ARCHEWORKS IS A CHICAGO-BASED MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN EDUCATOR DEDICATED TO ADVANCING DESIGN IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST AND INSPIRING COLLABORATIVE ACTION TO SHAPE SUSTAINABLE, EQUITABLE AND HEALTHY CITIES. OUR PARTNERSHIP-BASED EDUCATION PROGRAMS PROPOSE A RANGE OF SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY RESOURCEFUL DESIGN SOLUTIONS FOR CHICAGO COMMUNITIES.
www.archeworks.org 625 N Kingsbury St Chicago, IL 60654 312.867.7254
20 65 250 50 80
Founded in 1994, Archeworks’ mission is based on a simple premise: design shapes the way we live. The fewer resources communities and individuals a have, the more they need great design solutions to enhance their quality of life.
FACILITATORS
Our facilitators are a multi-disciplinary team of professional designers and design educators. They provide guidance and feedback on student-driven community-design projects and develop and deliver Archeworks applied design curriculum.
ALUMNI
Participants come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wide range of skills. All share a willingness to take risks and a common belief in the transformational power of design.
PARTNERS
Archeworks conducts its design work with non-profit partners and public agencies. Partners have included community development organizations, youth centers, healthcare institutions, and urban farms.
PROJECTS
Our design work takes many forms and encompasses experimental research, conceptual design, and prototyping. Areas of focus include: sustainability, community health, food systems, social enterprise, and public education.
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core curriculum
DATA ANALYSIS OBSERVATIONS FOCUS GROUPS INTERVIEWS STORYTELLING
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PEER-TO-PEER CRITIQUES STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOPS GUEST REVIEWS
HIGHLIGHTS
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YEAR-END REVIEW
PROTOTYPING WORK DAYS INSTALLATIONS
project
STUDIO CLASSES GUEST SPEAKERS REVIEWS
MID-YEAR REVIEW
SUSTAINABLE URBAN DESIGN CERTIFICATE PROGRAM Archeworks offers a one-year postgraduate certificate in Sustainable Urban Design. In this unique multidisciplinary design education program, student teams collaborate with community partners to address real world problems through an innovative, applied design project. The program builds core competencies inherent to any successful design process and encompasses field-based research, participatory design that engages stakeholders, and rigorous experimentation and prototyping to refine concepts, proposals and interventions. Throughout the year, students participate in evening studio sessions, attend guest presentations and workshops, and pursue team-based work outside of class. Design reviews are held at the end of each semester and include community members, experts in related fields and professional designers.
BEYOND EFFICIENCY: TRAIN STATION REVITALIZATION Archeworks partnered with the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) on a design initiative to enhance the urban public transit experience by bringing integrated design thinking to Ogilvie Transportation Center. The team identified strategies to bring greater wayfinding coherence, improve accessibility, and transform the station into a welcoming gateway. GROWING CHICAGO’S COMMUNITY GARDENS Archeworks worked with NeighborSpace to develop creative approaches for sustaining a strong network of community gardens in Chicago neighborhoods. The team developed design strategies and working models to strengthen community engagement, improve garden productivity, and promote the city-wide network of gardens with a broad public. CERMAK CREATIVE INDUSTRIES DISTRICT Archeworks engaged in a City-led effort to transform an isolated industrial corridor into a new district for the creative industries. The COLL Chicago team planned to expand access and connectivity across the District while aiding in the city’s vision to reanimate the District as a hub for the creative industries. They constructed small scale physical and digital interventions to enhance the interaction between potential users of the site, current tenants, and the District. BUILDING ETHICAL FOOD SYSTEMS In partnership with Growing Power Chicago, Archeworks students explored the role design plays in building equitable and accessible food systems that cultivate healthy communities. The team proposed products, programs and services to promote greater food system awareness and improve productivity at urban farm sites across the City including Growing Power’s Iron Street Urban Farm. NATIVE SEED FARM Archeworks played a lead role in the physical and programmatic design of a Native Seed Farm Pilot Project located at two sites in Bridgeport. In collaboration with the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest program, the initiative provided temporary job training and employment opportunities for young men leaving the Cook County Sheriff’s Boot Camp—an alternative sentencing program for firsttime offenders of non-violent crimes. +SPACE Archeworks partnered with Enlace in Chicago’s Little Village community for the design and activation of two vacant sites. This initiative sought to engage community residents in a participatory design process resulting in new open gathering spaces that promote sustainable land use, advance community health and well-being, and celebrate the unique character and heritage of Little Village’s Mexican immigrant community.