Vision While the mainstream architecture and design professions – as well as the clients they serve – are notoriously exclusive and homogenous, a diverse array of leaders are at the helm of a more inclusive practice at the intersection of design and service. Drawing parallels with the fields of public interest law and public health, the fast-growing public interest design movement takes a human-centered approach, focused on projects and people long un-served by good design. If you’re reading these words, you are part of this movement, this emerging field, and this special week of events. Our headline event, of course, is the annual Structures for Inclusion conference, started 13 years ago by nonprofit Design Corps to help architecture students and young architects navigate what was once an entirely uncertain career path of service. A sign of how public interest design has evolved, both Structures for Inclusion and this week will take a far broader view of design – of products, of environments, and of systems or services – than has historically been the case. None of this would be possible without the vision and unmatched leadership Dean Thomas Fisher and his hard-working team at the College of Design. We are also deeply indebted to our generous sponsors, including: Autodesk, The Curry Stone Design Prize, Enterprise Community Partners, Humanscale, J&J Industries, The McKnight Foundation, Reed Construction Data, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, and Surdna Foundation. We’d like to also thank the many entities that have helped spread the word, including Architectural Record, Architizer, DesignObserver, IDEO.org and its powerful HCD Connect network, GOOD Magazine, Places Journal, TED, and many others. Finally, thank you all for being part of this momentous occasion. John Cary Chair, Public Interest Design Week
John Cary is founding editor of PublicInterestDesign.org and a research fellow within the University of Minnesota College of Design. By day, he is a strategic advisor to The Aspen Institute, Autodesk, TED, and other clients. His writing has appeared recently in The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, and CNN.com, among other publications.
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