i+D - January/February 2019 - 22

Business
of Design
Pro Bono
Work

Through pro bono planning
and design services, ISG has
provided more than five years
of support to Feeding Our
Communities Partners in North
Mankato, Minnesota. In keeping
with Public Architecture's
1+ program, ISG has pledged
500 annual hours of service.
(Image: Dean Riggott)

New Approaches for Lasting Impact
While pro bono work provides unquestionable
value to all stakeholders involved, it also faces
certain limitations. By definition, pro bono means
giving away professional services without charge
for the common good. The problem is that, while
it addresses a need, it doesn't necessarily help
solve the problem that gave rise to the need in
the first place.
"Pro bono work-it's a means to an end, and not
an end in itself," Peterson suggests. He notes that
the 1+ arm of Public Architecture, which connects
nonprofits to architecture and design services, has
a "higher mission to engage the design community
with a deeper social agenda. So, the pro bono
platform of 1+ is really just a tool to move the
profession towards engaging in larger social issues
through engaging with the social sector."
Likewise, Garrett Jacobs, executive director
of Open Architecture Collaborative, suggests
traditional pro bono work doesn't always go far
enough in its impact on communities. He says
much of pro bono work "doesn't actually address
any root causes of the issue of what's going on
or build really long-term, lasting relationships.
I think it can, and I'm sure it does in some
instances, but that's not the focus," he indicates.

On the other hand, Open Architecture Collaborative's
model is centered around community engagement,
building relationships, identifying needs, and then
helping to secure funding for the architectural services
provided in the end. "The focus of our work is just
to find new ways of delivering architectural services,
starting with the needs of community members and
then finding ways to fund the services we deliver
as professionals," he says. "You have to be ahead
of the need."
To do that, Jacobs says designers need to participate
in community organizing and building first, and then
figure out how to fund the design services that will
address the larger social issues facing a community.
Because, in the end, a designer's or architect's greatest
asset isn't necessarily their ability to do drafting or
filing permits. "One of the most important things is
that you have humility and an awareness of who you
are, and then use your creative practice to help find
solutions to challenges. That is really your biggest
benefit," he concludes.

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ROBERT NIEMINEN
is a freelance writer and regular contributor to retrofit and
Retail Environments magazine, as well as the editor-at-large of
interiors+sources. He also was a contributing author to
the book, The State of the Interior Design Profession (Fairchild,
2010), which was placed on the International Federation of
Interior Architects/Designers' "50 Must Read, Must Have" list.
http://www.WhiteWalls.com
i+D - January/February 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of i+D - January/February 2019
