6 Practices Recognized as Social Design Innovators by Curry Stone Design Prize

January 3, 2017 Patrick Lynch Architecture, Architecture Article, Design 0


© José Bastidas / Pico Collective Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageCustomized size and shape basketball court. La Ye 5 de Julio, Petare, Caracas

© José Bastidas / Pico Collective Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageCustomized size and shape basketball court. La Ye 5 de Julio, Petare, Caracas

In the past 10 years, the Curry Stone Design Prize has grown to become one of the world’s preeminent awards honoring socially impactful design professionals and the influence of design as a force for improving lives and strengthening communities.

This year, in honor of the prize’s 10th anniversary, the Curry Stone Foundation will acknowledge the largest group of influential practices yet, recognizing 100 firms over the next twelve months as members of the “Social Design Circle.” Each firm will be profiled on the award website, as well as participate in the foundation’s new podcast, Social Design Insights, beginning on January 5th, 2017.

“In the past ten years the Curry Stone Design Prize has been recognizing some of the most impactful and inspirational international practices,” says Emiliano Gandolfi, the Prize Director. “Their work is part of a larger movement of individuals and groups who see design as a necessary tool to make our societies more just, environmentally sustainable, and socially inclusive. We formed the Social Design Circle to illustrate the significance of this movement and to share with a wider audience the great potential of these transformative practices.”

The Social Design Circle recipients will be announced on a monthly basis within thematic categories based on their accomplishments. For the month of January, 6 firms were recognized under the theme of “Should Designers be Outlaws?”:

Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman


© Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize

© Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


© Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


© Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


© Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


© Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize

Mark Lakemen (City Repair Project)


© Mark Lakemen (City Repair Project). Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize

© Mark Lakemen (City Repair Project). Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


© Mark Lakemen (City Repair Project). Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


© Mark Lakemen (City Repair Project). Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


VBC 16 Hearth DEI: Earth Guardians During the Village Building Convergence, community projects are simultaneously being installed all over the city during the day, in active remembrance of the seasonal cycle that used to be the barnraiser. During the night, villagers gather at a central venue, we call the Hearth to share stories over food, be inspired by workshops, panel discussions and other forms of creative pedagogy, and to celebrate with music and dance. Pictured here are the Earth Guardians, a tribe of young activists, artists and musicians from across the globe stepping as leaders. . Image © Mark Lakemen (City Repair Project). Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


CR 16 Placemaking: THorse at NE Sunday Parkways In 2015, CR began an exciting partnership with local landscape designers, the City of Portland’s Bureau of Transportation and local pollinator initiators and initiatives. Called the Pollinator Pathways program (PP), CR is working on five sites across the city as demonstration sites for building pollinator habitat and beauty especially in the right-of-way. To educate about this initiative, PP took its legendary mobile tea-haus, the T-Horse to Portland’s City-run Open Street’s initiative - Sunday Parkways to serve pollinator-inspired tea and cross-pollinate ideas.. Image © Mark Lakemen (City Repair Project). Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize

Arquitectura Expandida


El Trébol: cultural community space. Capoeira workshop. Bogotá, 2015. Image © Arquitectura Expandida. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize

El Trébol: cultural community space. Capoeira workshop. Bogotá, 2015. Image © Arquitectura Expandida. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


El Trébol: cultural community space. Self-construction. Bogotá, 2015.. Image © Arquitectura Expandida. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


© Gabriela Córdoba / Arquitectura Expandida. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageArquitectura Expandida team.


Potocine: self-managed cinema. Model. Bogotá, 2016. Image © Arquitectura Expandida. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


Casa de la Lluvia[de ideas]: cultural community space. Break dance workshop. Bogotá, 2013.. Image © Arquitectura Expandida. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize

Pico Colectivo


© José Bastidas / Pico Collective. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageCultural production unit ZPG. Reused Components. Guaraca, Carabobo, Under Construction

© José Bastidas / Pico Collective. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageCultural production unit ZPG. Reused Components. Guaraca, Carabobo, Under Construction


© José Bastidas / Pico Collective Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageCustomized size and shape basketball court. La Ye 5 de Julio, Petare, Caracas


© José Bastidas / Pico Collective. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageRadiography Favela's housing. Local ecosystem rebuilding. Catia, Caracas, 2016


© José Bastidas / Pico Collective. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageCultural production unit ZPG. Reused Components. Guaraca, Carabobo, Under Construction


© José Bastidas / Pico Collective. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageBridge crane, Rainwater drainage support. Los Frail es de Catia, Caracas. 2015.

Ctrl+Z-Luca Stasi


2012 Marcel House. Recycled geodesic sustainable house, Spain. Image © Ctrl+Z-Luca Stasi. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize

2012 Marcel House. Recycled geodesic sustainable house, Spain. Image © Ctrl+Z-Luca Stasi. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


2011 Bici-Elote. Neighborhood communication tool. Tampiquito, Mexico. Image © Ctrl+Z-Luca Stasi. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


2010 laTren. Cultural Center for the recovery of marginalized area. Saltillo, Mexico. Image © Ctrl+Z-Luca Stasi. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


2016 Oca dos Curumins. Children's equipment. Piracicaba, Brazil. Image © Ctrl+Z-Luca Stasi. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


2012 Marcel House. Recycled geodesic sustainable house, Spain. Image © Ctrl+Z-Luca Stasi. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize

Recetas Urbanas


Araña [Spider], Seville 2011. Portable space's protoype. Image © Recetas Urbanas. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize

Araña [Spider], Seville 2011. Portable space's protoype. Image © Recetas Urbanas. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


© Juan Gabriel Pelegrina / Recetas Urbanas. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageProyectalab, Benicassim 2010. Restoration and extension of a multidisciplinary space for municipal cultural activities


© Juan Gabriel Pelegrina / Recetas Urbanas. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageTretzevents, Sant Cugat del Vallés 2013. Self-building process of a classroom for a private school


Trincheras [Trenches], Malaga 2015. Self-building process of 2 self-funded classrooms for students. Image © Recetas Urbanas. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize


© Guillermo Cruz / Recetas Urbanas. Courtesy of Curry Stone Design Prize. ImageSantiago Cirugeda Portrait

These 6 firms will feature in January episodes of the Social Design Insights podcast, co-hosted by Prize Director Emiliano Gandolfi and award-winning author, architect and post disaster expert, Eric Cesal. The pair will engage in conversation with movement leaders over the next 12 months in the following issues:

  • January: Should Designers be Outlaws?
  • February: Is The Right To Housing Real?
  • March: Can Design Challenge Inequality?
  • April: Can Design Prevent Disaster?
  • May: Can We Design Community Engagement?
  • June: Can Design Reclaim Public Space?
  • July: Can We Design a Slum Friendly City?
  • August: How Do We Design With Scarcity?
  • September: What Can Design Do To Promote Peace?
  • October: Can a City Work As An Ecosystem?
  • November: Does Design Create Politics or Vice Versa?
  • December: How Do We Democratize Design?

“Social Design Insights will be a forum to hear from the Social Design Movement’s leading practitioners about their own methods, in their own words.  By drawing dozens of practitioners from all fields into one conversation, we hope that we can examine Social Design’s current challenges and future potential,” says Eric Cesal.

The podcast will air each Thursday on the Prize’s website and will be available through iTunes, Android and RSS feeds beginning in January with Teddy Cruz, Santiago Cirugeda (Recetas Urbanas), Arquitectura Expandida, Stalker, and Mark Lakeman (City Repair Project). At the beginning of each month, new honorees of the prize will be announced to the public.

To learn more about the prize and about this month’s recipients, visit the Curry Stone Design Prize website, here.

News via Curry Stone Design Prize.