The group fills a critical gap by creating a global framework by which practitioners can learn from each other and share strategies. It provides technological and digital resources that professors and practitioners can share with each other. Additionally, the group meets regularly at conferences across the globe to advance the mission of public interest design and support each other’s work.

The founding steering committee is composed of Sergio Palleroni, Bryan Bell, Sue Thering, Eric Field, Simon Colwill, Peter Fattinger, Ursula Hartig, Nina Pawlicki, Jane Anderson.

We were able to speak with four of the group’s founders on Social Design Insights. Sergio Palleroni and Jane Anderson (co-founder of the Live Projects Network), Bryan Bell (co-founder of the SEED network) and Ursula Hartig (co-Founder of the Designbuild exchange) all joined us to talk about how this remarkable effort came together, and the kinds of resources that the group has made available to all those interested in social design. Listen to the episode below.

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The conference is a brilliant example of the power of students as change-makers. In 2015, a group of students at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) began to envision a space where contributions and experiences of people of color were discussed and celebrated- a space they felt hadn’t previously existed. With help from the African American Student Union and countless other students, faculty, and professionals, the first Black in Design Conference was held in October of 2015, followed by conferences in 2017 and 2019. In 2019, the conference was co-chaired by Jaline McPherson and Daisha Martin.

The Black in Design Conference has inspired numerous programs, ranging from BlackSpace – a network of African-American planning and policy professionals- to the African American Design Nexus – Harvard’s attempt at creating a canon of important contributions of African American designers. The Conference has received recognition as an empowering movement of students discovering ways that design can promote equality.

The fourth biannual conference, Black Matter, took place virtually from October 8 to 10, 2021 and was co-chaired by Caleb Negash and Tomi Laja.

The post 77-78 | Building Social Movements from the Ground Up, Part 1 & 2 appeared first on Curry Stone Foundation.

Dr. Sutton developed initial exposure to emancipatory learning by earning a Ph.D. in psychology, which became the bedrock of her justice-oriented pedagogy and practice. Subsequently, Dr. Sutton became the twelfth African American woman to be licensed to practice architecture, the first to be promoted to full professor of architecture, the second to be elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects (AIA), and the first to be president of the National Architectural Accrediting Board. Having completed her 47th year in academia as visiting distinguished professor of architecture at Parsons School of Design, she has held positions at Columbia University, the Pratt Institute, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington; and is a distinguished professor of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. 

In a career that has spanned decades, Dr. Sutton has broken through barriers both as a scholar and practitioner and led by example a quiet revolution in how designers think about race and social justice. Her latest book, When Ivory Towers Were Black: A Story about Race in America’s Cities and Universities, presents oral histories from classmates about the stunning progressive movement at Columbia University after America’s “Long Hot Summer.” Currently, after many Covid-related delays, she has a book in press for release in February 2023 called Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons: Pursuing Democracy’s Promise through Place-Based Activism that demonstrates how idealistic youth of color push the nation toward its democratic ideals while remaking their disinvested neighborhoods using their hands, minds, and hearts.

We were fortunate enough to speak with Dr. Sutton about her perspectives on the state of design education and how it has evolved over the last five decades on Social Design Insights. Have a listen here.

And afterwards, be sure to check out Dr. Sutton’s recommendations for further research and study:

• An educator of profound personal influence: Max Bond, Jr.
• A book of profound personal influence: The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein
• And educator you should be following: Justin Garrett Moore of Columbia University

The post 76 | Design School as a Site of Insurrection, Then and Now appeared first on Curry Stone Foundation.

A year after announcing plans at the UN Solutions Summit in New York in 2015, Benimana launched the African Design Center (ADC), a field-based apprenticeship that is set to empower leaders who will design a more equitable, just, and sustainable world. Based in Kigali, Rwanda, the ADC functions as an intensive twenty-month fellowship that invests in the development of Africa’s most creative minds and operates as an innovation hub where they can learn and collaborate. For the inaugural class, over 75 applications with competitive portfolios and essays were submitted from 20 different countries. After a five-year pilot period, 100 fellows are expected to matriculate, and the program will shift to being a higher education institution, initially granting a Master in Design Studies degree.

At his work at MASS since his start in 2010, Benimana has been involved with design/build projects, development initiatives, and operational and administrative leadership. Today, he works as one of the firm’s Senior Principals and Managing Directors.

Christian has been listed among 10 architects and designers that are championing Afrofuturism and 2017 Quartz Africa Innovators. He has authored articles and book chapters including, Re-Thinking the Future of African Cities in The African Perspective Magazine and Creating Design Leaders: The African Design Centre in Public Interest Design Education Guidebook.

The post 75 | New Forms of Design Education for New Forms of Cities appeared first on Curry Stone Foundation.

With an ever-evolving cast of collaborators, including architects, designers, social scientists, artists, and activists, AAA stages creative urban interventions, whether establishing a community hub in a pass-through between buildings, or planting a vegetable garden at the base of a high-rise. AAA acts as a creative instigator, empowering local communities to carry out and sustain their own ideas for urban regeneration.

Taking their findings further, AAA developed R-Urban, a prototype for sustainable city life on the outskirts of Paris. In the working-class suburb of Colombes, the team is creating a living laboratory for the local residents to produce their own food supply and recycle waste, closing the local loops of consumption and production. The multi-year plan includes ecological construction, urban agriculture, a recycling program, and cooperative housing.

We had a chance to speak with Doina about her philosophy, of both work and teaching, on Social Design Insights. Join co-hosts Eric Cesal and Karen Kubey as they explore new directions in the teaching of design.

And don’t forget to check out Doina’s recommendations for further study!

• A book of profound personal influence: Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paolo Friere.
• A book you should be reading now: Learn to Act
• Educators you should be following: Prof. Ruth Morrow at Queen’s University in Belfast, Dr. Harriet Harriss at the Royal College of Art, London.

The post 74 | Co-Producing Design Education appeared first on Curry Stone Foundation.

Sarah Curry was the president of the Auburn University Chapter of the AIAS and was an involved member beginning in her freshman year. 

The Gulf Coast DesignLab is the first long-running ecologically based program that fosters environmental activism within the field of design and for the public. Through their hands-on approach to civic engagement, students partner with nonprofits and governmental agencies with the mission to bring about equity through environmental education. For over ten years, students—particularly middle and high school students from underserved neighborhoods—have learned to become better designers by designing and building places for the public where community partners can advance ecological literacy and promote environmental stewardship practices.

Coleman Coker, RA, Professor of Practice, is the director of the Gulf Coast DesignLab at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. Coker was awarded the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome and is a Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Memphis College of Art and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from there. The Architectural League of New York in 1991 recognized him in their “Emerging Voices” series.

Hosts Eric Cesal and Karen Kubey visit with Coleman Coker, of the Gulf Coast Design Lab, and Sarah Curry, of AIAS to discuss the evolution of social design.

The post 73 | Public Interest Design, Past, Present & Future appeared first on Curry Stone Foundation.

Known for his progressive approach to architectural education, Massey encourages students to question how architecture can address topics such as economic mobility, technological innovation, consumption, etc. Also high among Dr. Massey’s priorities is confronting the barriers to entry that exist at design schools, especially for women and people of color. He advocates ideas like the ‘open loop university,’ a model in which students are able to continuously learn while also participating in the workforce. Similarly, he supports teaching design at the high-school level, especially in communities of color, in order to foster a collective belief that design can be a viable career path and a powerful tool for change. Dr. Massey’s instructional methods suggest a shift from conventional theory-based learning to a more experimental, hands-on approach, while continuing to prepare future architects for the professional environment.

In addition to his position at the University of Michigan, Massey is also co-founder of the Aggregate Architectural History Collaborative, a group dedicated to the advancement of research in architectural history and theory. Massey also edits the Aggregate website, which publishes various architectural writings and research. Through a process of transparent and blind peer-review, the website supplies the public with vetted sources on valuable design and architectural conversations.

Massey believes it is important for designers and non-designers alike to be aware of the power of the built environment to impact human responses that occur in these spaces.

Our hosts, Eric Cesal and Karen Kubey, had a chance to speak with Dr. Massey on Social Design Insights, where they discussed how our schools of design could be reimagined.

And don’t forget to check out Jonathan’s recommendations for further study!

• An educator of profound personal influence: Edward Soja of UCLA
• A book you should be reading now: The Unreal Estate Guide to Detroit by Andrew Herscher
• Educators you should be following: Peggy Deamer of the Architecture Lobby and Rosa Sheng of Equity by Design

The post 72 | Teaching Change appeared first on Curry Stone Foundation.

Many educational design programs for young adults often lack the beneficial long-term relationship that comes from working with a community partner. Because most programs are limited to a semester, students are not able to fully participate in the emotional and intellectual learning that is involved in lengthy public interest design projects. Instead, Dr. Brown Wilson supports educational programs that sustain long-term goals and relationships between community partners and students. 

In 2013, Dr. Brown Wilson co-founded the Design Futures Student Leadership Forum, a five-day gathering of students, educators, and professionals from various disciplines. This annual event brings together individuals from across the country to discuss issues relating to social design. The Forum consists of workshops on social justice and civil rights-centered design seminars led by experts in a number of fields. Participating institutions send five students and one faculty member each year to participate in the Leadership Forum. Not only does the forum give students the opportunity to have their voices heard, but also allows faculty members to refine skills relevant to their curriculum and professionals to share their work.

Outside of the classroom, Dr. Brown Wilson’s work includes authoring Resilience for All: Striving for Equity through Community-Driven Design, and co-authoring Questioning Architectural Judgement: The Problem of Codes in the United States. 

Currently, Dr. Brown Wilson is an associate professor at UVA, where she has co-founded an exciting center that co-produces research with local residents to redress racial and social inequities

We had a chance to speak with Dr. Brown Wilson about her work on Social Design Insights. Learn how social design is taught, and how it can be taught better.

The post 71 | Teaching Design, Teaching Leadership appeared first on Curry Stone Foundation.

One major aspect of the organization is the recognition of firms that treat their employees above the standard accepted by the Lobby’s manifesto. The Lobby’s manifesto, which was written in 2014 and has since been enacted five times in public spaces, states a list of ten demands that work towards implementing a new vision of the architectural profession. The list is a call to action, making demands for the future of organized labor. It speaks for precarious workers–the laborers and workers driving the economy– and addresses the owners, developers, and managers who do not provide their employees with adequate working conditions.

Recently, The Academia Working Group of The Architecture Lobby has announced a Summer 2022 workshop as part of its annual Architecture Beyond Capitalism (ABC) School. The ABC 2022 workshop will build on last year’s session, which focused on Capitalism, Labor, and Collectives, by concentrating on studio educational practices. 

Join hosts Eric Cesal and Karen Kubey as we speak with Yale University Professor Emirata of Architecture, Peggy Deamer and former student, David Langdon about how to assert architecture’s relevance in healthy and productive ways.

And don’t forget to check out our guests’ recommendations!

•       An Educator of Influence: John Hejduk of the Cooper Union
•       A book you should be reading: Capital and Ideology by Thomas Pikkety
•       Educators you Should Follow today: Kadambari Baxi of Barnard College, Jeremy Till, of St. Martins University, and Jane Rendell and Peg Rawes, both of the Bartlett School of Architecture.

The post 70 | Demanding More from Design Education appeared first on Curry Stone Foundation.

The group fills a critical gap by creating a global framework by which practitioners can learn from each other and share strategies. It provides technological and digital resources that professors and practitioners can share with each other. Additionally, the group meets regularly at conferences across the globe to advance the mission of public interest design and support each other’s work.

The founding steering committee is composed of Sergio Palleroni, Bryan Bell, Sue Thering, Eric Field, Simon Colwill, Peter Fattinger, Ursula Hartig, Nina Pawlicki, Jane Anderson.

We were able to speak with four of the group’s founders on Social Design Insights. Sergio Palleroni and Jane Anderson (co-founder of the Live Projects Network), Bryan Bell (co-founder of the SEED network) and Ursula Hartig (co-Founder of the Designbuild exchange) all joined us to talk about how this remarkable effort came together, and the kinds of resources that the group has made available to all those interested in social design.

The post 68-69 | Bringing Designers Together, Part 1 & 2 appeared first on Curry Stone Foundation.