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. 

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.