In the Eastern Coachella Valley, where shade is a luxury, the nonprofit Kounkuey Design Initiative focuses on empowering the residents through design.
By Mimi Zeiger

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Photography by Michael Todoran/HAPS Agency
A chipboard map of the Salton Sea is a tactile tool for working with residents. Image by Kounkuey Design Initiative.
?It?s a blustery, early spring day in the Eastern Coachella Valley, or ECV. The basin is tinted green and purple by wildflowers and grasses encouraged by a surprisingly heavy rainy season, a departure from its usual brown. Wild yellow mustard pokes through the asphalt road edge, and palm trees stand shoulder to shoulder in orderly military rows. These shaggy, shady oases are date orchards, managed by commercial growers that have been in the valley for generations. Since 2011, the nonprofit Kounkuey Design Initiative (KDI) has worked in this landscape, painstakingly building relationships with community members and leadership as well as county and state politicians to address the need for public space. KDI?s approach is remarkable because it values residents over a finished product. Throughout the process, residents find the confidence to speak out on their own behalf, and the design team listens. A smoggy layer of dust tints the surrounding mountains. Over the day, the dust will turn from a mere haze on the horizon to a wind-blown menace?a haboob blocking the sun, forcing drivers to turn on their hazard lights, and coating everything with grit. The e...