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Design for Equity, Must-Read, Must-Reads, sustainability, Urbanism

15 Essential Architecture and Design Reads for 2023

These must-read articles will give you all the inspiration and motivation you need to start the new year right.

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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.

Black Leaders Inspire

Forgotten Design Histories

Black Architects Dream Big

Black Designers Seek to Include

Black Innovators Break Through

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.

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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.

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Forgotten 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

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.

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Black 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.

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Black 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.

Viewpoints

Commentary: Monumental Changes

Is the movement to topple America’s Confederate statues a path to justice or an act of catharsis?

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Innovating 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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