Teens engage in walkalong discussions around the neighborhood, paying attention to their feelings, desires, and needs in the spaces.

Teens participate in regular intuitive art-making exercises, aimed at opening up inner, nonverbal ways of knowing in the design process.

Planting, pruning, mulching, watering - all phases of gardening nurtured the teens’ connection to their environment and fold back into their evolving design plans.

Teens integrate intuition, feeling, and imagination into careful planning and organization of their vision in a spatial context. A formal, first translation is made by a guest architect, tracing coherence between intuitive play and rational structures.

Teen groups are exposed to international guests, students, and researchers during the process to broaden their perspectives, share and learn from one another

Intergenerational guests, both local and international, brought their expertise to assist the students with all aspects of the project: from walkalong discussions and intuitive art-making, to gardening, urban history, and strategic planning for the students’ vision. This creates a vibrant and diverse set of viewpoints to help unsettle preconceptions about what is possible.

The teens’ final event combines a performative exhibition of the teens’ vision in the green space and panel discussion with nonprofits, school officials, urban planners and municipal liaisons.