PAYETTE regularly uses our fabrication resources as an entry-point to introduce local youth to careers in design and construction. We have hosted workshops and internships that use small fabrication projects to teach design skills and foster an affirming connection between the mind and the hand that is especially valuable in our hyper-digital world.
We love the energy and creativity that comes from working with students at critical junctures in their education and find that teaching challenges us to be more precise about our intentions, how we synthesize new ideas, and engages us in innumerable ways that are delightfully unexpected.
Each year, PAYETTE embarks on a collaborative effort to make our design services accessible to local communities through the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service. This year, we celebrated our 8th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service by partnering with 7 local nonprofits:
- Breaktime @breaktime
- Brighton Main Streets @brightonmainstreets
- Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition @masstpc
- The Elizabeth Peabody House @elizabethpeabodyhouse
- Greater Ashmont Main Street @greaterashmont
- Greater Grove Hall Main Streets
- Animal Protection Center of Southeastern Massachusetts @animalprotectioncenter
To learn more about each of these projects, visit the link in our bio!
#designalways #artofmaking
BEND
PAYETTE’s fab-team led a summer design studio for local high-school students, culminating in a large public installation in Boston’s Seaport District. The program leveraged the energy and expertise of a host of collaborators, including non-profits, other design firms and municipal agencies. In the fall, our inhabitable sculpture, BeND, was relocated to South Boston’s Moakley Park. In the coming year, the City of Boston Mayor’s Office and Parks Department will deploy BeND around the city, activating spaces to strengthen community.
OPENLAB STUDIO
This outreach extends into collegiate architectural education through our partnership with the Virginia Tech. Every Fall, we host a full design studio in our office, where students work side-by-side with our designers and architects. The program positions a Comprehensive Studio, Digital Building Technologies course and Professional Practice seminar as a packaged learning opportunity with each class supporting and reinforcing a holistic curriculum. The fabrication group plays a key role in this exercise, as the academic studio is modeled after our design practice here at PAYETTE. Under the guidance of our team, students use models and mock-ups as both a vital component of the design process and a powerful way to convey intent.
PROJECT PIPELINE
Project Pipeline is a one-day event organized by YouthBuild Boston, a Roxbury-based non-profit providing underserved youth with the skills needed to enter the design and construction industry, and BosNOMA. The fabrication team provided a CNC-milled site model to help situate design studies created by the students during Project Pipeline.