Seaside Institute

In this episode Victor Dover and Joseph Kohl share a conversation with Podcast Host and Executive Director, Christy Milliken of the SEASIDE Institute™ about the origin story of Dover, Kohl, and Partners, the imaging process they use for envisioning town design, the new ubanism movement, the influence of SEASIDE® and Andrés Duany along with Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, the revitatilzation of Historic Downtown Panama City, Florida after Hurricane Michael, a CAT 5 that devestrated the area. 

Victor and Joe will be recognized as the 2024 SEASIDE Prize™ recipients.  

The Seaside Prize recognizes individuals and organizations who through design, have changed the way we live. Prize winners are thought innovators in concepts, quality, and character of their industry and considered leaders of Contemporary Urban Development and Education, who have made their vision a reality; and ultimately our lives better.

Recipients of the “Prize” influence how towns and cities are built. They challenge our thinking about promoting diversity, walk ability, sustainability, livability and quality of life. From young to old, where we live is at the core of how we live.

SEASIDE Institute™ Executive Director, Christy Milliken sat down with Walkable City Advocate and Author, Jeff Speck and Street-Plans Founder, Mike Lydon for a conversation about the history of their career and their beginnings with DPZ CoDesign.

Both Mike and Jeff are members of our Board of Fellows.  In 2017 Mike Lydon won the SEASIDE Prize™ and in 2022, Jeff Speck won the SEASIDE Prize™.  They were invited to SEASIDE® via the Institute to assess our county-wide bike path plans. 

Learn how New Urbanism is catching up with tactical urbansim with adaptable solutions for a more cohesive mobility implementation for community.  The conversation evolves to the more global impact that both of these experts have had in their career and how they are changing street design one community at a time.

In this episode Seaside Institute Director, Christy Milliken and SOWAL House Chief Vision Officer, Dave King have a conversation with Digital Graffiti Alys Beach Curator, John Colette.  John is a professional in media/arts with a career of over 35 years spanning both industry and Academia.  He is a Professor in the Motion Media Design program at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia.  His experience and expertise have contributed over many years in the success of the Digital Graffiti event as he worked with his students and the team at Alys Beach in previous years.  Colette became the Curator of Digitial Graffiti Alys Beach in 2022 and has already doubled the amount of installs that take over the entire town for a weekend.

Digital Graffiit attracts a global pool of artists and is a place where technology meets art and art meets archictecure.  We cover what happens behind-the-scenes to pull off an event of this magnitude, the level of skill every artist brings, and the cultural significance this brings to community. We share how the walkable design of Alys Beach allows this to become an outdoor gallery that features globally recognized artists on the backdrop of the stark white architecture of Alys Beach. 

In this episode, Christy Milliken has a conversation with Co-Producers, Arix Zalace and Sean Couch of The Paper Bear Feature Film and non-profit. 

The Paper Bear is a conservation movement that will stem from a soon-to-be-released feature film. Millions of people visit the Florida Panhandle for its beautiful beaches and emerald-colored waters. Soon they will learn there is far more to DISCOVER, LOVE, and PROTECT beyond the coast. 

The Florida Panhandle is a national treasure and is considered one of North America's five richest biodiverse hotspots.  In this episode you will learn why the Florida Black Bear is an umbrella spieces that can protect our rich enviroment.  

At the Seaside Institute we have rooted our entire history on the foundation of an intentional design and development planning that exemplifies the principles of New Urbanism.  Seaside Florida Founder, Robert Davis had a vision to create the type of communiity that is not only sustainable for people, but also sustainable and viable for the environment that we are entrusted with. The core focus of New Urbanism practices less land-use and more density; therefore, as a result the outcome is centered around a more pedestrian friendly community.  These very principles in development use a more thoughtful lens to our biodiverse culture.  We are continually looking for ways to adapt to our growing cuture while connecting to our community through education.  

Episode recorded at and sponsored by: SOWAL House

In this conversation with Director of Events at Alys Beach, Alexis Miller we talk about what to expect for the 16th Annual Digital Graffiti Festival.  The cultural significance and history of this festival is a unique experience that attracts global artists and encourages attendees to become immersed in an experience where art and architecture collide.

As part of the tradition of the festival, the weekend will kick off with a themed party by VIE Magazine.  

Festival Curator and Professor of Motion Media Design at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), John Colette along with the team at Alys Beach is in full swing as they prepare for the weekend to take place May 19th and 20th.

This year, the Seaside Insitute is partnering with the festival for a special livestream event that will take place during opening night.  The livestream will be co-hosted by Seaside Institute Interim Director, Christy Milliken and Technology Product Director at Falcons Beyond, Geoffrey Platt and will be streamed on all social platforms for Digital Graffiti. The livestream will provide an opportunity for those unable to attend in person to share in the experience online and hear from the artists about their work. Town Architect for Alys Beach, Marieanne Khoury-Vogt will also offer her expertise and insight during the livestream tour.

For more information and tickets to the event please visit digitalgraffiti.com. You may also download the -->> APP

A special thanks to SOWAL House located in Rosemary Beach for the use of the podcast studio to record this episode. 

This is a special collaborative episode with the SOWAL House podcast.  Founder of SOWAL House, Dave King will be co-hosting with Executive Director,  Christy Milliken on this episode featuring Seaside, Florida Founder, Robert Davis and Archictect and Urbanist, Dhiru Thadani. This conversation will be aired on both the SOWAL House and Seaside Institute podcasts.

We cover some of the origin story of Robert Davis, the Seaside vision, and the evolution of both Rosemary Beach and Alys Beach.  

We talk about the community of Seaside, FL and how it was shaped by visionary Robert Davis. 

Robert has always been skillful at surrounding himself with people he is inspired by and has a heart for inspiring others. Davis has a history of looking for ways to curate people to make up the community he would like to live in. While the development of Seaside has been covered in depth, most miss that one of Robert's talents is simply seeking out passioniate and talented people like Dave Rauschkolb for Bud & Alley's, Charlie Modica and family for Modica Market, and Bob & Linda White of Sundog Books. While he is prolific in town development, he also understands that the heart of a community are the people who occupy it.  

Architect and Urbanist, Dhiru Thadani shares earllier memories of this 80-Acre town with big impact and explains the evolution of New Urbanism. Dhiru is the author of two books that archive many of the muses, ideas, and influences of Seaside.  In his book Visions of Seaside, he chronicals the thirty-year history of the evolution and development of Seaside, Florida, its global influence on town planning and the resurgence of place-making in the built environment.  In 2021, Thadani's second book titled Reflections on Seaside is the most comprehensive book on the history and development of the nation's first and most influential New Urbanist town that he simply dedicates "to all who strive to lift the human spirit through beauty".

The 2023 Seaside Prize Receipient and Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA, Donald Shoup sits down with Christy Milliken and Henry Grabar for a discussion about New Urbanism, parking policy, and walkable communities.

Donald Shoup and "Shoupista," Henry Grabar talk about our dependency on the automobile and how that has affected our communities through decades of parrking requirements.  

A conversation with Seaside Community Development Corporation (SCDC) Vice President, Micah Davis about the legacy of Seaside, FL.

As the only child to founders and visionaries of Seaside, FL, Robert and Daryl Davis - Micah talks to Christy Millken about his responsibility and stewardship in carrying the vision forward. We talk about upcoming Seaside Prize recipient, Donald Shoup and how his work in parking reform is challenging the way we think about town design and development.  We talk about the culture that shapes a community.  

A conversation with Jared Schnader, Senior Director at CALSTART.

As part of our adaptability message we talk about electric and autonomous vehicles, solutions based ideas for transportation, and the infastructure that is needed. Our discussion also explores  sustainability advantages with the use of electric vehicles and how they can be incorporated as solutions during natural disaster plans and used as generators.  We bring the conversation home through a discussion on connectivity and how our community has been shaped through tourism.

To learn more about the Seaside Institute visit the seasideinstitute.org, and for more information about CALSTART visit calstart.org

Seaside Institute Board Member, Reynolds Henderson and Executive Director, Tom Cordi talk about development in the area, the future of growth, and the impact to transporation in this episode.  

Mentioned in this episode: Walton County Referendum and on Facebook and Instagram Better Roads for Walton County.

Visit: seasideinstitute.org for information and membership.

A special thanks to SOWAL House for the use of their podcast space.