Harvard 2013
There is a growing sector in the field of architecture known as Public Interest Design, documented in exhibits such as MoMA’s Small Scale, Big Change and publications like Design Like You Give a Damn. The projects in this sector are unlike traditional practice in critical ways but are an area of great potential for the future of the profession.
This two-day course will provide architecture and other design professionals in public interest design with in-depth study on methods of how design can address the critical issues faced by communities. Training in public interest design is a way of enhancing an existing design practice and learning skills to become pro-actively engaged in community-based design.
Case studies and best practices will be presented and discussed by leaders in the field. The curriculum will be formed around the Social Economic Environmental Design (SEED) metric, a set of standards that outlines the process and principles of this growing approach to design. SEED goes beyond green design with a “triple bottom line” approach that includes the social and economic as well as the environmental. The SEED process takes a holistic, creative approach to design driven by community needs. This process provides a step-by-step aid for those who want to undertake public interest design. Certification in the SEED process will be given.
Learning Objectives:
- Understand public interest design and how is it reshaping the design professions.
- Learn to leverage other partners and assets to address project challenges.
- Recognize how to maximize a project’s positive impact on a community.
- Analyze social, economic, and environmental impact on communities.
Suggested texts: Good Deeds Good Design: Community Service through Architecture (Bryan Bell, Princeton Architectural Press, 2003) and Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism (Bryan Bell, Metropolis Books, 2008).
