The Power of Community-Centered Design

This project charts a journey of recovery and progress made possible through the collaboration among NYCHA (NYC Housing Authority), Grain, and the tenacious tenant association at Smith Houses, a residential development on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Grain was tapped to repair one campus playground damaged in Superstorm Sandy, and create a second where a trash storage site currently stood. Once we met with residents, it became clear that the FEMA funding would not be sufficient to fully realize their vision. We agreed to develop a two-tiered “dream scheme,” with phase one covered by the FEMA recovery funds, and phase two to be financed by monies raised by the tenant association, with Grain’s support.

This community – historically underserved, historically resourceful – raised the money in record time, and phase two began even as phase one was underway; working with two separate agencies and teams, the entire project was unveiled to the community as a seamless whole. The result is a multigenerational play space that features natural materials and bold colors – a far cry from the spare metal play structure and blacktop it replaced. The project has invigorated this community – but perhaps not as much as the community’s powerful grassroots advocacy inspired our team.

The experience of a place is determined not only by its physical site, but by the people who inhabit it.