DownCity Design

DownCity Design is a community organization working to build a city of problem solvers. We empower students, educators, and community members to use design skills to improve the places where they live, work, and play.

DownCity Design (DCD) is a non-profit community design studio that empowers people to imagine and create better futures for their communities, using the tools of design. In our free youth programs, Providence teens design and fabricate new amenities to improve their communities. Since our founding, over 3500 participants in our free afterschool and summer design programs have collaboratively built more than 125+ permanent amenities for public spaces in and around Providence, including community gardens, outdoor classrooms for public schools and creative play structures for parks. Currently, our 14 free youth programs engage 350 underserved teens annually in creating structures and graphics for public spaces. Our programs help participants develop essential skills and habits of mind like collaboration, communication, creative problem solving, and persistence. In 2019, DCD was named Afterschool Program of the Year by the RI Afterschool Network.