Kit Hinrichs

Public Architecture

Grant Awarded: $25,000

Public Architecture puts the resources of architecture in the service of the public interest. The organization identifies and solves practical problems of human interaction in the built environment and acts as a catalyst of public discourse through education, advocacy and the design of public spaces and amenities.

In 2007, Public Architecture benefited from an Ideas that Matter grant to produce The 1% User’s Guide, which introduced the value of pro bono service to design firms and nonprofit leaders. The User’s Guide has been wildly successful, winning design awards and press notice. More importantly, the guide has been the single greatest tool to attract nearly 600 firms nationwide and almost 300 nonprofits to join the 1% Program.

This proposed campaign will build on that success, but will turn Public Architecture’s message outwards, aiming to enlist the larger community whose support is necessary to implement pro bono design projects. Using simple and illustrative graphics, juxtaposed with compelling facts, the campaign will demonstrate the acute and verifiable need nonprofits have for design services, and Public Architecture’s ability to fill that need through organizing the design community. Using specific examples of organizations that increased their impact by enlisting designers on a pro bono basis, the publication will introduce design as a valuable tool in their pursuit of social, economic and environmental change.