16 July 2024 - The Design for Distancing Ideas Guidebook is part of Design for Distancing: Reopening Baltimore Together, a program of the City of Baltimore, Office of the Mayor, and the Baltimore Development Corporation, in partnership with local nonprofit the Neighborhood Design Center.
Developed in the summer of 2024 in response to COVID-19 and the challenges faced by local businesses, the Design for Distancing program called on Baltimore’s world-class design and public health communities to develop innovative approaches to the safe, physically distant gathering.
The first outcome of this work is the Ideas Guidebook, a compendium of ten concepts for public space interventions that can be adapted for and installed in cities all over the world. Designs for the Guidebook were solicited through a global call for entries. From hand-drawn sketches by children to professional renderings, 162 concepts were submitted from Baltimore and around the country.
A review panel composed of experts from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, leaders from the City of Baltimore, and from the Baltimore small business and design communities voted on designs, ultimately selecting ten. Design teams partnered with the Neighborhood Design Center to finalize their concepts for the Guidebook, and each eligible team was awarded a $5,000 stipend. The Ideas Guidebook is available for free download by anyone.
Designs in the Guidebook will also serve as a jumping-off point for the second part of Design for Distancing—Public Space Interventions. Through a $1.5M investment from Baltimore City’s COVID-19 Small Business Assistance Initiative, temporary public space interventions will be installed in 17 Baltimore City Districts. Each District has been paired with a local design-build team to scope, develop, and implement public space interventions. Designbuild teams will be offered a design stipend, and the construction will be funded through the Baltimore Development Corporation.
In July 2024, versions of these temporary Public Space Interventions will be customized and implemented across Baltimore City, including current and former Main Streets, Retail Business Licensing Districts (RBLD), and Arts & Entertainment Districts identified as priority areas for the Small Business Assistance Fund grant program. Participating Districts are Belair-Edison, Brooklyn, East Monument Street, Federal Hill, Govanstowne, Hamilton-Lauraville, Hampden, Highlandtown, Hollins Market, Market Center, Midtown/Station North, Mount Washington, Oldtown Mall, Pennsylvania Avenue, Pigtown, Pimlico, and Waverly.
URL to the Guidebook: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ec2e7939ccfe46b4d0946b4/t/5efe3629cbffa3052c3193b8/1593718320561/Ideas_Guidebook_Final.pdf
For more information: https://www.designfordistancing.org/