desigNYC is a new organization that connects nonprofits, community groups and city agencies with pro bono designers to improve the lives of New Yorkers. They've just completed their first round of pilot projects, presented for the first time last night at the Pratt Manhattan Gallery. Pictured above is a collaboration between the Broadway Mall and Balmori Associates, Joel Sanders, and Domingo Gonzalez Associates.

The video below gives a nice overview of the background of the organization.

The pilot project totaled 12 and ranged from sustainability teaching tools, to pamphlets about green living, to community gardens and urban farms. The projects will be on display at the Pratt Gallery through July 31st, but desigNYC has produced a series of excellent videos that capture the experience of the participants, below.

If, after watching these, you are a nonprofit/organization in need of design or a design firm interested in some fun, pro-bono work, get in touch with desigNYC and join the next round of projects.

WireMedia Communications is designing a new website and materials for Nostrand Park -- an emerging community development group that provides services to the arts, business and cultural organizations of Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

The Broadway Mall Association is collaborating with Balmori Associates (Landscape/Urban Design), Joel Sanders (Architecture), and Domingo Gonzalez Associates (Lighting Design) to transform the entire 100-block length of the Broadway Malls into a stunning ecological corridor that will bring beauty, public safety, and commercial visibility to thousands of New Yorkers.

Working with Enterprise Community Partners, Fordham Bedford Housing Corporation (FBHC) and OCV Architects, Robin Key Landscape Architecture (RKLA) is developing an intergenerational garden for seniors and high school students at the Serviam Gardens senior housing development in the Bronx. Built on the campus of Mt. St. Ursula, an all-girls Catholic high school, the grounds of Serviam Gardens will serve the building's 240 senior residents with a series of outdoor spaces that feature sustainable water practices, accessibility, community gathering spaces and an urban farm.

desigNYC Pilot Project Exhibition Dates: June 17 to July 31, 2010 Location: 144 West 14th Street, Pratt Manhattan Gallery Hours: 11 am to 6 pm Tuesday through Saturday