1st Edition
Architecture and Social Change Shaping an Impactful Practice
Architecture and Social Change is a timely, and urgently needed, survey of social and environmental justice advocacy in architecture. Spotlighting contemporary design and research practitioners who are creatively leveraging their expertise for social change, this book features interviews with fifteen influential design leaders who are at the forefront of the profession’s efforts to confront pressing challenges like housing insecurity, racial and economic inequality, environmental degradation, and architectural waste. Among the interviewees are Dana Cuff, who, as director of cityLAB, is helping to reshape housing policy in California; Joana Dabaj, co-founder of the design charity CatalyticAction, which empowers refugee children from the Syrian civil war to act as “co-designers” of playgrounds and public spaces in Lebanon; and Ivi Diamantopoulou and Jaffer Kolb of New York City–based New Affiliates, who repurpose, through lively recontextualization, the architectural byproducts of their city’s museum exhibitions and building-performance mockups. These insightful student-led interviews compellingly capture the current moment of soul-searching in both the profession and the academy.
An indispensable guide for design students and professionals alike, Architecture and Social Change gathers inspirational stories alongside practical advice for how to navigate a career in architecture while seeking to make a positive impact.
Introduction
Part I. Taking the Initiative
1. Rethinking Standard Practices
Jonathan Tate, OJT
2. Finding Opportunity in Excess
Ivi Diamantopoulou and Jaffer Kolb, New Affiliates
3. Prototyping Speculative Infrastructures
Tei Carpenter, Agency—Agency
4. Making Something Out of Nothing
Roger Sherman, Gensler
5. Radical Resourcefulness
David Barragán, Al Borde
Part II. Empowering Communities
6. Industry, Infrastructure, and the Public Interest
Marie Law Adams, Landing Studio
7. Debating Community Design Through Gameplay
Janette Kim, California College of the Arts
8. Prioritizing Design in Disadvantaged Communities
Germane Barnes, Studio Barnes
9. Participatory Design to Foster Inclusive Communities
Joana Dabaj, CatalyticAction
10. Advocating for Other Species
Joyce Hwang, Ants of the Prairie
Part III. Practicing with Purpose
11. Architecture as an Act of Engagement
Georgeen Theodore, Interboro
12. Care as a Core Value in Architecture
Paola Aguirre Serrano & Dennis Milam, Borderless Studio
13. Democratizing the Built Environment
Jae Shin, HECTOR
14. Building a Citizenship Culture
Teddy Cruz, Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman
15. Converting Convictions into Practice
Dana Cuff, cityLAB
Biography
Brian Holland is assistant professor at the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at the University of Arkansas, where he teaches courses on housing and urbanism. In his current research, Holland explores alternative frameworks for conceptualizing the architect’s agency in society.
