Interface Studio LLC is a full-service planning and urban design practice based in Philadelphia. Founded in 2004 with the intention to start as a small, collaborative office and remain so, we are today a successful company of seven professional planners working together on a diverse array of projects ranging from neighborhood plans in Philadelphia to corridor studies in Chicago and Macon, a master plan for Hamtramck to an industrial strategy for Detroit. Our plans have been recognized with state and national awards, including two American Planning Association National Planning Excellence Awards, one for Grassroots Planning (2009) and one for Public Outreach (2010) as well as a national award for Planning and Analysis from the American Society of Landscape Architects in 2010.
We believe the process of urban planning is evolving, becoming increasingly graphic, grassroots-driven, and interactive. With the growing presence of technology in our world comes near-constant visual stimulation, unprecedented access to information, and an empowered generation of do-it-yourself activists. Interface Studio’s planning approach celebrates these shifts. Our brand of urban planning is steeped in color, accented with humor, fluent in today’s technologies, and calibrated to create platforms for resident-experts to contribute in meaningful ways to plans that will guide the future of their communities, cities, and civic spaces.
Described as hip and nimble, we are a team of creative thinkers and doers. We strive to be accessible to all audiences with a style that is approachable, artistic, playful, and intended to welcome the public into the planning process. We believe big ideas require incremental steps to sustain momentum from the planning process and build confidence that positive change is coming. Our ideas thus balance long-term goals with short-term or temporary projects and events that bring people together, raise money, and shape local policy.
We offer a unique approach to planning, communication, and implementation tailored to today’s culture and economy and committed to revitalized urban futures.
