Public Interest Design: From Idealism to Realism

FROM IDEALISM TO REALISM PUBLICINTERESTDESIGN EXAMPLES OF PUBLIC INTEREST DESIGN PROJECTS 1 Project FROG 4One Laptop Per Child 7 Butaro Hospital 2| Lucy Carpet House 5 Congo Street House 8| Lavezzorio Community Center 3 d.light Solar Lantern 6 The High Line 9 Biloxi Butterfly-Roof Home WHAT IS PUBLIC INTEREST DESIGN? Public Interest Design is the next frontier of the sustainability movement. Taking a triple bottom line approach, it positions design to more actively consider economic, environmental, and social factors - creating better places, products, and systems for people to live their best lives. Inherently human-centered and participatory, public interest design seeks to impr quality of life for all people, regardless of their socio-economic background. SERVICE PIDI the ATTRIBUTES community-driven O resilient o generative socially-sustainable O embedded PUBLICINTERESTDESIGN human-centered O participatory socially-responsible community-based U.S. COMMUNITY DESIGN CENTERS The following represents 501©(3) nonprofit community design centers currently in operation. Research by Professor Sharon Haar at the University of Illinois at Chicago. 1-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10 11-12 INTEREST VS OPPORTUNITIES 10,000+ >40 EACH YEAR THERE ARE DESIGN GRADUATES PID FELLOWSHIPS 500+ IN 2012 THERE WERE BUT ONLY IDEO.ORG FELLOWSHIP APPLICANTS POSITIONS AVAILABLE THE 1% PROGRAM THE 1% GROWTH 2002-2012 OArchitecture & Design Firms Participating in The 1% program Nonprofits Participating in The 1% program The 1% is a first-of-its-kind effort to encourage pro bono service within the architecture and design professions. 1200 1000 800 If every architecture professional in the U.S. 600 committed 1% of their time to pro bono service, it would add up to 5,000,000 hours annually - the equivalent of a 2,500-person firm, working full-time for the public good. 400 200 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS OF PUBLICINTERESTDESIGN KEY Organization / Studio / Project Media Educational program Network Foundation / Grant / Fellowship ל Quote Award Museum Exhibit Conference / Summit 1964 -1967 The Architects Renewal Committee of Harlem (ARCH), regarded as the first community design center, is co-founded by a group of young professionals and directed by J. Max Bond. The Vlock Building Project, through which first-year graduate architecture students design and build a home each summer, is established at the Yale School of Architecture. 1977- 1968 American civil rights leader Whitney M. Young Jr. The Association for Commu- nity Design is founded as a network of community design center leaders. addresses the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national convention. "As a profession, you are not a profession that has distinguished itself by your social and civic contributions to the cause of civil rights, and I am sure this has not come to you as any shock. You are most distinguished by your thunderous silence and your complete irrelevance." 1981 Architects / Designers / Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) is founded, initially to fight for nuclear disarmament, and now focused more broadly on social justice. 1983 1991 The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation is established, going on to become a quiet, but significant funder of built environment and public interest design efforts in Chicago and nationally. The Community Design Collaborative of Philadelphia is established by a group of young architects, going on to connect legions of designs with nonprofits, totaling over 600 projects in the next 20 years. 1993 |1996 ילל Auburn University's Rural Studio design/build program is co-founded by Samuel Building Community: A New Future for Architecture Education & Practice, by Ernest Boyer and Lee Mitgang, is published by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Mockbee and D.K. Ruth. 1999 "Perhaps never in history have the talents, skills, the broad vision, and the ideas of the architecture profes- The Frederick P. Rose Architectural Fellowship program (now Enterprise Rose Fellowship) is established, through which young architects work on affordable housing and community development projects for three-year terms. sion been more urgently needed. The profession could be powerfully beneficial at a time when the lives of families and entire communities have grown increasingly fragmented, when cities are in an era of decline Architecture for Humanity, focused initially on and decay rather than limitless growth, and when the value of beauty in daily life is often belittled. architectural solutions to humanitarian crises, is co-founded by Kate Stohr and Cameron Sinclair. 2000 The Berkeley Prize Essay Competition, encouraging writing and critical thinking on the social art of architecture, is established by Raymond Lifchez. The first Structures for Inclusion conference is organized by Design Corps and hosted by Princeton University. The Ideas that Matter grant 2002 program, providing grants of up to $50,000 to graphic designers to undertake work for nonprofit organizations, is established by Sappi Limited. The Robin Hood L!brary Initiative, which would go on to redesign 56 of New York's more than 650 public school libraries, is launched and directed by Lonni Tanner. -2003 2004 Design Observer-a digital media group focused in part on design and social innovation-is co-founded by Jessica Helfand, Michael Bierut, William Drenttel, and The Stanford d.school, officially known as the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, is founded by David Kelly. Rick Poynor. Design that Matters is co-founded by Timothy 2005- Prestero and Neil Cantor as "a low-cost design company serving the developing world." Public Architecture launches Project M is founded by John Bielenberg as an The 1% program, asking architecture firms to pledge a minimum of one percent of their billable hours to pro intensive immersion program, putting design to work for the public good. bono service. Parkling) Day is launched in San Francisco by Rebar, encouraging people to reclaim car parking spaces as public space, sparking an annual global event involving hundreds of cities. -2006 The Gulf Coast Community Design Studio (GCCDS) is founded as a program of Mississippi State University to rebuild homes and com- munity in Biloxi, Miss. 2007 The Social / Economic / Environmental Design (SEED) Network, conceived by Kimberly Dowdell, is The Open Architecture Network (OAN), an online project platform and resource, is launched by Architecture for Humanity. established as an outcome of a convening of community design leaders at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum launches "Design for the Other 90%," an exhibition showcasing products and environments for under-resourced populations, curated by Cynthia Smith. III 2008 Design for America (DfA) is founded as a studio at D-Rev is founded by Paul Polak to "design and deliver products that improve the health and incomes of the 4.0 Northwestern University's McCormick School of Engineering. billion people living on less than $4 per day." The Curry Stone Design Prize, recognizing social design pioneers, is established by Clifford Curry and Delight Stone. Project H Design is founded by Emily Pilloton as a non- profit dedicated to "design, build, teach, and transform. 2009 2010 Perkins+Will launches its Social Responsibility Initia- tive (SRI), a firm-wide com- mitment to complement its pledge to The 1% program of Public Architecture. Citizen Architect: Samuel Mockbee and the Spirit of the Rural Studio, a docu- mentary film, is produced by Sam Douglas. Section 1 of the High Line park in New York opens to the public. Ш "Small Scale, Big Change" exhibition, curated by Andres Lepik, debuts at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Noun Project, which creates graphic symbols for the public domain, is launched by Sofya Polyakov, Edward Boatman, and Scott Thomas. 2011 The Surdna Foundation establishes a new set of community-driven design grants within its Thriving Cultures program. The Butaro Hospital, by MASS Design Group in association with Partners in Health, opens its doors in Rwanda. 2012 Architectural Record dedicates its entire March issue to "Building for Social Change," including an online inventory of public interest design awards, entities, events, fellowships, and university-based programs. IDEO.org is launched "to bring human-centered design to the people who need it most-those facing poverty every day," co-led by Patrice Martin and Jocelyn Wyatt. The Social Impact Design Summit is convened by the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum with the support of the Lemelson Foundation, NEA, and Surdna Foundation, uniting public interest design leaders and funders. Stanford University, based largely on work from the d.school, receives a $150 million donation from Dottie and Bob King to create the Institute for Innovation in Public Architecture convenes a Design Access Summit, intended to "create a shared vision among leading decision makers for how to leverage design as a tool for social gain." Developing Economies, known informally as "Seed." ArtPlace America launches as a consortium of major funders committed to Design Corps and the SEED Network launch "SEEDocs," a short film series celebrating public interest design. creative placemaking and arts-based development, conferring $11.5 million in 34 grants during its first cycle. Michael Kimmelman is named architecture critic of IDEO.org launches the HCD Connect website, with the support of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, creating an online platform for individuals to share The New York Times, debuting with a cover story on the Via Verde housing project in the Bronx. stories about human-centered design. FURTHER READING -• Learning by Building by William Carpenter University-Community Design Partnerships edited by Jason Pearson The Rural Studio by Andrea Oppenheimer Dean Proceed and Be Bold by Andrea Oppenheimer Dean Design Like You Give A Damn edited by Kate Stohr and Cameron Sinclair • Expanding Architecture by Bryan Bell Out of Poverty by Paul Polak Design Revolution by Emily Pilloton • The Library Book edited by Anooradha lyer Siddiqi The Power of Pro Bono by John Cary and Public Architecture • Beyond Shelter edited by Marie Aquilino Bridging The Gap edited by Georgia Bizios and Katie Wakeford Design Like You Give a Damn [2] edited by Cameron Sinclair and Kate Stohr Presented by E in collaboration with: COLLEGE OF DESIGN PUBLICINTERESTDESIGN m Tandus UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA PLOORINO Research by John Cary Design by Megan Jett %24 %24 %24 DESIGN %24 %24 00000 %24