NewSchool students in the collaboration.

NATIONAL CITY, CA—NewSchool of Architecture & Design is joining forces with the American Institute of Architects; local architecture, engineering and design firms; local universities; and real estate developers to reinvent Downtown National City. NewSchool students and faculty will collaborate with the City of National City, the AIA, Glumac Engineers, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Mackenzie Inc., Sillman Wright Architects, the San Diego State University Civil Engineering Department, University of California San Diego Structural Engineering Department and Malik Infill Development for the project.

Under the direction of its Integrated Design Studio faculty member Daniela Deutsch, NewSchool has proposed new, sustainable designs aimed to stimulate economic revitalization in cities such as Portland, Seattle and Austin. This year, more than 70 undergraduate architecture students will collaborate over the next several months with the municipal and industry partners to create a vision and strategies for the development of a new, sustainable urban neighborhood in Downtown National City.

The main focus of the studio, which is in its fifth year, will be will be to create visions and identify design strategies for the development of the National City Downtown area, following as well as enhancing its new Specific Plan strategies. Ultimately, following an in-depth urban analysis and master-plan phase, each student team will design an exemplary city block, which holistically takes into consideration the entire neighborhood and its immediate surroundings.

“This project represents the best of the aspirations of the NewSchool learning experience,” said Marvin Malecha, president and chief academic officer for NewSchool, in a prepared statement. He said the project engages the community, design professionals and academics in a multidisciplinary team to guide students, an approach that “represents the DNA of the NewSchool community.”

Deutsch added, that the project offers students the opportunity to be exposed and to participate in the interactive exchanges between the developer, the architect and the City.

National City is a 140-year old city on San Diego Bay with a population of 58,582 spread over 9.12 square miles. With an average income below California's median level, the city is a densely populated, diverse and growing. The project is charged with creating ideas for growth and development that meet the needs of the city and the residents.

Brett Tullis, principal architect at Sillman Wright Architects, said, “We need more of this type of collaboration between education and practice that will ultimately reveal the new ideas that we need to reshape the fabric of not only National City but San Diego as well, for the myriad of challenges of sustainability, affordability and equity.”

NewSchool has a significant presence in the southern part of San Diego County. As GlobeSt.com reported in July, a joint venture between Carleton Management Inc. and the Downtown LLC (Bishop Family) has sold the Art Center Block for $34 million to Paragon Real Estate Fund LLC. The property consists of five office buildings totaling 132,854 square feet in Downtown San Diego's East Village, a burgeoning neighborhood. NewSchool occupies 51% of the total office-building square footage.

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Collaboration Aims to Refresh National City

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