Street Talk
Fresh ideas about design
What Makes a Place Great?
10.2021
By StreetTalk Editor
As we reflect on 21 years of Design with People in Mind®, we asked each of our principals to respond to one of our foundational questions…. “What makes a place great?” Here’s what they had to say… “Great spaces evoke a feeling; whether comfort, awe, belonging, beauty, or spirituality, that leaves a lasting image ...
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Our Street: Favorite Interactions in the New Philadelphia Office
07.2019
By Murray S. Kamara, Jr.
I was 7 or 8 when I realized I remembered my home address. I was proud thinking, “man, this grown up thing isn’t too bad, bring on more addresses!” I can honestly say, out of the many addresses I have remembered, I never thought there would be a new work address… ...
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Cross-Office Collaboration
05.2019
By Aaron Bell, RA
Although we work out of two separate offices, we are one team.
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The Integrated Design Practice
04.2018
By Claudia Saladin, ASLA, LEED AP
"The more complex the ecosystem and the greater the diversity of its parts, the more successfully it can resist and recover quickly from stress. "
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The Craft of Story Building
02.2018
By Mason Radkoff, CSI/CCCA, LEED AP BD+C
A story’s form should be organic— the moves it makes, the shape it takes. Initial visions of setting, theme, voice, and plot emerge as the writer intuits what the story needs without the anchor of minutia holding things back. Art is made.
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6 Signs Your Office Needs a Refresh
10.2017
By Tom Price
When was the last time you refreshed your office, academic, or social space? If the answer is 10 years or more, it’s definitely time to consider making updates. Maintaining a workplace that is relevant and performative is critical to keeping a sharp competitive edge. It also helps recruit and retain the best talent while improving ...
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Inside a mid-century classic, glimpses of our Pittsburgh office
08.2016
By Leah Patgorski
Strada’s Pittsburgh office has been in the former Alcoa building for a year and a half now. This distinctive modernist skyscraper (completed in 1953) has offered us plenty of design inspiration, from the aluminum details around every turn to the vintage advertising sketches and collages left in a flat file by former inhabitants. The new ...
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Learning from the past with the Victorian Society in America
07.2016
By Stacey Blankin
A founding principal of Strada, John Martine, AIA, is a highly respected preservationist, recognized for preserving the historical fabric and at the same time, drawing upon the past in developing new architectural designs. The success of his award-winning work stems from his exhaustive study of Victorian-era architecture. On June 15-21, John attended the Victorian Society ...
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Learning by Doing: Designing Active Learning Spaces
06.2016
By Robert W. McCauley, AIA, and Stacey Blankin, LEED AP
For the first time in decades, schools from elementary through higher education are dramatically changing the way they teach. Acknowledging the limitations of the traditional classroom, they are embracing new pedagogical opportunities presented by advanced technologies, and rethinking their academic spaces. Active learning encourages increased student interaction, deeper engagement with the material, and greater ownership ...
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Promoting disruptive innovation for social change in the mountains of West Virginia
06.2016
By Dana Coester, Creative Director, WVU Reed College of Media
Strada recently celebrated the opening of Evansdale Crossing, a five-story, 100,000-SF mixed-use social hub that is interspersed with academic spaces on West Virginia University’s Evansdale campus. Strategically located at the heart of the building is Reed College of Media’s dynamic new Media Innovation Center. We invited Dana Coester, the Creative Director of the Media Innovation ...
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