Matthew Mazzotta: How Can We Redesign Overlooked Spaces To Better Serve The Public?

Part 4 of TED Radio Hour episode The Public Commons

Artist Matthew Mazzotta says every community needs public spaces to gather, discuss, and address issues. He works with towns to reimagine overlooked buildings and give them a new public purpose.

About Matthew Mazzotta

Matthew Mazzotta is an artist and activist focusing on the power of the built environment to shape relationships and experiences.

Mazzotta works with local residents to invent spaces — from active systems that convert dog waste into energy to light city parks to physically transformable buildings that turn main streets into movie theaters to traveling dining experiences that bring together chefs and climate scientists to serve meals made of local plants endangered by climate change. He was named a TED Fellow in 2020.

He received his BFA degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Masters of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Program in Art, Culture and Technology.

This segment of TED Radio Hour was produced by Harrison Vijay Tsui and edited by Sanaz Meshkinpour. You can follow us on Facebook @TEDRadioHour and email us at TEDRadioHour@npr.org.