July 2020, Detroit, USA

Half the week I'm cofounder of Dash Marshall, where I lead our civic futures work and make experiments like the very slow movie player.

The other half of the week I am founding Director of the Urban Technology program at University of Michigan's Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

Previously I've helped develop Makeshift Society Brooklyn, Helsinki Design Lab, and a web 1.0 startup called Deepleap.

I serve on the Board of Directors at Public Policy Lab and am always on the lookout for more #eaglepants (these are unrelated.)

We can stay in touch via Flickr, Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium or telepathy.

Books I've Written or Edited

Design for Social Innovation: Case Studies from Around the World 2021 takes the temperature of this newly-emerged field of design by presenting and analyzing 45 projects. In addition to the case studies, 7 roundtable discussions tackle contemporary issues in design: geographies of power, trajectories of international development, organizing the work, partnerships, mediums of change, measuring impact, and growth. LEAP Dialogues: Career Pathways in
Design for Social Innovation 2016 features contributions from 84 designers, educators and thought-leaders from across the United States, each examining how and why the role of design is changing and how designers can create a positive social impact. Legible Practices 2013 is about concrete projects that act as a trojan horse to create systemic change. This book tells the story of six projects from around the globe, ranging from the rebuilding of a town in Chile to the creation of a single website for all of the UK Government. Brickstarter 2013 focuses on how crowdfunding and crowdsourcing are playing out in the built environment and includes a proposal for how they could become the starting point for a platform that helps all people have a productive voice in shaping the city together. Helsinki Street Eats 2012 takes a systems-view of the problems and opportunities for street food in Helsinki. It makes the case that street food can make a positive contribution to economic development, tourism, urban quality, and lowering the city's carbon footprint. In Studio: Recipes for Systemic Change 2011 documents the Studio Model, a workshop format and design process that I developed with my co-authors to help diverse teams grapple with wicked problems and develop opportunities for tangible action.

Other stuff I've written that people have published on paper

Assembling a Common World The Alpine Review no. 2 2013 Clearing The Cowshed Perspecta 46: Error 2013 A Tale of Two Hearts Helsinki Beyond Dreams 2012 Optimistic About Empty CLOG: The National Mall 2012 In The Long Run Volume 27 2011 Navigating the No-Man's Land OK Talk London/Helsinki 2011 Learning From Salinas (Hopefully) [Bracket] 2010 Building a Useful City of Bits Habitar: Bending the Urban Frame 2010

Relevant blog posts from a neglected blog

Matter Battle is an essay about the difference between making digital things and real things. Cultures of Decision Making takes this a step further to explore the implications for collaboration in the 21st century. Brute Force Architecture interrogates the decision-making process by which architects find the 'right answer.' It critiques a specific configuration of theory, practice, and labor popular in many of the top architecture offices around the world today. An ode to tables, and sharing them. Print at home "I voted" stickers for overseas absentee voters. And one, two, three contemplative posts about life as an ex-pat in Finland.

Interviews, citations, and the like

"I for Individuality" (featuring Makeshift Society) Metropolis Magazine 2015 "Working Lunch" (featuring Makeshift Society) Bon Appétit 2015 PERFIL: Bryan Boyer Laural Chavez Zamora LA Ciudad de Frente (Mexico City) 2014 Making Shift Happen Joseph Hughes How Magazine 2014 Civic Crowdfunding Antony Funnell Future Tense by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation 2013 Built By The Crowd Kevin Gray Wired (UK) 2013 Crowdfunding the City Brendan Cormier Mark Magazine 2013 Crowdsourcing the City Maitiú Ward Architecture Australia 2013 Pooling Public Domain Funds Online Haya El Nasser USA Today 2013 Breaking Ground The Economist 2013 An Interview with Helsinki Design Lab SEE Bulletin #8 2012 The Strategic Designer Rory Hyde Future Practice 2012 10 Notable People The Alpine Review no. 1 2012 Brickstarter Bürgernahe Stadtplanung FORM (DE) 2012 North Stars Monocle 2011 Power Breakfast National Public Radio 88.5 FM 2008 The Minimalist Touch The Boston Globe 2008 GSD Platform 08 2008 Studioworks 12 2007 Smart Materials in Architecture, Interior Architecture and Design 2006 Studioworks 11 2005 Border Game ID Magazine 2004

Talks

Panel discussion on 'Collective Impact by Design', SXSWEco Austin 2016 "The Fruits of Democracy" at IDEAS CITY Detroit 2016 Panel discussion on 'Making Space for Opportunity and Innovation', MAS Summit New York City 2015 Creatives, Contingents, Contracts: Re-imagining the Future of Work, CityLab London 2015 Panel discussion on 'The Changing Urban Economy: Institutional Revolution in Cities', Knight Cities Challenge Winners Summit Detroit 2015 Public talk Laboratorio Para La Ciudad Mexico City 2014 Panel discussion on 'New Ideas Need Old Buildings: Next Generation Preservation', MAS Summit New York City 2014 Panel discussion on 'Mapping Impact Measurement', Better World By Design conference Rhode Island School of Design 2014 Public talk New York University GovLab 2014 Public talk Gizmodo House of the Future New York 2014 Civic Innovation Studio Knight Foundation Miami 2014 Adaptive Metropolis UC Berkeley 2013 LEAP Design Symposium Art Center Pasadena, CA 2013 International Risk Assessment & Horizon Scanning Symposium Singapore 2013 Public talk and workshop Tokyo Midtown Design Hub Tokyo 2013 Public talk Architecture Faculty, University of Melbourne 2013 Public talk Thailand Design Center Bangkok 2013 CRIO International Festival of Creativity Rio de Janeiro 2012 Public talk Sauder School of Business at UBC Vancouver 2012 Public talk MaRS Discovery District Toronto 2012 Public talk Ontario College of Art & Design Toronto 2012 Public talk Cidadania 2.0 Lisbon 2012 Keynote World Design Forum Eindhoven 2012 Public talk Month of Design Ljubljana 2012 Public talk Academy of Urbanism annual congress Derry/Londonderry 2012 Public talk Conferencia CMD: Nuevos escenarios para el diseño Buenos Aires 2011 Lecture Foresight International Seminar Brasilia 2010 Public talk After The Cultural City Pecs, Hungary 2010 Public talk Postopolis! Los Angeles 2009 Public talk, 'Archinect.com as social experiment' MACE International Conference Venice 2008 Public talk, 'Meet The Architects' South by Southwest Austin, TX 2008 Public talk, 'So You're Creating An Internet Start-up' South by Southwest Austin, TX 2000