Portland State University's School of Architecture has recently launched Center for Public Interest Design, a research center that aims to investigate and utilize the power of design to make social, economic and environmental change in disadvantaged communities worldwide. The Center is the first of its kind in the nation.
Positioned at the forefront of a burgeoning international movement in public interest design among architects, designers, and the general public, the Center is headed by Professor Sergio Palleroni, a recipient of the American Institute of Architects' prestigious Latrobe Prize for Public Interest Practice in Architecture in 2011.
The mission of the Center meets a critical worldwide need for affordable, sustainable design. Bryan Bell, the founder of Design Corps, has often said that only 2 percent of building in the US involves an architect. That number is even lower in developing or undeveloped countries, where access to clean water, safe and well-designed shelter and other basic necessities may go unmet. The Center aims to change this fact, with the understanding that architecture can help make the world a better place and that architects can be agents of change.
"Our research shows that one major obstacle to the growth of public interest design is the lack of education being provided in this emerging field. Universities need to step up and train designers to effectively provide this public service," said Bryan Bell. "Portland State University has taken a groundbreaking step by opening the first center that will focus on this important field."
Palleroni and his colleagues are already promoting the emerging field of public interest design by supporting research in public engagement, fieldwork, service opportunities and professional education and training.
The first five projects in the Center are rethinking the way designers collaborate with communities to change living conditions, regardless of economic or social status. The projects include the design and construction of an orphanage and environmental-technical school in Titanyen, Haiti, a collaboration with architecture faculty and students at Ecole Speciale d'Architecture, Paris, France; and the SAGE classroom, which has gone on the market nationally in the last week and promises to make healthy and green modular classrooms affordable to all.