Social Design Archives

9 Highlights from CES 2020: Metropolis’s Picks from the Innovation Awards

Vicky Su,

From road traffic safety to the female orgasm, a slew of contemporary issues found possible solutions at CES this year.

Berlin Architects Draw on Traditional Building Techniques for Kurdish Safe Haven

Akiva Blander,

The Healing Garden in Iraqi Kurdistan provides animal therapy, basic medical care, and community spaces.

What is the Social Impact of Sustainable Architecture?

Rebecca Greenwald,

Panelists at the Metropolis Perspective: Sustainability event in Los Angeles last week bemoaned the challenges of measuring social equity within sustainability certification frameworks.

Grappling with the Social Impact of Design

Sean Keenan,

A recent Metropolis Think Tank panel, hosted at Perkins+Will's Atlanta office, fleshed out how architects might take better account of a project’s stakeholders, especially those who aren’t paying for it.

all square Minneapolis restaurant Architecture Office

This Glowing Grilled Cheese Restaurant Offers the Formerly Incarcerated a Fresh Start

Sam Lubell,

The Minneapolis restaurant All Square, a pro-bono project by Syracuse-based Architecture Office, operates under the mantra, “Don’t Judge, Just Eat.”

Feilden Fowles Tucks a Fully Functioning Farm Into a Vacant London Lot

George Kafka,

The Waterloo City Farm, also home to the firm’s studio, delivers good design—and vegetables and barnyard critters—to communities in need.

Can the Design of L.A.’s New Juvenile Detention Facility Change the Future of Youth Incarceration?

Thomas Musca, Emma Gardner,

Malibu’s Campus Kilpatrick detention facility aims to be a national model for juvenile justice through a humanizing architecture.

New Talent 2017: Orkidstudio's Dedication to Social Impact and Architecture

Lee Ivett,

Orkidstudio's small Nairobi-based team is equal parts contractor, designer, and educator, and treats each project as an opportunity to innovate and empower.

This Nonprofit Empowers Natural Disaster Survivors Through Makerspaces

Audrey Gray,

International aid organization Communitere proposes an alternative model for disaster relief by linking communities with vital tools and technology.

City Whisperers: Why Designers Are Essential to Demystifying Urban Development

Avinash Rajagopal,

Author Cassim Shepard discusses the concept of the "design city" and how designers can act collaboratively to make cities better.

Designing for the Moment Refugees Become Neighbors

Audrey Gray,

Seattle architect Rania Qawasma has created an award-winning guide for refugees navigating day-to-day life in American cities.

Makers, Users Co-Create Tech Products That Make Disability Manageable

Tamy Cozier,

Tel Aviv-based start-up Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) hosts maker-marathons to brainstorm a new generation of assisted devices.

5 Kickstarter Campaigns To Support Right Now

3Form,

These innovative projects, all at different points on their timeline, could use a little kick, and a lot of support.

What if...Veterans Could Solve the Farming Crisis?

Andrew Burdick,

For his inaugural column, architect and activist Andrew Burdick considers how farming could provide a way to help veterans transition back to civilian life.

Measuring Social Design: The Challenges of Bringing Data Into Design

Guglielmo Mattioli,

“Design+Health” showed how data will (and should) inform design. But it also provoked questions about its potential downsides.

Social Design: A Discipline In Its Own Right

Guglielmo Mattioli,

Cheryl Heller, the founding chair of the MFA in Design for Social Innovation at SVA, explains why "social design" needs its own graduate-level program, now more than ever.

The New School's New Hire Asserts Design's Role in the Refugee Crisis

Gretchen Von Koenig,

Alex Aleinikoff, incoming director of the Zolberg Institute of Migration and Mobility at the New School for Social Resource, hopes to bring together the worlds of social research and design.

Jo Noero on Self-Help Housing, Neoliberalism, & What Patrik Schumacher Doesn't Understand

Elvia Wilk,

In this interview, South African architect Jo Noero discusses the importance of dweller control in housing—and how it can make the temporary become permanent.