The Urban Conga, led by School of Architecture & Community Design graduates Ryan Swanson ‘13 and Maeghann Coleman ‘13, featured in ARCHITECT magazine

The Urban Conga, led by USF School of Architecture & Community Design alumni, Ryan Swanson ’13 and Maeghann Coleman ’13 was recently featured in ARCHITECT magazine.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, The Urban Conga is an award-winning multidisciplinary design studio comprised of a diverse group of creatives who have worked around the world with multiple communities, NGOs, municipal agencies, private business and many other institutions to deliver permanent spatial interventions, temporary installations, workshops, lectures, development plans, and public policy recommendations. They focus on sparking community interaction and social activity through open-ended play. Their design explores the idea of working with clients to create more playable cities as an ecosystem of inclusive multiscale playable opportunities intertwined with the existing urban fabric.

Winner of the 2022 Brooklyn Design Award, pARC was designed to serve as an transformative, open-ended programmable space for the community of Chapel Hill and the Ackland Art Museum to better connect with the surrounding community. The project was created through a series of participatory design workshops in an inclusive process that allowed the community to share and explore how play can be utilized as a critical tool in evoking more inclusive and equitable communal spaces.

Additional pARC project details and images are available at ARCHITECT, the Journal of the American Institute of Architects.