Reshape the Future of Public Space

In this activity, you will:

• identify a space in your community in need of change
• research the historical and systemic reasons behind a specific problem in a community space
• create a persuasive call to action for a community space

• Multipart Activity

Read About How Architecture Can Uplift a Community

Paul R. Williams understood that buildings are never just buildings. When mainstream institutions refused to serve Black residents of Los Angeles, Williams responded by designing community spaces that addressed systemic issues of inequality. Williams’s designs made a public argument about who deserves dignity, access, and a place in the city by creating important spaces that mattered for the Black community.

The featured drawing by Williams shows the outside of the building he designed for the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company. This Black-owned enterprise was important to the Black community because many companies at the time would not provide insurance to them. This made it harder to start businesses and build wealth, creating financial vulnerability. The design of the building featured strong, precise lines, a stepped roof, and tall, sleek, windows, which together created a sense of permanence and importance. Williams positioned the building diagonally at a major intersection, making it visible from several viewpoints and helping it stand out as a recognizable landmark instead of just another office building. The building was meant to assert that Black-owned institutions were important, permanent, and belonged in Los Angeles.

Optional Activity

Read more about the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance building and other examples of Williams’s community-focused architecture.

Identify a Space in Your Community in Need of Change

By identifying what is missing or broken in a community space, researching why it happened, and making the case for change, anyone can shine a light on systemic issues in their community and push for something better.

The spaces around you sometimes fade into the background. But spaces in your community can affect your health, your safety, your education, and your future. When a neighborhood lacks parks, safe sidewalks, or reliable transportation, that is not an accident. It is often the result of decisions made by people in power who did not prioritize certain communities.

Start by thinking about your own surroundings with Williams’s work in mind. What spaces exist, and for whom? Where are the gaps? What spaces are missing, neglected, or designed without the community’s needs in mind? What feels unjust, unsafe, or simply missing? The list below can help you identify a problem worth researching.

Examples of community problems related to place and space:

• lack of safe parks, community centers, or youth-friendly hangout spots
• unsafe street conditions such as poor lighting, speeding traffic, or broken sidewalks
• illegal dumping, pollution, or absence of green space
• public facilities that are inaccessible or in disrepair
• unsafe or inequitable conditions within schools, including bathrooms, hallways, and common areas
• poor public transportation routes that limit access to school, work, or activities
• no safe paths for walking or biking
• unequal exposure to pollution or lack of clean drinking water
• limited access to healthy, affordable food (a condition known as a “food desert”)
• lack of public Wi-Fi or technology access in community spaces

Looking at the list above, which problem feels most personal to you and why? How has that condition shaped your daily life or the lives of people you know? Or, is there a problem in your neighborhood related to spaces that aren’t listed here?

Choose a space that you think needs to change in some way. Next, you’ll research the issues behind it, and write a persuasive call to action to change or improve it.

Research the Problem Space in Your Neighborhood

Research the specific space you identified and dig into these questions:

• Where is this problem showing up in your community space, and who is most affected?
• Who has the power to make decisions about this issue, and are those people connected to the communities affected?
• When individuals or communities have pushed back on this problem, what happened?
• What decisions or policies contributed to what you see today? Was this neighborhood ever blocked from investment or targeted for displacement? Who was left out of the planning process?

Ask Community Members About the Space

Talk to longtime residents if you can. Ask them about their experiences in that space. Community memory is a form of research.

• Was it always the way it is now?
• What has changed? What do they wish were different about the space?
• What do they think led to the changes they’ve noticed?
• What do they think the roots of the problem might be?

Create a Call to Action Using Writing or Design

Choose the format that best fits what you want to say.

Option 1: A Community Proposal

Propose a new or redesigned public space. Include what it would be, who it serves, what needs it addresses, and why the community deserves it.

Option 2: An Opinion Article

Write a short opinion piece arguing for a specific change to how public space is funded, designed, or governed. Find out exactly who has the power to make that change. That person may be a city council member, a parks department, a transit agency, a school board. Address your piece directly to them, as if you know they will read it. Name them in your piece, and write as though your argument needs to convince that specific person or body to act.

Option 3: A Design Concept

Instead of writing about the space you want to see, draw it. Create a visual concept for a new or redesigned community space that addresses the problem you identified. Include a site plan or exterior view, labels that identify key features, and a short legend explaining what each element is and who it serves.

Note: If you choose Option 3, your design concept should be accompanied by a short written statement (roughly 100–150 words) that names who the space is for, explains how it responds to the history and problem you researched, and states clearly what you want decision-makers to do. Your drawing shows the vision; your statement makes the case.

All pieces must include:

• a clear argument or vision for change
• how the issue connects to your community’s history
• a specific audience—name who has the power to make this change happen, and who you are addressing directly
• a call to action or demand

A network or group of people, sometimes living in a particular place, who share interests, values, characteristics, responsibilities, or physical spaces.

An organization or the buildings that house them that has been around for a long time and plays a major role in a community’s life.

Describing a problem or pattern that is built into the rules, laws, or structures of a society rather than caused by one person or one incident.