IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 28

The McAllen
Public Library
was designed by
MSR, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, USA.

Looking to increase community interaction, MSR
incorporated 16 meeting spaces of different sizes, shapes,
and functions where groups could gather and speak without
a librarian silencing them.
"It's more important today than ever for us to create
something all people within a community will want to use,"
Larson says.

Beyond the Echo Chamber
The only way to truly design for a community is to let the
people of that community share their story. "It is a way of
invitation for us to connect with them," says Annie Chu,
IIDA, FAIA, principal at Chu+Gooding Architects, Los
Angeles, California, USA. "Here, designers listen, but we
need to resist immediate translation. We have to seek
a deeper understanding of the 'why' rather than just the
'what' and 'how.' We can exercise empathy by extending
their sentence with a question in order to show our genuine
interest in understanding their concerns. We can build
rapport by repeating or paraphrasing what they said so that
they can appreciate that we are interested in understanding."
The input process, however, doesn't end there. Designers
must also reach out to survey community members early,
often, and in new ways throughout the process.
"It's important to involve people in the community early
enough so that they don't feel the project is a fait accompli
before it has even begun," says Jane Smith, IIDA, ASID,

28

perspective

iida.org/perspective

FAIA, founding partner at Spacesmith, an architectural
design and planning firm in New York, New York, USA.
The company has done significant public sector work,
including collaborating on designs for U.S. embassies.
Collecting community input takes many forms. Chu
and her team sometimes rely on social media as a means
of researching community sentiment and transcending
hurdles of face-to-face interaction. And Frontini seeks
variety for getting into the heads of his stakeholders.
"We use face-to-face meetings with targeted groups,
large town halls, interactive crowd charrettes, online
surveys, and other approaches that help us get a lot of input
so we can analyze it, sort it, and start to see the underlying
common themes," Frontini says. "Then we share that with
the local community. When they can see a manifestation
of their input, it is a lot easier to work on the details. They
also get to know some of their neighbors in this process,
so we can work right away on reconciling some of the
differences in the community."
Early on in its design of the Meadowvale Community
Centre, which opened in late 2016 in Mississauga, Ontario,
Canada, for example, Perkins+Will heard from a large
number of recent Muslim immigrants, including Syrian
refugees. Plans called for a $37 million renovation to double
the size of the center's fitness facilities. The community
was interested in the center, but the firm identified a
concern shared by two seemingly disparate groups.


http://www.iida.org/perspective

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017

IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017
Contents
From IIDA
Next
World View
Sum of Its Parts
Talk, Talk
Pre/Post
Data Viz
A Common Good
Pop Goes Design
A New School of Thought
Balancing Act
Scratch Pad
Insider Intel
Sound Bytes
IIDA News + Updates
Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 1
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 3
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Next
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 8
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 10
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 11
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - World View
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 13
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Sum of Its Parts
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 15
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Talk, Talk
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Pre/Post
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Data Viz
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - A Common Good
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 26
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 28
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 30
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Pop Goes Design
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 34
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - A New School of Thought
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 40
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Balancing Act
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 46
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Scratch Pad
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Insider Intel
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Sound Bytes
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - IIDA News + Updates
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 55
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2019fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2019summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2019spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2018fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2018summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2018spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2017fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2017springsummer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2016fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2016springsummer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2015fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2015springsummer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2014fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2014springsummer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2013fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2013springsummer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2012fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2012springsummer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2011fallwinter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/perspective_2011springsummer
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com