Students will launch the four-week project through an observation visit that builds curiosity about how welcoming, useful spaces support community life.

Students will investigate how community features meet people’s needs, learn from a city planner or architect, and transform evidence from their garden visit and surroundings into a community-centered design brief. They will generate several possibilities, create a labeled 2D design, and use two rounds of peer feedback to select and revise a village piece for prototyping.

Students will transform their garden observations, community-partner ideas, and labeled designs into low-fidelity models, clay prototypes, and refined village pieces. Through two structured peer-feedback rounds, they will test how well their pieces meet a community need, make visible revisions, and prepare illustrated or written designer statements that trace their design journeys.

Students will install and unveil their collective clay village, explain their design decisions to community members, and reflect on how collaboration helped create a welcoming and useful place.