openhousenewyork, DreamYard and Public Workshop have partnered to create a unique youth community design leadership program in a Bronx middle school. Supported by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, this program will integrate place-based design learning and youth-led design problem solving into the 8th grade curriculum of MS 118. Working in collaboration with their classroom teachers, a teaching architect, a talented designer and the larger community, students will identify and address needs, and challenges in the world around them through the lens of design.

A twice-a-week After-School Community Design Lab offers the classroom students, teachers and designers more time and opportunity to further develop their selected community design project while building the specific skills to necessary to solve the challenges at hand. The Lab will be open for all 8th graders to take part in weekly design challenges and activities, contribute to the larger project, and work with the design team as well as outside designers and people from the community. These innovative programs will demonstrate how design based service learning can be integrated into a public school environment to bolster learning while redefining the role that youth play in the design of the places where they live, learn and play.

openhousenewyork is always excited to work with new partners to develop inspiring learning programs and engaging events that allow people to better understand, explore and take about the city and architecture.