Contract - September 2015 - 30

As Designers, Where Do We Find Purpose?
by Evelyn M. Lee, AIA

Evelyn M. Lee, AIA, writes
a regular column for Contract
on business practices in design
and professional development.
Lee is a senior strategist at
MKThink, the ideas company
for the built environment
based in San Francisco,
and holds graduate degrees
in architecture, public
administration, and business
administration. Lee has served
on the AIA national board
of directors, and in 2014,
she received the AIA Young
Architects Award. Her website
is evelynlee.com.

With the Great Recession behind us, design
professionals find themselves in an interesting
state of change within the economy. The billings
indexes for architecture and interior design firms
are surpassing previous landmark months in 2007.
Unemployment is extremely low (see news, page 22),
and there has been a clear shift to an employeedriven marketplace in which hiring those with 10
to 15 years of experience often requires a negotiation.
Clients' interest in sustainability grows in the midst
of crises, including the California drought and other
market pressures. And, we have seen a huge jump
in interest in what is known as public interest design,
or design for impact.
Now is the time to ask ourselves: Where
do we find purpose? Or specifically, how are firms
going to become exemplary in a new purposefilled economy?
The purpose economy, as outlined by Aaron
Hurst in his 2014 book, The Purpose Economy:
How Your Desire for Impact, Personal Growth,
and Community is Changing the World, is: "The
emerging economy defined by the quest or people
to have more purpose in their lives. It's an economy
where value lies in establishing purpose for
employees and customers-through serving needs
greater than their own, enabling personal growth
and building community."
Hurst builds a strong case for the growing
presence of the purpose economy. He defines the
new economy as the next big economic development
following in the steps of the progressive changes
that moved us from an industrial economy into
an information-based economy. The purpose economy
is often associated with both the public's demand
to increase transparency in the operations and
human resources practices of companies as well
as in an increase in pro bono/volunteer efforts

across industries. The purpose economy is also
prevalent in the desired change from automation
of broad systems (including education and
healthcare) back to human-centered and communitydriven experiences.
So why, as designers and architects, should
we care about the movement? One reason is because
many recent design graduates-the future leaders
of our profession-are highly interested in public
interest design. The purpose economy already
has a strong presence within the profession with
humanitarians and nonprofit organizations
increasingly at the forefront, including Habitat
for Humanity, the alums of Architecture for Humanity
who are now doing a variety of public interest design
work, the Rural Studio, and Public Architecture
(Contract magazine's 2009 Designer of the Year).
In 2011, Ideo launched Ideo.org with a vision
of "Designing a Better World." Autodesk launched
its foundation in 2013 with the mission to "invest
in the most impactful people and organizations
using the power of design to create a better world."
This year, Portland State University launched
its Center for Public Interest Design to "investigate
and promote design practices that are a catalyst
for social, economic, and environmental change
needed to serve the growing needs of communities
both locally and worldwide."
Within each project sector, the purpose
economy is evident in the changes associated with
the types of interior environments we are currently
being asked to design. Libraries have become
a renewed place for communities to gather, not just
repositories of books and resources. Healthcare
has placed a greater emphasis on preventative
medicine and holistic environments that actively
assist in healing patients. Education interiors have
become more multidisciplinary at both the K-12
and university levels, exchanging fixed furniture
classrooms and lecture halls in many instances
for smaller data-enabled seminar rooms and maker
spaces. Hotels have reimagined their public areas
and service offerings, becoming all-in-one places
to stay, work, eat, and play as destinations for locals
and tourists alike. And the workplace continues
to evolve with greater integration of community
and collaborative spaces, as well as places
for individuals to relax.
What do these changes mean to business
strategy within a design industry? Clients will expect
more from the firms they hire, and employees will
have greater expectations for the companies they
work for. Survival in the purpose economy will require
design firms to continue to adapt. In my column
next month, I will describe the various factors driving
the purpose economy, how to integrate them into
practice, and how to utilize them to potentially grow
your position in your vertical market or position
yourself for new market sectors. c
contractdesign.com

SEPTEMBER 2015

PHOTOGRAPHY: CARL BOWER

COLUMNIST

http://www.Ideo.org http://www.evelynlee.com http://www.contractdesign.com

Contract - September 2015

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