Common Edge

Common Edge is a nonprofit organization focused on bridging the gap between architecture and design and the communities they serve. To achieve this goal, we aim to foster genuine public involvement and revisit essential design principles. Our mission centers on promoting and reporting on how public participation can enhance the planning and design of our built environment. We highlight pressing questions from emerging designers and architects, such as: How can we ensure that planning and design reflect the true desires and needs of everyday people? How can we create a more inclusive and democratic design process? How can we share the stories of the public in more impactful ways? And how do we address these challenges in the face of climate change, which is arguably the biggest issue we face today?

International

English

Online/Digital

Outlet metrics

Domain Authority

Ranking

Global

#754501

United States

#315276

Heavy Industry and Engineering/Architecture

#112

Traffic sources

Monthly visitors

Articles

Building a Modular Health Clinic in Western Ukraine

4 days ago | commonedge.org | Martin C. Pedersen

MCP: Martin C. Pedersen EP: Elisabeth Perrault MCP: Tell me about how your group got involved in this project.
Where Does Architectural Design Work Come From?

1 week ago | commonedge.org | Duo Dickinson

In the boom-bust rollercoaster of construction, it’s clear that this year’s ride is hurtling downhill, with demand for design services (once again) waning. As architects experience the end of a post-pandemic construction boom, we’re reminded once again that “being busy” can have less to do with skill and more with availability. We’re only as good as our last performance in any climate.
When There Is No Intelligence in Artificial Intelligence

1 month ago | commonedge.org | Martin C. Pedersen |Duo Dickinson

When architects talk about AI, it triggers me into a Groundhog Day–like reliving of the dire warnings against computer-aided design (CAD) in the 1980s: The field would be decimated, rendered obsolete. But just as CAD was not design, artificial intelligence is not intelligence. Some architects decry the darkness of impending technology to explain the bland buildings that are carpet-bombing our landscape. This design malaise is not due to how these buildings were drawn.
Learning How to Talk About Architecture on Social Media – Common Edge

1 month ago | commonedge.org | Stewart Hicks

A few tips from the host of the popular YouTube channel
The Unique Intimacies of Designing a House

1 month ago | commonedge.org | Duo Dickinson

When you design homes, those who live in them are your circumstantial intimates. And, sometimes, far more. After about 700 residential projects—some new, others recreated—many of my “clients” became people I love, and who in turn love me and my family. If we’re lucky enough to live long enough, both the clients and the designer change. There is nothing magic about aging.
Episode 3: Our Buildings, Our Selves, With Guests Paul Goldberger and Zach Mortice

2 months ago | commonedge.org | Duo Dickinson |Martin C. Pedersen

Welcome to Our Buildings, Our Selves: Humanity in Architecture, a monthly podcast produced by Common Edge, the Connecticut Architecture Foundation, the Connecticut AIA, and Bridgeport public radio station WPKN. In many ways, design journalism in the 21st century is in uncharted territory. Digital technology has changed everything, eroding the business models of the previous century and catapulting everyone onto the infinitely fractured world of the internet.
Panama City Walking Tour: the Old Town of Casco Viejo

2 months ago | commonedge.org | Boyce Thompson

Casco Viejo, Panama City’s elegantly restored Old Town, needs to be viewed on foot. On most days, walking is the only way to navigate it. Impossibly narrow streets—designed for horses, not cars—choke traffic. Cabbies deliver tourists to renovated five-star hotels, then wait in near-standstill traffic to return to arterial roads. Pedestrians jostle for precious sidewalk space, playing an unspoken game of chicken; someone must enter the street to pass.
The Graveyard of Styles in Home Design

Mar 31, 2025 | commonedge.org | Duo Dickinson

The Residential Industry Complex is a vast marketing machine, and within it, architects and designers are either a sales tool or an unnecessary cost. In fashion, “hot” styles have a burst of popularity: Nehru jackets, shoulder pads, wide lapels and ties, large-plaid patterns, miniskirts, maxi skirts—all sold copiously and then faded away, essentially never to be seen again (except in nostalgic memes and at Halloween parties).
Our Buildings, Our Selves, Featuring Michael Kimmelman and Kate Wagner

Mar 18, 2025 | commonedge.org | Duo Dickinson |Martin C. Pedersen

Welcome to the second episode of Our Buildings, Our Selves: Humanity in Architecture, a monthly podcast produced by Common Edge, the Connecticut Architecture Foundation, the Connecticut AIA, and Bridgeport public radio station WPKN. All specializations create their own language, rules, and personalities that reinforce the values of those engaged in that particular work. Architecture is no different.
Wine and Architecture, Legibility and the Art of Making

Mar 12, 2025 | commonedge.org | Martin C. Pedersen

I’m driving in the French countryside, north of Le Muy. I’ve been invited by a friend of my neighbor’s to receive an introduction to his job as a wine bottler. Entering the drive into the winery, I am met by a long allée of towering maples, turning my view vertical as I glance up at their spidery overhangs. Out the other end, I pass a chateau, a modest affair, closed for the off-season. I drive along a dirt path that brings me to a parking lot.