This four-part series explores dramatic stories of architect-led community change and their lessons for today—highlighting comparative models and approaches to design leadership that mobilize engaged architects to guide thoughtful, community-centered transformation. The series is especially relevant to architects who see the built environment as a steward of cultural memory and civic identity, and who are interested in how design leadership can balance continuity, change, and long-term community value.
Today’s climate crisis means our cities and towns serve as more than hubs of economic and cultural vitality. In an era of climate change, communities function as the central organizing systems for human survival—shaped by both inherited places and future-facing decisions. This reality places communities at the heart of solutions to our most pressing challenges, from affordability to climate resilience to presesrvation.
Yet at the moment when thoughtful, place-based decision-making is most urgent, a democratic crisis is contributing to political paralysis, controversy, and declining public trust in institutions worldwide. Professionals must adopt a renewed democratic orientation—one that empowers citizens to co-design solutions rooted in local context, lived experience, and shared values. The stakes are too high. It is time to recommit to public service, reinvigorate the democratic process, honor the citizen architect tradition, and galvanize the next generation of design leadership in our communities.
This series is intended for civic leaders, architects, and design professionals who are invested in the long-term vitality of communities and the role of design in shaping meaningful, enduring places.
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This series is hosted by Communities by Design.Through decades of work in hundreds of communities with tens of thousands of volunteers and citizens, CxD Design Assistance Teams have proven that communities are at the heart of solutions to the world’s most pressing issues. Donate today to support this work.
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Paola Capo
The American Institute of Architects
Washington DC
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