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Previews: Design As a Social Act: Tales of Architectural Activism
Produced and Directed by Ayda Melika and Susanne Cowan

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This trilogy of films shows how the social upheavals of the 1960s  led to the development of social approaches for designing the built environment.  This documentary draws on ten oral history interviews with designers and researchers of architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning. (75 min)
  • Preview Part 1: Social Factors
  • Preview Part 2: Community Design
  • Preview Part 3: Participatory Design

  • Photo from this page: Cover, Design as a Social Act, Reform By Activism Design, 2014. 
    Cover photo from Bill Brett/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
     
    Preview Part 1: Social Factors
    This documentary explores how the perceived failure of modernist design and planning triggered the rise of social research in environmental design. Oral history interviews with Clare Cooper Marcus, Galen Cranz, Henry Sanoff, Sim Van der Ryn, Robert Sommer and Robert Goodman illustrate the successes and the challenges faced in integrating social research into design education and practice. (35 min)
    ​Buy the DVD here.
     
    Preview Part 2: Community Design
    Based on oral history interviews with Mary Comerio, Henry Sanoff, and Robert Goodman this film examines how architecture schools integrated community outreach into studio work. Examining the evolution of Community Design Centers reveals the opportunities and challenges faced due to the transformations in design education and urban development funding. (19 min)
    Buy the DVD here.
     
    Part 3: Participatory Design
    This documentary examines the way in which the civil rights movement inspired designers to embrace democratic urban planning. The oral histories with Randy Hester, Henry Sanoff, Robert Goodman, and Marcia McNally reveal the legacy of a generation of designers who rejected traditional design in favor of participatory design methods. (21 min)
    ​Buy the DVD here.