Public interest design

Public interest design is a human-centered and participatory design practice that places emphasis on the “triple bottom line” of sustainable design that includes ecological, economic, and social issues and on designing products, structures, and systems that address issues such as economic development and the preservation of the environment. Public interest design is a human-centered and participatory design practice that places emphasis on the “triple bottom line” of sustainable design that includes ecological, economic, and social issues and on designing products, structures, and systems that address issues such as economic development and the preservation of the environment. Starting in the late 1990s, several books, convenings, and exhibitions have generated new momentum and investment in public interest design. Since then, public interest design—frequently described as a movement or field—has gained public recognition. Public interest design grew out of the community design movement, which got its start in 1968 after American civil rights leader Whitney Young issued a challenge to attendees of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) national convention: '. . . you are not a profession that has distinguished itself by your social and civic contributions to the cause of civil rights, and I am sure this does not come to you as any shock. You are most distinguished by your thunderous silence and your complete irrelevance.' The response to Young’s challenge was the establishment of community design centers (CDCs) across the United States. CDCs, which were often established with the support of area universities, provided a variety of design services – such as affordable housing - within their own neighborhoods. In architecture schools, “design/build programs” provided outreach to meet local design needs, particularly in low-income and underserved areas. One of the earliest design/build programs was Yale University’s Vlock Building Project. The project, which was initiated by students at Yale University School of Architecture in 1967, requires graduate students to design and build low-income housing. One of the most publicized programs is the Auburn University Rural Studio design/build program, which was founded in 1993. The Rural Studio’s first project, Bryant House, was completed in 1994 for $16,500. Interest in public interest design – particularly socially responsible architecture – began to grow during the 1990s and continued into the first decade of the new millennium. Conferences, books, and exhibitions began to showcase the design work being done beyond the community design centers, which had greatly decreased in numbers since their peak in the seventies. Non-profit organizations – including Architecture for Humanity, BaSiC Initiative, Design Corps, Public Architecture, Project H, Project Locus, and MASS Design Group – began to provide design services that served a larger segment of the population than had been served by traditional design professions.