In the Public Interest

CLIENT: AIA SEATTLE | GARRETT NELLI

As 2017's recipient of AIA Seattle Emerging Professionals Scholarship, Garrett Nelli traveled to Los Angeles, New Orleans, rural Alabama, Haiti, Burkina Faso, and Italy to catalog how the built environment can proliferate positive societal change. This research proposal showcases six non-traditional practices expanding and redefining the role of the architect to include social activist, engaged facilitator, environmental steward, political advocate, among others, in order to meet the complex needs of the public. Public Interest Design, a growing field within the profession, is repositioning architects to critically address the social, political, and environmental issues of the 21st century through a community engaged design process. 

Check out more on the AIA Seattle site here. Photography by Trevor Dykstra