73 | Public Interest Design, Past, Present & Future

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) is an independent, nonprofit, student-run organization dedicated to providing unmatched progressive programs, information, and resources on issues critical to architecture and the experience of education. The AIAS aims to promote excellence in architectural education, training, and practice; foster an appreciation of architecture and related disciplines; enrich communities in a spirit of collaboration, and organize students and combine their efforts to advance the art and science of architecture.

Sarah Curry was the president of the Auburn University Chapter of the AIAS and was an involved member beginning in her freshman year. 

The Gulf Coast DesignLab is the first long-running ecologically based program that fosters environmental activism within the field of design and for the public. Through their hands-on approach to civic engagement, students partner with nonprofits and governmental agencies with the mission to bring about equity through environmental education. For over ten years, students—particularly middle and high school students from underserved neighborhoods—have learned to become better designers by designing and building places for the public where community partners can advance ecological literacy and promote environmental stewardship practices.

Coleman Coker, RA, Professor of Practice, is the director of the Gulf Coast DesignLab at the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. Coker was awarded the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome and is a Loeb Fellow in Advanced Environmental Studies at Harvard University Graduate School of Design. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Memphis College of Art and received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from there. The Architectural League of New York in 1991 recognized him in their “Emerging Voices” series.

Hosts Eric Cesal and Karen Kubey visit with Coleman Coker, of the Gulf Coast Design Lab, and Sarah Curry, of AIAS to discuss the evolution of social design.