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  • What is Social Impact Design?
    • Overview
    • Most Urgent Questions
  • About the Foundation
    • Overview
    • Initiatives
    • People
    • Awards
      • Overview
      • Grantees
      • Curry Stone Design Prize Winners
      • Social Design Circle Honorees
    • News
    • Connect with Us
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Urban Strategies

Here you’ll find practices that work at the urban scale. They combine architecture, planning and engineering to improve social, economic and environmental conditions within cities.

Related Keywords
  • Community Development
  • Community Engagement
  • Civic Empowerment
  • Urban Strategies
  • Architecture
  • Public Space
  • Advocacy
  • Art Activism
  • Europe
  • Education
  • Environmental Sustainability
  • Community Built Projects

04 | Engaging Community, Engaging Practice

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
Should designers be outlaws? Arquitectura Expandida discusses its approach to working in informal communities alongside (and sometimes around) government.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

12 | Why All Architecture is Social

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
Can design challenge inequality? Giancarlo Mazzanti shares his thoughts on transforming Medellin and how great architecture can bring neighborhoods together.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

121 | Buildings Made of Sky

Podcast
Crisis in Climate, Crisis in Design Bruce King, PE, natural building advocate, joins us to discuss his new book “The New Carbon Architecture: Building to Cool the Planet”
  • Environment
  • Housing
  • Urban Strategies

24-25 | Tools for Urban Action, Part 1 & 2

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
Can design reclaim public space? Ecosistema Urbano & Interboro share their stories about how they shaped a practice around public space.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

27-28 | How All Space Becomes Public Space, Part 1 & 2

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
Can design reclaim public space? EXYZT and Basurama detail new ways to think about public space.
  • Urban Strategies

29-30 | The New Informal City, Part 1 & 2

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
Can we design a slum-friendly city? Urban­-Think Tank discusses their urban strategy and how they work against structural inequality in cities.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

48 | Nurturing Collective Imagination in Rome

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
Does design create politics or vice versa? Lorenzo Romito of Stalker discusses the ‘territory’ of architecture and how it can be expanded.
  • Advocacy
  • Environment
  • Urban Strategies

51 | Collective Mapping as a Tool for Social Change

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
Does design create politics or vice versa? Iconoclasistas discusses the practice of collective mapping and how it can be mobilized to achieve social justice.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

53 | Designing After Revolution

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
How do we democratize design? Omar Nagati and Beth Stryker share their thoughts on CLUSTER Cairo, and the design of urban activism.
  • Urban Strategies

54 | Designing a Post-Industrial Future

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
How do we democratize design? John Fetterman of Braddock, PA, shares his thoughts on how to imagine a new future in a post-industrial landscape.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

75 | New Forms of Design Education for New Forms of Cities

Podcast
Can design education promote social justice? Christian Benimana is a senior principal and managing director at Mass Design. He also is the founder of the African Design Center.
  • Advocacy
  • Environment
  • Urban Strategies

79-80 | Inciting Radical Communities, Part 1 & 2

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
How can cities be reimagined by their citizens? Two central figures in public art and community building unveil how they help communities take control of their own futures.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

83 | Human-powered Resilience in Action

Podcast
Social Design Circle Honoree
Is Resilience Still Relevant? Architect Hsieh Ying-Chun joins host Eric Cesal to talk about how people can power rebuilding after disaster.
  • Community Development
  • Conflict and Disaster
  • Housing
  • Resilience
  • Urban Strategies

84-85 | Architecture, Wake Up, It’s a New Day, Part 1 & 2

Podcast
Is Resilience Still Relevant? Mario and Nuno do Rosario discuss the history of design in Mozambique from Independence to the present-day.
  • Community Development
  • Conflict and Disaster
  • Resilience
  • Urban Strategies

88 | How to Make Useful Noise

Podcast
Is Resilience Still Relevant? By the middle of this century, up to 300 million people will be displaced by climate change and climate change disasters. What is the ethical role of designers in adapting the built environment to such changes?
  • Community Development
  • Conflict and Disaster
  • Housing
  • Resilience
  • Urban Strategies

Alliance of Community Trainers

CSF Grantee
Can design increase civic engagement? The Alliance of Community Trainers works with communities to create a shared vision and to empower communities with tools for problem solving, conflict resolution, alternative technology, environmental sustainability and more.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Conflict and Disaster
  • Environment
  • Resilience
  • Urban Strategies

Arquitectura Expandida

Social Design Circle Honoree
Podcast
Should designers be outlaws? Founded in 2010, Arquitectura Expandida (AXP) is a design collective based in Bogota, Colombia focused on building structures for and with communities that cannot afford to go through official channels for design and construction.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

Assemble

Social Design Circle Honoree
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.
  • Urban Strategies

Coloco

Social Design Circle Honoree
Can a city work as an ecosystem? Coloco is a collective of landscapers, artists, urban planners, and botanists working in a variety of mediums including mapping, physical gardening, and advocacy.
  • Community Development
  • Environment
  • Urban Strategies

Ctrl+Z

Social Design Circle Honoree
Is architecture more about community participation than materials? Ctrl+Z Architecture practices collaborative, participatory, self-construction initiatives throughout the world. It believes that at its heart, architecture is more about interaction with communities than specific materials or approaches.
  • Community Development
  • Environment
  • Urban Strategies

Earth Activist Training

CSF Grantee
Can we design education for environmental sustainability? Author, activist and founder Starhawk offers Earth Activist Training in permaculture, nature awareness, earth based spirituality and more for individuals, teachers and community groups.
  • Community Development
  • Environment
  • Resilience
  • Urban Strategies

Echeverri & Fajardo

2009 Prize Winner
Video
Can improving the built environment in impoverished neighborhoods transform a city? Fajardo and Echeverri implemented a bold program in Medellín. By training architects to build parks and public buildings in impoverished neighborhoods, Medellin was transformed from “world’s deadliest city” into a vibrant, livable place.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

Ecosistema Urbano

Social Design Circle Honoree
Podcast
Can urban biodiversity be designed? Ecosistema Urbano is a Madrid-based architecture and design firm founded in 2005 by Belinda Tato and Jose Luis Vallejo.
  • Urban Strategies

Estudio Teddy Cruz + Forman

Social Design Circle Honoree
Podcast
CSF Grantee
How can borders be places of innovation, creativity and exchange? Central to Estudio Teddy Cruz + Forman’s work is the idea that “borders” are not places to be defended, but can promote innovation and exchange.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

EXYZT

Social Design Circle Honoree
Podcast
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.
  • Urban Strategies

Inteligencias Colectivas

Social Design Circle Honoree
What happens when traditional and modern design techniques are blended? Inteligencias Colectivas focuses on the ‘fringe’ of construction practice. Between highly mechanized construction and ancient methods are blended practices with their own wisdom. Inteligencias Colectivas¬ collects, collates and shares these.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

Interbreeding Field

Social Design Circle Honoree
Can Design Reclaim Public Space? Interbreeding Field is a Taiwanese educational program that creates installations in and about public space. Interbreeding Field’s work makes provocative commentary on how a space should or could be used.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

Ishinomaki 2.0

Social Design Circle Honoree
How can a disaster be a catalyst for new visions? Ishinomaki 2.0 was founded in the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami that devastated Ishinomaki and the surrounding region, with nearly 46% of the city destroyed.
  • Advocacy
  • Urban Strategies

Kitaab Mahal – The Palace of Books

Design Foundation Initiative
How can the widening education gap be bridged? Kitaab Mahal is a children's library at Natwar Parekh Colony, designed and built by Community Design Agency in collaboration with the residents.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

Lorenzo Romito

Does design create politics or vice versa? Lorenzo Romito of Stalker discusses the ‘territory’ of architecture and how it can be expanded.
  • Environment
  • Urban Strategies

MVD

Social Design Circle Honoree
How do we democratize design? MVD is an Austrian collective that works to bring a political view to how public space is utilized.
  • Housing
  • Urban Strategies

PICO Colectivo

Social Design Circle Honoree
Is design about the process or the result? PICO focuses on interventions in gathering spaces. They believe that architecture is not an end it in itself. The process of understanding the interaction of life and space is vital.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

Public Works

Social Design Circle Honoree
How can neighborhood residents reassert control over their own futures? Public Works is a London-based critical design nonprofit straddling architecture, art, performance and activism. It addresses the challenges of urbanism, seeking ways that communities can reassert control over their futures.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

Slum Redevelopment

Design Foundation Initiative
How can a designer build trust among residents under a constant threat of eviction? The residents of a Ahmednagar slum live under a constant threat of eviction. CDA is focusing on trust building, empowering residents to take on development and construction of their homes.
  • Community Development
  • Housing
  • Resilience
  • Urban Strategies

Stalker

Social Design Circle Honoree
Podcast
Does design create politics or vice versa? Stalker Lab is an experimental collective of architects and researchers. Founded in Rome by a group of university students, artists, scientists, and planners, all later joined. Now, it operates as a laboratory for urban art and spatial exploration. Their international exhibitions and conferences look at different ways to transform space.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Environment
  • Urban Strategies

STEALTH.unlimited

Social Design Circle Honoree
What are the limits of architectural practice? STEALTH.unlimited challenges notions about architectural practice by connecting arts, urban research, cultural activism and interventions. They have a particular focus on ‘common’ spaces shared by both the private and the public.
  • Advocacy
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

studioBASAR

Social Design Circle Honoree
Can design reconcile the legacy of brutal authoritarianism and the new forces of the market? studioBASAR is an architectural office and a “Search and Rescue” team conducting urban observation and intervention. It searches for overlooked urban conditions. Then the ‘rescue’ encompasses architectural interventions.
  • Community Development
  • Urban Strategies

USINA CTAH

Social Design Circle Honoree
Can the built environment escape a profit-driven motive?
  • Housing
  • Urban Strategies

Wes Janz

2008 Prize Winner
Video
How can designers address poverty in American cities? Dr. Wesley Janz is a Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Ball State University, Indiana and the founder of OneSmallProject. Currently, he is working to draw attention to the issues central to the U.S. prison system.
  • Advocacy
  • Environment
  • Housing
  • Urban Strategies

Connect With Us currystonefdn

currystonefdn

Sandhya Naidu Janardhan (@sandhyajnaidu) wins the Sandhya Naidu Janardhan (@sandhyajnaidu) wins the prestigious Berkeley Rupp Prize (@ced_berkeley)! We are so proud to have been a part of her and her Mumbai-based studio Community Design Agency's (@communitydesignagency) journey. Under Sandhya's leadership the studio has created benchmarks in what empathetic and collaborative neighborhood regeneration, rooted in sustainability, community building and joy, can truly look like. Many congratulations on this well-deserved recognition, Sandhya! Read more about the award through the link in our bio and visit @communitydesignagency's page to learn more about their work. Picture credits: Community Design Agency, Rajesh Vora, Tejinder Singh Khamkha #berkeleyruppprize #communitybasedesign #mumbai #slumredevelopment #participatorydesign #publichousing
Ep. 62: Finding Empathy, Making Art Snippet from Ep. 62: Finding Empathy, Making Art Snippet from Dr Suzanne Lacy's (@suzanne.lacy) conversation with @ericjcesal on the #SocialDesignInsights #Podcast The #SocialDesignCircle honoree recently launched the second iteration of her ongoing project, Uncertain Futures, which looks at the inequalities and insecurities facing women over 50 in Manchester, England, relating to work and worklessness. Produced in collaboration with Manchester Art Gallery (@mcrartgallery), 2 universities and an Advisory Group of 15 women, the second iteration sees the launch of a short film and its research findings following interviews of a 100 women over 50 and the impact of interconnected issues of gender, age, labour, class, migration, status, disability and race on women's paid and unpaid work. The impressive case study has also been featured among UN's Decade of Healthy Ageing Progress Report 2021-2023. Click on the link in our bio to learn more about Uncertain Futures and to listen to Dr. Lacy on the Social Design Insights podcast. Images from Dr Lacy's performance installations De tu Puno y Letra (2014-15) and The Circle and The Square (2015-17) #performancearts #suzannelacy #artactivism
As a supporter of the Architects Foundation's (@oc As a supporter of the Architects Foundation's (@octagonmuseum) Diversity Advancement Scholarship, that invests in the next generation to bring diversity in the field of design and architecture, CSF is proud to be a part of Zuleika Baldeo's journey as she pursues her degree from Morgan State University. CSF co-founders and directors Clifford Curry and Dr. Delight Stone meet with her often to offer support and mentorship, which she says is as valuable as the financial support she is receiving from the scholarship funded by the duo. Click on the link in the bio to read more about Zuleika's journey. Philanthropy partners of @aianational, the Architects Foundation is launching its year end #GivingTuesday campaign today and you can learn more about supporting students like Zuleika by visiting @octagonmuseum's website. #aianational #architecturescholarship #scholarship #scholarships #givingtuesday #CSF #CurryStoneFoundation #AIA #architectsfoundation #diversityscholarship #diversityscholars #architectsfordiversity #hbcu #blackdesigners #blackarchitects #blackarchitecture #designjustice #morganonsocial #howarduniversity #howardu #aias #nomas #minorityarchitecturestudents #minorityarchitects #minoritydesigners
Iyad Issa, architect at the Curry Stone Design Pri Iyad Issa, architect at the Curry Stone Design Prize winning studio @riwaq_palestine and Curator of the Engaged Margins exhibit at the @venice.architecture.biennale, talks about the restoration of the archeological site Kafr 'Aqab in the outskirts of Jerusalem and how restoration projects should create room for pause and reflection in the regeneration of physical spaces. The work is on display till 26th November as a part of the Time Space Existence exhibition at Pallazzo Bembo in Venice and we encourage those attending the Biennale to engage with the nature and context of Riwaq's work and support their efforts. Video courtesy: European Cultural Center, Italy/YouTube @ecc_italy Cover Image courtesy: RIWAQ @riwaq_palestine #riwaq #palestine #jerusalem #architecture #venicebiennale #venicearchitecturebiennale #venicebiennale2023 #conservation #restorativedesign #restorativearchitecture #currystonefoundation #currystonedesignprize #CurryStone #currystonedesign #conservativearchitecture #palestinianheritage #architecturalheritage #architecturalheritageconservation

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Curry Stone Foundation - Home

The Curry Stone Foundation (CSF) is the brainchild of architect, urban planner and developer Clifford Curry, FAIA, and the historical archeologist Dr. Delight Stone, RPA. It was inspired by a shared conviction that design thinking and design actions can—and should, serve those wishing to contribute to community vitality and human dignity. Most of all, we believe that design should be available to those most in need.

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REQUESTS FOR FUNDING

Marginalized communities around the world are still dealing with the aftermath of COVID-19. The looming recession and geo-political issues have also been a major cause of concern for all.

Curry Stone Foundation continues to receive numerous requests for support. Many of these causes have significant merit, and we understand the need is great.

We continue to honor our prior commitments, to projects in India and elsewhere, who have needed additional support to reach completion. Since these projects impact fragile, marginalized populations, and are at the crucial stage of scaling, our funds are committed to them.

For these reasons, we will not be able to assist financially with any immediate requests for funds.

Appreciatively,

Curry Stone Foundation

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