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Fort Worth resident Marsha Silva, 61, left, signs a petition with architecture senior Jocelyn Cruz during the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market on Sept. 12 at the corner of Front and Center streets. The College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs and Downtown Arlington are proposing a new design for the market.<\/p>\n
Photo by Emmanuel Pizano<\/a><\/p>\n Stalls of fresh fruit, handsewn items and bread lined a concrete lot on Front Street for the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market on Saturday. <\/p>\n At the same market, UTA students with clipboards in hand maneuvered between booths. <\/p>\n They asked the market browsers and vendors questions: \u201cWhat would you want to see? What would you want built on the lot?\u201d They also asked them to draw their dream community space. <\/p>\n Architecture assistant professor Nubras Samayeen said vendors need better workable spaces, as the sellers are an integral part of the community. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re the people who live here, who builds the community and serves the community,\u201d Samayeen said. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely imperative that the students learn how to design and how their design can serve the community.\u201d <\/p>\n As part of a semester-long, interdisciplinary project, students in classes taught by Samayeen; Malini Roy, public affairs and planning assistant professor; and Farshid Torabian, landscape architecture assistant professor of practice, will study the market area to figure out how to redesign the space to meet the needs of the community. <\/p>\n Samayeen said the seven groups within the project will focus on different demographics and functions. One will focus on women and children, another will look at men and others will study overall movement patterns and people\u2019s needs without directly engaging with the public. <\/p>\n Each group has two architecture students, at least one urban design student and at least one urban planning student. Samayeen said the project will require the students to look at sustainability. <\/p>\n KJ of KJ\u2019s Kitchen Kreations prepares food for customers during the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market on Sept. 12 at the corner of Front and Center streets. The farmers market is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.<\/p>\n Photo by Emmanuel Pizano<\/a><\/p>\n The students will develop models, and their ideas may serve for the future development of the plot of land, Samayeen said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe community is hugely benefiting by taking the brains of these UTA students, and that is immense,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Architecture is a profession of the people, she said. Students need to know who they are designing for and how to serve their client. <\/p>\n Tasked with getting feedback from women and children, architecture senior Tyra Francois traversed the market grounds with a stack of questionnaires and multicolored smiley face stickers. <\/p>\n Many of the market visitors\u2019 and vendors\u2019 recommendations, she said, touched on shade and safety. <\/p>\n Francois said it\u2019s sometimes easy to laser focus on the teachings of her professors, but being in the community and hearing their perspectives grounds her. <\/p>\n Leading up to the market, architecture senior Malak Elsadi said, the students looked at different farmers markers to help guide their design process. <\/p>\n When designing the space, a lot needs to be taken into consideration, Francois said, such as what works best for the site geographically. The teams look at how heat comes into the area, how vegetation or air flow may affect things and what materials fit best. <\/p>\n Elsadi said the students are still in the data analysis phase of the project, but her favorite part is coming up with different sketches. <\/p>\n Cedar Hill, Texas, resident Fred Smith, 56, makes lemonade during the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market on Sept. 12 at the corner of Front and Center streets. Fred has sold lemonade for 10 years.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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