making good design available to everyone

Founders of bricks + cartwheels, Georgia and Amber completed their Advanced Study Report as a component of the Bachelor of Architecture (Honours) degree at The University of Sydney in June 2007.

The paper explores the potential for the design professional to facilitate partnerships within a community development context.  Through a facilitated participatory process, effective partnerships can be realised that generate sustainable development, build local capacity and empower communities to improve their own built environment.

The community development process is not formulaic, yet an informed process can lead to sustainable community development and increased local capacity.  A comprehensive summary of this research provides key points to successful partnerships facilitated by design professionals and useful recommendations for design professionals interested in working with the bottom 20%.

Design professionals are in an excellent position to contribute to global change and facilitate the empowerment of communities in the bottom 20% of society to improve their own lives.  We hope that our research will positively inform the projects of bricks + cartwheels.

Click here to download Making Good Design Available to Everyone.