Women-led Practices

Can design challenge inequality? John Peterson and Emily Pilloton share their practices and discuss how design can subvert structural inequality.

Advocacy
Community Development

115 | Designing for Women & Girls

Engaging + Reframing the 'Refugee' Crisis Anna Meddaugh joins us to talk about the origins and development of The Night Loo, a reusable personal urinal designed for women and girls in refugee camps.

Conflict and Disaster

45 | Finding Nature Beneath our Feet

Can a city work as an ecosystem? Nance Klehm shares her experiences as a ‘radical ecologist’ and her strategies for helping cities connect with nature.

Environment

62 | Finding Empathy, Making Art

How do we design resistance? Suzanne Lacy talks to us about the role of art in the pursuit of social justice, and how to navigate the lines between art, activism, design and space.

Advocacy

63-64 | Design as Protest, Protest by Design, Part 1 & 2

How do we design resistance? Bryan C. Lee Jr. and Sue Mobley of Colloqate Design join us to discuss how design can support or deconstruct systems of institutional oppression.

Advocacy

74 | Co-Producing Design Education

Can design education promote social justice? Doina Petrescu is an architect and educator who currently serves as the Chair of Architecture and Design Activism at the School of Architecture, University of Sheffield.

Advocacy

77-78 | Building Social Movements from the Ground Up, Part 1 & 2

Can design education promote social justice? Black in Design is a student-led biennial gathering which confronts issues of race and equity throughout the design professions.

Advocacy

91 | Designing with Love

Who Designs the Designers? Swenson is currently undertaking a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she studies the role of love as an animus for design – asking how our cities and neighborhoods might look if we accepted love as the primary motivator of design.

Advocacy
Community Development
Environment
Healthcare
Housing

92 | Do Good Stuff While You’re Here

Who Designs the Designers? For twenty years, the Prince Claus Fund and the Prince Claus Award has supported cultural development and practice in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. The Fund supports artists and practitioners from many different fields, ranging from artists, to architects and cartoonists.

Advocacy
Community Development
Conflict and Disaster
Healthcare

95 | Designing Intergalactically

Who Designs the Designers? Cheryl Heller is the Founding Chair of the first MFA program in Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts in New York, New York, and President of the design lab CommonWise.

Advocacy

96 | Knowing the Business of Social Design

Who Designs the Designers? Katie Crepeau joins us to talk about the challenges of starting and growing a social design practice.

Advocacy
Community Development

Active Social Architecture

Does school design have value beyond creating a place to educate children? Kigali based Active Social Architecture (ASA) builds schools. Its designs contribute to the child’s growth and stimulation and the schools are conspicuously situated, providing symbolic value for the entire community.

Advocacy
Community Development

Arquitectura Expandida

Should designers be outlaws? Arquitectura Expandida is a design collective based in Bogota, Colombia that builds structures of public assembly for communities which cannot afford to go through official channels for design and construction.

Advocacy
Community Development
Urban Strategies

Bait al Karama

How can a women-led culinary school promote peace and understanding? Bait al Karama, Palestinian Nablus’ first women’s center, combines a culinary social enterprise with cultural activities. Translated as “House of Dignity,” it is located in an area devastated by conflict.

Advocacy
Community Development

Build Change

What is needed to rebuild resiliently after a disaster? Denver-based non-profit Build Change designs disaster-resistant houses and schools for emerging nations, then trains builders, homeowners, engineers and government officials to build them using simple, culturally appropriate, and cost-effective techniques.

Community Development
Conflict and Disaster

Farm Cultural Park

Can rejuvenation through art transform a forgotten town? Farm Cultural Park is an organically conceived art-driven revitalization of the formerly abandoned center of Favara, Sicily. Visitors explore galleries, shops and cafes. Building exteriors are canvases for artists.

Advocacy
Community Development
Urban Strategies

Girls Garage (formerly Project H Design)

Can design challenge inequality? Girls Garage (formerly Project H Design) is a Berkeley-based design education non-profit focused on developing leadership skills for young women through hands-on exposure to designing and building.

Advocacy
Community Development

Gyaw Gyaw

Can architecture help stateless people put down roots? Gyaw Gyaw works with the vulnerable Karen people at the Myanmar/Thai border. It reduces their dependence on foreign aid via resilient, low cost, architectural projects built with community input.

Community Development
Environment

Heritage Foundation of Pakistan

Can post disaster housing be sustainable and respectful of local vernacular? The Heritage Foundation of Pakistan is one of the world’s most successful providers of sustainable, resilient disaster relief structures. They are also involved in historic conservation projects in Pakistani villages.

Conflict and Disaster

Jeanne van Heeswijk

2012 Prize Winner

Can art mend neighborhoods? Artist Jeanne van Heeswijk’s work centers on the relationship between public space and urban renewal. She embeds herself in communities, working with them to improve neighborhoods and design their futures.

Advocacy
Urban Strategies

Marjetica Potrč

2008 Prize Winner

Can participatory design inspire sustainable prosperity? Marjetica Potrč is an artist and architect who works on community-based projects characterized by participatory design and a concern for sustainability.

Community Development
Environment

Nance Klehm

Can a city work as an ecosystem? “Radical ecologist” Nance Klehm fosters awareness of how plants and animals coexist. She is an ecological systems designer, landscaper, horticultural consultant and permacultural grower focused on soil, ecology and community.

Environment

Repair Café

Can anyone repair everyday objects? The Repair Café is both an organization and a global network of cafés that emphasize the repair of everyday objects in order to promote a culture of sustainability and reuse.

Community Development

RIWAQ

2012 Prize Winner

Can restoration work in Palestine reinforce cultural identity? RIWAQ Centre for Architectural Conservation documents Palestinian heritage through restoration of the built environment. For Riwaq, conservation and historic restoration are tools for advancement; creating spaces where contemporary communities thrive.

Advocacy
Conflict and Disaster

Sustainable Health Enterprises {SHE}

2010 Prize Winner

Can menstrual pads contribute to economic opportunities for women? 18% of women and girls in Rwanda miss school and work because they cannot afford menstrual pads. SHE developed affordable, locally produced pads that provide sanitary protection and business opportunities.

Healthcare

Suzanne Lacy

What is the role of art in engaging the public in social justice issues? American artist and activist Suzanne Lacy tackles gender violence, segregation and other social justice issues. Her work evokes discussion and debate and often engages audiences directly, outside of institutional structures.

Advocacy

thinkpublic