Senator Reed attends a press conference on the RISD & Brown/RI-CIE Partnership for Sustainable Development.
At the press conference, Reed announced a $150,000 grant from the federal Small Business Administration to the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University that will be used to fund a sustainable housing project that creates living spaces out of shipping containers.
Providence Journal:
RISD, Brown to share SBA grant to create modular housing from shipping containers
By: Gina Macris
The award, called the Partnership for Sustainable Development, aims to create connections between academia, business and government to fuel the emerging knowledge economy.
The business partner in the Brown-RISD collaboration is a start-up company planned by the two RISD-trained architects who created the innovative Box Office complex from recycled shipping containers in the West End.
Architects Peter Gill Case and Joe Haskett propose to re-use shipping containers as affordable and sustainable housing that can be shipped anywhere and easily installed, running off the power grid.
The announcement came at a news conference hosted by RISD President John Maeda and Provost Jessie Shefrin, which showcased the roles that are being played by various contributors to the collaboration.
Reed said the partnership recognizes the different talents needed to turn a vision into reality. He said the project addresses multifaceted needs for housing, jobs, sustainable energy and economic competitiveness.
Maeda, using a military analogy, said that the “best offense is a great defense,” and “innovation is the greatest defense right now.”
RISD and the Rhode Island Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Brown (RI-CIE) will share the SBA grant money equally. Design expertise from RISD and business acumen from RI-CIE will assist Case and Haskett as they try to commercialize and market the modular housing.
RISD is using its half of the grant to fund a semester-long course called Re-Box that is being taught by architecture professors Peter Dean and Markus Berger. Sixteen architecture and industrial design students are developing their own designs for recycling shipping containers. Via RI-CIE at Brown, the RISD students have access to advisers in business, marketing, industrial product development, sustainable energy and the like, according to a statement.
Architects Case and Haskett are offering critiques to the student projects. The results of the semester-long experience will be available both to the SBA and to Case and Haskett’s new start-up, UbiGO, named with the intention that its housing module will be able to go anywhere, Haskett said.
While the Box Office has received worldwide attention, Haskett said developing a product from the ground up will be a new experience for him and Case. Haskett said he and his partner will receive specialized business and entrepreneurial expertise from RI-CIE.
