Community Design Center, First Draft

Interior spaces affect people’s lives. Why don’t they notice?

On an ordinary day, a person will wake up to a horrid sounding alarm clock, feel the bright daylight fall across their face from a crack in the window covering, walk into a stark white kitchen and turn to a foul mood until they smell the coffee start to drip through the coffee maker, walk through the crowded streets with towering buildings overhead and begin to feel clausterphobic, and enter their office building again emotionally alarmed by the angles and slick, reflective materials of the space around them. No wonder so many dread going to work everyday.

What if design was more noticed? We are starting to see an emergence of “Design for All” as the Target slogan announces. Designers are increasingly playing a larger role in society in terms of exposure and influence. Fashion and product designers have started to make their names known by designing affordable lines for stores such as Issac Mizrahi, Thomas O’Brien, Vera Wang, etc. The world is constantly changing and designers have a responsibility to help change the future for the better. We also much change the way we practice in order to keep ourselves marketable. Design should not only be for the rich. The people who cannot afford it are the ones that need it the most. If there is a way to make design accessible to everyone, designers need to take charge and make it happen.

What if designers created spaces for people and not their own ambitions? In the past, designers and architects created a vision, a statement, an expression, a form, based on their desires for what architecture should be. We have started to realize with our changing physical environment that we have to stop being so selfish in our designs and work with our environment and the people that inhabit that environment in order to create good design. It isn’t all about form, function, deconstruction, rationalism, modernism, or money and power. It is about a new way of thinking and designing for the greater good. Taking responsibility for design and the way it affects its inhabitants and the earth.

In my thesis, I hope to create an environment where all people, regardless of age, income level, background, tourist, or local can enjoy themselves and learn. The program would involve multiple elements but essentially be a design community center. This environment would allow for exhibitions by students and professionals, art and design classes for children and adults, retail shops, a restaurant/coffee shop, and an outdoor space for events, gatherings, art displays or installations.

The client for this project would be either an art museum, a not for profit organization in the design industry, or perhaps an individual donor who feels design is important to the public’s wellbeing.

End users of these spaces are endless. Young children would benefit from after-school programs and creative summer design camps that would be free or have scholarships awarded. Adults who have always been interested in design and want to take some evening classes can in this center. Design professionals would hold seminars for continuing education or outreach. Tourists could stop by to view an exhibition or grab some coffee or shop. Socialites would meet for a glamorous charity event to raise money for the design center or for another non-profit organization. Students could meet here to discuss issues, conduct research, or display their work. Artists could display their work in a gallery like setting or in the outdoor space. Cultural or music groups might hold performances in this space, free to the public, or to raise money.


In terms of case studies, does anyone know of a space similar that I can look at? The more I thought about this project, the more I started thinking about a mixed program, multiple functions and activities, but all revolved around a central concept, which many of you are looking at doing yourselves, i.e. Tiffany, Andee. But I do believe this mixing of programs creates the most productive and enjoyable environments. I think museums would be good to look at, as well as schools, auditoriums, and restaurants integrated into other programs like stores or museums. I also want to look at exterior environments. My analysis of Rockefeller is helpful in this way. The difficulty will be to find an activity that will draw in masses of people like the ice skating rink and Christmas tree do.

Marc: Do you have any suggestions on readings I could do related to the issues I want to address? Specifically: designing for a new era, responsibility in design, how society views design and how designers can change those views.