
• Passenger loading zones… (p. 10)
• Service drives shall be designed and constructed to facilitate the flow of traffic, provide maximum safety for traffic ingress and egress, and provide maximum safety for pedestrian and vehicle traffic on site. (p. 11)
• The reduction of hazards to motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians as may be caused by or partially attributable to the distraction and obstruction of improperly located and designed signs… (p. 20)

While I commend the Department of Planning and Development on understanding the importance of designing for the needs of people, and that Mayor Bieter realizes that “good urban design makes our city more beautiful and livable,” I’m curious to learn what performance metrics are used to judge whether the projects comply or not.  Moreover, while I’m sure the design review committee is competent in many respects, I have to wonder what specific knowledge and experiences they have in designing to accommodate the needs of people.

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Human Factor Quote

Last year I purchased a copy of “The American Idea: The Best of the Atlantic Monthly” and have been slowly working my way through the collection.  One of the articles, “Perls of American Power” authored by Reinhold Niebuhr in 1932, makes reference to the human factor.  Specifically, it states:

“The pecular weakness of businessmen and engineers is that they tend to disregard the human factor.  Engineers are under no necessity to consider it and businessmen have an ideal of business efficiency which reduces it to a minimum.  To deal with a matter in a “businesslike” fashion means precisely to eliminate the variable factors which the human situation always creates and to settle the question upon the basis of a general rule.”

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