Montana State to host national conference celebrating community design Oct. 2-3

BOZEMAN - Montana State University students have designed community spaces for more than 50 Montana towns, stretching from Browning to Wibaux, and other towns across the U.S. through MSU's Community Design Center. Their desire to create tangible change through architecture will be celebrated as part of a national community design conference hosted Oct. 2-3 by MSU.

"The MSU CDC is proud to host the Association for Community Design conference for the first time in Montana, bringing together community design experts from across the country whose work draws on more than 50 years of collective experience," said CDC director Jordan Zignego. "Montana State will showcase a rich legacy of collaboration among students, practitioners and community leaders, united by ideas that put people at the center of design."

Architects, designers and universities will gather on campus for the national Association for Community Design's 49th annual conference, with main events taking place in Cheever Hall. The conference will include presentations, workshops, tours and research-sharing opportunities that highlight how collaborative design shapes environments and communities.

MSU was selected as this year's host in recognition of the CDC, a design studio run by senior environmental design majors in the College of Arts and Architecture's School of Architecture. For the past 50 years, the CDC has collaborated with communities on projects ranging from a fire station in Ronan to a tribal center in Hays. Students meet with community members face-to-face throughout the fall semester before producing final designs, which towns use to approach professional architecture firms and bring their projects to life.

The CDC's work will be on display during the conference and for most of the month, Oct. 1-23, in the Lower Gallery in Cheever Hall. A free, public lecture from past CDC directors Ralph Johnson and Tom McNab will accompany the exhibit at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 1, exploring how the CDC has shaped communities for five decades.

Zignego will discuss the impact of this work as part of the conference's keynote presentation and workshop on Oct. 2. Highlighting the perspective of multiple universities across the country, the session will address how community design practices evolve over time while remaining rooted in justice, partnership and community knowledge.

For more information and to register for the event, visit the conference website.