Social Design Insights: Recent Episodes
Curry Stone Foundation
Social Design Insights is a weekly podcast produced by the Curry Stone Foundation. Through conversation with leading designers, it provide insights into innovative projects and practices that use design to address pressing social justice issues. info@socialdesigninsights.com
Our Special Projects Director Eric J. Cesal is a designer, writer, noted post-disaster expert, and podcast host.
Dr. Ken Yeang is a Malaysian architect, ecologist, planner and author celebrated for both his built & theoretical work in green urbanism.
Alex Steffen is an award-winning writer, speaker and foresight consultant, focused on climate change and planetary sustainability.
Bruce King, PE, natural building advocate, joins us to discuss his new book “The New Carbon Architecture: Building to Cool the Planet”
Mary Ann Lazarus is an American architect and longtime leader in the field of sustainable design.
Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and a prominent voice in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism.
Kian Goh is an Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at the University of California Los Angeles whose research focuses on the intersections of ecological design, spatial justice and climate change. Goh’s work is known for...
Eric Corey Freed award-winning American architect, author, speaker and green strategist, joins us to talk about the state of the union in green design.
Rania Qawasma of Architecture for Refugees joins us to discuss what designers can do to help welcome refugees.
Anna Meddaugh joins us to talk about the origins and development of The Night Loo, a reusable personal urinal designed for women and girls in refugee camps.
The Refugee Academy is a Berlin-based non-profit that creates learning spaces for refugees seeking to assimilate.
Mariam Chazalnoel of IOM joins us to discuss how to advance the topic of migration within the current Climate Change dialogue
Dr. Nina Hall is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Relations, where she studies the global organizations that preside over issues of climate change, migration and displacement.
Kilian Kleinschmidt of IPA/Swixtboard is an internationally regarded expert in international development, emergency response, and resource mobilization.
Amanda Baillieu is the founder of architecture platform Archiboo, which organizes talks and networking events, as well as the annual Archiboo Web Awards.
Asad Syrkett is the Deputy Editor at Curbed, where he directs a portfolio around architecture, decor, urbanism, technology, fashion, art, travel, and issues of race and gender in the design world.
Spencer Bailey of Phaidon publishing joins us to discuss concepts of ‘slow’ media, and how to be more conscientious about the media we consume.
Diana Budds is a producer and design writer based in New York City. She writes on all facets of design and how designers affect and reflect culture.
Aaron Seward is editor of Texas Architect magazine, where he curates, writes and produces an ongoing dialogue about architecture & urbanism.
Jerome Harris is an American graphic designer and educator whose research focuses on omitted narratives of African American designers in the field of graphic design.
Pedestrian Activist Alissa Walker joins us to talk about the walkability of cities, sustainable transportation and development.
Daniel Feldman and Adam Reineck of Ideo.org join us to talk about human-centered design.
Hal Aronson, Ph.D, is the Director of Technology and Education and the co-founder of WE CARE Solar – an organization working to provide light & power to medical facilities across the developing world.
Michelle Moghtader is the Director of Global Development & Co-Founder of Shared Studios, as well as a journalist and community organizer.
D-Rev, a nonprofit product development company based in San Francisco designs, develops and distributes radically affordable world-class medical products
Ken Banks is the author of two books on social innovation and entrepreneurship: The Rise of the Reluctant Innovator, and Musings of a Mobile Anthropologist: Tales of Technology, Anthropology, Conservation and Development.
Katie Crepeau joins us to talk about the challenges of starting and growing a social design practice.
Cheryl Heller is the Founding Chair of the first MFA program in Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts in New York, New York, and President of the design lab CommonWise.
Kyle Reis is widely known throughout the philanthropic world as a champion of social design.
Orkidstudio is a social enterprise based in Nairobi, Kenya, which focuses not only on the design of great buildings, but on the design of design & construction processes in ways that promote equity, inclusion, and...
For twenty years, the Prince Claus Fund and the Prince Claus Award has supported cultural development and practice in Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe. The Fund supports artists and practitioners from many...
Swenson is currently undertaking a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where she studies the role of love as an animus for design – asking how our cities and neighborhoods might look...
Jason Schupbach is the director of The Design School at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University. There, he’s undertaking an ambitious effort to ‘redesign design school,’ looking for ways...
We had a chance to speak with Marcin Jakubowski on Social Design Insights, where he and our host Eric Cesal spoke about the future of agriculture, industry, and how to make more evolved humans.
By the middle of this century, up to 300 million people will be displaced by climate change and climate change disasters. What is the ethical role of designers in adapting the built environment to such...
Wakefield is an Urban Studies Foundation Research Fellow at Florida International University in the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies. Her work, developed over the past decade of teaching and research in New York City, explores...
As the world faces a rising tide of disasters and climate-induced migration, there are serious questions as to whether the design community is prepared to offer solutions meaningful to the crises humanity faces.
Mario and Nuno do Rosario discuss the history of design in Mozambique from Independence to the present-day.
Mario and Nuno do Rosario discuss the history of design in Mozambique from Independence to the present-day.
Architect Hsieh Ying-Chun joins host Eric Cesal to talk about how people can power rebuilding after disaster.
Mathew Sanders details the pioneering struggle of the people of Isle de Jean Charles in confronting climate change.
Zander Rose of the Long Now Foundation speaks with us about how designers can design better by thinking differently about time.
Two central figures in public art and community building unveil how they help communities take control of their own futures.
Two central figures in public art and community building unveil how they help communities take control of their own futures.
Black in Design is a student-led biennial gathering which confronts issues of race and equity throughout the design professions.
Black in Design is a student-led biennial gathering which confronts issues of race and equity throughout the design professions.
Dr. Sharon Egretta Sutton, FAIA is an activist educator and public scholar who promotes inclusivity in the cultural makeup of the city-making design professions.
Christian Benimana is Rwandan architect dedicated to addressing the rapid growth and urbanization of Africa’s population.
Doina Petrescu is an architect and educator who currently serves as the Chair of Architecture and Design Activism at the School of Architecture, University of Sheffield.
Hosts Eric Cesal and Karen Kubey visit with Coleman Coker, of the Gulf Coast Design Lab, and Sarah Curry, of AIAS to discuss the evolution of social design.
Dr. Jonathan Massey talks about the future of design education, and what radical experiments are underway.
Dr. Barbara Brown Wilson discusses the Design Futures Student Leadership Forum and how it seeks to train tomorrow’s leaders of public interest design.
Peggy Deamer and David Langdon of the Architecture Lobby discuss how cultures in education shape problems in the profession.
Sergio Palleroni and Jane Anderson offer a history of the collective effort to establish a global network of social design teachers and practitioners.
Sergio Palleroni and Jane Anderson offer a history of the collective effort to establish a global network of social design teachers and practitioners.
Ersela Kripa and Stephen Mueller of Agency Architecture reveal their global projects on urbanism and resistance.
Ersela Kripa and Stephen Mueller of Agency Architecture reveal their global projects on urbanism and resistance.
Laura Kurgan of the Center for Spatial Research joins us to talk about how data and the design of data systems can be applied to social justice.
Bryan C. Lee Jr. and Sue Mobley of Colloqate Design join us to discuss how design can support or deconstruct systems of institutional oppression.
Bryan C. Lee Jr. and Sue Mobley of Colloqate Design join us to discuss how design can support or deconstruct systems of institutional oppression.
Suzanne Lacy talks to us about the role of art in the pursuit of social justice, and how to navigate the lines between art, activism, design and space.
Deanna Van Buren and Raphael Sperry join us to discuss the architecture of incarceration, and how their respective work campaigns for reform.
Deanna Van Buren and Raphael Sperry join us to discuss the architecture of incarceration, and how their respective work campaigns for reform.
Ronald Rael is an applied architectural researcher, design activist, author, and thought leader in the fields of additive manufacturing and earthen architecture.
John Cary is an American connector, writer, speaker and curator focused on social change.
Cliff Curry and Delight Stone join Eric and Emiliano to discuss the first year of Social Design Insights and look to what’s ahead.
Diébédo Francis Kéré discusses the origins of his practice, and how good design builds community.
Diébédo Francis Kéré discusses the origins of his practice, and how good design builds community.
John Fetterman of Braddock, PA, shares his thoughts on how to imagine a new future in a post-industrial landscape.
Omar Nagati and Beth Stryker share their thoughts on CLUSTER Cairo, and the design of urban activism.
Dr. Silver of the Centre for Vision in the Developing World shares how his groundbreaking design for self-adjusting glasses can address a serious lack of optometrists in the developing world.
Iconoclasistas discusses the practice of collective mapping and how it can be mobilized to achieve social justice.
Vera and Ruedi Baur of Civic City discuss how graphic design can be a tool of political change.
Lorenzo Romito of Stalker discusses the ‘territory’ of architecture and how it can be expanded.
Kathryn Ewing and Don Shay of VPUU outline how community-based planning can make real results in crime prevention.
Marco Clausen of Prinzessinnengärten discusses how they came to pioneer a form of mobile gardening, and the positive impacts it has had on their city.
Nance Klehm shares her experiences as a ‘radical ecologist’ and her strategies for helping cities connect with nature.
Jan Jongert of Superuse Studios shares experiences in designing new forms of ecology within the city.
Gail Vittori and Pliny Fisk introduce our hosts to their work, thinking at multiple scales about how to live & work ecologically.
Gail Vittori and Pliny Fisk introduce our hosts to their work, thinking at multiple scales about how to live & work ecologically.
Malkit Shoshan of the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory discusses the architecture of conflict.
Isella Ramirez of Hester Street discusses their strategies for making communities be heard.
Alessandro Petti and Sandi Hilal introduce their work on statelessness and human rights.
Alessandro Petti and Sandi Hilal introduce their work on statelessness and human rights.
Yatin Pandya discusses his philosophy of ‘holistic design’ and how he seeks new solutions for India’s future.
Dean Still of Aprovecho talks to us about the history of Aprovecho and their work to improve cookstove technology.
Himanshu Parikh discusses the evolution of cities and slums, and how a historicist read can lead us to new engineering innovations.
Anshu Gupta of Goonj discusses his unique methodology for community development: clothes as currency.
Urban-Think Tank discusses their urban strategy and how they work against structural inequality in cities.
Urban-Think Tank discusses their urban strategy and how they work against structural inequality in cities.
Chelina Odbert and Jennifer Toy of the Kounkuey Design Initiative share their thoughts on how to engage community.
Ecosistema Urbano & Interboro share their stories about how they shaped a practice around public space.
Ecosistema Urbano & Interboro share their stories about how they shaped a practice around public space.
Project Row Houses is a neighborhood based nonprofit art and cultural organization working on grassroots development in Houston’s 3rd ward.
Brent Brown of bcWORKSHOP tells us how they serve marginalized communities in the Rio Grande Valley.
Brent Brown of bcWORKSHOP tells us how they serve marginalized communities in the Rio Grande Valley.
Mohammed Rezwan of Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha details his designs for floating communities.
Yasmeen Lari details the growth of resilient architecture and sustainable development in Pakistan.
Dr. Elizabeth Hausler of Build Change details a homeowner-driven approach to rebuilding after disaster.
Active Social Architecture is a Kigali-based architecture practice that designs and builds contemporary re-elaborations of vernacular Rwandan architecture.
David Barragán of Al Borde discusses how design can empower a community to become their own designers & builders.
Giancarlo Mazzanti shares his thoughts on transforming Medellin and how great architecture can bring neighborhoods together.
John Peterson and Emily Pilloton share their practices and discuss how design can subvert structural inequality.
John Peterson and Emily Pilloton share their practices and discuss how design can subvert structural inequality.
Lacaton & Vassal Deconstructs Their Widely Acclaimed methods for the Readaptation of Modernist housing blocks in France.
The Asian Coalition for Housing Rights is a large broad-based coalition of like-minded groups fighting for housing advocacy throughout Asia; they share with us their strategies.
Jonathan Kirschenfeld and Brenda Rosen share their thoughts on the right to housing, and methodologies for doing supportive housing well.
Jonathan Kirschenfeld and Brenda Rosen share their thoughts on the right to housing, and methodologies for doing supportive housing well.
Santiago Cirugeda - Spain’s 'Guerrilla Architect’ - explains how he challenges urban authority and makes neighborhoods work for everyone.
Arquitectura Expandida discusses its approach to working in informal communities alongside (and sometimes around) government.
Mark Lakeman of the City Repair Project discusses motives and methods for igniting neighborhood change, street by street.
Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman of Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman discuss their practice at the Tijuana/San Diego border and how design transcends politics.
Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman of Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman discuss their practice at the Tijuana/San Diego border and how design transcends politics.
Eric Cesal and Emiliano Gandolfi, co-hosts of Social Design Insights, are interviewed by SDI Producer Baruch Zeichner.