oh really?

ran across:  The Archeworks Papers, edited by Stanley Tigerman.

The first installment in Chicago school Archeworks's eponymous Papers features a lecture given by Victor Margolin at the school in October, 2003 titled, "Healing the World: A Challenge for Designers." Responses to the text are given by Douglas Garofolo and co-founders Eva Maddox and Stanley Tigerman. Margolin argues that in order for design to make a difference socially it must address five forms of capital: human, social, financial, institutional, and physical. By demonstrating that market economies derive success by doing the same, he also cites social programs that use one or more of these capitals successfully, such as MoveOn.org. Basically, he is framing an argument for giving Archeworks - and other socially-responsible schools and programs - more impact. Garofolo adds a sixth capital to the list, symbolic, while Maddox avoids direct reference to Margolis's text, instead discussing her ideas on good design. Tigerman concludes the 42-page Paper with a call for ethics to go beyond words and into practice, a situation the school finds itself in ten years after its formation as it finds a way to make a difference beyond mere words.
 
i formed some strong opinion's about archeworks and tigerman after i started the archeworks program as a student in 2000 and found major ethical conflict with precisely the gap he describes between preach and practice.  hopefully in the last 4 years they've worked those issues out. its a fantastic concept...i really hope they acheive what they espouse.  i also hope their efforts have paved a way for new voices and efforts for socially-responsible and community based design education...'cause i'm on my way =)