02/21/21

AMES, Iowa — Quardean Lewis-Allen, founder and CEO of Youth Design Center in Brooklyn, New York, will share the center’s work in a virtual lecture hosted by the Iowa State University College of Design.

Event details and registration

In the face of changing communities, the challenge becomes how urban inhabitants can ground their narrative in and advocate for the places they are connected to, Lewis-Allen says. In his presentation, he will explore what this looks like for his community design center practice, both spatially and as a dialogue with stakeholders, to design for an inclusive future.

Part of the Spring 2021 College of Design Lecture Series, “Youth Design Center: Designing for Equity” will be from noon–1 p.m. Wednesday, March 10, over Zoom. Register in advance to attend this free online event.

About the speaker

Lewis-Allen has over a decade of interdisciplinary design experience working across public and private sectors at the intersection of tactical urbanism and social activism through community-led design. Youth Design Center (formerly Made in Brownsville) provides a gateway for young people in his native Brownsville, Brooklyn community to access education, technology and mentorship to tackle underrepresentation in STEAM professions and cyclical poverty, as well as to address the need for place-based community revitalization. The center has been featured in the New York Times, Fast Company, Buzzfeed and Forbes.

Lewis-Allen has taught architecture as an adjunct faculty member at City College of New York and was a human-in-residence at the New York University Tisch Interactive Telecommunications Program. He serves on the board of Brownsville Community Development Corporation  and the Ocean Hill Brownsville Coalition of Young Professionals.

He is an Emerging Leaders Fund recipient of Claneil Foundation, 2018 Crain’s New York Business 40 Under 40, 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30, 2018 America’s Promise Alliance People of Promise awardee and a 2016 Echoing Green Black Male Achievement Fellow, amongst other accolades. He holds a bachelor of science in Architecture from SUNY Buffalo and a master of architecture from Harvard Graduate School of Design.

Contacts

Shelby Doyle, College of Design Lectures & Exhibitions Committee, doyle@iastate.edu
Heather Sauer, Design Communications, hsauer@iastate.edu

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