CultureHouse Creates Community Spaces

Published January 2024

Did you roast marshmallows on the Plaza at the Holiday Stroll? Or jump on a grassy trampoline at Fluff Fest? These were activations from CultureHouse, an urban design nonprofit that improves livability in local communities by transforming unused spaces into vibrant social infrastructure. Meet Executive Director Aaron Greiner, who brought CultureHouse to the Square in 2021.

Tell us a little bit about CultureHouse!

CultureHouse is an urban design nonprofit that uses creative placemaking to address global challenges at the local scale. We transform underutilized places into vibrant community pop-ups, work with partners to implement tactical urbanist interventions, and conduct research on new ways of making livable cities. We work with people to make communities more happy, healthy, vibrant, sustainable, and equitable.

What inspired you to start a business? How did this feeling grow once you actually started your business?

CultureHouse started when we identified two problems; firstly, there was not a lot of public space in Boston, especially in the winter months; secondly, there were a lot of vacant storefronts. So we asked 'what would a pop-up indoor public space look like?' The answer was CultureHouse! We tested out our concept with our first pop-up in Bow Market and six years later, we are a fully-formed non-profit operating pop-ups in and around the Greater Boston area. 

How do you #LoveUnionSquare?

Since we opened our office in Union Square in 2021, we have been participating in helping the neighborhood in any way we can! Our doors are always open to host local organizations and community events and we bring placekeeping elements to the annual Fluff Festival and Holiday Stroll! We are excited to have opened our pop-up in Union Square as a pilot community center along with the Union Square Neighborhood Council just this week. The pop-up is open through June 2024 with various events that center the Union Square neighborhood and its residents!

CultureHouse’s offices at 16 Union Square are open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm. 

Follow them on Instagram, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) to hear about upcoming placemaking initiatives.