EXPLORE OUR DIGITAL SOCIAL DESIGN DIRECTORY
LEARN ABOUT THE PEOPLE AND PRACTICES WHO USE DESIGN AS A TOOL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

The team at EXYZT EXYZT Can Design Reclaim Public Space? EXYZT was a European multidisciplinary design collective that broke extraordinary ground in challenging traditional notions of how public space can be organized. Can Design Reclaim Public Space? Assemble What is the antidote to luxury apartments no one will live in? Assemble Studio is a multi-disciplinary collective bridging the gaps between architecture, design, and art, and employing a democratic and cooperative working method that enables built, social, and research-based work at a variety of scales. What is the antidote to luxury apartments no one will live in? Building Site. Image Credit: C. Lamontagne/Cosmos The Association La Voûte Nubienne Can resurrecting building techniques from antiquity solve a West African housing crisis? West Africans face unique challenges in sourcing materials for sustainable, cost-efficient housing. In response, The Association la Voûte Nubienne (“AVN”) is bringing back an ages old technique: mud brick. Can resurrecting building techniques from antiquity solve a West African housing crisis? Proximity Designs Can design help raise the income of small hold farmers in Myanmar? Proximity Designs is a not-for-profit social enterprise working to reduce poverty for rural families in Myanmar. Can design help raise the income of small hold farmers in Myanmar? Bird's-eye view of COPROMO buildings. Image Credit: Usina CTAH USINA CTAH Can the built environment escape a profit-driven motive? Can the built environment escape a profit-driven motive?
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Prize Winners

Learn about our Prize Winners, Grantees, and Design Circle.

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Podcasts

Social Design Insights podcast. Conversations with the leading voices of the social design movement.

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Videos

Short, inspiring films about social design pioneers around the globe.

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Initiatives

Supporting inspiring work around the world

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CSF’s Mission is to empower the practice of community-driven social design

The Curry Stone Design Foundation supports groups and individuals using design to build healthier, more vital communities. Over time, this support has taken the form of an annual prize, a podcast, grants, and an honorary circle.

LEARN MORE ABOUT CSF

Social Design Insights is a weekly podcast of conversations with leading designers who discuss innovative projects and practices that use design to address pressing social justice issues.

Hosted by Eric Cesal, Produced by Baruch Zeichner.

Listen to the latest episode of Social Design Insights here.

IN MEMORIAM

Jockin Arputham dedicated his life to working with slum dwellers to build representative organizations into powerful partnerships with governments and international agencies for the betterment of urban living.

Mr. Jockin Arputham

We are saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend, colleague and incredible humanitarian Mr. Jockin Arputham.

Jockin dedicated his life to working with slum dwellers to build representative organizations into powerful partnerships with governments and international agencies for the betterment of urban living. Arputham was the president of the National Slum Dwellers Federation which he founded in the 70s and of Slum Dwellers International which is now a network of slum and shack dweller organizations and federations from over twenty countries across the world.

The National Slum Dwellers Federation works closely with Mahila Milan, a collective of savings groups formed by homeless women and women living in slums across India, and with SPARC, a Mumbai-based NGO that was awarded the Curry Stone Design Prize for their instrumental work in supporting tens of thousands of the urban poor access housing and sanitation throughout India.