An epidemic of loneliness is sweeping the country. But we believe that through beautiful and thoughtful design, we can create a more connected community.
And these top designers will help us do it.
We put out an open invitation for designers, artists, architects, and innovators to explore the profound impact of design on how people connect with others, the universe, and themselves in today's world. The competition aims to heal, unite, and inspire sustainability, inclusivity, and human and spiritual connection, and builds from the Jewish imperatives to improve our global community and honor the interconnectedness of all people and the planet.
The challenge is to create a public infrastructure
piece that reimagines public spaces as catalysts
for creating moments of connection, empathy,
and shared experiences.
Design Finalists:
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Community Catalysts (Team CC): Atifa Shalwani, Darius Harris, Amber Fluker, Melody Kao, McKenna Pape
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Play On Woods: Simon Anderson
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Team Rock Leaf: Lynn Trepp, Jill Sahlstrom, Ken Sahlstrom
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N'ụlọ Adaeze Studio: Nnennia / N'ụlọ Adaeze
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Zac Feltoon Design: Zac Feltoon
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Plymorphic: Justin Childress, Angela Molinero Heras, Haritha Somanathan Muriyath, Jessica Burnham, Chris Cloud
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BF Studios: Bunmi Fagbenro
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Placemarked X Design Co:Lab: Isha Patel, Pavithra Sriram
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Jordan Bowman, Elizabeth Richardson, Samantha Doughty, Danny Krafft
The final creations should be a testament to the idea that design can not only be pragmatic but also bridge divides, foster unity, and promote a deeper sense of connection with the world around us – and it should align with Better Block’s Wikiblock philosophy that anyone, anywhere can create beautiful and meaningful design.
Over the coming months, the finalists will be hard at work bringing their designs to life, ready to showcase them at the competition on June 13 in Dallas, Texas, at Thanks-Giving Square where they’ll be competing and judged by a curated panel. The community will have the opportunity to vote a for People’s Choice favorite via an online ballot after the competition day on June 14.
Join us in this competition as these designers create a piece that helps reshape public spaces into beacons of connection and understanding. In a recent interview with CityLab Bloomberg, we discuss how design can tackle loneliness and make the Thanks-Giving Square's plaza into a more welcoming place. Let's use the language of design to bridge gaps, foster empathy, and celebrate the beauty of our shared humanity. Together, we can create spaces that inspire modern-day manifestations of spirituality through connection, compassion, and our shared humanity.
About Creating Connections: A Design Competition
In 2022, Common Era and the design research team at Humancraft worked together to build a series of experiments around contemporary interpretations of spirituality. By exploring modern day manifestations of spirituality in public spaces, the team learned more about how people perceive, experience, and seek out spirituality today.
In the following video, you'll see the results of those experiments.
When the folks at Common Era told us about the project, we at the Better Block were inspired by the concept of taking Spirituality into the Streets - especially one of the key findings, which was to allow for public serendipity.
It got us thinking: what if we challenged creators to take this concept and create a public utility piece, and thus, Creating Connections was born.
We're excited to see where it goes. We know loneliness is something many of our neighbors are facing. We're hoping that through this design competition, we can chip away at that feeling of isolation, and create a more connected world.