Alley Flat Initiative + SecondLife Students in Prof. Leslie Jarmon’s interdisciplinary graduate course are working with Prof. Sergio Palleroni and his team of graduate students with the East Austin Alley Flat Initiative. This project focuses helping lower income families’ stay in East Austin communities by building eco-friendly rental accommodations in the backyards along the underserved alleys of East Austin. Though we are building two prototypes in the real world, the interdisciplinary team is helping our efforts by building a presence for the Alley Flat Initiative in SecondLife, the online virtual-reality community. This virtual presence will include three-dimensional models of the houses designed by the architecture students and will provide many interactive opportunities to learn about and support sustainable architecture and the BaSiC initiative. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony on December 6th 2007 in Second Life to unveil the Alley Flat Prototypes. People involved in education, architecture and development agencies from around the world are invited to this grand opening, which will include a speech delivered by Sergio Palleroni.
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