Better cities begin with bold imagination.
We are at a social and environmental tipping point. Cities face overlapping crises—from climate breakdown and housing affordability to economic disruption and fractured social cohesion. Yet at the very moment we need to envision a better future, we’re facing a crisis of imagination.We live in a time where imagining apocalypse comes easily—but imagining a better society feels harder than ever. We need new narratives, new strategies, and new tools to unlock our collective creativity and reimagine urban life.
We need to move beyond what is—and ask what if.
IF Design Labs is a nonprofit think tank reshaping public discourse through research, imagination, and action. It was founded by Thomas Bryans (Founding Director of IF_DO) and Dr Devorah Block, a strategist and researcher focused on public engagement and social change. IF Design Labs works alongside IF DO, the award-winning architecture studio known for a decade of socially engaged work. It brings new tools and perspectives to the future of cities.Our vision is to inspire and empower people to imagine better urban futures. Our first project, the Place Literacy Lab, explores how we understand, interpret, and imagine the future of the places in which we live.
IF Design Labs CIC is a nonprofit company limited by guarantee, registered in England & Wales (Company No. 16315784)