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by William Nichols
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“Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement,” a recent exhibition at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, brought attention to architects and designers who have chosen to follow their commitment to creating social change over designing blockbuster masterpieces. This is not to say that type of architecture does not deserve recognition. However, the eleven projects featured in this exhibition required an entirely different level of creativity and ingenuity to keep costs down while making a significant social impact.
 Examples range from a handmade school in Bangladesh designed by Anna Heringer, to the Quinta Monroy Housing project in Iquique, Chile by Elemental, to the Inner City Arts School in Los Angeles by Michael Maltzan. For this last project, Maltzan created an environment to serve over 30,000 at-risk youth from the Los Angeles’ public school system, providing them with a learning environment geared towards creativity and artistic expression at a time when many school districts are forced to curtail expenses by cutting art and music programs. According to Maltzan, the one-acre campus was envisioned to resemble an open air village. It features a series of indoor and outdoor spaces that take advantage of Southern California’s sunny climate, while also fostering a sense of social cohesion and shared responsibility.
Using design as a tool, Maltzan and the other architects featured in this exhibition were able to dramatically change the way in which communities work and interact by creating cost-effective and efficient private and public spaces not seen before in these specific locales. Kudos to MoMA for recognizing their efforts. M |
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Photo Credits (From top to bottom)
1. Quinta Monroy Housing Project. Iquique, Chile. 2003-2005 (Photo by Cristobal Palma)
2. Inner-City Arts. Los Angeles, California. 1993-2008 (Photo by Iwan Baan)
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