Reporting by Carly Ayres
In less than two weeks Savannah College of Art and Design will be hosting Design Ethos: Vision Reconsidered 2012 a two-part conference: part conversation, part action. The Ethos Conference delves into what is currently being done in the field of design to take on social problems, while the Do-Ference synthesizes those conversations to create a roadmap for social innovation in the future. Don't procrastinate—REGISTER TODAY for the Design Ethos conference April 19-20th at SCAD.
Liz Ogbu is one of the panelists for Design Ethos, an Environments Designer and current Fellow of IDEO.org. An expert on sustainable design and social innovation, Ogbu takes on challenged urban environments through her work. From her role as design director at Public Architecture (where she worked on a project for International Planned Parenthood Federation's Bolivian affiliate), Ogbu lives and works Design Ethos—making for a perfect introduction to the conference as a whole. I spoke with her to glean some insights into the motivation behind her work.
Core77: The Design Ethos conference centers around the overlap between design and living, something that seems to be epitomized in your work as an architect of social innovation. How did you begin to apply your design work to larger social issues?
Liz Ogbu: As corny as it sounds, I think I have had a passion for making a difference in the world since I was very young. I also had a passion for creating things. It wasn't until college that I began to understand that the two could actually fit together. I went to Wellesley, where they have what I call a choose-your-own-adventure approach to the architecture major. The freedom allowed me to include classes in urban economics and sociology as part of my major coursework. Following Wellesley, a series of amazing opportunities, from traveling through the dynamic and complex urban environments of Sub-Saharan Africa as part of a Watson Fellowship to creating a position as Design Director at Public Architecture to working now as an inaugural Global Fellow at IDEO.org, have allowed me to move from just looking at the intersection between social issues and design to actually engaging it in practice.
Notes from IDEO.org's Multiple Use Water Services project
As an experienced designer, do you feel a responsibility to take on social issues in architecture and urbanism? How can others designers follow suit?
Since exploring the connection between social issues to architecture and urbanism has been part of how I have framed my understanding of architecture, it's part of my designer DNA. I have been fortunate enough in my career that I have been able to work for trailblazing organizations and firms in this arena. But I think it's important to stress that you don't need to go work at a nonprofit or "alternative practice" to do this work. At its core, engaging social issues in architecture and urbanism is about us embracing a human-centered approach to design; creating dialogue with and learning from beyond the design disciplines; having a willingness to not only be a designer but also instigator, listener, facilitator and storyteller among other things; and being willing to tackle—and even fail at—these challenging issues. I think many firms have the capacity to embrace these elements as part of their work. The trick is just giving it a try. You can start small: Is there a problem in your neighborhood that represents a social and physical need that you can lend some creative brainpower to examining? Is there a conversation in your community that would benefit from your ability as a visual storyteller? Is there a nonprofit who you can lend some pro bono design assistance to?
Day Labor Station. Rendering of the Harbor City Day Labor Station. Designed by Liz Ogbu and John Peterson for Public Architecture. Renderings by Francesco Fanfani.