For the first time in history, the majority of the earth’s approximately seven billion inhabitants live in cities. Close to one billion people live in informal settlements, commonly referred to as slums or squatter settlements. Experts estimate that by 2030 this number will double, pushing beyond the capacity of many local institutions to cope.

Lured to cities in search of work or fleeing conflicts and natural disasters, urban migrants suffer from insecure land tenure, limited access to basic services such as sanitation and clean water, and crowded living conditions. At the same time, these informal cities, full of culture and life, increase opportunities to create solutions to the problems they face.

Design with the Other 90%: CITIES is the second in a series of exhibitions organized by Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum’s curator of socially responsible design, Cynthia E. Smith, that demonstrate how design can address the world’s most critical issues. The ground-breaking first exhibition in the series, Design for the Other 90%, opened in 2007 and focused on design solutions for the majority of the world’s population not traditionally served by the professional design community, and was on view in Portland at the Mercy Corps Action Center in 2009.

Design with the Other 90%: CITIES, on view at both Mercy Corps and Museum of Contemporary Craft, explores innovative approaches in urban planning, sustainable design, affordable housing, entrepreneurship, non-formal education, and public health happening in these communities to ensure their residents a brighter future. CITIES features sixty projects, products, and proposals, organized into six themes, that shine the spotlight on communities, designers, and architects, as well as private, civic, and public organizations that are working together to address the complex issues arising from the unprecedented growth of informal settlements in emerging and developing economies.

Challenging, multifaceted, and ultimately hopeful, CITIES asks the question—how can governments, organizations, communities, and individuals collaborate at all levels to foster and accelerate innovation for healthier, more inclusive and resilient cities in the most populated parts of the world?

Exhibition Themes

On view at Museum of Contemporary Craft

Adapt
Solutions that help residents of informal settlements respond to challenges facing their communities.

Exchange
Solutions that promote the exchange of design knowledge between informal settlements and formal cities.

Include
Solutions that seek to include those who have been marginalized by the established city, especially the poor, women, and youth.

On view at Mercy Corps

Access
Solutions that improve access to water, sanitation, food security, electricity, health, transportation, and education.

Prosper
Solutions that help create work opportunities in informal communities.

Reveal
Solutions that increase awareness of conditions in informal settlements, which often do not show up on official maps or in census rolls.

Learn more about the exhibition on Cooper-Hewitt’sDesign with the Other 90%: CITIES website.

LOCATIONS

Museum of Contemporary Craft
Themes: Exchange, Include, Adapt
Upper and Lower Galleries

Tuesday–Saturday, 11 am–6 pm
First Thursday, September 6, 11 am–8 pm

Mercy Corps Action Center
Themes: Access, Reveal, Prosper
28 SW First Avenue, Portland, OR 97204

Monday–Friday, 11 am–6 pm
Saturday, 11 am–5 pm
Public Reception: Thursday, September 27, 5:30–7:30 pm

DESIGN WITH THE OTHER 90%: CITIES IS ORGANIZED BY

THIS EXHIBITION’S PRESENTATION AT THE UNITED NATIONS WAS SPONSORED BY

GENEROUS SUPPORT WAS PROVIDED BY

ADDITIONAL FUNDING WAS PROVIDED BY

Procter & Gamble, Deutsche Bank, Smithsonian 2.0 Fund, the Albert Kunstadter Family Foundation, and Smithsonian Institution’s Research Opportunity Fund

MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY CRAFT SUPPORTERS

The Autzen Foundation; John & Suzanne Bishop; The Boeing Company; Brown Printing; Ed Cauduro Fund of The Oregon Community Foundation; Maribeth Collins; Jackson Foundation; Linda & Bill Nicholson; PGE Foundation; RACC and Work for Art; Bonnie Serkin & Will Emery; The Standard; The Swigert Foundation; and US Bank

MERCY CORPS SUPPORTERS

Hoffman Construction Co.; McKinstry Co. Charitable Foundation; Pacific Office Automation; Howard S. Wright Construction; DesignForum/PDX; The Oseran Family; Salvador Molly’s Restaurant; Glumac Engineering; THA Architecture; Jordan Ramis PC, Attorneys at Law; Waterleaf Architecture, Interiors & Planning; Shiels, Obletz, Johnsen; Ankrom Moisan Associated Architects; Eberwein Family; Mark & Ann Edlen; and BOORA Architects

EXHIBITION HOST COMMITTEE

Anthony Belluschi, Stan Boles, Brad Cloepfil, Linda Czopek, Ann Edlen, Mark Edlen, Georgia Erdenberger, Randy Higgins, Doug Macy, and Bob Packard

BANNER IMAGE

Praça Cantão, Favela Painting Project
Artists: Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn, Haas&Hahn, with Santa Marta favela community youth. Santa Marta, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2009–10. Photo: © Haas&Hahn for favelapainting.com

HOMEPAGE IMAGE

Integral Urban Project
Architects: Marines Pocaterra (Venezuela), Isabel Pocaterra (Venezuela), Silvia Soonets (Argentina), and Victor Gastier (Venezuela), PROYECTOS ARQUI 5 C.A.; hydraulic engineer: Ahmed Irazabal; road designer: Freddy Iriza; geologist: José Francisco Mártinez; structural engineer: José Luis Garcia Conca. Client: CAMEBA. San Rafael-Barrio Unido sector in La Vega settlement, Caracas, Venezuela, 1999-present. Photo: © PROYECTOS ARQUI 5 C.A.