Awards
- Thomas Ehrlich Civically Engaged Faculty Award - 2025
About Jonathan Racek
Jon Racek is a multidisciplinary designer whose scope of work spans architectural, landscape design and industrial design. His recent research is concerned with placemaking and the creation of public spaces.
In 2008, he founded the organization Play360 (www.play360.org), a non-profit who trains NGOs to build low-cost educational resources throughout the developing world. He has performed over 40 trainings in 16 countries including Peru, the Philippines, Zanzibar, Guatemala, Thailand, Kenya (building one of the only playgrounds in the largest slum in Africa) and Ethiopia, where he built the first universal design playground in that country. To date, Play360 has built over 280 playgrounds in 20 countries.
Before joining the faculty, Prof. Racek was founder of a furniture/architectural firm for over nine years. His work was exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, Milan, Melbourne, Beijing and Dubai and was featured in such publications as The New York Times, TIME Magazine, and over 30 other domestic and international magazines.
He is the founder and director of Comprehensive Design at Indiana University Bloomington where students learn human centered design at the scale of objects, spaces and systems. He co-founded ServeDesign, a design outreach center at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design. One of ServeDesign’s programs is the Rural Placemaking Studio which employs students to design public spaces, murals, alley activations and public art for rural communities throughout Indiana.
In 2001, he received a design award from the American Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles Chapter. In 2012, he was named one of "40 Under 40" in the AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) Industry, as determined by Building Design and Construction Magazine. In 2016, he was awarded the Sanctae Crucis Award by his alma mater, the highest non-degree accolade that is bestowed on alumni who have distinguished themselves in the service of justice. He is a LEED Accredited Professional.