Interface Studio LLC

Happy holidays from all of us at Interface Studio!

Hallmark we are not but having fun with holiday cards is a recurring theme here at Interface. A smattering of previous holiday tidings. We think the last one still applies.

Planning needs to communicate effectively and let’s face it, most people will not read a big report even if it’s really pretty. Reports have their place but we’re always looking for other ways to get the key messages out there whether it’s through posters, pocket plans, projects newspapers, playing cards, online and/or other formats.

At the tail end of COVID we had the opportunity to work with the City of Memphis and Accelerate Memphis on how to spend a pool of money across 34 identified neighborhood centers. We took it as an opportunity to create an illustrated guide (complete with costs!) of potential improvements from crosswalks to lighting to art. We also developed a process for participatory budgeting to support the City’s outreach around making important decisions. The result is the Public Investment Guide which we learned later was affectionately referred to as the PIG :). We loved the process and outcomes.

We can’t plan without addressing a changing climate. So many places where we work were developed along waterways that experience increasing flooding and sea level rise. In addition, issues of energy, extreme heat and more are constant threads across our design work. This is critical as resilient cities are economically strong cities. Scott and Jamie teach the climate resiliency design studio at Penn, which has tackled climate issues in Rhode Island, the US Virgin Islands and Vermont.

Downtown Atlanta felt like a homecoming for Scott, our Georgia Tech grad - go Jackets! Our biggest downtown plan at that time with a need to leverage the momentum our friends at Central Atlanta Progress had helped to create. It was Atlanta where we also coined the term “Blah-za.” Like a plaza, but…blah. We have since found and categorized examples of blah-zas in every downtown we have worked. Too many spaces are overlooked and undesigned which accomplishes the exact opposite of a plaza - to bring people together. Our friends at Stoss worked with us to redesign a few key ones in Atlanta and Central Atlanta Progress continues to make impressive progress on all fronts!

Read more about blah-zas here: https://interface-studio.com/beware-the-blah-za/