Between 2009-2017, URBANFRAME used cooperative design dialogue and hands-on building as a dynamic framework for design research, youth development, and service. Each year, teams of participating youth took on pressing urban challenges and collaborated to develop experimental solutions relevant to the needs of specific communities. What follows is a record of this work and its findings.
The Urbaneframe Model
Urbanframe invites youth from the US and abroad to transform the way the rest of us think about cities. Under the guidance of an architecture professor and team of graduate teaching fellows, young people work in a local community to design and build full-scale structures and spaces with no prior experience in architecture or construction. With energy and insight, these ideas result in amazing solutions to real-world challenges.
Each year, we choose a project theme for the Summer Design Build based at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Previous projects have explored sustainability, mobility, urban agriculture, vacant space, street performance, and social media.
No previous experience is required!
URBANFRAME
617.444.9904 info@urbanframe.org