Informed designs for tight spots

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, October, 2006 | by Lini S. Kadaba

The goal had apocalyptic overtones: to design furniture for survivors consigned to tight, temporary shelters after a natural disaster. To carry it out, social activist and conceptual artist Peggy Diggs turned to a population that is expert at compact living. Prison inmates. Over more than 18 months, the 60-year-old instructor from Williams College in Massachusetts commuted to Montgomery County and brainstormed with 15 residents, most of them lifers, at maximum-security Graterford Prison in Skippack Township.

WorkOut, an exhibit that runs through Oct. 25 in the appropriately cramped foyer of the Broad Street Ministry in Center City, reveals the fruits of their collaboration: five graphically vivid, expandable desk/storage containers. Each unit is made of thick cardboard - a...