How Black Creatives Are Reimagining Design
As we awaken to architecture and design’s long history of exclusion—and acceptance of racist building practices like red-lining and restrictive covenants—everyone could benefit from a more complete narrative of those who led the way in the past and those who are in line to shape the future.
So here is a regularly updated chronicle of Black architects, designers, urbanists, educators, and advocates who are reshaping design in equitable and exciting ways.
Meet the Leaders Forging New Paths
Here are the voices leading today’s design movements. From design activists to the leaders of professional organizations, they are laying out the vision for a more inclusive design industry and world.
Profiles
Mabel O. Wilson is Updating the Narrative of American Architecture to Include Black Architects
A new book, an upcoming MoMA exhibition, and a recently completed memorial are informed by the Columbia University professor’s unflinching critique of traditional architectural pedagogy.
View StoryForgotten Black Design History
Black architects and designers have long been denied the same recognition as their white colleagues and many of their historical contributions have been ignored or obscured by the design media. In recent years, that has started to change as a new generation looks to the past to build a more equitable future.
Viewpoints
An HBCU’s Historic Preservation Program Starts with Its Own Campus
Uncovering history from Reconstruction and the Civil Rights Movement, students at Tuskegee University take a hands-on role in preserving history on campus and…
Profiles
Edward Lyons Pryce, the Black Landscape Architect that Preserved the Tuskegee Institute
A new scholarship will continue Pryce’s legacy as one of the first Black landscape…
Profiles
How Yale Professor Robert Reed Built Equity in Art and Architecture Classrooms
A former student reflects on her mentor’s celebration of cognitive diversity and the way the late Yale University of Art professor brought design to a broad…
Viewpoints
“Southern Exposure” Uncovers the Proud Architectural Legacy of Chicago’s South Side
In his new book, the journalist and photographer Lee Bey directs readers to some of Chicago’s greatest architectural treasures, nearly all of them hiding in…
Viewpoints
A New Series of Talks is Shedding Light on the Impact of Architect Paul R. Williams
A new series of talks is underscoring the importance of work by Hollywood’s first black…
Viewpoints
Why Aren’t Black Firms Working on Memorials to Slavery?
A new memorial in Virginia is the latest cultural project acknowledging a debt to enslaved African Americans. But the most high-profile commissions and contracts are hardly ever awarded to African-American firms.
View StoryBlack Architects Who Dream Big
With a rich range of approaches to healing historic hurt, finding solutions to intractable problems, and innovating exciting experiences, these architects are giving their profession a new relevance.
Viewpoints
How Recycling Existing Buildings Could Solve the Urban Housing Crisis
Does the cure for housing insecurity lie in more aggressive reuse of overlooked structures? A growing number of architects and urban activists say yes.
View StoryBlack Designers Driving Inclusion
From interiors to products, Black designers are reshaping an industry that has been slow to pay attention to diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences.
Profiles
There Is No Design Without Community
Sloan Leo, artist and community design theorist, believes in the power of design to create a better future….
Profiles
Shantell Martin Shares the Stories of Music and Scholarship Behind Her Artwork
The visual artist known for her spontaneous hand-drawn art sheds light on other key aspects of her…
Profiles
Six Designers Tell Us What They’re Specifying
Interior designers working at firms large and small share the products they rely on for all manner of…
Profiles
What’s Next for UK-based Designer and Artist Mac Collins?
After centering storytelling and craft in wildly successful collections, the designer is getting ready to take his next steps….
Profiles
Stephen Burks Uses Global Design as a Means for a More Inclusive World
A prodigious industrial designer and part of Metropolis’s Specify Hot List 2021, Burks works with artisans from around the…
Profiles
For Kurt Merki Jr., Creative Confidence Lands a Dream Partnership
Shaped by his bi-cultural upbringing, the Studio KMJ principal’s design approach has led to success with brands like…
Profiles
For Ghanaian Textile Designer Chrissa Amuah, Storytelling is Everything
The creative director and founder AMWA Designs has recently released a new fabric collection with Bernhardt Design that incorporates abstract interpretations…
Profiles
Meet Dani Arps, New York’s Go-To Designer for Start Ups
With a dozen-odd start-up offices under her belt—including Venmo and SeatGeek, the designer is making waves in the world of…
Profiles
Micki Washington Is Working to Normalize Office Interiors with Universal Design
Part of Metropolis’s Specify Hot List 2021, the regional leader of HOK’s WorkPlace practice in Houston believes the best-designed spaces are focused on…
Products
What They’re Specifying: Nina Cooke John
Studio Cooke John’s welcoming contract interiors are informed by the founder’s experience in designing cultural…
Viewpoints
Commentary: Monumental Changes
Is the movement to topple America’s Confederate statues a path to justice or an act of catharsis?
View StoryInnovating from the Black Experience
Experiences imagined by Black creatives challenge accepted notions of design and open doors to fresh ideas. From exhibition design to residential projects and art museums, these are the projects shaping the future.
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