brick + beam detroit
fellowship cities in learning
Cities in Learning is a fellowship program between IDEO, Parsons and the Knight Foundation that aims to iterate on submissions to the Knight Cities Challenge, a competition for ideas about improving cities through retaining talent, enhancing economic opportunity and spurring civic involvement. Our team, composed of students from the MFA in Transdisciplinary Design and the MS in Design and Urban Ecologies programs, worked with Brick + Beam Detroit, a project about creating community around building rehab in Detroit, Michigan. The fellowship was composed of two main parts – a 2-week prototyping bootcamp led by IDEO and a week in Detroit to test prototypes in context.
Bootcamp
Together with the Brick + Beam team from Detroit, we used IDEO’s brainstorming and evaluation methods to focus on specific concepts for prototyping in response to our two main questions:
How might we create a vibrant community around building rehab in Detroit?
How might we clarify the rehab process?
Prototyping Weekend
For our weekend together in Detroit, we focused on four main issues:
How might we help people take action in rehab projects, at whatever stage they’re in?
How might a community help people share knowledge with each other and overcome obstacles of bureaucracy?
How can the community navigate across platforms in the best way?
When starting out, who is the main audience of Brick + Beam Detroit?
For our weekend together in Detroit, we focused on four main issues:
How might we help people take action in rehab projects, at whatever stage they’re in?
How might a community help people share knowledge with each other and overcome obstacles of bureaucracy?
How can the community navigate across platforms in the best way?
When starting out, who is the main audience of Brick + Beam Detroit?
We addressed these questions through the following research methods:
– Prototyping Event: 120 Detroiters interested in building rehab joined us for a storytelling event, where we tested a variety of ideas. Participants mapped their projects along with quantitative descriptions, told stories, composed their own launch box kits, engaged in conversation and gathered around food. Nametags and prompts on the wall sparked discussion.
– In-context Interviews: we visited two rehabbed homes to learn about the processes they followed, resources they used, and how our prototypes could be most useful for them.
– Site Visit Immersions: taking on the role of someone interested in buying a property to rehab, we used a checklist from our launch box to inspect homes on the market through the Detroit Land Bank.
– Prototyping Event: 120 Detroiters interested in building rehab joined us for a storytelling event, where we tested a variety of ideas. Participants mapped their projects along with quantitative descriptions, told stories, composed their own launch box kits, engaged in conversation and gathered around food. Nametags and prompts on the wall sparked discussion.
– In-context Interviews: we visited two rehabbed homes to learn about the processes they followed, resources they used, and how our prototypes could be most useful for them.
– Site Visit Immersions: taking on the role of someone interested in buying a property to rehab, we used a checklist from our launch box to inspect homes on the market through the Detroit Land Bank.
Our work on this project showed the value of using meaningfully designed artifacts and spaces to raise questions and start conversations. Shortly after leaving Detroit, we heard the exciting news that Brick+Beam received the Knight Foundation award. We look forward to watching this project continue to empower and gather together the building rehab community for lasting impact on the streets of Detroit.
team Alix Gerber, Amy Elliott Bragg, Christopher Edwards, Emilie Evans, Gulraiz Kahn, Isabella Brandalise, Kelly Anderson, Rehanna Azimi, and Victoria Byrd Olivier
fellowship IDEO, Knight Foundation, and Parsons The New School For Design
advisors David Boardman, Eleanor Morgan, Lawrence Abrahamson, and Njoki Gitahi (IDEO)
place New York City and Detroit, USA
year Spring 2015
year Spring 2015
images Alix Gerber, Gertrud Høgh Rasmussen, and Isabella Brandalise
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