LBBA Labs
In 2010, the firm founded LBBA Labs, a summer program that employs high school students and college-age mentors. The program provides an entry point for young designers to participate in community design and empowers local residents to impact their environment through the design process.
LBBA Labs
BUILDLab 2019
BUILDLab, in partnership with the Chicago nonprofit BUILD, is the 10th year of LBBA Labs. BUILD focuses on neighborhood health and wellness issues for youth—encompassing ideas of violence reduction and prolonging the lives of neighborhood youth. The BUILDLab interns researched and prototyped elements for the common areas, art rooms, and other sensitive spaces such as the youth court and youth counseling spaces for BUILD’s facility expansion in the neighborhood of Austin. The team’s final designs were informed by site visits, interviews with building users and members of the community, and meetings with BUILD Board members and staff. BUILDLab students made design recommendations that address security and safety issues for the youth who attend programs at BUILD.
Impact
The LBBA Labs are a nationally-recognized summer employment program for high school students with an interest in architecture, design, and planning. During the six-week workshop, participants study building design and initiate change in their neighborhood through environmental assessment studies and community asset mapping.
Goals
- Provide a high quality, paid summer internship program for students interested in architecture and related fields
- Teach architecture and design skills as well as social, educational, and career readiness
- Promote future diversity in the field by offering early career exposure and mentorship
- Encourage civic responsibility and engagement amongst participants and community members
- Deliver real solutions to issues impacting focus communities
Skills
- Architecture and design skills (drafting, models, software modelling)
- Creative problem solving
- Public speaking
- Career readiness: resume, email writing, interviewing
- Communication skills
- Graphic design and presentation development
- Networking
- Collaboration
If you’re interested in getting involved as an intern, volunteer, or community partner, please contact:
Previous Labs
tinyLab 2018
tinyLabs 2018 researched and prototyped elements for a tiny house village planned for college students experiencing homelessness in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago. The team conducted site visits, interviewed potential clients and members of the community, met with stakeholders and partners, and designed and built solutions. Our goal was to create efficient, cost-effective, and well-designed components that will make residents of these tiny houses proud to call them home.
Find out more at tinyLab's blog
cityLab 2017
cityLab 2017 engages in research around the redevelopment of the former Calhoun Elementary School into supportive housing. Over the course of the summer, the young designers will develop an asset map of the surrounding East Garfield Park neighborhood and conduct interviews with community residents. A culminating presentation will share data and designs with community partner Heartland Housing and members of the community.
Find out more at cityLab's blog
LBBA Labs @ After School Matters
In the Spring of 2017, LBBA Labs began a partnership with After School Matters (ASM) to provide after school and summer Lab programs to teens at the new Lutz Family Center for After School Matters in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood. So far, LBBA Labs has served nearly 40 teens through two ASM programs. In our inaugural program this Spring, the young designers researched and created designs for a former parking lot on the Lutz Campus. During the summer of 2017, the ASM teens worked on a project at nearby Kilbourn Park.
Find out more at After School Matters
bikeLab 2016
LBBA partnered with the Latin United Community Housing Association (LUCHA) to develop a plan for making their Humboldt Park buildings more bike and biker friendly. Students interviewed LUCHA residents about their bike use, researched the neighborhood, visited bike shops, toured buildings with bike-centered design, and ultimately created an overall plan for integrating bike use into LUCHA buildings.
Find out more at bikeLab's blog
cityLab 2015
In partnership with Claretian Associates, the 2015 cityLab incorporated neighborhood history, data collection, and personal stories of South Chicago. Through cityLab, the interns conducted site visits, interviewed residents, and gathered research to study the social, economic, and cultural landscape of South Chicago. The goal of cityLab was to collect observations regarding the past, present, and future framework of the neighborhood that will assist in understanding the community’s design and planning needs.
Find out more at cityLab's blog
cityLab 2014
Partnering with Brinshore Development and The Michaels Company, cityLab 2014 studied human interaction, environmental health, and the built environment at Westhaven Park, the replacement housing for the Henry Horner Homes in Chicago’s Near West Side. The team of interns, including several from Westhaven, observed the site and interviewed residents to better understand how urban design affects the community. The team then guided the design of the project's central park based their feedback and research.
Find our more at cityLab's blog
cityLab 2013
cityLab studied pedestrian behavior at Parkside of Old Town, the former Cabrini-Green public housing site in Chicago. Through a series of neighborhood and building analyses, the student interns examined: public vs. private spaces; retail and workspace; recreation and green spaces; and intersections. Ultimately, the goal was to identify the needs of Parkside residents, inform the design of a successful redevelopment, and, in the process, empower our students with the knowledge and skills for positively changing the places where they live.
Find out more at cityLab's blog
airLab 2.0
Airlab is a team of 5 high school students and 3 college-level mentors, now young Chicago civic leaders, whose mission is to research and collect data on the indoor air quality (IAQ) at the Rosa Parks Apartments in the West Humboldt Park Community. Our program goals are to educate communities, organizations, and city leaders to make better decisions about how they can improve the health, well-being, and efficiency of their neighborhood through awareness and good design.
Find out more at airLab blog
airLab
Airlab is a team of 5 high school students and 3 college-level mentors, now young Chicago civic leaders, whose mission is to research and collect data on the indoor air quality (IAQ) at the Rosa Parks Apartments in the West Humboldt Park Community. Our program goals are to educate communities, organizations, and city leaders to make better decisions about how they can improve the health, well-being, and efficiency of their neighborhood through awareness and good design.
Find out more at airLab's blog
shadeLab
Through environmental assessment studies, community asset mapping, neighborhood service/design projects, and by using
high tech sensors as well as self-made measuring devices, interns extensively recorded temperature, air quality, energy efficiency,
and noise throughout the neighborhood and the buildings of
LBBA’s partnering organizations over the course of the summer.
By overlaying this data with the mapping of the physical assets, nature, social life and stories that surround these spaces, interns created a holistic ‘snapshot’ of the wellness of the neighborhood as it relates to design.
Find out more at shadeLab's blog
Previous Community Partners
Awards
2013 Green Innovation for Occupant Engagement, US Green Building Council Illinois—airLab at Rosa Parks Apartments
2011 Jury Special Recognition, The Association of Architecture Organizations—shadeLab
Related News + Events
When I worked at Claretian Associates, I helped create sustainable housing that was both affordable and beautiful. After our houses were complete and I saw with my own eyes the reduced gas and light bills, I became a believer, and my passion for sustainability grew.
Guadalupe Castaneda, Closing Officer
Community Investment Corporation