UK students explore community-driven design at Design Futures Forum

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 18, 2025) — Earlier this summer, 10 students and three faculty members from the University of Kentucky College of Design and the Department of Landscape Architecture in the Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment traveled to New Orleans for Design Futures Forum (DFF) 2025, a yearly national public interest design student leadership forum. 

The five-day immersive experience was held at Tulane University’s School of Architecture and Built Environment and included a series of core and elective workshops, reflective sessions and community-driven tours for both faculty and students. Participants explored a variety of topics focused on community engagement, creative problem-solving and the social impact of design.  

"As a community of designers, we touch many aspects of life (both human and nonhuman), attempting to solve multipronged, complex problems and provide the most acceptable solution for all stakeholders,” said Chris Sass, chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture and one of the faculty members who attend DFF 2025. “The Design Futures Forum provides a space to understand how to bring multiple disciplines and world views together to develop a holistic and all-encompassing design solution for everyone.” 

Workshops introduced methods like universal design, participatory planning with local and Indigenous communities and mapping tools to better understand patterns in the built environment. Students practiced gathering and translating community stories into actionable design ideas, learned how to preserve important gathering spaces like dance halls and cafés and used speculative fiction to imagine new possibilities for how people live and connect. The sessions encouraged students to see design as a powerful way to support communities, share untold stories and create meaningful change. 

In addition to traditional workshops, participants also had the chance to explore these topics in action through guided outings that highlighted consequential community projects across New Orleans. One tour explored Broad Community Connections’ efforts to revitalize historic commercial corridors through storytelling, small business support and cultural preservation. Another visit focused on the Lafitte Greenway, a former rail line transformed into a public park that now serves as a hub for recreation, urban farming and neighborhood connection. At Grow Dat Youth Farm, students learned how local youth are leading initiatives around food, sustainability and leadership development. A final tour showcased student-designed architecture projects across the city, including housing, community gathering spaces and public art, demonstrating how hands-on design can directly support neighborhood needs. This community-driven programming inspired some valuable lessons for the student attendees.  

“I think what I’ve learned about design is that it takes selflessness,” said Alyssa Harger, a second-year landscape architecture student. “The design is never about the designer. Community engagement is about asking the community what they need from you as a designer. The designer’s responsibility is to translate the ideas of the community into a design that accurately represents what they’ve asked for.” 

Rising product design senior Anna Quarles also saw her time at DFF as a valuable experience.  

“This conference wasn’t about product design specifically, but it improved my understanding of how to interpret other designer’s opinions and perspectives, along with understanding the needs of the people you are designing for,” Quarles said. “Many of the workshops emphasized creating a community connection with the people you design for and the designers you work with, which I think I’ll carry with me for the rest of my design career.” 

In addition to the professional development benefits, both Harger and Quarles said the forum also strengthened their sense of collaboration with fellow UK students in the Gray Design Building.  

“My favorite part of the experience was getting to know the other students from UK that also went on the trip,” Quarles said. “It was very cool to learn about their majors and design perspectives, but they are also awesome people that I’m glad to now call my friends. It’s really great to know students and teachers from other majors while working in the Gray Design Building, and I would have never had the opportunity to get to know them so well if I didn’t attend the conference.” 

Harger echoed this, celebrating her newfound friendships and connections to her fellow designers. 

“Being surrounded by people who love and live to learn is so special,” Harger said. “It was amazing to see and hear about what the students in the College of Design are doing. We shared knowledge across different disciplines and discovered things about each other that we never knew before. Not only do I feel like I have a better understanding of the College of Design, but I now feel more connected to it. Designers, after all, should always be collaborating and learning from one another.” 

Sass said the collaborative aspect makes the trip even more worthwhile. 

“The students on the trip from UK included architecture, interior design, product design and landscape architecture students,” Sass said. “They learned from and with each other, becoming a much stronger cohort of designers overall. It was fun for me to watch the growth and development of the group in such a short time.” 

That growth and development didn’t end when the official DFF agenda came to a close. The group also made a pitstop along their route home, spending one day exploring Birmingham, Alabama, before returning to the Bluegrass State. While in Birmingham, the group visited sites such as the Rosenbaum House and the Crosby Arboretum. 

“It was insightful to tour the Rosenbaum House with students from different disciplines,” Hager said. “We all had unique observations to share about the house, and it was incredible to hear all of them.” 

This is not the first time that students and faculty from both the College of Design and the Department of Landscape Architecture have traveled together to participate in the DFF, a growing tradition that underscores a shared commitment to public interest design education. 

“We’re fortunate to have such thoughtful colleagues in the Department of Landscape Architecture,” said UK College of Design Dean Ned Crankshaw. “Their willingness to engage with our students, whether through shared experiences like DFF or simply as part of our daily life in the Gray Design Building, adds so much to our community. We value the ways our programs continue to intersect and are excited to explore even more opportunities to work together.” 

To learn more about DFF, visit https://designfuturesforum.org/.