Rhoda Kennedy pursued the meaning of “friendly” design in this lecture held by Perspective USA on how the built environment can spark community engagement through cultural experiences. She focused onTenBerke’s work on a number of community-aimed projects, including hotels that bring contemporary artists’ work to the surrounding neighborhoods, educational arts complexes at Manhattan’s New School and SUNY Fredonia, and non-profit community centers in New Haven and New York that encourage access to performances and working space.

“Connecting community with cultural experiences should not be an after-thought – we as architects have unique opportunities to bring this into the built environment. A community’s right to culture is already enshrined as a basic human right.”
—Rhoda Kennedy