Dept of Places is a participatory design and community engagement practice based in Los Angeles, CA.

Dept of Places applies the power of architecture + design to strengthen neighborhoods so that all residents, especially Indigenous, Black, Brown, and all People of Color, live in safe, healthy, joyful and just places.

What we can do:

• architectural and design services

• urban planning and neighborhood visioning

• equity-centered design curriculum

• workshop facilitation

All processes are community-engaged and rooted in shared decision-making with the people directly impacted by the project.

Dept. of Places is directed by Theresa Hyuna Hwang, a community-engaged architect, educator, and facilitator. She has spent over 15 years focused on equitable cultural and community development with multiple groups and campaigns. 

Theresa/Hyuna draws upon her experiences as a second generation Corean-american cis-woman, Libra sun with a Virgo rising, arts organizer, open mic host, and more recently, as a solo parent and mother to a young child, to hold spaces of mindful dialogue, deep listening and shared creation, to address collective neighborhood-based trauma and design solutions based on first-hand experiences, centering those who have been most impacted.