Social Sustainability: How Propel Studio approaches Design for Communities
We were thinking recently about how our work impacts Portland, Oregon. Whether we are designing small urban installations, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), or larger commercial and multi-family housing projects, each can have a large impact on the surrounding neighborhood and the city as a whole. Architecture has a big effect on all of us and we take that responsibility seriously.
We believe our designs have an impact on the sustainability of the areas of Portland where we work. That’s one of the reasons we at Propel Studio are dedicated to creating projects that have minimal impact on the environment. This is also why we are so concerned about Social Sustainability. What if the value of our work is less about specific design of space than about the reason for the space to begin with? We’re not discounting the value (or our love) of good design. We’re simply thinking about the broader impact we can lend to a community.
We love working on projects that create places for people to connect and interact; spaces for conversations that preserve and reflect what’s important to their community. Some of these projects, like the work we have done in Lents - Story Yard, the Park Pavilion, and Kiosk - may be temporary, or even conceptual and relatively small scale. Others, like the Masterplan for Park Avenue, Milwaukee, Oregon and Sugar Shack masterplan are larger scale explorations of how we can permanently build better communities through design. In both cases, we are looking for ways that our designs create spaces that bring people together, and ways that our work can foster dialogue and community interaction.
When we’re thinking about Social Sustainability, we’re always considering how we can preserve social connections that already exist and how we can enhance what’s culturally or socially important to the area where we’re working. As an example, how can we wrap everything that Champions Barbershop means for the community into a design for their new Champions Barbering Institute? In this project we spent a lot of time listening to the clients to better understand their business, how it relates to the community they serve, and how our design can reflect the values that they hold dear. It is now a successful space that fosters an inspiring educational experience for their students as they get job training.
Social Sustainability may be hard to define, but we think it’s an important mission. Change is inevitable. However change doesn't have to be a negative force. At Propel Studio, we want to instigate change that benefits the neighborhoods where we work and the people who call those places home. When it comes to design, we want to foster creative community engagement. We want to be community advocates because we’re creating environments for community members.
When we work within new communities our process includes asking questions and listening to feedback. We want to know how can we help you enhance your community? How can we support the best of what your community has to offer while providing places that build a better tomorrow? That’s the impact that Propel Studio wants to have on Portland, Oregon and the other places where we work.
If your community has a need you think we can help with, give us a call. Big or small, we’d love to help with your project.