What does it take to be entrepreneurial in the design professions? How are designs responsive to diversity, environment, and behavior marketable commodities? What characteristics of individuals, firms, and organizations make them so successful? What lessons can designers learn from Google and its innovative work environment?
This course equips design students with tools to make them more effective leaders in the profession and to become more influential citizens whose work can have a significant impact on society. Students will conduct case studies, missions, objectives, strategies, and business plans of award-winning individuals, firms, and organizations. They will analyze entrepreneurial qualities of award-winning:
- High-tech firms, such as Google, where the design of the physical and social work environment promotes highest possible levels of creativity and productivity while meeting the needs of an increasingly diverse, global workforce. Google has experienced its meteoric rise in large part due to its innovative physical and social work environment. This will provide students with a special opportunity to learn from a 21st century success story.
- Social entrepreneurs, such as Jack Sim, President of the not-for-profit World Toilet Organization, listed among the “Heroes of the Environment 2008” in Time Magazine‘s October 6, 2008 Global Issue, and Cameron Sinclair, founder of Architecture for Humanity.
- Individuals, firms, and not-for-profit organizations integrating environment-behavior research into the design fields whose work has had a major impact on improving spaces and places around the world. Entrepreneurial environment-behavior researchers have engaged in successful careers by applying their findings to the design professions, resulting in award-winning environments.
- Individuals and firms initiated by diverse, underrepresented architects and designers (women, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latino-Americans persons with challenges) whose work has had a major impact on improving spaces and places for economically disadvantaged and culturally diverse clients.
Objectives
By the end of this course, you should be able to:
- Understand the value of entrepreneurship in architecture and the design professions to society.
- Identify and critically analyze major issues in entrpreneurship.
- Become familiar with leading figures in entrpreneurship both locally and globally-social entrpreneurs whose work has impacted the built environment world-wide, environment and behavior design consultants, and diverse designers in nearby metropolitan areas.
- Understand how these individuals have benefited from entrepreneurial knowledge and skills.
- See how your future careers can be enhanced by acquiring some basic entrepreneurial knowledge and skills.
- Gain hands-on experience proposing future ventures for creative entrepreneurship and non-profit organizations.
- Present your prospective ventures in a way that communicates effectively for future prospective clients.
