Nothing gets lost in translation with these embedded English pronunciations, tied directly into the Japanese typographic style Katakana. While the letterforms of Katakana create an effectively phonetic alphabet, its characters are still difficult for some foreigners to read, at least until now.

Like many design solutions, this one looks easy in retrospect: simply tuck an English-legible phonetic articulation guide using a capped alphabet inside the Japanese characters. The result: Phonetikana, a potentially very powerful tool for communication, teaching and learning, or even signage in places like international airports or multinational conventions.

From the creators: “Multiple trips to Japan and constant frustration at being unable to read the language has sparked off an unusual typographic project at johnson banks. Earlier in the year we started seeing if we could combine the English language and Japanese script in some way.”

The firm went a step further as well, embedding words and phrases inside symbols to create a children-legible introductory guide to Japanese, reinforcing connections between each sound and symbol set. Meanwhile, the hybrid typography remains a work in progress, but definitely on the right linguistic track.

In an effort to democratize both the creation and appreciation of urban graffiti, a group of young street artists in Lisbon, Portugal, is teaching retirees how to create their own stencils and tags.

LATA 65 (lata meaning ‘can’ in Portugese) has so far introduced 100 aging participants to the art of spray painting and student work is already popping up in the form of tags and murals brightening up buildings and walls around town.

Led by veteran street artists, this gang of older students is learning not just how to create art but also about the history of the form, providing them not just with tools and techniques but cultural context for their studies as well.

Their efforts are primarily being put toward enlivening dilapidated areas in need of fresh interventions and additional attention. Underlying the artwork itself, however, is a philosophy of bridging generational gaps and bringing new perspectives to a mode of expression typically associated with youth culture.

While the elderly students are so far following the footsteps of their younger instructors, one has to wonder if their approaches may eventually develop in new and different directions, in turn providing novel sources of inspiration and innovation not yet thought of by their more youthful compatriots.

What if high schools replaced shop classes with results-driven, full-scale architectural projects, where the goal was to collaborate and make something substantial for the entire community? If it sounds idealistic, perhaps it is – the reality on the ground can be full of setbacks and surprises, as this film illustrates in evocative detail. The title of the documentary in perhaps intentionally open-ended, because, unlike the phrase’s cinematic inspiration (Field of Dreams), what will happen if you build something is never quite clear until you try.

Directed by Patrick Creado, If You Built It is the compelling story of a one-year design/build program set in a small American town – a story that is both inspirational and heartbreaking. Its protagonist teachers are enthusiastic visionaries who are exceptionally driven. Its director shows these strengths but is unafraid to also highlight their steep learning curve, right alongside that of the students, who struggle at first to understand what two outsiders want to teach them and why.

Studio H, a collaboration of designers/builders Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller, is named for its focus on “humanity, habitats, health and happiness”. Its mission is born of a noble desire to enable people to change where, how and how well they live, all through design.

Of course, working with a community as outsiders is challenging, as this pair learned when they moved to Bertie County, North Carolina, for the first year of their program. Their mission: to start small and build up to a student-decided project for the community, which turns out to be a farmer’s market inspired by contextual farm architecture.

In the press, idealized renderings and carefully-staged architectural photographs often gloss over the gritty reality of designing and building projects, as well as the slow change in thinking that comes with learning to design. Likewise, a look at highly-funded architectural programs and never-to-be-built college-student projects can make it easy to forget we have an opportunities to educate high school students everywhere through designing to build.

For anyone not educated in design, this movie provides  a unique window into how it can be taught and how understanding design processes can help us see unrealized possibilities in our everyday lives and built environments. For the broader public, the documentary also provides fascinating insights into the present and uncertain future of rural America.

In the end, the film is neither a tale of outright success or total failure, but it does show how even the best intentions may not work in every situation. In a key flashback, we are shown scenes of a home built for charity by Miller as a thesis project that ultimately failed in practice but also provided him critical real-world feedback on projects where the owner is just a passive recipient. Anyone interested in the intersection of architecture and education should watch If You Build It and sign up for screenings to share it with students.

A synopsis: “IF YOU BUILD IT follows designer-activists Emily Pilloton and Matthew Miller to rural Bertie County, the poorest in North Carolina, where they work with local high school students to help transform both their community and their lives. Living on credit and grant money and fighting a change-resistant school board, Pilloton and Miller lead their students through a year-long, full-scale design and build project that does much more than just teach basic construction skills: it shows ten teenagers the power of design-thinking to re-invent not just their town but their own sense of what’s possible.”