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About this project

PieLab– the vision of 14 young Project M designers, is transforming from pop-up experimental pie shop to permanent downtown eatery in Greensboro, Alabama. This expansion will elevate our level of engagement among the residents of Greensboro and the surrounding area of Hale County. The new space will be equipped with a full service kitchen, a community-focused design studio, as well as classroom space which will be used to train local youth through the Youth Build program.
Project M, founded by John Bielenberg in Belfast, Maine, is a group of designers, writers, and photographers brought together from around the world to challenge the conventions of design, and think wrong about how their talents can be used for the greater good.
Greensboro is most often recognized for its location in Hale County, one of the poorest in America, and for the architecture projects designed and built by the Rural Studio at Auburn University. At PieLab we hope to bring out the heart of Hale County by uncovering the ideas, stories, aspirations and talents of this underserved community. We also hope that through fostering conversation between neighbors at PieLab, we can provide a neutral and open forum for members of the community to expose and discuss some of the deep-rooted issues that still segregate this rural southern town.
Now that it has been cleaned and gutted, we're ready to build out our new space on Main Street. Though we've been very resourceful, salvaging much of our materials from thrift stores and scrap piles, there are many items that we still need.
In an effort to acquire these items, we're asking you to Invest in Pie by making a monetary donation in the amount of your choosing. All proceeds raised will be used to cover the costs of opening and operating the new shop and design studio. At PieLab, we believe that a united community is an empowered community, and when people feel empowered good things start to happen. Take part in a good thing.
Follow our process of building out the new space on Flickr.

Project location: Greensboro, AL

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John Bielenberg

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What John does best is help organizations find the courage and the sense of humor to consider whole new "wrong" ways of bringing their stories, ideas, and innovations out into the world.

John feels so strongly about the value of thinking wrong that he created a program called Project M that is designed to inspire and educate young designers, writers, photographers and filmmakers by proving that their work—especially their wrongest thinking—can have a positive and significant impact on the world. Project M has developed projects to help a conservation area in Costa Rica, Micro-financing in Ghana, New Orleans after Katrina, the communities of East Baltimore, Detroit, Rural Connecticut and Iceland, and connecting households to fresh water in Hale County Alabama.

1. projectmlab.com