The Public Dialogue

By Samantha Given-Dennis

Public Architecture is participating in this summer’s Public Interest Design Program at the University of Texas at Austin.

The program connects students interested in how design can be used as a tool for social gain with leading practitioners in “public design” and equips them with the tools needed to create “beautiful, sustainable, and community-enhancing spaces.” For the duration of the 8-week program, students will develop skills to leverage the practical and ethical complications of public service as a means to heighten the quality of their work by seeking innovative design solutions that positively impact larger social problems.

Public Architecture will host this summer’s new externship program where ten selected students will travel to San Francisco to create a critical professional report that documents the community impact of public interest design projects in the Bay Area. The externship will place students in groups of two within San Francisco Bay Area-based architectural firms to study built projects. Students will conduct research and work with professionals and local community members in order to create detailed reports that analyze and quantify the social, environmental, and economic impacts of built projects in the area. Throughout the externship students will use Public Architecture’s office as a meeting place and will be supported by Public staff.

The application deadline has been extended to March 26. We encourage advanced architecture, planning, design, and other urban studies students and graduates from universities around the world to submit.

For more information visit http://soa.utexas.edu/csd/PID/.

To apply, click here.