Story Category: Community

Designing for People

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"Really, we are designing with people, not simply for them.” – Placework Project Manager Liz Nguyen   The heart of designing authentic places is understanding people. At Placework, our team spends a lot of time talking about and designing for building performance and environmental sustainability. But the core of our work is the health and... Read more »

Planning for Resilience

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  “Humans created the challenges facing this site, but it’s by turning back toward the natural world where we find inspiration.” Climate Change. Preservation. Culture. These words evoke complex ideas, connotations, definitions, and emotions. For Placework, they also define our work with and for Strawbery Banke Museum.  Our most recent project addresses all three: a... Read more »

Our First Anniversary

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 As we look to the future, we’re thinking about improvement not only within Placework, but how we can drive positive change.   Celebrating B Corps Around the table at Placework we contemplate important questions daily. Bold inquiry is a part of our everyday life, because how can we envision a better future if we aren’t... Read more »

Nature-Based Education

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At Placework we think deeply about the assets of the natural world and how we can act as responsible stewards so that future generations can inhabit thriving natural ecosystems that coexist with the built environment. “It was a life changing day - seeing what can happen outdoors, feeling how it impacted me, and how it... Read more »

PODCAST INSPIRATION

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“We know for certain is that when we refuse to accept the status quo as inevitable and strive to bring about change, we can have a powerful effect in inspiring others to do the same.” – Sarah Ichioka + Michael Pawlyn Do you turn to podcasts to be riveted by true crime, learn new things,... Read more »

A FIRST INTERNSHIP

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    This post was written by Maisie Sanderson, a junior at the Wentworth Institute of Technology. She served as the Architectural Intern for Placework during the summer of 2022. This fall I will be a junior in the Wentworth Institute of Technology’s B. S. Architecture program. Wentworth builds practical experience into the curriculum by… Read more »

DESIGN JUSTICE

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“Justice can be an outcome; it can also be an intentional process that leads to an intended outcome” -AIA Justice in the Built Environment     The past several weeks our team has been gathering weekly to talk about how the concept of justice intersects with our work. The basis of our discussion was a... Read more »

MUNICIPAL CLIMATE ACTION PLANS

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A good climate action plan is not just a laundry list of regulations; it should help cities and towns advance the goals for development, health, equity, resiliency, and job creation while preparing for the impacts of climate change. Many NH seacoast municipalities are currently developing Climate Action Plans. In Portsmouth, a group of residents that... Read more »

A NEW VISION

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Last month the US Senate passed H.R. 3684 - Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the “INVEST in America Act.”  As architects that advocate for progressive planning that supports environmental and equitable communities, we see this bill – which will hopefully soon become law - as a major step forward.  It is progress... Read more »

REGENERATIVE DESIGN IN PRACTICE

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As regenerative practitioners we guide project teams through a process that considers the true purpose of the project and its potential to bring positive social, cultural, and ecological impacts. DRIVEN BY LIVING SYSTEMS Although regenerative practice is not a new concept, it has recently been gaining traction in the architecture world. At its core, regenerative... Read more »