AIA ACTIVATE NORTH CAROLINA & STRADA ARCHITECTURE, PLLC
Present: Sense Your City: Adventures in Human-Centered Design

This half-day event invites the community to explore downtown Chapel Hill through the lens of human-centered design.

Human-centered design prioritizes human experience over other considerations. It asks questions like: What are the minimum attributes to make a walkable environment? How do we create public space that is accessible and enjoyable for all? What brings us pleasure, connection, and community? How do we celebrate and preserve meaning, memory, and history?

This event does not offer answers to these questions but rather invites the community to participate in the discovery of what a human-centered environment means to them. While we will offer examples of human-centered design from around the world, tools for understanding how the built environment affects human experience, and prompts to excite the imagination, we will not be offering solutions. This is an opportunity for participants to explore their awareness of the built environment and use their imagination to envision ways it can be a better place for all humans to live and thrive.

Part 1: Film Clips & Panel Discussion, Varsity Theatre 10:00 am – 11:00 am– Illustrative examples of human-centered design across the globe.

Part 2: Design Adventures in Downtown Chapel Hill, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm– Explore your design awareness through your senses and imagination via three “Design Adventure” prompts. Document your experience & insights to share later at our Celebration.

Part 3: Celebration Event, 12:30 pm-2 pm– Gather for snacks and drinks (or bring a picnic!) to share your observations, celebrate the rich array of perspectives and insights, and join in conversation about how human-centered design can positively impact our experience in our town.