Join the Department of Interior Design for a virtual lecture with Lauren Elachi, Design Principal at Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI).
The lecture will explore themes of the 2022 Donghia Foundation Interior Design Sponsored Studio centered around community-focused, purpose-driven design.
Lauren Elachi is a landscape architect and community advocate. She uses design to create equitable access, improve public health outcomes, and envision spaces of joy and justice through her work. As Design Principal at Kounkuey Design Initiative’s Los Angeles office, she has managed projects ranging from recreational spaces in South Philadelphia to indigenous planning documents in Juneau to environmental justice advocacy campaigns in the Eastern Coachella Valley. She is currently an Adjunct Lecturer at USC, focusing on how to re-assess public spaces in Los Angeles to create equitable access for women, people of color, and the unhoused.
Kounkuey Design Initiative, also known as KDI, is a non-profit design and community development organization. They partner with under-resourced communities to activate the unrealized potential in their neighborhoods and cities. A BIPOC- and woman-led firm, KDI comprises 50 diverse professionals, united by a shared commitment to building equity, justice, and resilience, working from four offices: Los Angeles, Coachella, Nairobi, and Stockholm.