Awards & Honors

Adjunct Associate Professor Lindsay Harkema and the members of WIP Collaborative have been selected as one of two winners of The Design Trust for Public Space’s RFP, “The Restorative City: Building Community Wellness Through Public Space.”

WIP’s proposed project, “The Neurodiverse City,” is a collaboration with Verona Carpenter Architects with the support of Center for Independence of the Disabled-NY, Bronx Independent Living Services, INCLUDEnyc, and P.S. 42. The initiative advocates for public spaces in our city that offer inclusive zones where all of us, including those with “invisible disabilities” and sensory sensitives, can come together and find common ground.

This cycle of the Design Trust’s RFP is dedicated to exploring how public space and the built environment can be used as a tool to advance health equity, a concept which means that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. The other winning proposal is “Healing Hostile Architecture: Design as Care” by Design as Protest, a collective of BIPOC designers and advocates.

“The Neurodiverse City” Project Description:
Though we live in a neurodiverse city, the design of the public realm does not support the entire population and their range of physical, neurological, and emotional needs. In the wake of the isolation and trauma of the pandemic, it is urgent that our city spaces offer inclusive zones where all of us, including those with “invisible disabilities” and sensory sensitivities, can come together and find restorative common ground. Through a research and co-creation process with local communities, this project will examine existing public spaces – such as playgrounds, streetscapes, and pocket parks – and propose new design guidelines to support the greatest range of physical and neurological differences.
–WIP Collaborative