2013 - 2015 Social Structure

During 2013-2015 I was working on the "Social Structure" research project. The aim was to define economic models for architects to work on social impact design. The research was conducted trough qualitative interviews with chosen professionals and combined with work periods of 3 months in 4 different practices focusing on social impact design. The blog Social Structure documents these interviews and the learning process throughout 2013-2015. The project is funded with Antti Nurmesniemi-grant from Asko foundation. Preliminary interviews were funded with a grant from the Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) and Väinö Vähäkallio scholarship from Aalto University.

What Urban Planning Can Learn From Tech and Vice Versa?

This was the topic of a discussion organized by SPUR on 7.1.2014. Here are some take-aways from the four presenters', Molly Turner / Airbnb, Alicia Rouault / Code for America, Allison Arieff / SPUR and Egon Terplan / SPUR, talks.

Alicia Rouault from Code for America pointed out how the two disciplines share many similar methods, but just call them with different names:

TECH / PLANNING

agile/lean / Lighter, quicker, cheaper

intrative/disruptive / Tactical Urbanism

MVP / pilot

user reserach / needs finding

Molly Turner, director of public policy for Aibnb, argued that it is a necessity for planners to start benefiting more of the tools that are out there: "This is not an intersection [of disclipines], it is a one way street. The broader urban planning community is already present."

According to Turner, biggest take-aways for planning from tech are:

Don't ask limiting questions - ask instead: How might we?
Entertain crazy ideas
Prototype and ideate rather than just vision
Design the end-to-end user experience
Think about scalability and reliability
Be entrepreneurial - think bigger!

Turner also presented a list of sites and apps that are changing the way we use and design cities:

And here's a few additions that I¨ve come across:

http://www.urbanobservatory.org/
https://nextdoor.com/about_us/
http://insidemaps.com/
http://www.houzz.com/mobileApps
http://pricemaps.betterdoctor.com
https://findery.com/
http://www.locish.com/
http://www.yelp.com/
http://localdata.com/
A good slideshare presentation: Apps for Architecture and Urban Planning,
Nicole Henning, Independent UX professional at Apps4Creatives on Nov 15, 2011

Some tools for developers and planners:

And ideas for future ones: http://discoversf.org/

Why is Social Impact Design important?

"Trough these small acupuncture acts we could transform the public space into the inclusive builder of community that it should be."
Katherine Darmstadt, Architecture for Humanity Chicago & Latent Design
www.chicagoideas.com

Because it can decrease the environmental impact of our cities:
"The growing emphasis on place making is linked to renewed interest in public transportation, and in walkable communities."
Light, Quick And Cheap: The Big Shift In Urban Planning, Micheline Maynard, Forbes.com 23.10.2013

Because by providing spaces for murals you can decrease maintenance costs of the public sphere:
"They have an active youth arts education program that give kids an alternative to graffiti."
Mural matriarch Susan Cervantes makes it big in art, San Francisco Chronicle 5.11.2014

"As more firms expand that access through pro bono design efforts, the public appreciation of the benefits and necessity of architectural services will also expand."
Architectural Record, October 2008.

Schedule of Social Structure research

Preliminary study period: August-October 2013
08/2013 HPAIR Asia in Dubai as part of European Delegation
08/2013 Tampere Architecture Week with Uusi Kaupunki-collective
09/2013 TAB 2013 Tallinn Architecture Biennale
09/2013 AES Think Big in San Francisco
09/2013 European delegation final seminar in Berlin
10/2013 South of North -seminar in MFA Helsinki

Actual research period: November 2013-November 2014

11/2013 Work in research part begins with Architecture for Humanity HQ in San Francisco

01-03/2014 2nd work in research part with Building Trust International in Cambodia

05-07/2014 3rd work in research part with raumlabor berlin in Germany

10-12/2014 4th work in research part with Architecture et Développement in Siliguri, India

01/2015 Publication of “Social Structure” web-publication

2013 - 2015 Social Structure

Why is Social Impact Design important?

Schedule of Social Structure research