Design Austin

Design Austin Design Austin illuminates the power of design for all. Here, we explore, imagine, and shape the future.

🚨EXTENDED DEADLINE!🚨 You now have until May 3 at 11:59PM to refine your ideas and submit. We're thrilled with the entrie...
04/24/2026

🚨EXTENDED DEADLINE!🚨

You now have until May 3 at 11:59PM to refine your ideas and submit. We're thrilled with the entries so far and can't wait to see more!

🔗 Link in bio to submit!

Continuing our showcase from our Groundbreaking Women Tour of female-led projects is the George Washington Carver Muse...
03/20/2026

Continuing our showcase from our Groundbreaking Women Tour of female-led projects is the George Washington Carver Museum, Cultural and Genealogy Center.
⁠
Nestled in the historically Black Central East Austin neighborhood, the Carver Museum campus consists of a 36,000-square-foot museum, park, and genealogy center housed in a historic library. The LEED-certified museum is distinguished by its curving crescent shape, airy atrium, and rugged split-face masonry cladding. ⁠
⁠
The museum that you see today grew out of Austin’s first library. The Colonial Revival frame structure that now serves as the Genealogy Center was originally constructed in 1926. In 1933, a new library was built and the old building was moved to the current location, renovated, and reopened as the segregated branch of the Austin Public Library. In 1947, the branch library was named in honor of Dr. George Washington Carver. In 1980, after the completion of the larger, desegregated branch library to the south, the facility was reopened as the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center.⁠
⁠
Twenty years later, the citizens of Austin voted to expand the facility. Prominent Black architect Donna Carter, FAIA, and her firm, Carter Design Associates, developed a design that left the historic building intact and created a new structure to the north. They were early adopters of sustainable design, and the Carver Museum is one of the first LEED-certified projects in Austin. Completed in 2005, the freestanding museum includes archival space, a performing arts venue, studios, classrooms, permanent history exhibits, and rotating art galleries. Its crescent footprint allows the building to snake deferentially behind the historic genealogy center and the library. A circular atrium creates a bright, airy lobby and a connection node for the gallery wings. Additionally, the atrium’s distinctive tower-like form creates a street-level landmark.⁠

The tour was curated by AIA Austin's Women in Architecture Committee. Check out this entry and the entire tour at https://guidetoaustinarchitecture.com/places/george-washington-carver-museum-and-cultural-center/?tour=1753
⁠
Images 1-3: Atelier Wong Photography
Images 4-8: Bud Franck, AIA⁠
Text (edited for length): Sadi Brewton, AIA⁠
⁠

It's , which means it's time to hype up our Groundbreaking Women Tour of female-led projects (https://guidetoaustinarch...
03/11/2026

It's , which means it's time to hype up our Groundbreaking Women Tour of female-led projects (https://guidetoaustinarchitecture.com/tours/groundbreaking-women/). This distinctive design is the Festival Beach Restroom by Jobe Corral Architects. ⁠
⁠
When the existing restroom was identified for replacement, The Trail Conservancy saw an opportunity for another installment in its series of signature restrooms designed by local architects. Like all structures in the series, this open-air sculptural pavilion combines design innovation with low-maintenance materials. The material palette was inspired by the structure it replaced, which featured tilt-up concrete walls, steel doors, and a terracotta tile roof. But in contrast to the old, boxy bathroom, this structure uses similar materials to mimic the nearby water and trees.⁠
⁠
The Festival Beach Restroom is characterized by its two undulating roofs: an imaginative take on traditional Spanish terracotta roofs, which are made up of alternating columns of convex and concave tiles (fun fact: originally the curve of these tiles was created by forming sheets of clay around the maker’s thigh). Known for their durability, terracotta tiles are traditionally used on simple, sloped roofs. But their unique shape and assembly make them ideal for organic, curvilinear forms. Moreover, the tiles can be glazed with a variety of colors—in this case, vibrant blues that evoke the sky and water.⁠
⁠
A forest of columns supports the two roofs, providing shelter from the sun and channeling breezes for ventilation. The smooth cast-in-place concrete walls are punctuated by a regular pattern of inverted cones, which are a remnant of the steel ties that hold the formwork in place. Finally, the curved profile of the sink is made from a section of reclaimed concrete pipe, with portions filled in to create separate washbasins.⁠
⁠
Images: Casey Dunn
Text: Bud Franck, AIA
⁠

03/04/2026

It starts tomorrow! with us to help students discover design with programs like ATX Voices, our collab with Texas School for the Deaf that produced the distinctive seven-foot sculptures along South Congress Avenue.⁠
⁠
You can schedule your gift right now at https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/design-austin: donate any amount and it will count toward our total on Amplify Austin Day March 4-5. ⁠
⁠
We'd also love it if you share, tell your friends about us, and show up to our events (we're at SXSW next)! ⁠
⁠
Thanks to all Austin aesthetes - we appreciate you 🥰

THURSDAY: workshop with the library 💕 The Austin Public Library is turning 100 — and we want the community’s help to i...
03/03/2026

THURSDAY: workshop with the library 💕

The Austin Public Library is turning 100 — and we want the community’s help to imagine how we celebrate it. Join us on Thursday, March 5th for a hands-on Community Workshop to brainstorm ideas for a centennial art installation that will honor the first hundred years of memories of Austin Public Library and inspire visitors for the next century and beyond.

Look familiar? “Rhapsody” is a 50-foot-long ceramic mosaic mural by University of Texas Art and Art History studio art p...
02/19/2026

Look familiar? “Rhapsody” is a 50-foot-long ceramic mosaic mural by University of Texas Art and Art History studio art professor John Yancey in collaboration with Luis Alicea and the late Steven B. Jones. Located in Dr. Charles E. Urdy Plaza, “Rhapsody” celebrates the rich Black music scene that once thrived in East Austin. ⁠
⁠
Home to venues like Charlie’s Playhouse and Deluxe Hotel—all part of the “Chitlin’ Circuit” that welcomed Black musicians—East 11th Street played a major role in the Texas jazz and blues scene. The historic Victory Grill was a famous nightclub and safe haven for Black musicians during the segregated 1940s through the early 1960s. The club hosted many famous acts such as Billie Holiday, Etta James, B.B King, and W.C. Clark. It seems only fitting that this mural, located just up the street from the former music venue, pays tribute to East Austin’s musical past.⁠
⁠
In 2003, John Yancey, a longtime Austin resident and University of Texas studio art professor, was commissioned to create the mural as part of the “Eleven East” project funded by the Austin Revitalization Authority. Yancey skillfully depicted the community’s history through his use of color and motion in the arrangement of the tiles and the scenes portrayed. The mural portrays soulful musicians and historic structures in perfect harmony, taking the viewer on a journey into the past. The 50-foot-long mural is a work of art that makes you pause in the plaza to appreciate its beauty and historical significance. ⁠
⁠
Explore this history in more detail with "Black Resilience," the Guide to Austin Architecture's online tour produced by NOMA of Central Texas.
https://guidetoaustinarchitecture.com/places/rhapsody-mural/?tour=2372

For a closer look at "Rhapsody", Art Above Reality has a great video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGGWOcjZObg.
⁠
⁠
⁠
✏️: Jasmin Peisel, Assoc. AIA, NOMA
📷️: Bud Franck, AIA

One of the more lowkey-but-stacked series in Austin, University of Texas School of Architecture (UTSOA) lectures bring i...
02/10/2026

One of the more lowkey-but-stacked series in Austin, University of Texas School of Architecture (UTSOA) lectures bring in visionaries from across the design spectrum, so we partnered with them to promote a few. Join us tomorrow, Feb. 11, for “Designing When ‘Spacetime is Doomed' with Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby.

RSVP with us to reserve a seat: https://calendar.aiaaustin.org/event/design-austin-x-utsoa-anthony-dunne-fiona-raby/.

Rideshare highly recommended! ⁠
⁠
(...and full disclosure, this poster is an SOA alum and these are always 🔥) ⁠
⁠
(UTSOA) On Feb. 11, British designers, researchers, and studio partners Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby present “Designing When ‘Spacetime is Doomed.’”⁠
⁠
Raby and Dunne will share how an increasing number of theoretical physicists believe spacetime might not be as fundamental as we think, and new theories could emerge that describe an even more fundamental reality, especially at the quantum scale. Could the concept we think of as essential to our understanding of reality be reaching the end of its usefulness? Together with Dunne and Raby, we’ll wrestle the unthinkable and impossible and see how design can enable a more meaningful engagement with the reality taking space around us. ⁠
⁠
📅 Feb. 11 ⁠
🕒 5-6 pm ⁠
📍Goldsmith Lecture Hall ⁠
⁠
Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby are partners in the design studio Dunne & Raby and Distinguished Visiting Professors at the China Academy of Art. Through design projects and writing, they explore how speculative forms of thought from science, philosophy, and literature can inform and expand design practice. Their books include Not Here, Not Now (2025), Speculative Everything (2013), Design Noir (2001 / 2021), and Hertzian Tales (1999). Their projects are in the permanent collections of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and MAK, Vienna, and their research has been supported by the European Commission, Wellcome Trust, EPSRC, Arts Council England, Mellon Foundation, and industry partners such as Intel and Microsoft.

One of the more lowkey series in Austin, the lectures bring in visionaries from across the design spectrum. We’re partn...
02/10/2026

One of the more lowkey series in Austin, the lectures bring in visionaries from across the design spectrum. We’re partnering with them to promote a few throughout the year - including tomorrow!

Rideshare highly recommended, and if you RSVP with Design Austin we have some seats on reserve at 🔗 in bio. (Full disclosure, this poster is an SOA alum and these are always 🔥)

utsoa On Feb. 11, British designers, researchers, and studio partners Anthony Dunne () and Fiona Raby () present “Designing When ‘Spacetime is Doomed.’”

Raby and Dunne will share how an increasing number of theoretical physicists believe spacetime might not be as fundamental as we think, and new theories could emerge that describe an even more fundamental reality, especially at the quantum scale. Could the concept we think of as essential to our understanding of reality be reaching the end of its usefulness? Together with Dunne and Raby, we’ll wrestle the unthinkable and impossible and see how design can enable a more meaningful engagement with the reality taking space around us.

📅 Feb. 11
🕒 5-6 pm
📍Goldsmith Lecture Hall

Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby are partners in the design studio Dunne & Raby and Distinguished Visiting Professors at the China Academy of Art. Through design projects and writing, they explore how speculative forms of thought from science, philosophy, and literature can inform and expand design practice. Their books include Not Here, Not Now (2025), Speculative Everything (2013), Design Noir (2001 / 2021), and Hertzian Tales (1999). Their projects are in the permanent collections of institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and MAK, Vienna, and their research has been supported by the European Commission, Wellcome Trust, EPSRC, Arts Council England, Mellon Foundation, and industry partners such as Intel and Microsoft.

Do not miss the compelling lecture. 🔗 in bio for details!

...we're back, and close to finalizing our schedule for the front half of '26. Top of the list: more creative connection...
02/10/2026

...we're back, and close to finalizing our schedule for the front half of '26. Top of the list: more creative connections! If you haven't joined our email list, now is the time. Our 2026 preview will go out this week!⁠
⁠
We promise not to overload you: we email about once every four to six weeks, with a few extra hellos during Amplify Austin and leading up to WaterWork. ⁠
⁠
We're planning to bring back PechaKucha, Design Minded, and WaterWork, and we're working on a couple more collabs to break down the silos within our incredible design community even more. Join us, won't you?⁠
⁠
Newsletter⁠: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/su/mGeBvZu/DAContact

Images 3-4 Essentials Creative
Images 5-7 Ryan Vestil Photography

The new Sacred Spaces Tour includes Chinmaya Mission Austin, an 8-acre compound for a local Hindu community being built ...
11/20/2025

The new Sacred Spaces Tour includes Chinmaya Mission Austin, an 8-acre compound for a local Hindu community being built in phases and designed by Miró Rivera Architects.
⁠
What started in people’s homes with about 15 families had grown into a community of faith that needed a place for worship and community. The center is intended to provide a place of solace and intellectual rigor for the followers of Vendanta, the core belief of Hinduism that providing opportunities for spiritual growth enriches one’s life and creates a pathway to happiness and enlightenment. The challenge of the project was to imbue a sense of grandeur and symbolism, on a very tight budget. ⁠
⁠
The first, completed phase includes the primary temple and a separate education wing. A future phase will provide additional education and meeting spaces and create a central courtyard. The two current buildings are tied together by their striking metal roofs; they serve as a unifying element due to their steep pitch and distinctive coloration. ⁠
⁠
The temple is the focus of the compound and, once the courtyard is complete, will be at the apex of a central axis. A golden-hued back wall becomes flooded with the light from above, adding symbolic color. Gold represents many facets in the Hindi belief system: prosperity, purity, divinity, positive energy, and good luck. As a lasting material, gold is a testament to the enduring qualities of holiness. ⁠
⁠
At the exterior court of the temple, 109 vertical stone monoliths line the perimeter, creating strong patterns of light and shadow with the richly textured native limestone. ⁠
⁠
The compound is an example of using historical precedents associated with a belief system—sacred geometric patterns, colors, and shapes as well as symmetry and intentional alignments—in a contemporary, streamlined manner that strives for the principles found in historic Hindu temples. ⁠
⁠
⁠Learn more about this sacred structure at https://guidetoaustinarchitecture.com/places/chinmaya-mission-austin/?tour=2729, and check out the rest of the Sacred Spaces Tour on guidetoaustinarchitecture.com!

Address

801 W 12th Street
Austin, TX
78701

Telephone

+15124524332

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Design Austin posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Design Austin:

Shortcuts

Share

Category