The role of the SEED method in the process of communal architecture

Text: Zsolt Péteri

During public interest design projects the architect as an activist cooperates with minor communities to improve their man-made environment and thus their living standards. An example worth learning more about the method of public interest design is the SEED (Social Economic Environmental Design) method, which was presented in detail in Public Interest Design Practice Guidebook edited by Lisa M. Abendroth and Bryan Bell and published in 2016. The first part of the collection of essays divided into three main units surveys public interest architecture as the field of practicing a profession and presents the civilian movements and processes that have lead to the evolution of new practices. The essays of the second introduce the method applied for public interest architecture (SEED), each component of which is illustrated by examples of practice, whist the third part includes case studies about projects realized by relying on the SEED method.