Dedicated to enhancing equity in the built environment.

D/A creates inclusive and participatory community engagement processes and visioning for institutions, municipalities, and non-profits, develops design strategy for organizations who serve communities and the public good, and advocates for more equitable and inclusive practices in the design industries.

  • D/A is built on a cooperative structure: an extensive network of experienced professionals who collaborate to bring an extraordinarily broad and diverse range of creative and technical expertise to every project.

  • Our strength is in our number. We are architects, engineers, furniture designers, graphic designers, interior designers, landscape architects, lighting designers, photographers, planners, product designers, and urban designers working together.

  • Since our founding in 2020, over 250 independent firms and volunteers have participated in over 100 projects, initiatives, and advocacy serving the public good.

Learn about how we work

For Organizations and Communities

We are working with municipalities, nonprofits, and institutions to help them realize equity-minded projects and programs.

For Designers

We are creating a network of design practices and independent professionals to provide services and insight for the common good.

Latest Updates

 
Earlier today, we joined @grassrootsgroceryny for their Design Advocates Volunteer Day where we helped pack produce and distribute groceries to community fridges in the Bronx! Grassroots Grocery is a non-profit fighting for dignified food access fo
Some of our @concourse_house project team spent their International Women’s Day with the amazing collaborators, Moms and Staff, in a ceramics art workshop today! The midday session was filled with hands hard at work with clay, conversations abo
Our bimonthly Leadership Meeting is in progress to review our current Spring ‘23 Term project updates and next steps! Not to mention food, drink and catching up amongst friends. #community #designadvocates #probonodesign #designforpublicgood #
On Friday, our D/A team joined the @concourse_house Arts Program mothers, staff, and community partners yesterday for a Valentines Day lunch to show our love and appreciation for one another. A joyful afternoon of sharing updates, reflecting on our e
Now building teams for Jan-July! D/A is dedicated to enhancing equity in the built environment. We partner with communities and the organizations, institutions, and municipalities that serve them. We are building teams for 2023 projects an initiative
We are so excited to announce the conclusion of the first Design Advocates project term which ran from April-October, 2022. Our network of participating firms and designers organize their efforts in six-month blocks of time, collaborating with non-pr
It’s that time of year- Art on the Concourse! Please join us for @concourse_house’s annual fundraising event this Thursday from 3:30-7:30pm in the Northwest Bronx. Our D/A Team will be talking about our arts and architecture projects wi
25% of New Yorkers have limited or no access to broadband. We are at the tippy top of #kingsboroughhouses today with @nycmesh to create a new wireless broadband installation that will serve this #nycha development and the surrounding neighborhood. An
Our last field trip of the summer saw the class visit Little Island, the Highline, and Hudson Yards. It was hot but the class was determined to sketch their way through the day. Wherever we could find shade we’d sit, open our books and draw. Wh
A small sampling of the incredible work being done by @cncitytech students! For most, this was the first attempt at producing a plan, section, and elevation. Drawing these by hand takes patience and practice and all of us have learned so much about
Following last weeks visit to the African Burial Ground the students are now beginning to draft a plan,section, and elevation of the memorial. Everyone contributed to documenting the measurements of the space and are now having to work together to c
Our team paid a visit to Union Settlement and their new spaces today. @unionsettlement’s programs serve over 10,000 families in and around East Harlem with meals, after school programming, career services, family support, and other services, an
This Week: @Cncitytech students get to know their classroom a little better by measuring it in teams and joining forces to draw out the plan. What seemed to be a simple rectangular classroom, turned out to have a lot of overseen details and irregu
Yesterday the @cncitytech class spent the day at Concourse House in the Bronx participating in a series of art workshops including an upcoming #dacollab of pavilions in the outdoor garden. The students engaged in painting, resin casting, and knitting
Repost from @baao_architects • Resin casts created by members of @concourse_house are studies for the sound pavilion @baao_architects and @studioforny are developing as part of @designadvocates. Funded in part by a Taconic Fellowship from @pra
We are so happy to hear that the AIANY Pandemic Task Force was awarded the 2022 Collaborative Achievement Award from @aianational. D/A board members have been part of the task force force the beginning. The task force is a networked and diffuse effo
Some scenes from this week’s design and craft workshop @concourse_house led by D/A firm @baao_architects. Design Advocates is working with moms and kids at Concourse House to make design objects of their own AND elements that will be incorporat
@summertimegallery champions a more inclusive art world and represents artists with intellectual disabilities. Design Advocates renovated their new Williamsburg space and designed and fabricated a furniture system that comes apart into individual ele
Deadline Jan 31!! Design Advocates are pleased to announce Open Restaurants Innovation, a call for submissions from designers, restaurateurs, and anyone who wants to see the NYC Open Restaurants program, which allows restaurants to use the sidewalk a