May 29, 2013

$20K Enterprise Pre-Development Design Grants

Enterprise Community Partners have opened up their second cycle of Pre-Development Design Grants, focused on affordable housing. The $20,000 grants are available to “501(c)(3) community development corporations; community housing development corporation, tribally designated housing entities, as well as for-profit entities participating through joint ventures with qualified organizations.” The deadline for applications is July 10, 2013.

Enterprise’s Pre-Development Design Grant provides funding for design exploration during the early stages of affordable housing development. Carrying the project from inception to the beginning of schematic design, these grants enable development teams to define project goals, identify challenges and explore multiple design solutions. Armed with new ideas and expanded partnerships, developers complete the process equipped to make more informed decisions that lead to higher quality projects.

Click here to learn more about Enterprise’s Pre-Development Design Grant, online at EnterpriseCommunity.org.

May 28, 2013

50 Design Problems in 50 Days

Following a restful Memorial Day, here in the U.S., we kick off another week with a fascinating article about and even more fascinating journey that Peter Smart–a designer, speaker, and writer from the UK–embarked on. As chronicled at 50Problems50Days.com, Smart recently travelled 2,517 miles to try and solve 50 problems in 50 days, using design. His first of three pieces for Smashing Magazine, subtitled “Real Empathy for Innovation,” is well worth a read.

I recently travelled 2,517 miles to try to solve 50 problems in 50 days using design–a journey that would challenge me to fundamentally rethink my understanding of the user-experience design process. I wanted to test the limits of design’s ability to solve problems–big and small. To do this, I left the comfort of my computer chair and set out into the unknown. Each day, I had 24 hours to observe a problem, attempt to solve it and then communicate the solution.

Click here to read Pete Smart’s “50 Design Problems In 50 Days: Real Empathy For Innovation (Part 1),” online at SmashingMagazine.com. Special thanks to architect, educator, photographer, and many other things Jill Sornson Kurtz–perhaps best known in public interest design circles as the proud board chair of Rebuild Sudan–for tipping us off to this piece and Smart’s journey.

May 24, 2013

Job: PSU Center for Public Interest Design

We’re expressly not in the business of publishing job postings, except when they’re explicitly related to public interest design. This position is for a Senior Research Associate within Portland State University‘s new Center for Public Interest Design, profiled here previously. The deadline for applications is June 14, 2013.

Successful candidates will be expected to work with the Center’s Director and faculty fellows to develop a funded research agenda in public interest design. The work will focus on project-based research and design with client communities and other stakeholders, non-profits and research centers at PSU and worldwide. No teaching experience is expected, though collaboration with faculty fellows of the Center may include participation in teaching design studios and research seminars. The successful candidate will be hired at the rank of Senior Research Associate, and will receive full support for two years during which they will be expected to establish a research agenda with the Director of the Center and associated faculty, as well as sufficient funding to support their appointment in following years.

Click here to learn more about the Senior Research Associate position with the Center for Public Interest Design at Portland State University, online at PDX.edu.

May 23, 2013

TED: “Architecture for the people by the people”

One of our absolute favorite talks from TED2013 in Long Beach, earlier this year, was by UK architect Alastair Parvin, co-founder of WikiHouse. His talk, titled “Architecture for the people by the people,” was among the first to earn a standing ovation at this year’s TED, and you need only watch it to understand why. It is one of the most compelling cases for returning design to its rightful place in the public domain. And we simply can’t recommend it highly enough.

This is the paradox for architecture: As a society, we’ve never needed design thinking more and yet architecture is literally becoming unemployed. It strikes me that we talk very deeply about design, but actually there’s an economics behind architecture that we don’t talk about and I think we need to…The uncomfortable fact is that actually almost everything that we call architecture today is the business of designing for the richest one percent of the world’s population.

Click here to watch Alastair Parvin’s TED talk, “Architecture for the people by the people,” online at TED.com.

May 23, 2013

2013 Ideas that Matter Grant Program Announced

Ideas that Matter is an annual grants program, providing teams of graphic designers and nonprofits with between $5,000 and $50,000 to realize beautiful, compelling communications design projects. This year’s deadline for applications is July 19, 2013, with judging to take place in August, and grants announced in September and awarded in October. Projects must be fully implemented within six months of receiving awards.

More than a decade ago Sappi Fine Paper North America–the maker of McCoy, Opus, Somerset and Flo –established the Ideas that Matter grant program to recognize and support designers who use their skills and expertise to solve communications problems for a wide range of charitable activities. Even today, Ideas that Matter remains the only grant program of its kind in the industry. Since 1999, Ideas that Matter has funded over 500 nonprofit projects, contributing $12 million worldwide to causes that enhance our lives, our communities, and our planet. Sappi believes that the creative ideas of designers can have an impact beyond the aesthetic and that those ideas can be a powerful force for social good.

Click here to learn more about the 2013 Ideas that Matter program, online at Sappi.com.

May 22, 2013

Design Affects: 15 Non-Designer Inspirations

Design Affects have published a great follow-up to its “15 Social Impact Designers Reveal Their Career Defining Moment,” profiled here previously. Editor Katie Crepeau asked “Who outside of the design profession inspires you and why?“ Two respondents cited Dr. Atul Gawande, as our own John Cary explains:

I regularly draw on my design toolbox, but I also learn a ton about design–its constraints and opportunities–in the process. I particularly like learning from non-designers who discover the transformative power of design. Several come to mind, but especially one of my writing heroes, Atul Gawande. He’s a surgeon by training, but a noted writer for The New Yorker and author of multiple books. My favorites are Better and The Checklist Manifesto, both of which take a look at systems shaping the healthcare system and our world generally. I can’t recommend them highly enough.

Click here to read “15 Designers Share Their Non-Design Inspiration,” online at DesignAffects.com.

May 22, 2013

Still Time to Apply for Design Futures Forum

This is a final, friendly reminder that the inaugural “Design Futures” Public Interest Design (PID) Student Leadership Forum will be hosted by the University of Texas at Austin‘s Center for Sustainable Development from May 28 to June 1, 2013. The event features more than a dozen and a half leaders from the field, with our own John Cary serving as the opening keynote.

Uniting a select group of multi-disciplinary students and emerging leaders in the PID field, the forum will explore the emergence of PID in history, its epistemological and ontological roots, and contemporary challenges around practicing PID. In addition to these themes, students who attend the Design Futures PID Student Leadership Forum will gain specific training in some of the core skill sets required for effective PID practice…Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders and we look forward to helping provide a solid foundation around which to build a successful career path within this emergent field of design practice.

Click here to learn more about the Design Futures Public Interest Design Student Leadership Forum, online at UTexas.edu.

May 21, 2013

PSU Announces Center for Public Interest Design

Portland State University yesterday announced the establishment of a first-of-its-kind Center for Public Interest Design, made possible by a five-year, $1.5 million anonymous gift. It is described as “a research center that aims to investigate and utilize the power of design to make social, economic, and environmental change in disadvantaged communities worldwide.” The founding director of the center is none other than Sergio Palleroni, who is also founder of the Building Sustainability Communities (BaSiC) Initiative. In his welcome letter, Palleroni explains:

This Center hopes to move beyond the divide between sustainability and public interest design by looking at them as part of the same challenge. We hope to test our research through acts of design with communities in need, because participatory action research—findings that are grounded in communities’ living conditions—offers the greatest opportunity to effect long-term change.

Click here to learn more about Portland State University’s new Center for Public Interest Design, online at PSU.edu.

May 21, 2013

ArtPlace Announces $15.2 Million in New Grants

ArtPlace America announced yesterday a total of $15.2 million in new funding to 54 projects using the arts to transform 44 communities, including a statewide project in Connecticut. This is the third cycle of grants, with ArtPlace America having awarded a total of $42.1 million in 134 grants to 124 organizations in 79 communities across the country. A collaboration of leading national and regional foundations, banks, and federal agencies ArtPlace is “committed to accelerating creative placemaking–putting art at the heart of a portfolio of strategies designed to revitalize communities.”

Click here to learn more about that latest round of ArtPlace America grantees, online at ArtPlaceAmerica.org.

May 21, 2013

2014-16 Enterprise Rose Fellowships Announced

Enterprise Community Partners has announced a record six new positions through its prestigious Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship program. From 2014-2016, six lucky fellows will work full-time within host organizations in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dillsburg, Penn., New York, or San Jose, bringing fresh ideas and helping to build capacity. Host organizations provide health insurance and other fringe benefits, while Enterprise provides an annual stipend of $48,000, coaching, and training, along with industry networking and learning opportunities. The deadline for applications is July 10, 2013.

The highly competitive Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship develops the next generation of leaders in community-based design. Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellows take part in a unique three-year experience offering unparalleled learning and networking opportunities. As integral members of their host organizations’ staff, fellows gain practical experience in site acquisition, site planning, architectural design, developing financial pro-formas, applying for financing and obtaining public approvals. Fellows also typically help their hosts improve standards and practices for design excellence, sustainability and resident engagement.

Click here to learn more about the 2014-2016 Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowships, online at EnterpriseCommunity.org.