Emily Abruzzo, of Brooklyn’s Abruzzo Bodziak Architects, worked with Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation (CHLDC) and New York Sun Works to design an educational greenhouse for an empty lot.

Ask desigNYC executive director Laetitia Wolff about her organization’s mission, and she’ll give you a straightforward answer: “To improve the lives of New Yorkers through the power of design.” To fulfill this ambitious mission, the group pairs local nonprofits with volunteer architects and designers, who work on a specific project for approximately one year. desigNYC organized 12 projects in 2010 and eight in 2011; this year, 16 are under way.