ABSTRACT
Shifting architectural practice and education from the object of the building to the subject of placemaking lies at the heart of public-interest design practice and service-learning design education. By expanding architecture beyond form making to include what Design Corps founder Bryan Bell calls “pre-form- and post-form-making roles” (Bell, 2010, p. 76–77), we have the opportunity to widen the breadth of architectural practice and increase the impact of design on people and communities. Despite the tremendous need throughout the world for adequate housing, functional infrastructure, and healthy communities, “architectural education mostly prepares students to meet the building needs of relatively wealthy individuals and organizations” (Fisher, 2008, p. 10). Public-interest design practice fundamentally extends the architect’s role to include the articulation of opportunities and issues prior to formal development as well as the evaluation of formal solutions following project occupancy (Bell, 2010).
