IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST
2017 - 2019
Research funded by AIA Seattle and BSA Space Boston
2017 AIA Seattle Emerging Professionals Travel Scholarship
Public interest design is re-positioning the architectural profession to address the social, political, and environmental issues of the 21st century through a community-engaged design approach. This shift in practice advances the notion that architecture is not only a built product, but a collective process that instills the tools, awareness, and imagination for individuals to improve their lives. As the 2017 AIA Seattle Emerging Professionals Traveling Scholar, I traveled to Los Angeles, New Orleans, Alabama, Haiti, Spain, and Italy to catalog how design can be a catalyst forpositive societal change. This research continues as I evaluate new ways the architectural profession can further democratize design.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The research took the form of interviews, photographs
and written reflections of case study projects. The intent was
to capture the context that shaped the design and reveal
first-hand user experiences that would illustrate the socio-cultural
influences that shaped it. The final exhibition would become a photo journal
and retrospective documenting this heuristic approach.
SHIFT IN PEDAGOGY
Emerging alternative forms of practice are reframing how architects interface with the
community. The six case study projects studied share a common denominator in that they
break the mold of prototypical architectural delivery methods. This includes expanding services
to meta-research and community outreach, varying delivery methods from in-house initiatives
to less formal open-sourced network-based approaches, and diversifying funding sources away
from typical RFP and client fee models to more proactive and democratized methods such as
crowdsourcing and public grants.
