About this tool

The Detroit Collaborative Design Center (DCDC) at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Architecture partnered with Inside Southwest Detroit (ISWD) to design this engagement tool that is both a story-telling device for the Avis and Elsmere project and communicates the values and strategies that drive participatory design and community organizing work. The following webpage brings to life all the layers of a community-engaged design project: from pedagogy, to values, to community voices, and tactics. Though the overall outline describes principles, then strategies, and  tactics, there are also anecdotes from on-the-ground experience along the way. 

Though this webpage is intended to be a field guide, outlining the foundational aspects of community-engaged design, it is also meant to offer a narrative perspective of the Avis and Elsmere development and to feature the perspectives of key community stakeholders who were a part of the design process. 

About Avis & Elsmere

ISWD promotes youth and community development through cultural and place-based initiatives in Southwest Detroit. Starting in 1999 with The Alley Project (TAP), a transformation of vacant lots and alley to a graffiti art gallery and gathering space, ISWD continues to support programming ranging from media and storytelling to youth programming via Young Nation. 

Avis and Elsmere entails the re-design of a small commercial building that houses the program space of ISWD and includes space for neighborhood businesses. The design extends to a vacant lot across the street, which will feature a skating plaza and performance space as well as seating areas. The community design process led by DCDC included a series of workshops with a key group of neighborhood stakeholders and informed schematic design. Et al. Collaborative, the Architect of Record for this project, was an active partner throughout the engagement process, and brought the design to fruition after the community, DCDC, and Et al. Collaborative completed schematic design.

Principle #1: Engagement is building relationships

Relationships include evolving and ongoing connections with neighbors, residents and partners. Importantly, community engagement is not transactional. For ISWD, human capital is valued equally to economic capital. Existing community relationships were leveraged to bring more diverse voices to the table.

“You need to have relationships or at least some foundation of relationships to facilitate quality engagement, but at the same time, a good engagement process can help to facilitate the relationship itself. They really feed into each other...It’s reciprocal...You need one to have the other...And they build on one another.” - Erik

Principle #2: Create a dynamic exchange of information

Engagement is a two-way exchange that celebrates a range of expertise and invites diverse perspectives. Meaningful partnerships mean shared decision making. For Avis and Elsmere, both the architect & the community members learned through the process. Design expertise is necessary to keep the building standing, and local wisdom is necessary to guide the space’s identity. Participatory design flips the traditional hierarchy of decision making upside-down. The youth holds the pencil and the architect learns. 

“In a participatory process [everyone] sits at the table + informs each other...The architect needs to learn some important things about the community...that allows [the community] to feel open and invited...An architect gets to really create some design education and deliver it in a small personalized setting...you’re giving them a language to communicate what their needs are while being creative.”

- Erik

Principle #3: Value local knowledge and lived experience

Neighbors are superheros! ISWD is driven by the perspective and talent of their community. Elders, youth, neighbors, and artists are central to their work. In turn, these voices were central to the design process.

“When people are allowed to show up fully as who they are [to the design process]...they get to be a superhero designer version of themselves...with the right amount of knowledge and information and an environment that’s healthy, inviting, accessible, and engaging, they are prophetic in their ability to design in a way that meets the needs of the community, inspires people, and is sustainable in the long term.” - Erik

Strategy #1: Define your community

Every community and project is different. A first step is determining who should be involved in the design process and who are key types of community members. In the case of ISWD, community included neighbors, elders, artists, and representatives from ISWD. The measure of success of a project is the frequency and depth of unlikely relationships that come about as a result of that work. 

“Sometimes [community elders and youth] don’t wind up in the same spaces...creating opportunities for them to get together helps with the frequency of interactions, but the depth comes from facilitating good conversation...The reason that we look at [relationship building] as a central measure of success: it builds community...When people who don’t know each other meet and talk, dormant community assets are activated.” - Erik

Strategy #2: Develop a variety of strategies for a variety of people

“I think there’s an assumption that people will come to you...and if we waited for everybody to come to us we wouldn’t have those projects. We were literally on doorsteps everyday plus the day before plus the hour before just to make some of these happen because we valued the voices that needed to be at the table. Their opinions outweighed us bugging them.” - Nyasia

Strategy #3: Engage through multiple phases and feedback loops

It is important to integrate engagement in multiple phases of a project, not just during design, or any other phase. It is also critical to build in feedback loops so people see how their input impacts design. For Avis and Elsmere, these feedback loops included accessible, outdoor community events that encouraged neighbors who might not have heard of the project to come and see what is going on in their neighborhood. These events served to share about the progress of the entire design as well as sharing details of the design for neighbors to give input on. 

“When you do have consistency and you’ve been able to structure or scaffold an environment for programming that’s healthy, people want to come and they want to be there. Whether there’s a lot of people or a little bit of people, they interact and engage with each other. What’s fantastic is when those engagements get to impact how the program grow, how they sustain, and how they continue.” - Erik

Practice #1: Be clear about givens

There are real world constraints for any project. Being open and transparent about project needs will help frame the conversation, while still encouraging creative strategies and ideas. Having the boundary of givens allows for greater freedom of exploration in design.

“Being introduced to the language of givens and their role in a design process was an important moment for us. We would often talk about transparency or engagement, but the participatory design process laid out a method...learning about the process in a general way allowed us to be better at our practices and more intentional and expressive about our values.”  - Erik

Practice #2: Set collective design intentions

Invite participants to set the intentions for the project that will drive design decision-making. One activity that helps define these goals starts with “If nothing else...” and generates project priorities. A priority in the Avis and Elsmere project was “bring people together.”

“ All of us have different opinions and different ideas, but they were able to take those ideas, those differences, and pull them together to create something that we all could have a part in. The building has multiple uses in a small container. This little container...and when you open the lid, it just flows.” - Mary

Practice #3: Use verbs to generate program and design ideas

Using verbs instead of nouns helps generate create space solutions. Verbs are how one imagines futures. While a table offers one solution, the verbs “gather” and “share” offers a range of possible solutions! For ISWD, a key verb that was highlighted in the process was “revolutionizing.” The design team continually reflected on this verb and how it could come alive in the design.

“Participatory design processes don’t start with nouns...they start with verbs: what would we like to be able to do in the space? That’s why the dynamic exchange of information at the table is so important because you have so many different folks and perspectives that can contribute to a design intervention that...helps the built environment perform that action.” - Erik

Practice #4: Invite participants to lead design discussion

As the design process proceeds, participants are well-positioned to lead the discussion - what is important to the space layout and why? What connections are important? What programs need to be included? In the image above, neighbors map verbs, sight lines, and activity zones on the project site.

“When it came to designing the building we wanted to make sure it gave off that vibe, when you walk in it felt good...versus being about ‘this has to be a certain height.’...My favorite memories of being in the building since it’s been renovated have been the Blackbook sessions. We would have a turnout of like 15 people...an older generation of artists and younger artists... all of us being in the same room being creative.”

- Freddy

Practice #5: Center local culture

Meaningfully integrating local culture brings projects to life! At Avis and Elsmere, the artwork is integrated into the building design and embodies a powerful history. The metal screen integrates local craft.

“The color palette is baked into the process; art and dance and freedom and expression is baked into the process...Even if we know what we’re doing when we’re doing it, it continues to surprise us over time.”

- Erik

Practice #6: Celebrate!

Celebrating the design process, outcomes and community contributions is important! Celebrations also offer an opportunity to invite more people and perspectives into the conversation. For Avis & Elsmere, having public events attracted passers-by and neighbors that otherwise would not have seen an event flyer. 

“[Celebration] is what makes everything possible. Without it, it just wouldn’t exist. Because every day that [the project] exists is a celebration. I always say, the greatest thing about this community is the people...To celebrate one another’s culture & one another’s being, makes us understand one another better...And for me, that is what’s going to give us some peace, to know one another. And the importance of celebrating our culture, our visions, with the young people.” - Mary

Many thanks to all of the partners that have helped bring this book to fruition! Special thanks to Nyasia, Freddy, and Mary, and all community champions, whose time, commitment, and talent have, and will continue to, shape your neighborhood.

We are also grateful for the generous funding from the Kresge Foundation, for helping make this work possible.