Design Brigade is a structured summer project to connect architecture and design students to new spatial problems that have emerged in the era of COVID-19. We are launching our third cohort in Summer 2022 in New Haven, Connecticut. Teams made up of Yale undergraduates and graduate students will research larger conceptual questions of changing social and cultural rituals and work towards built solutions in New Haven. Each team will be mentored by practicing designers and academics. By serving and working with community clients, students will develop design skills through real-world problem solving and will deliver plans that can be implemented. The project will be documented and shared online as a model for remote design internships that connect academic and community partners.

Project leaders Dana Karwas from CCAM, Ming Thompson from ACT, and the students will be documenting their process as the project moves forward. Click here to read their stories and learn more.

Project Goals

  • To offer real-world learning opportunities to architecture and design students

  • To work to solve urgent design problems facing New Haven

  • To create mentorship between undergraduates, graduate students, and practicing designers

Project Structure

Each Design Brigade team is made up of undergraduate and graduate students, an alum project manager, and two mentors, including one lead mentor from ACT and academic mentors from Yale CCAM and Tsai CITY. Each team is assigned a client and design problem, and is required to meet for 8 weeks to develop a solution that can feasibly be implemented. The project will include a mid-review and final review with the client.

Values

01 Community 

We value this opportunity to create design work that improves our neighborhoods and our city, and we do our work in service to our community.

02 Inclusivity

We will listen to diverse voices from across New Haven, with a particular effort to reach out to the communities that are suffering most during this crisis.

03 Equity

Our projects will aim to contribute to the creation of a fairer and more just world. 

04 Hands-on Problem-Solving 

We will approach our projects with implementation in mind, and we will embrace the constraints and opportunities of real world problem solving.

05 Transparency 

We will share our work with the public as we aim to create replicable solutions and processes. 

06 Collaboration 

As residents of New Haven, we will work alongside our clients, advisors, and project stakeholders to create shared solutions for our shared problems.