Perspective: Designing for Social Good

(Above: Project Color Corps mural at Kennedy Elementary. Image courtesy of Project Color Corps)

Last month, at the New Yorker Festival in Manhattan, author Zadie Smith said something I can’t stop thinking about.

“To write is an act of optimism, to actually engage at any level. It's embedded in the structure no matter what else happens,” she said in a conversation with fellow writer George Saunders and New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman.

The mere act of writing, she suggested, is to resist complete despair. It is an exercise in hope. I wasn’t in that auditorium with Zadie Smith — although Instagram clips made me feel like I was — but her words resonated because they echo how I feel about design.

Design is also an act of creation, a deeply optimistic endeavor. A core belief underpins the design process — the idea that we can make spaces better for any human being who crosses their threshold. Better spaces lead to better experiences, which in turn support human dignity and well-being. At its best, design operates in service to humanity. It is a force for social good.

That’s the focus of this issue of Perspective — how design can make communities, cities, and society more humane, egalitarian, and livable. Our cover story centers on Toni L. Griffin, a professor of urban planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and the founding director of Harvard’s Just City Lab, which investigates how design can promote justice across American cities. Inside this issue, you’ll also hear from Laura Guido-Clark, a designer who uses color to express and affirm our shared humanity, and Shannon Goodman, an architect who co-founded a nonprofit that supports circularity and reuse by redirecting building materials headed to the landfill back into communities.

That’s just a snapshot of the socially conscious, equity-minded, and future-focused people and projects you’ll encounter within this issue. They’re excellent examples of the power and promise of this profession, reminding us that design is a privilege, a responsibility, and a radical act of imagination.

Cheryl S. Durst, Hon. FIIDA
IIDA Executive Vice President and CEO

The Future is Reclaimed and Reused

Shannon Goodman makes the case for how materials reuse can shape our future. By adopting the right mindset, reused materials are an equitable and sustainable solution for performance and beauty — cutting costs for communities in need and adding historical significance and cultural touchpoints for projects large and small. Read more

Shannongoodman perspective tableofcontents

The Human Side of Color

"My goal is never to simply treat color as surface but to reimagine what could be and to leverage color as a disruptive, forceful catalyst for change." The self-appointed "color humanist" Laura Guido Clark of Project Color Corps shares how she empowers communities through collaboration and color. Read more

Table of Contents Childrens Assessment Center Houston Laura Guido Clark

Building a Just City

Urban planner and architect Toni L. Griffin's career is rooted in creating a just environment. Griffin works in pursuit of urban justice using the tools at her disposal pushing education and action. Here’s how she found her way to this important work. Read more

Perspective socialgood coverstory tableofcontents

Members-Only Bonus

Take a deep dive into the inner workings of Urban American City and the Just City Lab, two organizations founded by Toni L. Griffin aimed in pursuit of urban justice in cities across the U.S. Read more

Perspective socialgood membersonly tableofcontents

5 Designs With a Big Impact

We take a look at projects that aim to improve life through great design and innovative thinking. From luxury vegan leather to tableware designed with neuroaesthetics in mind, community development, equity, and supportive housing. Read more

Brooks Scarpa The Sixh Credit Tara Wucjik Courtesyof BS

Nonprofits Deserve Good Design, Too

Jennifer Sobecki, Ind. IIDA, CEO of the Chicago nonprofit that transforms other nonprofit environments through design, takes us through a day in her life. Read more