Education:DIANE ELLIOTT GAYER is a licensed architect in the States of Vermont and Colorado. She has been practicing architecture since graduating from the University of Colorado, School of Design and Planning, Denver, Colorado, with a Masters of Architecture (1976 to 1979). She received her B.A. in German Languages from the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 1975.
Bio/Interests:
Ms. Gayer’s professional experience includes working as an architect, community planner, and environmental designer in Vermont since 1993. She is director of the Vermont Design Institute (VDI), a non-profit design and community development collaborative based in Burlington, Vermont. She has managed the collaborative since April 1998. The work of VDI includes projects in Shoreham, St. Johnsbury, and Morrisville. The most recent (November 2003) community design charrette in Middlesex included two UVM students as part of the design and planning team. From June 1999 to September 2000, Gayer worked for the State of Vermont as a planner, organizing the Smart Growth conference for the State and writing a History of Planning in Vermont.
Ms. Gayer’s teaching experience includes the current Spring 2004 courses: The ReDesign Studio, for the Rubenstein School of the Environment and Natural Resources, and Landscape Design II, for Plant and Soil Sciences. She has been teaching Community Design and Planning and Green Principles of Design for Community Design and Applied Economics since 1993. Ms. Gayer has also been an instructor for the Municipal Management and Town Officers Educational Training Series, State of Vermont, UVM Extension, Burlington, Vermont, during Spring 2000 and Spring 2001; visiting faculty at Norwich University, Northfield, Vermont; and a team-instructor for the Yestermorrow Design/Build curriculum at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana.
Her presentations and articles include the following: November 2003, invited speaker on Design Tools for Community Development, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada; 2003, writer and publisher of Groundswell for VDI; September 1999 presentation on Public Participation in Community Design at the UIFA Conference in Tokyo, Japan; and published article on The Role of Design in Sustainable Community Development, in CATALYST ‘97, Canberra, Australia, December 1997. She has received numerous grants on behalf of the Vermont Design Institute from The American Architectural Foundation Accent on Architecture awards program, ongoing support from the Vermont Arts Council (1998- 2004); and in association with Jane Petrillo McConnell Foundation Grant money's to work with the Town of Burke, Vermont, February to June 1998; the Newport/Derby area, Vermont, Dec. 1996 to May 1998; and the Village of Barton, Vermont, January 1995 to May 1996.
Gayer’s teaching and professional work is interwoven. Projects from VDI become cases that are studied in the classroom and student participation in community design projects is an ongoing hands-on activity. In addition, design/build projects are another vehicle for student participation, incorporating community design and enhancement into the physical building of place.
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