Abstract
Collaborative design offers one opportunity to address longstanding inequities in the built environment. The work of the Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design, the community design center of the Tulane School of Architecture in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, serves as a case study to better understand the process and possibilities of this practice. Founded fifteen years ago, the Center believes each of us should have the opportunity to shape the places we live, work, and play. At the heart of the Center’s work is a commitment to iteration, responsiveness, and action. Unique in its structure for a university- based design center, the Center is teaching the next generation of architects through classes as well as serving as a collaborator and convener for partner driven efforts to support new visions for New Orleans and the surrounding region. Critical reflection on the Center’s process, values, and dual roles offer an opportunity to engage with questions of power dynamics, equity, and decolonization.
Keywords
architecture; power dynamics; collaboration
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/pluriversal.2020.205
Citation
Cotto, J., Jenisch, N., Welty, E., Williams, R.,and Yoachim, A.(2020) Creating New Futures: Collaborative Design Practice, in Leitão, R., Noel, L. and Murphy, L. (eds.), Pivot 2020: Designing a World of Many Centers - DRS Pluriversal Design SIG Conference, 4 June, held online. https://doi.org/10.21606/pluriversal.2020.205
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Creating New Futures: Collaborative Design Practice
Collaborative design offers one opportunity to address longstanding inequities in the built environment. The work of the Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design, the community design center of the Tulane School of Architecture in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, serves as a case study to better understand the process and possibilities of this practice. Founded fifteen years ago, the Center believes each of us should have the opportunity to shape the places we live, work, and play. At the heart of the Center’s work is a commitment to iteration, responsiveness, and action. Unique in its structure for a university- based design center, the Center is teaching the next generation of architects through classes as well as serving as a collaborator and convener for partner driven efforts to support new visions for New Orleans and the surrounding region. Critical reflection on the Center’s process, values, and dual roles offer an opportunity to engage with questions of power dynamics, equity, and decolonization.