What do you imagine when you think of 'common spaces'?

Design Museum Magazine’s Spring 2023 issue is available for purchase. The Common Space Issue includes ten in-depth pieces that explore the intersection of design and ‘common spaces’ through several lenses including historic preservation, brain health, designing with communities rather than for them, and the design stories behind high impact common space projects that serve many different communities.

“What makes a common space and how do we know that? […] Are we only relying on our lived experiences – I feel safe here, therefore everyone does – or are we interrogating those experiences to understand a multitude of perspectives so we can design better, more optimal spaces?”

— Karen Robichaud, Letter from the Editor

 The Common Space Issue features:

• Seeking Purpose through Designed Experiences by Susan Chung
• Pathways to Equity: Learning in Community – A Conversation with Shalini Agrawal and Karen Robichaud
• Celebrating Forgotten Histories in Detroit Through Historic Preservation by Ruth Mills, Saundra Little, and Lorynn Holloway
• Academic (Re)Design: Resisting ‘The Return to Normal’ in The Academy by Jessie Male
• A Place to Belong: University Housing Shapes Community Building at Penn – A Conversation with Cam Grey, Mitchell Holston, Karu Kozuma, Kathryn McDonald, Dana Reed, and Peter Sterling
• Shared Spaces for All: An Inclusive Design Challenge for Airports by Anita Cobb, Ryan Dittoe, and Tonya Wood
• The Bodega: A Common Space for the Community To Promote Health Equity by David and Felice Silverman
• An Unexpected Space in Healthcare by Ravi Rao
• Parks as Critical Infrastructure by Cheri Ruane
• The Design Process: Presidio Tunnel Tops – A Conversation with Paula Cabot, Jennifer Devlin-Herbert, and Richard Kennedy. Moderated by Ellen McAmis.

Purchase The Common Space Issue and/or subscribe to Design Museum Magazine to receive stories about creative thought leaders who are using design to change the world.