Story Centered Design

Working towards a more just and healthy city requires new approaches to the traditional city design and development processes. This Story Centered Design initiative is focused on ways to center storytelling in placemaking, exploring the connections between place, stories, and belonging.

Integral to this initiative is a collaboration with Chapter 510, a made-in-Oakland youth writing, bookmaking, and publishing center. Oakland Belonging: The Voices of Swan’s Market, a youth-led oral history initiative located at Swan’s Market in Old Oakland, explores the importance of identity and place in creating a sense of belonging. SITELAB joined high school students in a workshop to talk about the personal way we perceive and experience cities, the spectrum of stories embedded within places, and what belonging means to each of us. A culminating audio listening party offered the opportunity to experience student poetry, zines, and self-guided audio tour.

SITELAB is also exploring diverse mechanisms through which stories are made more visible in the built environment. This may include examples ranging in scale—from cultural district designations to walking tours that celebrate local landmarks—with the goal of shining a light on different ways to bridge the gap between lived experiences and city making processes. 

Through this initiative, SITELAB is interested in sparking new ways of thinking about the role of design professionals in creating dynamic, inclusive engagement processes and places.

"Stories are our Superpower" fortune teller, revealing learnings from Story Centered Design Initiative

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