Lily Mathews

Lillian Mathews graduated from Brown University with a B.A. in Environmental Studies (Honors) and a focus on Food Systems and Urban Sustainability. She has designed and implemented an arts-based gardening site at a neighborhood center in Providence, Rhode Island, and has completed work in ecological planning and design, sustainable agriculture, and urban planning. She currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. Read more at www.makebreadbreakbread.wordpress.com.

Lillian Mathews: So Long, Farewell to The GRID

by Lily Mathews

Writing is a vehicle. And it continues to drive me, from the place I began, to where I am heading today. Hard to believe, but six months have passed since I began my blogging position with The Grid. Just a few months ... Read article

Between Daydream and Design: Ensuring That Community/School Partnerships Work

by Lily Mathews

An overgrown parking lot clings to the fringe of an urban center. Rundown school buildings wait for a sorely needed upgrade. Somewhere outside of these places, sleekly dressed design students stay up late with their ... Read article

Landscape Architecture Digs Up a New Definition for Itself In Light of Environmental Challenges

by Lily Mathews

Garden designer? How about ecological warrior? Landscape architects may be due for a new reputation, and for good reason. As a field, landscape architecture has changed rapidly over the past two decades. It is too si... Read article

What’s in a Neighborhood? Classifying Our Streets in a Rapidly Urbanizing Age

by Lily Mathews

Classifying neighborhoods has always been more art than science. Despite an urban planner's best intentions, the original vision of a few city blocks doesn't always pan out. As populations tend toward urban livin... Read article

Foodies Tackle Urban Distribution Challenges with Community Kitchens: Providence, Vancouver, and San Francisco

by Lily Mathews

Food talk is hot these days. Urban planning councils and governments now implement sustainable food mandates, and city revitalization projects transform old buildings into gourmet mixed-use shopping centers. It’d be ... Read article

Rhode Island Park Design Favors Functionality (and Food) with New Edible Forest

by Lily Mathews

It’s July 2012, and new saplings and shrubs at Roger Williams Park hover around three feet tall. But in five years, the site will sprout tubers and leafy greens – even offering medicinal herbs free of charge to visit... Read article

Radical Cartography Produces Unlikely Maps and Design Partnerships in the United States’ Northeast

by Lily Mathews

As map-making software grows in popularity, more people than ever have cartography at their fingertips. In response to the growing trend, many mapping projects have begun distinguishing themselves as radical cartogra... Read article

Blue Prints and Backpacks: Pre-College Design Education Offers Options to Students

by Lily Mathews

In light of recent coverage on the value of a design education, organizations across the country have begun to open up the field to a more unlikely population – middle and high school students. As the contemporary educa... Read article

Web-Based Crowdsourcing: Power to the People or the Planners?

by Lily Mathews

With the growing popularity of crowdsourced funding platforms like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo, many urban planning professionals have begun to explore the potential of a good web-based brainstorm. In 2011, the develop... Read article

Providence, Rhode Island Halts on Highway Redevelopment Area as Citizens Get Creative

by Lily Mathews

In 2011, Providence, Rhode Island (R.I.) demolished I-195, a section of interstate highway that had bisected the city for half a century. A new stretch called the Iway had already been built for $446 million, helping... Read article

From Green Thumb to White House: University of Massachusetts Permaculture Makes Big Strides

by Lily Mathews

College lawns are not just for Frisbees anymore. The UMass Permaculture Initiative snagged top honors at the White House Campus Champions of Change Challenge this March 2012, beating out 1,400 applicants and 15 fi... Read article

Growing Food, Growing Power: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Urban Farmer Tours the Northeast

by Lily Mathews

The podium microphone could not quite reach Will Allen, standing six-and-a-half feet tall and in front of a sold-out lecture hall in Providence, Rhode Island. Allen, a former professional basketball player and MacArt... Read article

FarmHack Descends on Providence, Rhode Island: Agriculture Meets Design

by Lily Mathews

In Providence, Rhode Island, farmers huddled up alongside students, scribbling on Post-it notes, and throwing around phrases. Efficiency. Integrated design. Awareness. The event was FarmHack, a collaborative desig... Read article