On Wednesday, March 28, City Share will feature Matt Tomasula, founder of CityFabric, Inc., a Chapel Hill, N.C.-based organization that promotes civic and social engagement through simple map-based products.
Tomasula is an entrepreneurial designer, urbanist, civic instigator and active community member who investigates connecting people with their place through civic and social engagement. In January, Tomasula instigated his first two civic-minded projects, “Walk Raleigh” and “North is That Way,” both exploring different forms of guerrilla way-finding.
“Walk Raleigh” was CityFabric’s initial step in linking the purchase of products to the funding and promotion of real-life, small-scale civic and social interventions. The project is a very basic, self-installed way-finding system of 27 signs placed at three different intersections in downtown Raleigh. These signs were intended to put walkability on the forefront of conversation about the future of downtown Raleigh.
“Communicating the process of change and design in the built environment is crucial for inspiring people to get involved in the decisions that determine the direction of their city. The more people talk about and understand their place, the more they will get involved in their community,” Tomasula said.
Tomasula will share more of his story and his theories on downtown mobility during the City Share presentation, which is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided. If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to info@glasshousecollective.org or visit City Share’s Facebook page.