The College of Design’s research, extension and engagement activities connect the mission and goals of the College to the needs of society. The College sees the development and success of these activities to be related to its educational mission and strives to create an environment where these activities engage scholars, students and the public.
The majority of research, extension and engagement efforts at the College are housed within the Laboratory for the Design of Healthy and Sustainable Communities. Each of the Laboratory's initiatives (see their links to the right) focuses on a specific topic important to communities.
Laboratory initiatives are geared to creating design solutions for social issues ranging from affordable housing (Architecture in the Public Interest Initiative) to childhood obesity (Natural Learning Initiative) to safety in the workplace (Universal Design Initiative).
The Laboratory helps rural towns boost their economies and quality of life (Community Design Initiative) and aids entrepreneurs in developing and patenting their inventions (Innovation Design Initiative). Healthy and sustainable urban living is a major goal of the Downtown Design Studio.
As part of NC State University - a land-grant institution with a wide network of extension agents in all 100 North Carolina counties - the College of Design is well-poised to research and develop design solutions that improve life for all.
The School of Architecture has a long and distinguished history of extension and outreach efforts in home design, housing issues and community partnerships. Dating from its earliest years, faculty and students from the School of Architecture have worked with rural communities, small towns and cities across the state. Today faculty are engaged in leading-edge research and service learning projects that address issues central to the needs of individuals, families, municipalities and organizations statewide.
Our work postulates that design is intrinsic to all aspects of home, housing and community. Sensitive, skillful and innovative design strategies are essential to address issues such as community acceptance, life-cycle costs, sustainability, adaptability, response to context, meaning and quality of life. Design is the bridge that connects and synthesizes these issues.
Our mission is primarily educational. We provide educational resources for government, non-profit and community leaders, students, and the general public, designing innovative and applicable solutions to the housing challenges that North Carolina communities face.
Currently the two programs of the Architecture in the Public Interest Initiative are the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Initiative and the Home Environments Design Initiative.
The mission of the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities program is to provide educational resources for leaders in government, non-profit organizations and the community to help create innovative solutions to the housing and urban challenges facing North Carolina.
There is a well-documented need to tackle issues of affordable housing and sustainability in North Carolina. The state’s population growth has resulted in significant deficits in safe, durable and affordable housing, and prompted unsustainable sprawl. Workforce and migrant worker housing, place-based economic development, and the creation of affordable and sustainable communities, can all be effectively addressed by a land-grant university such as NC State, which has a unique research, service and educational mission.
This initiative focuses on strategies, models and best practices of affordable housing and the creation of economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable communities. Faculty and graduate students engage in research, community-based demonstration and service-learning projects, and provide documentation and outcomes to the public.
The program works collaboratively with:
Funded research and service-learning projects result in tangible results and applicable solutions for our community partners, including:
| Title | Description |
|---|---|
| Wake County Affordable Housing Project (2009-10) | The Wake County Affordable Housing Project is a research and design project conducted by faculty and graduate students from the School of Architecture. The project, funded by Wake County Division of Human Services, includes research on housing needs in Wake County, national and international best practices of affordable housing, and the design of a range of affordable housing models. Issues such as environmental, social and cultural sustainability are intrinsic to the project. Mixed-use, mixed-income and transit-oriented development are also included. The project included a number of design workshops conducted at designated pilot study towns. The project outcomes will be documented and supplied to Wake County Human Services to assist their efforts in providing affordable housing in Wake County. Download the report. |
| Housing and Sustainable Communities: The Stone’s Warehouse Redevelopment Project for Southeast Raleigh (2008-09) | The Stone’s Warehouse Redevelopment Project was a research and design project conducted by graduate students from the School of Architecture as part of a fall semester ’09 advanced architectural design studio. The project was funded by the City of Raleigh Department of City Planning ($20,000). Nationally recognized experts in housing participated in the project, which also included a number of public presentations and an exhibition. The results will be documented and provided to the city to assist their revitalization efforts in Southeast Raleigh. Download the report. |
| The Value of Design in Affordable Housing (2009). Presented by: The College of Design Office of Research, Extension and Engagement, in conjunction with the College of Design Urban Design Forum, February 20, 2008. | The 2009 College of Design Affordable Housing Symposium included presentations by nationally recognized experts in affordable housing and responses by local housing advocates and providers – to explore best practices appropriate to North Carolina. Its target audience was local practitioners, affordable housing financiers and providers, city officials and students and it was attended by over 70 participants. The conference organizers were Thomas Barrie, AIA: Affordable Housing + Sustainable Communities Initiative, Georgia Bizios, FAIA: Home Environments Design Initiative, and Celen Pasalar, Extension Specialist: Director of the College of Design’s Downtown Design Studio. The Symposium was funded by the NC State Office of Research, Extension and Economic Development, the City of Raleigh, Community Development Department, and the City of Raleigh, Department of City Planning. ($7,000). |
North Carolina State University's School of Architecture, through the College of Design's Research and Extension Department, seeks to initiate, facilitate and coordinate scholarship, research and outreach services in the area of quality design for home environments. The Home Environments Design Program provides a forum for the discussion of housing design issues among academics, professionals and the public.
The Home Environments Design Initiative creates a vehicle for seeking service grants and delivering assistance to North Carolina communities and organizations in the areas of home design and construction. In seeking research grants, it also promotes the development of new knowledge, which can be applied to home environment design in both academic and professional fields. The Home Environments Design Program endeavors to enhance educational opportunities for the public, for building professionals and for university students on the subject of quality housing.
The Community Design Initiative (CDI) is developing and advocating effective design practices and decisions to improve the quality of life in North Carolina’s rural communities.
Our researchers work in rural North Carolina communities to design public spaces and create connections among local and regional resources so that towns can better preserve their local heritage while enjoying new economic growth. CDI employs planning and design as means of preserving the character, culture, history, natural environment, and charm of rural communities. CDI is a conduit of resources from NC State University in the form of helpful technologies and student engagement.
CDI is an initiative of the Laboratory for the Design of Healthy and Sustainable Communities, College of Design. CDI collaborates with the NC Cooperative Extension, NC Rural Economic Development Center, NC Main Street Center, local and regional political bodies, and the citizens of the community.
For more information, visit the Community Design Initiative website.
In February, 2006, the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) joined NC State as an initiative within the College of Design. The unique arrangement offers College of Design students yet another venue to explore hands-on endeavors in their coursework, and expands the college’s land-grant mission to serve the citizens and communities of North Carolina.
CAM’s vision is to redefine the relationship of museums and communities by presenting art and design exhibitions, K-12 educational programs and special projects that illustrate the relevance of contemporary art and design to our everyday lives. Currently, CAM operates without a facility as it awaits completion of its new home in downtown Raleigh. The new facility is tentatively slated to open in April, 2011.
CAM coordinates the College of Design’s popular Design Camp summer program for high school students as well as after-school and summer programs for middle school students, programs for teachers and events for young professionals. In addition, CAM staff is currently planning exhibitions and programs to debut in its new Downtown Raleigh facility.
For more information on CAM and its programs please visit: camraleigh.org.
The primary mission of the Downtown Design Studio is to educate and provide students with opportunities to explore new methods and innovative solutions about contemporary design issues and urbanism in cities, towns, and neighborhoods. The DDS provides real-world learning opportunities for the College of Design students through its offered courses, design services, and research, which seek to improve the quality of life in communities of North Carolina and beyond.
The projects accommodated at the DDS at all levels seek to cover the complete range of artistic, historical and cultural experiences integrated with the design solutions in both urban and rural contexts in terms of housing, streetscape design, master planning, commercial district revitalization, mixed-use development, recreation planning, historic preservation, residential neighborhood redevelopment, public art, and other areas
The DDS is located on 131½ South Wilmington Street at downtown Raleigh. The DDS has a main studio space, a conference room, and offices. The DDS spaces are fully networked and outfitted with multiple high-end computers supporting a wide range of CAD and graphic software.
The setting of Raleigh provides an unparalleled opportunity to study intervention in the downtown districts, rehabilitation of downtown areas, improvement of decaying neighborhoods, transformation of abandoned sites, and the creation of new communities. Although the initial focus of design projects are downtown Raleigh, the DDS welcomes design projects from other cities, towns and neighborhoods of North Carolina as well as national and global projects by nature.
The format of each project is unique and developed specifically for the respective context in which the project is rooted. The DDS develops knowledge and public awareness about the physical environment and design and development issues, through practice-based research, discussion forms, exhibitions, lectures, and exploratory design charrettes and community workshops.
Through academic courses, design services, and research offered, the DDS works to build a sustainable and vibrant regional future based on ideas that encourage environmental integrity, protect natural and cultural resources, stimulate economic prosperity, and enhance the public realm.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Traci Rose Rider, Director, traci_rider@ncsu.edu
The Innovation Design Initiative is concerned with increasing economic development, human independence, and a stronger workforce through programs that specifically foster innovation:
Since 2000, this program has offered design solutions to nonprofit agencies in the community as way to help individuals achieve greater independence. Past clients have included the Arthritis Foundation, the Morehead School for the Blind, the North Carolina Child Health and Safety Department, Springmoor Retirement Home, and the North Carolina Autism Society.
Design Assistance for Entrepreneurs has helped over a dozen inventors to develop and refine their inventions since 2006.
This program works to cultivate a passion for innovation among middle school students. The program teaches them a design development process, design documentation and design presentation skills, then helps them research, design, and present their own product concept. Fifteen students participated in the program’s pilot in Summer, 2010.
New in 2010, The Garage is a business-generating project sponsored by the Red Hat software company. The Garage will help students with multidisciplinary interests to design products, software, and services leading to the start of new businesses. Currently, the program resides in an office suite in Research IV on Centennial Campus. A free-standing Garage facility will be built in the next five years that has teaching, research, manufacturing, and residential facilities for participating students. The program is directed by Stephen Walsh, Entrepreneur in Residence in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Industrial Design Professor Percy Hooper sits on the directing committee.
The purpose of the Natural Learning Initiative is to promote the importance of the natural environment in the daily experience of all children, through environmental design, action research, education, and dissemination of information.
Increasing numbers of children are losing contact with the natural world. Reasons include childcare centers with outdoor spaces that do not support children's developmental needs; the rapid growth of domestic air-conditioning since the 1950s; apprehensive parents who keep their children close to home; state-mandated curricula that do not allow time for study outdoors; and the overly-structured, harried lifestyle of many children today.
The mission of the Natural Learning Initiative is to help communities create stimulating places for play, learning, and environmental education - environments that recognize human dependence on the natural world. We collaborate with educators, play leaders, environmental educators, planners, politicians, and all professionals working for and with children.
To find out more information about the Natural Learning Initiative, services they offer, and research projects the Initiative is working on, visit the Natural Learning Initiative website.
The Center for Universal Design is a national research, information, and technical assistance center that evaluates, develops, and promotes accessible and universal design in housing, buildings, outdoor and urban environments and related products. The Center's work manifests the belief that all new environments and products, to the greatest extent possible, should be usable by everyone regardlness of their age, ability, or circumstance. Part of the College of Design at NC State University, Raleigh, NC, the Center promotes the concept of universal design in all design, construction, and manufacturing disciplines through research, design assistance, and training.
Visit the Center for Universal Design website.
The Research in Ergonomics and Design Laboratory (RED Lab) is located within the advanced industrial design studio in Leazar Hall. The RED Lab can assess two different aspects of a task or product: the physical requirements of the task/product and the energy required of the person completing the task.
Learn about the RED Lab.