Urban design stands on the founding mantra of designing cities for people, and arki_lab advocates for taking this a step further into what we call the new paradigm of ‘designing with people’. This means involving citizens directly in the process of designing our cities.

We see ourselves as facilitators of the collaborative process, often acting as the link between citizens and various professional groups connected to the field of architecture. Because every project and its stakeholders are unique, we’ve developed a series of engagement tools that we tailor-make to each project in order to activate citizens in the process–including the ones that can be difficult to reach. Our job is to develop and apply the right set of tools for a project, in order to empower citizens to become a part of their city’s future, as we help uncover their local knowledge that is so essential to the success of a project.

We work to translate the citizens’ needs and dreams into reality, activating unused spaces and giving places new life through local knowledge. As an office, we have been successful in a number of urban design competitions around the world. Sensitivity to context is one of the most important aspects of our work.

We specialize in urban design, temporary spaces, education, and research, while keeping citizen involvement at the heart of our work. Throughout all of our projects, our intention is to continue the conversation that is so dear to our hearts–the importance of designing cities with people.

arki_lab involves people in the process of designing cities, often by acting as the link between citizens and various urban professional