On September 14, 2011 desigNYC, a nonprofit organization committed to improving life in NYC through the power of design, will celebrate its 2011 collaborations between designers and nonprofits at its annual event and exhibit opening. desigNYC demonstrates the impact of design by connecting nonprofits, community groups and city agencies with passionate, professional designers interested in the public good. Launched at the beginning of 2011, desigNYC’s second round of project collaborations connected eight extraordinary organizations with close to 25 talented design professionals who are leaders in the fields of architectural, landscape, interior, experience and communications design.
desigNYC 2011 collaborations are creating solutions affecting a range of social and environmental issues impacting the city, including sustainable development and education, neighborhood revitalization, social justice, health and urban farming, environmental activism and more. The exhibit showcasing the work is hosted by GD Cucine, a high-end Italian kitchen showroom cum gallery and will run from September 14th through October 1, 2011. A press preview will take place on the 14 from 5-6PM.
the desigNYC community continues to grow rapidly and the organization plans to issue a call to nonprofits and design partners for the next round of projects in early October under the theme of Recharging Communities.
“We want to encourage designers to think of the city as the next frontier for design,” says Laetitia Wolff, who recently joined the organization as executive director. “desigNYC harnesses the power of the creative community to imagine and affect a better urban experience. We are here to heighten public perception, understanding and participation in the making of our city, all together.”
The exhibit will showcase the following active collaborations:
- Educating Tomorrow: a network for teachers
Matched with communication designers, Language Dept., and developers, Rubenstein Technology Group, to create an identity and website that will function as a network and resource hub for the NYC teacher community on sustainability issues. - Greenhouse Project: a mobile urban farm
NY Sun Works & Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation were matched with Abruzzo-Bodziak Architects to provide schematic design for a hydroponic greenhouse on unused lots in East New York, Brooklyn that will provide access to food, innovative scientific and agricultural education, as well as job training in urban agriculture and greenhouse construction. Graphic designer Claire Taylor Hansen assists with project identity and fundraising materials. - Green Map System: a fluid navigation system
Matched with Otto NY to redesign the flagship website, Green Apple Map, for this internationally renowned grassroot organization that marshals user-generated mapping of local green resources. - Gowanus Canal CDC: an educational urban platform
Matched with communication designers Fogelson-Lubliner to produce an identity and communications framework, including video, for a new urban ecology initiative. - Ioby: a sustainable identity
Matched with Publicis Design to create an integrated brand identity and style guide that will help ioby engage more donors and volunteers in local environmental projects. - Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project: translating complex data
Matched with communications designer Rodrigo Corral to design a multi-language Financial Rights Guide for new immigrants in NYC. - Nostrand Park: a Main Street intervention
Matched with Vamos Architects to create a concept design for “Destination Nostrand,” a community-oriented, pop-up plaza that provides arts, dining and entertainment along a historic corridor in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. - PortSide NewYork: a boatbox on the East River
Matched with architects 590BC and Studio L’Image, to create architectural enhancements and interpretive environments for a boathouse/community center in Red Hook’s waterfront park.
desigNYC’s mission is to improve the lives of New Yorkers through the power of design. desigNYC is a platform that connects talented designers interested in civic engagement with extraordinary nonprofits serving the public good. Our focus is local. Our approach is multi-disciplinary. Our process is participatory and community-centric. desigNYC is guided by its founding committee comprised of influential designers and design advocates including interactive design pioneer Edwin Schlossberg; Michelle Mullineaux, co-founder and former acting director, New York Magazine design editor Wendy Goodman; Deborah Berke from Deborah Berke & Partners Architects as well as several other leaders in the design and nonprofit communities. Incubated by ESI Design over the last three years, desigNYC obtained its 501©(3) status earlier this summer, and received a substancial two-year foundation grant, which enabled the organization to hire its first executive director, Laetitia Wolff, a cultural engineer and passionate design advocate.
