open call to study community-designed projects – Jun 30

Posted by University of Pennsylvania on June 18, 2024

Weitzman School of Design issues open call to study community-designed projects

The University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design has issued an open call to study projects designed in community.

Coordinated by PennPraxis, a center dedicated to the translation of theory into praxis (or action), Case Studies in Design is a new effort to create opportunities for community and design leaders to think together about ways to catalyze transformational design, planning, and place-keeping from the ground up. The program aims to learn from ambitious projects designed in community, share knowledge and experience through dialogue and a public library of case studies, and train ourselves for new practices of creative, collective action. Case study projects could range from outstanding examples of community-engaged design practice to more radical roles and results of design, planning, or place-keeping.

The goal is to study projects in which design and planning helped build community power, and where community-led processes produced new forms of agency design through: deep conversation that shaped the nature and time horizon of the project; openness and deference to rooted leadership; reciprocal (not extractive) processes, creatively designed; collaboration and resource-sharing; and new alliances to achieve leverage.

In 2024, the school will support five case study writers with a fee and expense allowance of $50,000 per author to research, write, and curate or create illustrations for a case study over a period of eight months. Fees for community members participating in interviews, travel, and other expenses will be managed by authors within the resources of the $50,000 lump sum for fee and expense.

For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design website.

Deadline: June 30, 2024 at 12:00 noon ET