Projects

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

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. 
Part 1: Social Factors (35 min)
Part 2: Community Design (19 min)
Part 3: Participatory Design (21 min)
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​Libraries with DVD

This project received funding for research travel and supplies from the Joan E. Draper Architectural Research Endowment,  College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley.

Beyond the Divide: Design Activism in the Segregated Neighborhoods of St. Louis
Project in Progress​ by Susanne Cowan and Ayda Melika

This film will portray the role that designers in St. Louis have played in engaging their communities to address social justice and inequality in the built environment. Using oral history interviews, location shooting, and archival footage, this trilogy will explore three different approaches to design activism including university outreach, professional engagement, and neighborhood organizing. Exploring the successes and limitations of these methods of intervention, the film highlights the opportunities and barriers to positive change in the context of the long legacy of discrimination and disinvestment in the urban fabric of St. Louis. This documentary, which will be formatted into three 20 to 30 minute chapters, will be attractive for classroom use as well as causal viewing as it intends to invoke discussion amongst the audience. These short films will be an excellent tool for teaching students or the general public about the design challenges of postindustrial divided cities. ​

​‘Saving’ the Neighborhood: Community Organizing, Urban Revitalization and Racial Integration in St. Louis
Project in Progress​ by Susanne Cowan

​This book will include histories of three neighborhoods in St. Louis where community groups shaped the process of revitalization. The case studies will represent a range of racial and class demographics, architectural conditions, and historical legacies, to show the differences in how St. Louis’s urban planning policies were applied in various contexts. By tracing the history of these community organizations from the 1960s through the 1980s, each case study will examine the positive ways that neighborhood groups were able to influence the public policies and use of public funding in their area. Overall the book will argue that while the associations in these St. Louis neighborhoods have had a positive impact on urban revitalization efforts and long term diversification, middle and upper-income white residents have had greater power to define and represent their community, and thus ultimately to shape the future form and identity of the neighborhood.