Building on the community engagement work of the Division Design Committee, Design+Culture Lab was hired to provide materials that inform and empower community members to actively participate in the transformation of their build environment.

As experts in creative community engagement, Design+Culture Lab was contracted as a consultant to lead the public involvement and project management for this project. By viewing the community as the drivers of change, Design+Culture Lab is currently developing a powerful tool for the organizing, advocacy, collaboration for north, northeast and east Portland. 

Design+Culture Lab designed this communication tool to inform the public on the benefits of the project, but more importantly allow everyone regardless of their native language to participate in creative ways.

The POC Survival Guide to Public Space is a collaborative project sharing stories, experiences, and knowledge about how people of color engage in the public realm. 

In a preliminary survey exercise Design+Culture Lab visited the Diversity Plaza in Jackson Heights, Queen.  But unlike other DOT plazas, this plaza in is called the “Diversity Plaza” and with such a name it became a centerpiece of our investigation into cultural spaces within the urban fabric.